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September 2011
Dear Friend,
September means many things to each of us; but “Back to School” is one association it has for all of us. Summer is over, and your children or your grandchildren are taking their places in various classrooms. You may be joining them in their return to school. You could be a teacher, have decided to pursue a degree or “just” to take a class in something or another for your own personal enrichment. If nothing else, September means memories of the days when we sat in classroom desks.
September means the same thing for the Franciscans of the Sacred Heart Province. Our brothers who are students for the priesthood are resuming their courses in Theology, Scripture, Liturgy and the other dimensions of ministry expected by our Church. Some of the friars of the Province are pursuing other undergraduate or graduate degrees to be of better service to you in the Church and in the civic communities where we live with you.
September will also find a number of the friars of Sacred Heart Province “at the teacher’s desk” as administrators, faculty members or staff members of educational communities. Sacred Heart Province continues its long association with Quincy University (Quincy, Illinois), Chicago’s Hales Franciscan High School and Cleveland’s Padua Franciscan High School. Other members of the Province are pastors of parishes which sponsor schools or are employed by other academic institutions. If nothing else, September also means memories for us of the days we Franciscans spent in the classroom.
The beginning of this new school year brings a moment of celebration for Padua Franciscan High School. The school opened its doors and began its service to the people of the Cleveland area fifty years ago this September. This letter which expresses the Franciscans’ gratitude to you for your generosity to us is also an opportunity for all of us to offer our Congratulations and express our appreciation to everyone associated with Padua Franciscan High School over the years. Whether they sat behind the teacher’s desk or in front of it, those men and women learned how to love God and be of better service to their communities at Padua Franciscan High School; and for that good gift we can only be grateful.
Words of appreciation are always wonderful, but most of the time, they feel inadequate to most of us. Hopefully, this September’s return to school and Padua Franciscan High School’s celebration can become the encouragement each of us needs to learn or learn again the lessons which our teachers tried to impart to us. That may mean the course material which they taught us or the “lessons in life” which their lives tried to teach us. It would be wonderful if this September’s return to school and Padua Franciscan High School’s fiftieth anniversary meant a determination to learn something new in each of our lives. Maybe we need or want to finish a certificate, a diploma or a degree. Perhaps there’s a course we’ve wanted to take or an interest we want to explore. Maybe all we have to do is ask a family member or friend to show us how to do something. Whatever else it might mean in our lives, I hope this September finds us grateful for those who taught us and headed “back to school” in one way or another.
The Franciscans thank all of you for all that you do for all of us. Your generosity is an inspiration. God bless us all with…
Peace and everything good,
Fr. William Spencer, O.F.M.
Provincial Minister
