We made it to May! A few minutes ago after lauds, our junior high and high school students were reminded to stay faithful until the end. Faithful to our duties. Faithful to our vocation. Faithful to the effort and growth of the last nine months.
We are on the precipice of an exceptional moment for the Class of 2025. It is a once in a lifetime experience, and the transition into adulthood is ripe with existential challenges and opportunities.
I polled some teachers with the following question - What is the optimal disposition in exceptional moments? - and received these responses:
“Receptivity to inspiration”
“Gratitude”
“Observation of one’s own inadequacy”
“Open heartedness”
These seniors will have unique memories unlike any before, but I also think that same principle applies to every student. In a sense, every moment is exceptional because it will never happen again! God’s will moves time forward towards the fullness of His Kingdom, and we are all participating in the coming to fruition of that most momentous inauguration of the civilization of love! This gives purpose to everything we do.
What will be the cherished memories we take away from this academic year?
One obvious shared memory for our entire school will be the election of Pope Leo XIV. I will never forget walking the campus to discover white smoke on the screen of every classroom, a spontaneous reflection of our school’s truest identity. We are a Catholic school!
And to the question, “What should I think about this new vicar of Christ?” I will remain faithful to the same adage I tell the students. Go to the source and read the words for yourself so you discover it on your own! We read primary sources for that very reason.
Last Saturday, during an address to the College of Cardinals, Pope Leo XIV articulated why he chose the name Leo:
“Sensing myself called to continue in this same path, I chose to take the name Leo XIV. There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour.”
This struck me because he invoked artificial intelligence, which has significant implications to the mission of Mount Royal Academy.
As I prayed the lectionary this morning to prepare for the day, I came across one of my favorite passages from the New Testament. I leave the words for you because I can think of nothing more motivational when considering how to finish well!
“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.” (John 15:11-17) - Mr. Derek Tremblay, Headmaster