November is a time in our Church to remember and pray for those who have gone before us and to be reminded that, through our baptism, we too are called to sainthood. As Pope Francis reminds us, "saints are like each of us, they are people who before reaching the glory of heaven lived a normal life, with joys and griefs, struggles and hopes."

The median family income for Catholic Schools Foundation (CSF) scholarship recipients is $44,000. For these families, grief and struggle are a daily occurrence. Despite the economic hardship faced by these families, they know a Catholic education is the answer for their children. They know that if they make the sacrifice to provide a high quality, Catholic education to their children, their children will succeed. Not only will they graduate from high school and be ready for college, but they will also know that they are loved by God and that there is a community of people who believe in them and care for them.

Supporters of CSF balance grief and struggle with joy and hope for around 4,000 scholarship recipients each year. These scholarship recipients are embraced at their schools as gifts from God, full of potential and with the responsibility to use the talents they have been given. They are surrounded by committed teachers and administrators who educate and care for them.

CSF is only able to serve these students and families and the work of their schools with the support of generous donors who believe in them. For our schools to continue to make an impact, an investment must continue to be made in the students and families, as well as the school leaders who educate these students each day.

Recently, CSF was grateful to receive a gift of $1.55 million from Jane and Bill Mosakowski to support both the scholarship recipients and CSF's multi-year commitment to enhancing school leadership. This extraordinary act of generosity is a testament to the belief that school leaders are vital to the long-term success of Catholic education. For decades, Catholic schools were blessed with highly educated and well-trained religious women serving as the backbone of Catholic education. Today, laypeople fill almost all of the leadership roles in Catholic schools and this investment will help ensure a continued commitment to leadership training and excellence that was the hallmark of the Sisters who led these schools for generations.

As we educate the leaders of tomorrow, we do so in the hopes that their work will guide families through the grief and struggle of life and move them towards joy and hope. We also do so with gratitude for the lives of those who have gone before us and laid the foundation for Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Boston.

Through the efforts of teachers and administrators, families struggling to give their children a Catholic education, and donors who give generously to support Catholic education, we witness extraordinary people with normal lives answering the call to sainthood.



- Michael B. Reardon is executive director of the Catholic Schools Foundation, www.CSFBoston.org.