Think. Pair. Share. with Fr. Lou DelFra, C.S.C.
From Philly soft pretzels and New Year's celebrations to the essential role of lay people as Agents of Spirituality in our Church
Fr. Lou DelFra, CSC, faculty member and Director of Pastoral Life for the Alliance for Catholic Education, reflects on ACE as a movement of the Holy Spirit and its culture of discernment, as well as middle schoolers as litmus tests for relevancy and celebrating Catholic Schools Week with a joyful and boisterous racket.
Notable Quotes
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“One of the importances of Catholic school week right now, is that it's not a given that our schools are gonna continue forever. There's a lot of forces working against these schools' continued existence, and so to have a time when we as a church can celebrate the amazing accomplishment that these schools exist, and the great gift that they provide, first and foremost to our children, but also to the broader society. And I think that's part of Catholic schools week, is letting the broader community recognize the gift that these schools are to our communities and to highlight that. Whether people wanna hear it or not. Catholic schools week has never been more important than right now, where the gift that these schools are, cannot be taken for granted at all. That's one of the things I love.”
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“Catholics are often at their best when they're celebrating, and it's a celebration. It's... And, celebration is always powerful, evangelically. It's like, "Why are these people so happy?" And so, it's a chance to be proud of these amazing communities that have been built over the years on the backs of religious sisters, religious brothers, brave priests and bishops early in our church's history, and then countless heroic lay people who have just said, "We wanna be able to raise our children and educate our children with a daily vision of... That faith is an important part of life." And, often with no support from the broader culture have made these things work. And so just, you've gotta celebrate that. And you've gotta celebrate it really well, and joyfully, and boisterously, so that other people are like, "What's all that racket?”
