Culture

Superintendent of Catholic Schools Eileen McLaughlin poses with the Jubilee Year essay contest winner, eighth-grader Carly Cortes-Dilone of St. Monica School in Methuen, and her "Pilgrim of Hope," St. Monica pastor Father Marcos Pena. Pilot photo/Gregory L. Tracy

Catholic Schools Office

Friday, November 7, 2025Culture

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While the focus of the CSO programming during the Jubilee of Education might have been to shine a light on the work of evangelization in our schools, I have to admit the experiences of the week strengthened my own faith as well.

Eileen
McLaughlin

In January, I wrote about the Jubilee Year, initiated by Pope Francis, which calls us all to be Pilgrims of Hope. One of the hallmarks of a Jubilee Year is the celebration of communities of faith. The last week of October marked the Jubilee of Education. In Rome, this was memorialized by a gathering of over 20,000 students, families, educators, institutions and educational networks from 14 countries. At the heart of this celebration is the recognition that education is an act of hope and a tool for building the common good. Here in the Archdiocese of Boston, at the Pastoral Center in Braintree and nearby, we celebrated with music, art, prayer, and service.

The choir from Xaverian Brothers High School (XBHS) in Westwood kicked off the week with a concert at the Pastoral Center after the 12:10 p.m. daily Mass. The following day, artistic representations of the Jubilee's Holy Doors created by students at Cheverus School in Malden were on display. On Wednesday, we welcomed the seven students whose essays were judged to be best-in-class in the Archdiocesan Pilgrims of Hope Essay Contest, for which the Catholic Schools Office (CSO) received nearly 600 entries. Thursday brought members of the CSO to Trinity Catholic Academy in Brockton for a Living Rosary. The week culminated in the collection of donations from the Catholic Memorial High School community, which were packaged and delivered by the faculty and staff of Sacred Heart STEM School in Roslindale to St. Mary's Center for Women and Children in Dorchester.
In planning for these events, our initial endeavor was to highlight the good work being done in archdiocesan Catholic schools and to invite school communities to take an opportunity to reflect on the Jubilee Year. The lived experience met those objectives but also provided moments for me to pause and take note of the tremendous work done in our schools. Several moments stood out for me.
One such moment came near the conclusion of the XBHS choir performance, when a student representative stepped forward to speak. In his reflection, he noted that five years ago, this student group was composed of roughly 10 students; on this particular day, over 50 students crowded into the Pastoral Center's auditorium to sing songs of praise. The astronomical growth of the program is reflective of the intentionality of the XBHS administrative team in creating a vision for its musical program, hiring talented teachers and recruiting students to participate. This growth is reflective of the spirit of our own faith -- we have a vision of our union with God, we work with others to help achieve that union, and we invite others to join us. This is the work of evangelization.
I was also evangelized by the student essays that identified their "Pilgrims of Hope'' not as saints who lived a hundred years ago or a contemporary athlete who overcame adversity, but rather their essays bore witness to the efforts of people in their lives -- teachers, parish priests, siblings, grandparents, and parents. Our world tells us that "kids these days" don't appreciate others, but what I experienced in these moments is that they are watching, noticing, and recognizing those who live with faith. They recognize these people and their lives as models of hope for how to live amidst challenges.
Then, on Thursday morning, the students of Trinity Catholic Academy in Brockton gathered in the gymnasium to pray the Living Rosary. This prayer wasn't routine; it was thoughtful and deliberate. Knowing that they had been invited to pray the World Mission Rosary, each decade began with a student praying the Hail Mary in a native language reflective of one of the five inhabited continents represented on the World Mission Rosary.
As we finished our prayer, I felt certain that these students had an appreciation for what we had just done together. Their educational experience is one that will not only help them learn discrete skills and content, but more importantly, will lead them to appreciate that they are created for union with God and allow them to freely choose to use the gifts they have been given to know God.
While the focus of the CSO programming during the Jubilee of Education might have been to shine a light on the work of evangelization in our schools, I have to admit the experiences of the week strengthened my own faith as well. Each offered me hope for the future, an assurance that we are indeed building the Kingdom of God.
Pope Leo XIV wrote this past week that "education . . . Forms the very fabric of evangelization," adding that "educational communities allow themselves to be guided by the word of Christ, they do not retreat but are revitalized; they do not build walls, but bridges." The bridges built by archdiocesan students, teachers, school leaders, and families are signs of God's grace at work among us. May the Jubilee of Education continue to inspire us to walk together in faith, to teach with love, and to learn with hope, trusting that, through our shared witness, we draw ever closer to the fullness of God's Kingdom.

- Eileen McLaughlin is superintendent of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Boston.