Mission Integration Message

Resurrection for us is a daily event.
-The Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross, 119

As the liturgical calendar turns to Holy Week, it is tempting to turn our gaze to the joy and celebration of Easter Sunday. Our days of Lent are almost complete and the things we have given up are almost within our grasps again - though hopefully any new prayer routines and acts of charity will remain constants moving forward. But the challenge of knowing that Easter is near is remembering that first must come the Passion. The Resurrection does not happen if Christ does not first suffer and die. The pain and agony endured on Good Friday is what makes the joy of Easter Sunday a reality.

With the Holy Cross motto “Hail the Cross, Our Only Hope,” we as a Holy Cross school are called to embrace our challenges in hope that they will ultimately lead to growth – personally, academically, spiritually, among other areas. We see hope many ways at Cathedral: a failing grade on an exam that leads one to seek support from an educator and extra office hours visits that helps lead to improvement; all school penance services that see long lines of students waiting for confession or just the ear of a priest to listen to their concerns; even a sports season that ended in the early rounds of the tournament one year that is followed by a state title the next. The Hill is full of hope!

The Cross and hope go hand in hand. As people of faith, and as members of a Holy Cross school, we must remember that our ultimate goal is life with Christ. And while we must think and live with this end in mind, we also must keep our eyes to the daily ways in which we work toward that goal – both the successes and challenges that come our way. The line above from the Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross is not just for the religious members to live by, but for each one of us teaching and learning in a Holy Cross school. Each day is an opportunity to be challenged, to grow, and to have hope in the cross – the aspects that make up the Resurrection.

Just as our eyes begin to look ahead on the liturgical calendar, following Spring Break the eyes of many students begin looking toward the end of the academic calendar. Yet it is important to know that to look forward, we must remember all the important work, effort, and growth that is necessary to reach the end. Just because the end might be in sight, challenges are still ahead, and we must be guided in hope.

Congratulations to our March Holy Cross Educator, Lisa Ford, and Student of the Month, Charlie Malarney '27.

Mrs. Ford's nominator said, "Mrs. Ford upholds the Core Value of integrity in the classroom. Her students know what to expect, and these expectations help instill the importance of integrity."

Charlie's nominator said, "Charlie is a junior and may be one of the most humble kids I know.  I had him as a freshman in math and now get him as a junior in government.  He has the utmost integrity to do what is right, the right way with no short cuts. He tries his best on EVERY assignment and helps those around him.  Integrity means being honest- Charlie turns in honest work and he honestly tries his best on all assignments and to help those around him."

Ave Crux, Spes Unica
Hail the Cross, our Only Hope

Matthew Gring
Chief Mission Integration Officer