Culture

Just as the archangels offer us protection, healing, and announce God's presence, so, too, do our Catholic school communities around the archdiocese.

Eileen
McLaughlin

The month of September conjures up images of new shoes, fresh school supplies, and well-kept uniforms. There is something about its very self that indicates order and predictability. Of course, it makes sense that all of that order and predictability often shifts with the number of variables that schools encounter daily. To a degree, that has been true for my September as well. There was much that was planned for, and then there was much that needed to be tended to as world events created a certain sense of disequilibrium.
This September, I spent a lot of time in meetings, responding to emails and sharing best practices for school safety with school leaders and other archdiocesan partners. I have been affirmed time and time again by the number of people who are invested in supporting Catholic schools in a variety of ways. In many ways, this could easily become the headline for September 2025 -- and if it was, it would be a good story. However, I'd like to take the chance to reflect on this month's work and tell another story.
Since the first day of September, I have visited nearly a dozen Catholic schools. I was present for the celebration of Mass at four schools, attended an orientation for new board members at another school, toured new facilities at four schools, read two books to a prekindergarten class, visited the classrooms and walked the hallways of all of the schools.

The morning I wrote this, Monday, Sept. 29, I was pleased to begin my day with the celebration of a school Mass at Our Lady of the Assumption in Lynnfield. It was the feast of the Archangels: Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. With full transparency, I woke up Monday morning with a deep desire to stay in bed. I was tired and not feeling all too well. Our family readied itself for the day and made our way despite feeling exhausted. I arrived in Lynnfield ahead of schedule and entered the church to find the student choir preparing for a special visitor (it was me!). Their songs lifted me up a bit and offered me the energy I so desperately craved. I was greeted by Father Paul Ritt, whose welcoming embrace offered me the calm and comfort I needed on a Monday morning. As I said, I was early, so before Mass began I had time to visit the school to walk the halls with Principal Cindy Donovan. With care, she highlighted the signs that hung outside classroom doors welcoming "Superintendent McLaughlin," thanking me for my leadership. Each school is filled with leaders, teachers, principals, front office managers, PTOs and priests. The idea that any of these students might know and appreciate my work was humbling.
Mass began with songs of praise and worship. Father Paul reminded students of the feast day and invited them to understand the roles of the archangels -- one who protects us from evil, one who announces God's presence, and one who heals. Father Peter Pham went further in his homily to teach the students not only about these angels but also each student's guardian angel. We prayed together. It was wonderful.
In the midst of so much good, there was one hymn that stood out for me. The student choir sang Francesca LaRosa's "In the Sight of the Angels" for the responsorial psalm. The response was "In the Sight of the Angels, I will Sing Your Praises Lord" (Psalm 138). Throughout Mass, this refrain stayed with me. The feast day celebrated the archangels, but it also offered me the opportunity to witness the presence of angels around me -- priests, principals, students, teachers, families -- their witness inspired me to sing praise for Christ's presence, not just at OLA but in every school I visited this month. Just as the archangels offer us protection, healing, and announce God's presence, so, too, do our Catholic school communities around the archdiocese. In a month when so much was planned, and so much threatened to undo those plans, the celebration of our communities of faith offered me the protection of St. Michael, announced the presence of God just as St. Gabriel did, and healed me like St. Raphael.

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

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