An old fable of Aesop recounts a dying father’s final lesson to his sons. Invited to take a bundle of sticks and break it, the oldest and strongest is unable to do so. Neither are any of the others. But when each son is asked to take a single stick and break it, he does so easily. “You see,” says the father, “Union gives strength.”

 

At Mass during Catholic Schools Week a few weeks ago, I mentioned that St. Philip’s School would be joining one of our diocese’s consortia, formed by the schools of Paterson, Passaic and Clifton. This consortium will be administered by a central business office and will combine the resources of our individual schools into the united strength of a system.

 

The demands and cost of education have increased. The commitment and investment that people are willing to make in the life of their parish has changed. The proportion of families that choose Catholic education for their children has waned. It has become more difficult for individual parishes to sustain individual parish schools. This is evident in dioceses across the country and in neighboring dioceses in our state.

 

The consortium model attempts to pool the energy and resources of multiple schools and parishes into a strong union with combined enthusiasm, attraction, economy and buying power. In the areas of our diocese where consortia have begun, we are seeing the first signs of success.

 

As a member of a consortium, St. Philip’s School will continue to manifest its unique qualities and charisms.  The changes that occur will mostly affect the financial operation and management of the school. Undoubtedly, we will need to make some adjustments in the way that we do things, and will need to stretch in new ways. But our overall goal will be achieved: to secure the school’s future over the long term, to build upon existing programs through pooling and sharing resources with others, and to improve our academic life through oversight and healthy competition.

 

As long as I am pastor and as long as we are able, we will continue to devote resources to St. Philip’s School. As a nation and a society, we have determined (whether we have children or not) that it benefits all of us to educate our children with our tax dollars. An educated population makes for a better, more civil society. We all have a vested interest in educating the young. 

 

As a Church, the same holds true. Whether or not we have children, we all have an interest in the life of the Church, in the transmission of the faith, and in the long term proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus. It is in our interest as Church, then, to educate as many of our children as we can in our Catholic school. The investment we make in their education is a smaller grant that we make to the families who invest a significant and sacrificial amount of their livelihood to send their children to our Catholic school.

 

United to and bolstered by the parish, and united with other schools in the consortium, St. Philip’s School will continue to be strong and will grow even stronger. And as a result, St. Philip’s children will be united and strong in knowledge, wisdom and faith.