I have to say I remember very well my first day at Catholic School which for me was in the
6th grade as well as my last day in my senior year at Kellenberg. Looking back now on
those seven years, besides ultimately being called by Christ, I wouldn’t have been a priest
if it wasn’t for Catholic school.
I had such a deep spiritual bond between the priests of the school and the teachers. After
school hours, I would visit the priests in their office, seeing them for direction, advice, and
confessions and sometimes play with their dogs. Now as a priest myself, visiting classrooms is one of my great joys of being a parish priest.
Although it is a sacrifice for families to enroll their children in Catholic school especially
when they are obligated to pay school tax, the fruit of it is immeasurable. This also applies
to the Catholic teachers and staff working at Catholic schools. The freedom of worshiping
God and having a greater understanding of one’s faith in a Catholic school is very
transforming to a soul.
A friend of mine who is a graduate of a local Catholic school said the school helped him
prepare for life. Although parents are the principal teachers of the faith for their children,
a Catholic school has a great role to play in it. To know that the Catholic faith does not
only consist in the family and the church but in one’s entire life, shows the truth that
Christ is the rock and center of our life.
If you have not done so, please consider enrolling your child in Catholic Education. It may
very well change your child’s life forever.
Let us pray to the intercession of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, in the 200th year anniversary of
her death, that Catholic Students who are enrolled in Catholic School will have an increase
of faith, hope and charity in this year dedicated to St. Joseph.
In Jesus and Mary,
Fr. Jeff Yildirmaz
