A Message from Our Principal

Dear Families,

This past Friday, QP staff spent the morning in a School of Faith session with our cheerful but somewhat sleep-deprived leader (9 kids!...), Mr. Dave Staples.

Dave divvied us into groups based on our favorite category of candy, then set us in motion on the following tasks:

1. Think of a riddle that the other groups are unlikely to solve.

2. Have a backup riddle in the event that another group breaks the 8th commandment and steals your selected riddle. 

3. Choose a team name.

By the end of the exercise, the Kevinators had claimed victory thanks to Mr. Emery's uncanny skill at cracking the other teams' riddles, combined with a high-level riddle from the Kevinator himself: What grows up and grows down at the same time?

The answer: A goose (down feathers...).

The upshot of the whole exercise is to emphasize how puzzling some of the Old Testament prophesies must have been to the Jews of the time, including Paul, who comes to us in the Liturgy of the Word at 75% of our Masses, making the case for Christ to the skeptical or unknowing peoples of the first century. In a remarkable twist of irony, Paul sets about this mission ONLY after being a merciless tormentor of Christians before his conversion on the Road to Damascus.

Dave then asked us to spend some time in our small groups talking about our own "conversions." This was a bit confusing at first for the cradle Catholics who were raised in the faith and never "converted" to it. On reflection, however, we realized that we all have life moments when our faith evolved from mere label to committed belief. For me, these discussions were an illustration of what it means to "grow" in the Catholic faith. There is so much sublime truth, goodness, and beauty in the Catholic life that it offers conversion over.....and over......and over.....again.....and again.

The ability to see Jesus in ourselves and others is not a static ability. It requires regular maintenance in the form of prayer, going to Mass, and intentional recommitment to the spirit of missionary discipleship. 

Following lunch from Allen's Market (Thanks, PTC!), we had a listening session on school security. I shared the main takeaways from my two recent seminars on the subject. Then, we had an open dialogue on measures we can adopt to make our safe campus even safer. As people spoke, I generated a list of ideas for consideration.

We will provide another update very soon on a timeline for implementation of any new measures. We will also do some surveying of different stakeholder groups. My current sense of things is that the opinions of various constituencies--parents, teachers, administration, law enforcement, school safety specialists--has informed current thought on next steps. However, there may be some perspectives out there that have not been captured yet. Stay tuned.

Christ in Self. Christ in Other.

Sincerely,

Josh

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