‘Catholic identity is a priority.’

Teach the children well, was the Sunday message from Fifth Avenue.

From Timothy Cardinal Dolan’s homily:

there is no more tried-and-true way of passing on our Catholic faith to our kids than by sacrificing to put them in a Catholic school. Data proves they persevere in the faith at higher rates, pray better, are more faithful to Sunday Mass, live gospel values, are more generous to their parish, even have happier marriages, volunteer more, and transmit the faith to their own children, than those not in a Catholic school.

In our nation’s history, Catholic schools had two goals: to educate excellently, and to form children in the faith. Both are essential.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting with leaders in our Catholic high schools. They observed that, in some of their areas, the public schools were, thank God, offering a good education. Lord knows, they remarked, their facilities, and the frills in the government schools, were more dazzling than the Catholic high schools.

So, they asserted, there was only one reason for a parent to sacrifice financially to send his/her son/daughter to the Catholic high school: formation in faith, values, character, discipline, and religion . . . along with a first class education.

In other words, Catholic identity is a priority.

If our schools are not visibly and robustly Catholic, let’s save a lot of money and close them in areas where our children can get a decent academic education free of charge.

Our Jewish neighbors have come to know that; we had best rediscover it!

Audio here.

Catholic education is an issue close to my heart — it is what I grew up on, and if it is truly Catholic — teaching, serving, rooted in Christ — it makes all the difference. In saving lives. In saving souls.