This morning while observing a grammar lesson in a Lower School classroom, I noticed something. On her wall, the teacher had hung a colorfully lettered plaque that read, “Do the right thing…even when no one is looking.”
Who is a person, really? As humans, it is not given to us to read the depths of another’s heart. Only God knows each of us fully. Even to know one’s self—just one person—is a life-long task. Perhaps this is why in Scripture we are warned about judging hastily.
Yet in spite of the curtain drawn across our deepest self, there are times we seek to express the sincerity that lies there, or at least the sincerity we aspire to. Marriage vows, military swearing-in ceremonies, oaths of office, the pledge of allegiance—each are an attempt to express a commitment to, essentially, “Do the right thing…even when no one is looking.”
Tomorrow during both school Masses, faculty and staff will publicly take an “Oath of Fidelity” by which they pledge to act and speak in communion with the Catholic Church and in obedience to her teachings. We do this from the heart; the Oath reflects a reality as well as a continuing aspiration.
When you enroll your child at The Atonement Academy, we want you to know that the Catholic faith in its fullness guides our pedagogy, curriculum, and example. Maybe there will be a day when this becomes so obvious to all that no Oath is needed! Until then, we promise we will keep striving.
Let us continue to pray for one another. Our Lady of The Atonement—pray for us!