It’s the promises that we make.  Yesterday, it was a seat for every child in the land of ArchBalt.

This week, Archbishop Edwin O’Brien announced plans to revitalize Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The plan, detailed in a new report entitled, “Preserving the Tradition, Transforming the Future: The Rebirth of Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore,”  is a culmination of more than 12 months of analysis and input from 1,500 individuals. The report announces the consolidation 13 schools, the creation of several new academic programs and initiatives, the enhancement of educator professional development, and the initiation of a new model for how Catholic schools are governed… and the promise that if a student was displaced in these moves that there was a seat waiting for them in a list of nearby “receiving schools.”

It offers the promises of resurrection and new life and new ways of living out the mission.  In the middle of a long Lent, it is the promise of Easter.  All that being said, it has also been a Good Friday experience for the staffs and students and alumni of 13 schools.  Your prayers are invited for all.