Peter is doing very well in 2nd grade, Nick we trust will make it to first grade, Eddie to Kindergarten and Brigid cannot wait to get to go to Mrs. Herron’s class next year for the Pre K 3s.

Not so many years ago I found myself at a crossroad. The pressures of life: financial, family, career, were absolutely crippling me. One day while I was in Rockville, I stopped by St. Raphael’s Church to seek some guidance. As I knelt before the Lord, I found myself considerably upset. At that same moment, I literally felt this huge weight lifting off of my shoulders and an amazing sense of peace come over me. I realized at that point that it was time to hand the reins over to God.

How Did I Get There?
The interesting thing about that day was that it was not hard to relinquish the reins. My mother had always lived her life this way and taught me to do the same. My mother is still with us, just in the late stages of Alzheimer’s. As a kid, I went to Our Lady of Mercy School which at that time, to me at least, was very similar to today’s St. John’s. We had the nuns from the Sisters of Mercy in the school and as I remember, they were quite strict but fair, I guess. After Mercy, I attended Cabin John Jr. High and Churchill High School. But it was at OLOM that I remember the involvement of parents. Whether coaching, volunteering or getting lights for the field, parents got things done. People were active in our lives and I remember those years better than high school and college.

The wayward years were high school, college and on into my early work years. I always practiced my faith, primarily going to church, but in hindsight, I was just going through the motions. In these years, I made some terrible mistakes. Some of those mistakes weighed on my conscience constantly – until that day at St. Raphael’s. Through it all, the Lord never abandoned me, like I had Him. He just waited for me to let Him in.

What Does That Have to Do with Now?
When Allison and I married and moved to Silver Spring, Allison was attending National Presbyterian Church and I was going to St. Bernadette’s where I knew some parishioners or St. Raphael’s, where I was still a member. I then started going to St. John’s. I had a special feeling about the parish and we registered and started to get involved. At this time, we had one child, Allison was pregnant and the pressures of life were mounting until that fateful day at St. Raphael’s.

After that day, my faith changed and deepened. Just attending Mass was not enough. I went to Confession which really provided the forgiveness and relieved my conscience. It is very difficult to accept that forgiveness, but that is what Jesus tells us to do. To trust in His forgiveness is incredibly freeing and peaceful. That trust really allows one to move forward without shackles and grow in faith. It also revealed to me that many of those earlier decisions were absent of God, and the results reflected it. It was about this time St. John’s started the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. This hour with God provides such powerful peace and reflection. One of the prayer cards I read in the chapel says to trust the Lord, for He is “the Master of all hearts, My child, and I lead them gently where I please. I will place about you those who are necessary to you, never fear.”

To me, this is where the Trust comes in. When believing what God can do, I look back and see how true that statement is. Even in the mistakes and troubles one encounters, God puts good people in your path. It might just take a while to realize it.

Putting St. John’s School in Our Path
Another gift that God put in our lives is St. John’s School. As we became more involved in the parish and as our family continued to grow, we started thinking about where we were going to send them to school. The Catholic education was a new experience for Allison so she was a little reluctant at first. For me, it was an extremely familiar option. The Sisters were very important in the decision as well as the strong sense of community we felt from the parish. For the kids to witness first hand women living lives of such commitment is something they will never forget. Focusing on curriculum and who’s learning what and when was not high on our list at that point. What children need is mainly a Godly environment and plenty of love. In contrast, God is an after thought in a lot of other school systems. We trust the Archdiocese with establishing the curriculum, and the experience of the faculty and staff to implement it. We enjoy the parental participation and the way the parent/teacher dynamic works to move our children ahead socially and academically, all with an eye on what is most important in life. What we have found at St. John’s is an incredibly loving and nurturing environment which provides the groundwork for a strong moral education and a place where the child is known and loved as a person. St. John’s School is a place where innocence is a virtue and children can really be children. We realize it is not perfect, but that too is part of the learning experience. Not only are the kids learning, but they experience the involvement of the parents, they build relationships with the upper classman, the Sisters and the recent grads they see at activities throughout the parish. They also learn to get involved by helping in projects and they see the wonderful works that people do right in their own neighborhood, like St. Joseph’s House. We discuss these things at the dinner table, and it is really quite amazing what they ask and learn.

I trust these values and experiences will carry them throughout their lives and be a strong foundation to fall back on as they grow and face new challenges.

St. John’s is a wonderful environment, one in which the more we give, in time, talent (Allison’s dept.) and treasure, the more we get back in blessings. Again, the Lord keeps putting people in our lives to keep us moving down his path.