Reflection / John Shaughnessy

A prayer of thanks for people who add joy, grace and love to a school year

Dear God,

Here’s hoping the summer vacation gave you a restful break from the usual panicky prayers that deluge you like the Great Flood during the school year—confused parents pleading for help in understanding the “new math,” desperate students asking for divine intervention on a test they forgot about, fans of all ages praying and promising to change their lives for the better if you’ll just help their favorite school team win a game.

Yet before the school-related pleas start to pour your way again, here’s a different kind of prayer—a prayer of thanks to you and to all the people who find a way to add grace, joy and love to the school year.

Thank you for our Catholic school teachers and principals, for the sacrifices they make, the knowledge they impart, and the faith they live and share.

And an extra note of gratitude for the teachers who arrive at school early and stay late to help struggling students.

Thank you for the students who welcome new people at their school as if they were old friends.

A special thanks also to the child who sees someone alone at lunch and sits down with him or her, sharing a hello and a smile.

Thank you for the high school athletes who give their passion, their commitment and their hard work for their team.

And an extra nod to the teammates who sit at the end of the bench or rarely get to play, for still giving their heart to their team even as they bleed about not getting the opportunity to play as much as they hope they would.

Thank you also for the smile-inducing innocence of a small child who asks a coach at the end of a game, “Did we win?”

In thanksgiving of the coaches—at the high school level and in the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO)—who volunteer their time because they love their sport, enjoy helping youths reach their potential, and want to give back because of the coaches who helped them.

And a special thanks to the coaches who ask their players how they’re doing in school and who take the time to share the essence of their faith in a meaningful way.

Thank you also for the archdiocese’s CYO staff that provides sports and activities for 20,000 children—and for the 7,000 volunteers who help make them happen.

In thanksgiving of parents of school children—a group that rightly deserves its own long, special prayer for all they do: making lunches, checking homework, picking up school supplies, worrying about their children, praying for them, washing school uniforms and team jerseys, cheering from the sidelines, volunteering as team and classroom parents, nursing them when they get sick, worrying some more, praying even more, driving them everywhere, and continually caring and asking about their child’s day, even when the response is a quick “fine” or sullen silence—and doing all of this and more while working inside or outside the home. Touch them with your peace, joy and grace, God.

In thanksgiving of dogs, for taking the heat when a child forgets a homework assignment and blames the family dog for chewing it up—the kind of sacrifice dogs would willingly make, something a cat would never do. Just saying.

An extra heaping of gratitude to the cafeteria workers who add an extra heaping of food to the plate of a child who needs it.

And let’s heap some thanks and praise on the volunteers who pack extra meals for students who need them during weekends and school breaks.

The list could go on and on, but let’s end with this note of gratitude:

Thank you, God, and the Blessed Mother for the foundations of faith, hope and love that our Catholic schools are built upon. May we all focus on living these gifts during this school year. Amen.
 

(John Shaughnessy is the assistant editor of The Criterion.) †