A Meditation on the Lumen Christi Vision

A Meditation
on the Lumen
Christi Vision

Jason T. Adams, Headmaster

Copyright 2013 Lumen Christi

Jason Adams
[Date]

Introduction

“In Him we live and move and have our being.” ~ Acts 17:28

Lumen Christi is founded on a vision--a vision that is alive in its
families, teachers, students, and friends. While it exists as a common
commitment, it is wise to keep it deliberately at the forefront of
everything we do. It is important at the onset to make clear that these
thoughts are not intended as a formal vision statement. They are not
intended as policy statements or policy precursors. These are simply
my opinions, based on nearly two decades of teaching experience in
Catholic schools.

What I offer here are reflections of what I see in this extraordinary
school, of both the tangible and intangible qualities that have drawn
me so irresistibly to Lumen Christi. You may think that some aspects
of this meditation are applicable only to the teachers, but this is not
true. What is said here about classroom instruction is meant for
everyone, so that the whole community is used to thinking about what
works in the classroom. The ideals that I profess on classroom
teaching have been lived by our teachers for years. They are not so
much the subject of my comments as they are the inspiration. We are
deeply blessed to have such a caring and capable faculty. Their work
is hard, and their sacrifices many, but they model joy in their teaching,
which radiates out to the students.

Some of my thoughts anticipate questions that may be just over the
horizon for our school. I want to reiterate that my opinions are
provided as general fodder for philosophical discussion. I am putting
them forward so you will know who I am as a teacher and
administrator and, based on what I know of Lumen Christi, what I
think is most consistent with the Lumen Christi ethos. My opinions
are one voice in the community's leadership. You are the greater
voice—the parents, teachers, coordinators, and friends of Lumen

1

Christi—contributing your views, ideas, and expertise in the dialogue
that determines our course
Members of our community may differ a bit on some of the particulars
presented here, which is to be expected in even the healthiest and
most unified of organizations. Families never agree on everything,
even in some significant matters, but strong families respect each
other, listen to each other, and cooperate in the family's fulfillment.
We can and will sweat over some of the details, but God's will is our
ultimate goal for Lumen Christi. All of us united in God will work
together in His name to make our school whatever He wants it to be.
This was the vision of our founding families and remains the vision
today, of this I am absolutely sure. Lumen Christi is a work of God,
sustained by grace and our cooperation therein. We are one in vision
and in action to the extent that Oneness Himself, our Lord, abides in
us.

2

Our roots

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these
things will be given you besides. ~ Matthew 6:33

When my wife and I first
visited Lumen Christi, we were
homeschooling a 6 year old and
a 5 year old. We had
entertained the possibility of
putting our children in Catholic
schools, but there were waiting
lists at schools we considered,
at the time, truly Catholic and
academically sound. We were
mostly set on continuing the
homeschooling, but we had
heard an ad on Catholic radio
for the Lumen Christi open
house. We had heard very little
about Lumen Christi but we
had made then Headmaster, Edie Fitzgerald's acquaintance and
trusted that the school was solid. We decided we had nothing to lose
by visiting the open house, but the chances of driving an hour each
way and paying tuition for Catholic school were pretty slim.

There was an instant connection when we arrived at the open house.
The approach was down-to-earth, simple, and unquestionably
Catholic. We had always puzzled over why Catholic schools chose not
to use the great homeschooling materials that we had come to love,
but found that Lumen Christi was actually using the same texts we had
used in our home. We were so impressed and excited that within a
matter of days we had decided to enroll our kids. We have been
hooked ever since.

3

I wish I could say that we had been able to remain at Lumen Christi,
but the cost of transportation (with gas at four dollars per gallon) and
tuition, our budget just could not bear it. We tried a more
conventional diocesan Catholic school for about a year, but found it
did not meet our expectations. We returned to homeschooling, but
never lost sight of a possible return to Lumen Christi.

The reason for relaying our first experiences with Lumen Christi is
that our account is similar to that of so many parents who have
discovered Lumen Christi over the years. The school was started by
homeschooling families that wanted a faithful Catholic school to
combine their efforts and provide a thoroughly Catholic education for
their kids. In 2002, Edie responded to the call, pledging that if there
were around ten students she would lead the school. They did not
quite reach ten students that first year, but the seeds were planted.
Edie attended the NAPCIS conference to pick up some quick pointers
on running a small independent school and the rest was providence.
God's grace combined with the trust and perseverance of the families
kept the school afloat.

In the beginning school was held in the basement of Saint Mary's
parish, Indianapolis. Each day involved setting up and taking down
all the materials for the school. It was not the ideal setting, but the
families—sparse as they were—appreciated the space in which to
teach. There is a lesson to remember about those days. It was not
facilities, policies and procedures, extra-curricular activities, or image
that sustained the school. It was all about the fundamentals: solid
materials, eye-to-eye interaction with students, and lots of faith
integration.

God soon provided a new location, the CYO building, in which the
school is currently housed. Thanks to the cooperation of Monsignor
Schaedel and Father Magiera, a relationship was formed early on with
Holy Rosary parish, which allowed for daily Latin Mass. Just five years
after its start, Edie was interviewed by the Indianapolis Star, to talk
about how the school had grown from such a modest beginning to,
then, 52 students. An excerpt from that 2007 interview illustrates the
early vision of the school:

4

Q: What do you feel is the
mission of Lumen Christi?
Edie: Our mission is that we
teach faith with reason, so that
our students will know the
truth and be able to act in
virtue. We attend daily Mass...
The faculty is required to
understand what concepts of
faith they are communicating
to students in lessons.

Q: How do you connect faith
with teaching academic
subjects?
Edie: As an example, when I
start the math unit on fractions,
I will talk about the body of
Christ and that we are all
members. I am relating that
math is not a disconnect from God but that it reveals God to us. Then
we will do the math lesson on fractions. There is no separation,
because God is truth. Knowledge is from Him.

Q: What is the main difference between your school and a diocesan
school?
Edie: We are accredited by the National Association of Private
Catholic Independent Schools, but we have the freedom to choose our
own textbooks, books that best support our mission. We drew a lot
from our home-schooling experience. We look for more traditional
textbooks; for example, science books by Christian authors.

Q: How do you think your students respond to Lumen Christi?
Edie: I think children hunger for truth and that the heart of the child
is really prepared to live the Beatitudes. The kids are a model to me
of the childlike faith we are called to. When I am giving them a lesson,
any subject, they are so excited to understand the concepts. They are

5

just hungering for this truth. To watch that excitement confirmed to
me that I am called to have the same level of enthusiasm.

Q: So you have daily Mass in Latin? How is that going?
Edie: The children stay very quiet, and if they can still their hearts and
know that God is present in the Mass, their response is beautiful. We
had some people who thought it was a bad idea. But I tell them to
come and see the kids and how they respond.... In the Latin Mass, there
is a presence of peace and grace they respond to, and it is beautiful to
see.

From the beginning,

Lumen Christi has been a

grass roots effort in

which families and

faculty share the same

priorities: the

integration of faith and

reason for the sake of

wisdom, scholarship,

and virtue. These values

have been preserved by putting down-to-earth classroom instruction

and the virtue of religion first. Never was there a desire to imitate the

bureaucracy and experimentalism of the larger educational world. A

spirit of humble independence has pervaded this school since its

inception, with the shared purpose of being simple and intimate

enough to be responsive to students' needs. Lumen Christi has always

been filled with families gratified that they have found an oasis of

traditional Catholicism; a school with a clear, uncluttered vision for

sanctified scholarship.

Historically, families have not come here for what some refer to as
“the experience” of the modern super-school, with its extravagant
worldly preoccupations. It may sound flippant to put the matter this
way, but Lumen Christi is a school, not a resort. Unlike the complex
multimillion dollar operations that so many public and parochial
schools have become, Lumen Christi has upheld a noble simplicity,
undiluted by the frenzy with which so many modern schools get
carried away.

6

Beware of sentiments like, “Lumen Christi is starting to look like a
'real' school.” Lumen Christi has always been a real school; more real
than the standardized, educational factory line that the last century
has produced; more real than the “edutainment” of the modern
school, which hyper-stimulates and over-accommodates students to
the point that their attention spans are nonexistent and their hearts
and minds unable to be stilled. Thanks be to God, we are different.

7

Private, Independent, Classical

Education in a Modern World

See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy
according to human tradition, according to the elemental powers of the
world and not according to Christ. ~Colossians 2:8

The modern educational landscape is increasingly characterized by
public regulation, informed by secular-minded educational theorists
and political bureaucracies. More than ever, schools are governed by
external standards and oversights. Curriculum is standardized,
textbooks are formulaic, and lessons are scripted. By and large,
today's schools are oversized, over-funded, overly complex, and
overly compartmentalized. In the absence of real instructional
intimacy, the modern school devises program after program to
systematically meet every conceivable need--an approach that has
spread schools too thinly to be effective.

Families, also, are spread too thinly by today's schools. The modern
preoccupation with transcript-building has caused families to commit
inordinate time and energy to extra-curricular activities and sports.
Simply put, schools have adopted the unsustainable practice of
offering every conceivable activity for every conceivable interest.
More and more time is spent in school activities; less and less time in
faith and family activities. Meanwhile the pure and simple mission of
scholarship and character recedes into the background.

These factors are felt in the curriculum as well. The dual pressure of
standardized testing and vocational competency has gradually led to
the disintegration of curriculum. Whereas truth was the prevailing
value of education in previous eras, today’s educational ethic is utility.
That is to say, usefulness consisting in testable facts and demonstrable
job skills, has become the main focus of curriculum. That facts and
skills are legitimate parts of curriculum is indisputable, but the
current tendency to reduce curriculum to their acquisition is seriously
misguided. Without a clear transcendent purpose, facts and skills are
disparate, shallow, and mostly lifeless. There is no progress in

8

learning under these circumstances, the supposed utilities,
themselves, are undermined.

In contrast, classical education seeks the fullest integration of self,
world, and God. It treats every aspect of the curriculum as an inroad
to the divine law in which God is revealed and in which God reveals
man to himself. In the light of this revelation the learner receives facts
(no matter the subject) as pieces of a divine family story and skills as
the means of serving that family. By virtue of integral learning, the
student arrives at a deeper understanding of fact itself, and of its
application to the good of the student and the world in which the
student lives. Over the centuries, we have labeled this integration
"wisdom" and have taken it as the key to success, happiness, and
fulfillment in this world and the next.

Sadly, today's schools--both public and parochial--have lost sight of
wisdom and have replaced it with numbers. Conforming to the
culture of empiricism, education has succumbed to the tendency to
quantify everything, to conceive of every educational goal in
measurable, linear terms. Now more than ever, educational outcomes
are reduced to percentiles on standardized tests. Content is
standardized so that everyone is teaching the same thing according to
the same benchmarks. Teaching methods, too, are standardized as
academia pronounces so-called "research-based best practices,"
which schools adopt without reflection. Textbooks are standardized
so that they present content in conformity with state standards and
testing guidelines. Today's textbooks are filled with learning aids:
bold print terms, glossaries, review questions, vivid pictures and
graphics, but they fail to tell the story of man and his walk with God
and so they fail to capture the minds and imaginations of our youth.

Nearly a century in the making, this formula has failed to inspire our
youth and restore our declining culture. After all, how inspiring is
standardization? Would it inspire patriotism in a citizen to know that
he or she belongs to a "standard" country? Would it inspire love in a
couple to know that each is pledged to the "standard" spouse? How
about an art museum with "standard" paintings, or a restaurant with
"standard fare"? Not exactly the stuff of inspiration.

9

We cannot approach the uniqueness of private, independent, Catholic
schools without honestly and openly addressing the extent to which
many Catholic schools have formed themselves in the mold of secular,
public education. We are called to assert our differences without a
hint of triumphalism, but we are different from most Catholic schools.
It is no secret that most Catholic schools are governed by the same
secular accreditation standards as public schools, and that in being so
governed, they are answerable for secular and state regulations in
their curriculum, in their staffing, and in testing. Under the same
influences as their public school counterparts, many Catholic schools
have made secular regulatory compliance their de facto mission. Very
often, the result is a public school in Catholic school garb, wherein the
religious and academic missions are at odds, and faith and reason are
divided.

Classical Catholic

education seeks to inspire

by persistently turning the

minds of students,

teachers, parents, and the

whole affected community,

to the greatness of God.

The grandeur and wonder

of God in creation and in

the human person made in

God's image, is the source

of inspiration that breathes life into every subject and every teaching

method. To invite the living God into every classroom and every

function of the school is the defining mark of Catholic classical

education. Our standard is the God who moved martyrs to offer

themselves as living sacrifices; the God who inspired the birth of

western civilization; and the God who prompted saints and

missionaries to build our churches, shrines, schools, hospitals, and

charities.

10

Classical Education: A Timeless Pedagogy

“...acquire wisdom, acquire understanding, never forget her.... Do not
desert her, she will keep you safe; love her, she will watch over you.”
~Proverbs 4:5-6

Classical Education is based on the Trivium, the enduring principle
that learning progresses in three phases: grammar, dialectic, and
rhetoric. These are based on the correspondence between natural
stages of intellectual development in children, and the natural
hierarchy of reason. Simply put, the grammar stage concerns the
acquisition of the truths of the natural and supernatural world; the
dialectic stage concerns the use of logic to explain and connect these
truths; and the rhetoric stage concerns the development of
philosophy. This latter stage is characterized by original insights, the
development of systematic independent inquiry, the ability to apply
truth to new situations, and the art of honest persuasion.

Progression from one stage to another does not imply a strictly linear
relationship in which stages are mutually exclusive. Rather, the
progression is cumulative so that all the content and skill mastered in
one domain is carried into the next, and is more fully utilized in its
new state. Truths garnered in the grammar stage, and the logical skills
honed in the dialectic stage become second nature as students
advance in the rhetoric stage. All that is mastered in each stage
becomes virtue–a stable disposition for ongoing formation in truth. In
this light, the first and most crucial test of knowledge is interior, in the
conscience, which “bears witness to the authority of truth in reference
to the supreme Good to which the human person is drawn”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1777).

Grammar: The Younger Years

We most identify grammar with language, and rightly so. In the
Trivium, however, it is not to be reduced to the mechanics of language.
Language is a means of understanding, of discerning, naming, and
explaining reality. This deeper sense of language is the real meaning

11

behind the grammar stage. It is a process of seeing, naming,
understanding, and explaining the human person and its relation to
the world and the Creator. Grammar students are called to do more
than acquire and remember information. They are called to
interiorize truth–to integrate it into their being and be formed by it.
The truth, because it is a reflection of the living God, is a living entity.
When the truth is genuinely known, it is enlightening and enlivening.
It brings light and life to the person who receives it.

Children approach the world with wonder because they see the
transformative power of newly grasped truth. They are humble
enough to see the truth in its purity and let it shine through, free of the
preoccupation of pragmatism. The truth, to a child, is not merely a
means to an end, but something to be appreciated and cherished for
its own sake. What perfect conditions for grammatical learning!
Children, in their receptivity and innocence, are poised to take in as
much truth as the world has to offer, and so their education is aimed
at discovery.

Hence the focus on factual learning in the grammar stage, and the
premium placed on memorizing fact. Memorization has been
portrayed of late as an antiquated, if not abusive, learning method.
This nonsensical notion is based on a misunderstanding of memory.
Memory is not simply the intellectual retention of information; it is
assimilation of truth. When the mind and heart are fully open to truth,
as they are in children, learned facts become part of the person.

For ages we referred to this kind of remembering as “learning by
heart.” This is a much deeper and more permanent reception of fact.
We raise memory to this level in order to keep truth alive in us as a
real thing rather than as so many theorems. The Church likes to refer
to this type of remembering as anemnesis, the presentation of a
remembered truth in actuality. This implies the need to provide only
the most edifying of truths to our children–those truths which have
uplifted humanity, and which have tended to promote man as the
image of God.

Culture is nothing more than the handing on of truth so that man can
be perfected in truth. This is the only path to Godliness and human
fulfillment. Grammar education is a cultural initiation. It takes in the

12

rudiments of understanding and orders them to the fulfillment of the
student’s perfective end. Hence, classical education is especially
attentive to the preservation of true culture, which involves the
positive inculcation of truth and the vigilant repudiation of
destructive influences. This is accomplished not by a siege mentality
or by self-righteousness, but in the single-minded focus on the three
transcendentals: truth, goodness, and beauty.

Dialectic: The Middle Years

From the Greek dialektos, dialectic refers to dialogue or discourse. In
the context of the trivium, it refers mostly to logical discourse. The
middle years, what we might think of as middle school or junior high,
mark the onset of questioning. Questioning in the pre-teens and early
teens, is not supposed to be a rebellious or cynical kind of questioning,
but a constructive inquiry that seeks explanations for what one
knows. To question the rationale for what one knows is not
equivalent to questioning one’s knowledge or challenging what is
known simply for the sake of challenging (skepticism).

At this point in a

student’s normal

cognitive development,

the brain is naturally

more suited to more

complex questions of

cause and effect, and to

abstract questions that

are given to logical

discourse. Factual

information is still an integral part of studies at this point, but the facts

are, as one would expect, more advanced. Moreover, factual

information receives greater treatment as to its interconnectedness.

That is, connections between facts are explored more deliberately and

the unity to which interconnection tends becomes the basis of

metaphysical reasoning. Logical discourse in this phase serves the

dual role of deduction and induction, that of parsing facts and re-

synthesizing for deeper meaning. The more we see the reasons why

things are as they are, as well as the ways in which things are

13

connected to one another, the more we see the infallible hand of
divine providence.

Logic, itself, is not reducible to syllogism. It is a deprived notion that
portrays logic as formulaic. Note that this stage in a student’s
education takes its name not from logic but from discourse.
Discourse, namely Socratic dialogue, is key to full formation.
Dialectical education does not consist entirely of the rules of formal
and informal logic. These are indispensable tools for logical
discourse, but they work alongside their intellectual companions,
creativity and imagination, which persist from early childhood (and
will hopefully never be lost).

Intellect is in no way limited to the physical brain. It exists as a
spiritual faculty that serves us now and in the hereafter. The
emphasis on logical reasoning at this point in a child’s education
assumes the integration of scientific and artistic reasoning. Since the
whole person is engaged in the pursuit of logical reasoning, all that
enriches a person factors into the educational approach. The
integrated approach of which classical education boasts is premised
on the principle that all the academic disciplines work together to
discover and expound truth. The moment we erect an epistemological
wall between the sciences and the arts or between science and faith,
is the moment we depart from the classical tradition. All truth is of
God. As all truths, themselves, tend toward unity, so are the sciences
and the arts united in the apprehension of truth.

For this reason, no student at any level of primary or secondary
education should, so to speak, choose a major. Classical schools, of all
schools, ought to avoid academic specialization. Counter to the
direction of conventional modern schools, classical schools are not to
be thought of as vocational training centers. They exist to form the
whole person in the whole truth. This takes in just about every
fundamental subject and skill a person might need for later career
success, but the point of K-12 education in the classical mode is to
form scholar-saints, who by integrating faith, reason, and virtue, are
enriched in all aspects of life. Graduates of classical education have
mastered the art and science of integration, and in turn, order their
knowledge, their work, and every facet of their lives to fulfilling their
nature as children in the image of God.

14

Rhetoric: The high school years

Despite the modern misconception of the word, rhetoric is not to be
confused with sophistry (using clever language to deceive).
“Rhetoric” has become a pejorative term used to describe the clever
but disingenuous arguments of political ideologues. This is not the
context in which classical education understands rhetoric.

The term is used to indicate the heightened and effective synthesis of
language and reason (the two previous stages). The Rhetoric stage of
classical education is devoted to elevating scholarship. Students at
this level are equipped for a fuller integration of knowledge, in which
wisdom is comprised. This involves more sophisticated analysis–
refining the ability to comprehend, explain, and originate complex
arguments. While philosophical reasoning is introduced in the
dialectic stage, it is augmented in rhetoric. Students who properly
apply themselves at this point in their education become accustomed
to detecting and applying logical nuances such as those modeled by
the philosophers and theologians they read at this level: Augustine,
Thomas Aquinas, John Cardinal Newman, and G.K. Chesterton, to
name a few.

Handling logical nuances prepares students divine nuances. It follows
that growth in the rhetorical stage sets the conditions for meditation
and contemplation, in which students learn to take delight in
pondering the finer points of God. The Sacred Scriptures, the spiritual
and theological treatises of the saints, and the ecclesiastical works of
the Magisterium, are all more interesting and accessible to the
rhetorically trained student. The resulting intellectual and spiritual
character, prepares and motivates students to play meaningful roles
in sharing the mysteries of faith with the world.

Though it is not primarily designed for college and career preparation,
rhetoric is advantageous for both. In short, it supplies graduates with
the critical thinking and creative problem solving skills necessary for
the complex work environment of the 21st century. Rhetoric trains
minds to approach puzzling questions with confidence and, ingenuity.
Students who pass through the rhetoric level have acquired an
expansive core of knowledge, but beyond this they have developed
the habit of thinking deeply, and of examining realities from multiple

15

angles. Better yet, because of the character formation that inheres in
all that they read, discuss, and produce, they approach their tasks with
firm moral integrity.
In most schools, regardless of affiliation, these standards are only
spoken. Classical Catholic schools actually implement them by
structuring their curriculum around the great books rather than
textbooks. Instead of reading a bland description or brief excerpt of
the ancient Greek philosophers (Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, etc.),
classical education students read whole works and discuss them in
detailed seminars that demand active participation. In the typical
classical school, classes are kept small so that effective seminars can
be conducted. Small groups of students gather around a table or in a
circle, books in hand, and together sustain Socratic-style dialogue
over the greatest ideas of the greatest thinkers the world has ever
known. It is far more than small group internet research; far more
than copying down outlines, and far more than checking off a list of
state standards. These discussions stretch the thinking of students
over inspiring and intriguing questions–questions that improve the
mechanics of thought while inspiring the will to virtue.

16

Inspiring Virtue: The Transcendentals

“...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” ~

Philippians 4:8

“Garbage in, garbage out.” It

is a phrase so common that it

has been shortened to an

acronym (GIGO). Yes, it is a

trite phrase, but it has some

truth to it. Virtue is not

inspired by today’s growing

nihilistic philosophies.

Modern education

increasingly consists in

sources laden with despair, licentiousness, and narcissism. These

vices are sometimes directly present in literature, mass media, and

popular philosophies, but they are also present by default when

subjects are presented as devoid of any larger purpose–with no

unifying human or divine ethic. They serve to bind and debase

students, turning them inward to selfish pursuits rather than beyond

themselves to transcendent principles.

Classical Catholic education is intentionally directed to the
transcendent principles of truth, goodness, and beauty. The method
of classical education requires intellectual enlightenment and moral
rectitude as it is built on the notion that teachers and students have
mutual responsibility for the realization of the school’s academic and
religious missions. The content, too, is designed to convey only what
is truly edifying: themes that reflect God’s attributes in man. The truth
is presented as objective, not relative; as belief and behavior that
accords with the divine and natural law. Goodness is never presented
as a quaint and outmoded sentiment, as it is among a growing chorus
of cynics in our times. Goodness is understood as the natural product
of man living according to his true nature. Beauty may be appreciated

17

in different ways, but it is the outward mark of goodness, and thus
attracts us to the goodness it signifies.
Truth, goodness, and beauty are continuous threads running through
every subject in the integrated curriculum of the classical Catholic
school. They provide the larger context for all subjects and a gateway
to the attributes of God Himself. In accord with the parable of the soil,
persistent focus on the transcendentals uplifts the minds and hearts
of students so they are disposed to the Gospel: “And some seed fell on
good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold...as for the
seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard
the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart” (Luke 8:8,15).
We are the children of God living in a world that, in all its grandeur, is
infused with the marks of our Father in heaven. What a joy it is to
receive the gift of natural life (itself a glorious manifestation of our
Creator), and to elevate this natural life through the grace of rebirth!
We have cause for great joy. Indeed, joy ought to be the defining
characteristic of Christian life.
We are redeemed and taken into God’s very life. What a tremendous
dignity we bear! The content of our study ought to reflect this dignity,
and build up students, teachers, and parents. The measure of our
content, therefore, is threefold: (1) it must accord with divine
revelation, (2) it must conform to Magisterial teaching, and (3) it must
reflect truth, goodness, and beauty.

18

Our Logo: A symbol of our

commitment to scholarship and

sanctity

“...conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning,
realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed
on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished
lamb.” ~1 Peter 1:18-19

The Lumen Christi logo says a lot about our school: the Lamb of God
in front of the Cross with the words faith, truth, reason, and virtue
circling the image. Below the image is the phrase, “per Crucem ad
lucem” (through the Cross to the light).

The Lamb of God and the Cross

John the Baptist heralded Jesus as the
Lamb of God: “Behold the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world”
(John 1:29). John the Evangelist, later
refers to this image in the book of
Revelation, in which he depicts a vision of
the heavenly host worshiping Jesus in the
form of the Paschal Lamb. The lamb had
been slain but was alive and standing in
the midst of the gathering, which sang out,
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to
receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and
blessing” (Revelation 5:12).

Jesus, the Paschal Lamb, is a fitting symbol for Lumen Christi in that
the ultimate purpose of our school is to witness Christ’s call to love
one another as He has loved us; that through full self-offering, each of
our lives would participate wholly in the eternal offering of Christ. It
is true that Jesus sacrificed himself, as a lamb led to slaughter, in order

19

to forgive our sins, but His sacrifice was more than expiation alone.
Every word and deed in Jesus’ life is atoning. The mystery of the
incarnation unites divinity and humanity, so that humanity is drawn
into the redemptive work of Christ. Having taken on human nature,
the Son made God’s merits ours. This means that everything we do in
a state of grace is united to the work of Christ.

We celebrate this mystery in the Holy Eucharist, in which we bring to
the altar every good that we have done in God’s name: every prayer,
every job well done, every service of charity, every penitential act, and
every trial born for the good of the kingdom. Having joined all our
works, joys, and sufferings to the Eucharistic offering, we receive the
sign of this communion–the very body, blood, soul, and divinity of our
Lord. Empowered by the Lord’s real presence in us, we become living
tabernacles who literally carry Christ out the doors of the parish and
into the world, to further consecrate our worldly activity so that it can
be joined again to the perpetual Eucharistic offering.

Lumen Christi has always kept the Holy Eucharist at the center of the
school’s life because the Eucharist is the center of our earthly lives–a
foretaste of eternal beatitude to which we are all called. If the
Eucharist is, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “the
source and summit of the Christian life,” it must also be the source and
summit of the life of our school. This was the unwavering
commitment of the founding families of Lumen Christi and it will
remain so. The life of the school depends on it. Our students carry
Eucharistic grace into their study, prayer, and charitable works. Our
teachers carry it into their formation of students. Our families nourish
their homes with it.

Faith and Reason: A Mutual Relationship

Faith and reason are not opposed but rather work together to reveal
God and his plan for mankind. Faith is a gift of God that takes root in
the intellect and will. It is, therefore, dependent on understanding and
proper exercise of the moral faculty. Lumen Christi is called to
connect and co-develop both faculties to produce a unity of truth and
practice, body and soul, disciple and God.

20

Connecting faith and reason is achieved in five ways:

 Formation in grace, brought about by daily Mass, works of love,
obedience, and regular prayer. Spiritual growth is, first and
foremost, a miracle in which God communicates His nature to us.
God’s presence, manifested in the souls of each teacher and
student, is the measure of this school’s Catholicity. We entrust
everything we do to the providence of God.

 Vigorous focus on the content of faith and its reasonableness, that
is, what the Church teaches and why. A Lumen Christi education
should prepare students to live and explain the Catholic faith in its
fullness. Effective religious instruction incorporates multiple
disciplines and teaching methods in order to connect faith to all
aspects of life. Imbued with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit,
Catholicism unites all truth, goodness, and beauty. Faith, therefore,
finds expression in great works of art, literature, history, and
philosophy. Schools that integrate faith and reason immerse
students in all such worthy human aspirations, all the while
cultivating the students’ original insights so that they become God’s
artists, writers, historians, and philosophers.

 Preservation of dynamic orthodoxy—complete loyalty among
faculty, parents, and students to Magisterial teaching, lived out in
joy and evangelistic zeal. We preserve the full revelation of Christ,
for the most part, by practicing and proclaiming it. Right belief and
practice inspires an apostolic spirit, not a fortress mentality. Joy is
the hallmark of our faith. Our dignity as members of the Body of
Christ obligates us to take an oath of loyalty to the Magisterium as
a sign of our commitment to lead our students and the entire school
community to the Truth. By virtue of the universal call to holiness,
we are all (administration, faculty, staff, students, parents, and
benefactors) called to the obedience of faith.

 Communicating the reality that all truths point to God who is Truth
itself. The truths of secular subjects tend toward God, and so
learning about the sciences and humanities reveals the wisdom of
our Creator. Because they incline to the unity of God, the natural
connection among academic disciplines will be discovered as
well—a goal that will be deliberately pursued in the curriculum.
While we strive to see God’s design in all of the disciplines we
study, we understand that faith integration informs the academic
subjects without displacing their content or methodology.

21

 Interconnection among the various disciplines. Within the liberal
arts and sciences, each subject has a unique character that in its
own right inspires wonder. The distinct gifts of each subject
become more fruitful when the various subjects work together.
Students learn history better when they read compelling historical
fiction or the great works of literature that convey the human
drama of historical events. Likewise, literature takes on more
meaning when students see it in its original historical context.
Math students appreciate a Geometry proof more fully when they
learn how a philosopher discovered it just by looking at everyday
phenomena, or when—against the backdrop of an era of
skepticism—they learn how Math expresses immutable and
infallible truths that need no material proof. The student who
thinks his love for poetry and the visual arts means he is not right-
brained enough for science, might open his mind to the artistry of
science when he studies the world’s greatest architectural works
in World History class. The Theology student who thinks doctrine
is dry, might find her heart moved by the original accounts of
martyrs like Polycarp or Perpetua and Felicity, who offered their
lives for faith. She might find motivation in the heroism of
crusaders and the courage of missionaries who risked everything
for truth.

Connections like these are not achieved by accident or lip service.
They happen when two conditions are present: (1) faculty and
administration form a community of scholars (regardless of grade
level) who love the things they ask the students to love; and (2) the
curriculum (including texts) is flexible enough to adjust to
reflective teaching and the new ideas it tends to produce. Such an
approach requires strategies that differ significantly from those of
most modern schools, whether public or parochial:

 Teaching methods that promote intelligent dialogue and coach
the virtues of philosophy at all levels, starting simply at younger
ages and deepening over time.

 Classrooms that form students in time-honored habits of
concentration, quietude, reflectiveness, and self-control.

 Lessons that engage students with interesting stories, intriguing
questions, lively exchanges, challenging problems, and high
standards, rather than process-driven lessons (trendy at the

22

moment) that engage superficially with hyperactive tasks that
entertain but produce little skill or knowledge.

 A greater number and wider variety of texts that capture the
imagination—novels, primary documents, classic literature,
modern Catholic fiction, and books on faith and morals written
for a popular audience.

 A phasing out (where possible) of giant, busy, expensive, overly
comprehensive textbooks that read like annotated outlines and
leave nothing to the students’ imaginations.

 Preference for live person to person interaction as opposed to
interaction mediated by computer technology. Computers are
tools that can be very useful on a limited basis, but the average
student today is drowning in digital media. Technology does not
drive education, thinking and virtue do. Students who are
overly dependent on computers, having grown accustomed to
hyper-stimulation, lose the patience and/or ability to analyze
information in depth. The 21st century student benefits from
access to oceans of information and many new productivities by
means of digital technology, but technology—no matter how
many bells and whistles—exists to serve man, not the other way
around.

Truth

For decades, Christians have battled a growing tide of relativism, the
contradictory assertion that is true that there is no truth (or that we
know the truth that we cannot know the truth). Many in today's
society have adopted this erroneous philosophy, despite its logical
discrepancies, out of a misguided sense that holding to truth is closed-
minded and intolerant. We can debate with relativists (if there are
any true relativists) ad infinitem, and there is some value in staying
on message in our renunciation of relativism, but at root relativism
may be more about taming a rebellious will than proving the logic of
objective truth.

For the one who desires complete moral license or a morally
permissive culture, relativism is a convenient worldview. Jesus
taught that those who deny truth might have ulterior motives: "For

23

everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come
toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever
lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen
as done in God" (John 3:20-21). This is not to say that all relativists
(or those who tend toward relativism) are immoral. The charge of
ulterior motives is based on the fact that relativism does not pass the
logic test and that the failure to see such clear logical flaws is
conspicuous.

If modern secular society had but one commandment, it might be,
"Thou shalt be tolerant." Today's society abhors nothing more than
narrow-mindedness, a label often hurled at committed Christians for
believing what Jesus taught: "I am the way, the truth, and the life"
(John 14:6). Christians have been browbeaten into believing that it is
insensitive and judgmental to believe that Christ is Lord.

Lumen Christi, on the other hand, encourages the full proclamation of
Jesus' divinity and kingship, and of Holy Mother Church as the
"universal sacrament of
salvation" (Vatican II,
Lumen Gentium, 48).
There is positive peer
pressure here to believe
the Gospels and to put
them into action even if
doing so means being
countercultural. After
all, St. Paul taught, "Do
not conform yourselves
to this age but be
transformed by the
renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and pleasing and perfect" (Romans 12:2).While much of
the world debates whether there is truth or whether the truth can be
known, we join in Christ's prayer, "Consecrate them in truth. Your
word is truth." We stake our lives on God's promise that the true path
to freedom is in God's word: "If you remain in my word, you will truly
be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you
free" (John 8:31-32).

24

Virtue

Virtue, in its simplest conception, is a good habit. We have acquired a
virtue when upholding a good becomes second nature to us. There is
something of a hierarchy to virtue, in which the Theological Virtues of
faith, hope, and love—which are infused by grace—are the
prerequisites that dispose us to the formation of acquired virtues that
depend more on our deliberate cooperation. The implication is that
grace is the foundation of virtue. The Church has always held that
every good work is inspired and conducted by grace.
If we want to be people of virtue, we must be people of grace.
Sacraments, prayer and devotion, and service to God and neighbor,
are the seedbed of all virtue. Virtue is, thus, not programmatic. That
is, there is no fail-safe system for manufacturing virtue. It begins as
pure divine gift, and is developed by a relationship with God. For this
reason, the Church holds that life in Christ is not fulfilled by mere
adherence to precepts and philosophies. It is fulfilled by adherence to
a person, Christ Jesus, whose indwelling makes us truly Christian.
This is a mystery that unfolds in our lives as we walk with our Lord.
Knowledge and orthodoxy in faith are absolutely essential, but our
whole being must be united miraculously to God by the free gift of His
life within us. We need to know and accept all the truths of the faith
as part of a loving bond with Jesus, nourished by devotion. In his book,
Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis De Sales referred to the
transforming power of grace as devotion, the virtue by which we are
made “prompt, active, and diligent in the observation of all the
commandments of God.” Devotion, says Francis, “provokes us to do
promptly and with delight as many good works as we can, not only
those which are commanded, but also those which are only of counsel
or inspiration.” Devotion brings to light the fullest realization of our
nature and calling, and so provides a context for the inculcation of
virtue. The goal of educational formation in virtue is to promote a
lively union with God in which virtue is not the rote imposition of will,
but the ardent desire to please our beloved God and to grow in His
likeness.

25

Academic Scholarship: High Standards,

Sensible Methods, Compassionate

Interaction

“Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of
knowledge.” ~ Proverbs 23:12

Being a student is a calling from God that is fulfilled by applying
oneself to learning. Learning is not something imposed by teachers
on students, but is a cooperation in which students embrace their
responsibility in the learning process. Lumen Christi teachers uphold
academic standards that expand and challenge students. They
cooperate with students in the learning process—coaching,
practicing, encouraging, monitoring, and assessing to insure learning.
With the cooperation of parents, teachers hold students accountable
for their progress by reinforcing personal initiative and
responsibility. Above all, they are motivated by charity and treat each
child with the dignity befitting a member of the Body of Christ.

Lumen Christi operates by the simple principle that learning is a
human endeavor, not reducible to standardized tests or state
prescribed standards. Teachers monitor progress on a constant basis
through relationship. Class sizes are small to facilitate interaction
between teachers and students, and teachers are trained to use
reflective teaching practices and pay close attention to classroom
performance. Students are regularly evaluated by each teacher and
systematic feedback is provided to parents. School administration
and faculty are accessible and communicative.

With the input of those who work closest to the students, we have
developed a curriculum that emphasizes fundamentals. Our materials
are highly structured to keep teachers and students on track toward
ambitious goals, without sacrificing the creativity and
lightheartedness that make up young personalities. Because we
establish our own curriculum, we offer a truly localized program that
best suits the needs of our school.

26

Discipline: Proactive, Charitable, Constructive

Discipline, as the name suggests, is an exercise in discipleship. It is a
form of leadership built on a few simple preventative principles:

 Keep students productively engaged in the classroom. The best
way to avoid discipline problems is to work to provide interesting
lessons that call on students to interact with the teacher and each
other, and which provide meaningful (not gimmicky) variety.

 Create a positive rapport in the classroom, a warm environment in
which the teacher knows the students and the students know they
are liked and accepted. This is constructive order—order that is
based on clear but humane expectations. Students who think they
are disliked for normal childhood behavior or who feel they cannot
redeem themselves for prior infractions will pose perpetual
problems.

 Constantly monitor student behavior in classrooms and common
areas. Teachers cannot “catch” everything that might happen in a
classroom or assembly. However, teachers can become
accustomed to noticing feedback cues from their students during
lessons and correcting/adjusting where needed.

 Reward good behavior in the classroom.
 Maintain an age-grouped progressive discipline plan with

consultation and regular feedback from teachers. The plan should
include prescribed elements but allow teachers some freedom in
using their own ideas when appropriate. There is no one-size-fits-
all discipline plan any more than there is one kind of student or
teacher.
 Encourage teachers to handle day-to-day discipline issues as much
as possible.
 Honor the strengths of the teacher. Teachers can reinforce student
expectations in various ways. For example, it generally does not
help a teacher with a softer disposition to pretend to be a drill
sergeant. Teachers thrive when they are encouraged to work
within their personality to maintain constructive order so long as
the teacher maintains such order. The key is having a proactive plan
and sticking to it.
 Communicate student expectations clearly, positively, and
repeatedly to students, teachers, and parents. A few simple
standards understood fully and remembered easily work better
than an exhaustive compendium.

27

 Treat punishments as teaching opportunities. Look for ways to
turn something bad into something good, that is, focus on
correction not retribution.

 Work with teachers to put together classroom discipline plans (i.e.
If students commit this type of infraction, I will respond with…) to
remove guess-work. Promote/structure collaboration among
teachers to generate ideas.

 Include parents in more serious disciplinary issues and chronic
lower-level discipline issues.

Academic Integrity

“[Show] yourself as a model of good deeds in every respect, with
integrity in your teaching, dignity, and sound speech...” ~ Titus 2:7

Unfortunately the idea of academic
integrity has been reduced to a series of
programs aimed at reducing student
cheating on tests and assignments. This is
unfortunate because, while cheating is
clearly immoral and destructive, it is only
one piece of a bigger problem. The bigger
problem is in the misunderstanding of the
“integrity.”

Integrity means wholeness, not just moral
uprightness. This is important to
understand because academic wholeness
is not the same as academic uprightness.
Academic wholeness takes in the whole
school: administration, teachers, students,
parents, and curriculum. To put the issue bluntly, the spirit of
academic integrity is violated by schools that emphasize grades and
transcripts above all else. When the grade becomes all-important, and
the qualitative values of education are marginalized, cheating will
naturally follow. Cheating is simply a means-justifies-the-ends
phenomenon that is driven by over-emphasizing the “end” of a good
grade.

Good grades and strong transcripts are desirable things. They can,
however, become so consuming that intrinsic learning is no longer a

28

priority. This is the shared responsibility of the adult leadership in a
school, including the parents. If teachers place inordinate emphasis
on percentages and grades—mostly by weighting their classes almost
entirely by quizzes and tests—they may be sacrificing intrinsic
learning (learning motivated by true interest in the subject/skill).
There are many other ways to assess knowledge than by tests and
quizzes alone (i.e. internal or external standardized tests), some of
which are plainly better measures of knowledge. Students who are
encouraged to test and apply their knowledge in a variety of ways
would seem more likely to make the content/skill their own—to see
it in relation to their goodness. Variety in assessment can help a lot to
avert the ugliness of cheating because it promotes more personal
investment in the product. Writing, speaking, projects, and unit
portfolios are all means of assessment that involve a personal style
and a personal freedom to take on more individual responsibility for
learning.

The goal of this is personal investment by the student in the actual
learning outcome—the outcome inside the person. If all that matters
to the adults around a student is a number, then students are more
likely to see cheating as a trivial matter. This, by no means justifies
cheating, but educators and parents are called to lead students in good
habits and promote environments that leverage honesty and
responsibility.

We need to address the demand side of this as well, namely the
demand from parents for good grades. Parents, just like everyone else
associated with the school, are busy. They do not have a lot of time to
talk about what, exactly, is being taught and learned by students, and
even if they had the time, students might not be forthcoming. As a
result, parents often revert to a bottom-line mentality, the minimum
measure—the grade. When the grade is good, all is well. When the
grade is bad, someone is in trouble: either the student or the teacher,
or both.

These are the conditions for grade inflation. On this we must be
honest. If, in the pursuit of the highest letter grade and most
impressive transcript, parents pressure students and teachers,
cheating is incentivized for both parties. Once again, this is not a
justification for cheating, but a pressure that makes it more likely.

29

Teachers, just like students, do not want trouble. Good teachers are
generally willing to stand their ground to protect the integrity of the
grading system, but when they are continually on the hook for a
student's grade it can be a miserable situation.

We do not want to create an environment in which it is just easier to
give the higher grade to avoid the fallout. We want to maintain a
culture in which parents truly want the grade to match student effort
and performance. There are strategies that teachers can employ to
aid a struggling student (or one that is close to making the grade but
just barely missing it), but those strategies cannot obviate a stubborn
refusal in the student to do the work it takes to make the grade. In
the long run, our mutual commitment to earned grades will lead to
more learning.

One last consideration for academic integrity: homework. Chances
are, we all did homework growing up. We are used to homework
being a normal part of school. For the most part, homework is helpful
for solidifying classroom concepts through practice and by extending
the lesson. Too much homework is a problem. Overloading students
creates an impossible situation for them; one which might lead to
desperate measures in the student body, like cheating.

It is worth mentioning one more time that cheating is not justifiable,
even if homework stress is high. Cheating is objectively wrong.
Nevertheless, students depend on us to set the conditions for
success—to lead the way. Humane teaching, the kind that develops
students, inside and out, for goodness, depends on measuring the
value of homework against the whole student experience. It seems
advisable to assign homework to the extent that it provides necessary
practice and lesson extension. With homework, it is not a more-is-
better situation.

The type of homework and the time it takes to complete are important
factors in our approach to homework. We all have to do things we
would rather not do, and homework can definitely be such a thing.
However, it is best if homework can be assigned in proper balance to
the demands of other classes, as well as the daily need for prayer,
recreation, and family time. It is also best when effort is given to
making homework assignments interesting (within reason), and

30

meaningful. When homework provides little return on the time
investment and are little more than what most people would consider
“busy work,” it would be better to either change the nature of the
homework or eliminate it. We should have no desire to create a
nightly gauntlet for students just to test their limits. This is something
that the Lumen Christi community understands, but which we would
need to remain mindful of as the “accountability movement” gains
full-steam. When students are using their homework time to
research, write, read great books in preparation for discussion, and
practice difficult concepts, the homework would seem to be a
reasonable demand.

31

Teachers: Vision, Just Wage, Reasonable

Workload, Flexible Training, Collaboration

Hiring teachers that are committed to the vision of the school and
willing to play an active part in maintaining it is essential to realizing
the mission of Lumen Christi. This requires a conscientious search
and interview process. But it also requires an attractive working
environment anchored in these principles:

 Teacher pay has to be a priority in development initiatives because
it has a direct impact on the quality of education Lumen Christi
offers. A just wage (and/or in-kind benefits) attracts teachers that
invest themselves more fully and more permanently in the life of
the school. A revolving door disrupts continuity—distressing
parents, overburdening administration, and depleting the pool of
faculty experienced enough to support a smooth operation. Having
an established faculty gives students a sense of security, and
creates a strong core of experience and expertise. If the community
wants to realize these goals, it must be involved in stewardship,
and in helping to involve new supporters.

 Teachers teach best when they have a manageable workload.
Limiting the number of subjects teachers have to prepare, and
keeping class sizes at optimal levels, enables teachers to devote
more time to their lesson planning and grading. They can be more
creative, offer more feedback on written work, communicate more
often and more meaningfully with parents, and offer more one-on-
one support to students. Naturally, there must be trade-offs when
resources are limited, but our goal should be to avoid, to the
greatest extent possible, spreading our teachers too thin. If it is
necessary for teachers to manage a lot of subjects, then we should
be sure to limit their out-of-class and after-school responsibilities
by sustaining a wide volunteer roster.

 Trained teachers are an asset to the school, but teaching degrees
do not guarantee effective teaching. Lumen Christi has reaped
dividends from the transferable talents and skills that non-certified
teachers have gained in other career fields, home schooling, parish
work, and family life. Lumen Christi teachers consistently produce

32

students whose knowledge, character, and skills rival and exceed
that of students from schools that employ only licensed teachers.
Solid, user-friendly instructional materials provide a framework
for our teachers to plan and implement their curricula. Some
(maybe many) of our materials come from home-schooling
curricula, and rightly so, because they are effective from multiple
standpoints: (1) they drill on fundamentals, (2) they integrate faith
across disciplines, (3) they maintain a challenging pace, and (4)
they provide plenty of guidance for the teacher, with a built in
scope and sequence that is carefully scheduled.

Nevertheless, we should support ongoing training for our teachers,
in and off campus, on school time. NAPCIS certification should be
considered, but not necessarily normative, in our training efforts.
Offerings should include content area training and teaching
methods workshops on such topics as practical Theology,
classroom management, teaching for conversion, parent-teacher
communication, engaging teaching practices, child-development,
and motivational strategies. There is an ample corps of experts in
the greater Indianapolis area who happen to be Catholic that could
offer an hour or two to share their knowledge, and there is a lot we
can do to draw on existing talent in the building.

 Teachers are remarkably resourceful and creative people, but they
too seldom get a chance to talk to each other about game plans. It
is often the case that faculty meetings are reduced to exercises in
hoop jumping with a dizzying array of administrative odds and
ends. This may be a necessary evil to a very limited extent, but
organizational details don’t have to crowd out dialogue on teaching
practices. Faculty meetings are opportune times to get ideas,
feedback, and questions from faculty. They should solicit
collaboration on school culture, teaching strategies, and success
stories—nothing forced or contrived, not a support group model,
but a chance to put our heads together on issues that impact
teaching and learning. Weighing the possibility that this approach
risks idealism, sound planning might allow both aspects,
managerial and philosophical, to be treated in faculty meetings.

To achieve this balance, miscellaneous announcements will be
minimized, prioritized, and printed (or posted/sent online). Meetings
will be structured to frame constructive conversation. There will

33

always be a need to handle minor business items, but teachers’ time
is precious and we need to be efficient. Ideally, discussions would
allow us to work on things that most affect teaching and learning:

 “How are students doing with discipline?”
 “What is your input on ‘engaged learning’? How is it

achieved?”
 “What kind of parent communication is most valuable to you and

how can we make it happen?”
 “What works to motivate students?”
 “What specific virtues are especially in need of development in our

students? What sort of plan do we have to meet the
need?”
 “What can we do to prevent students from being shut out socially?”
 “What strategies can we use to provide meaningful writing
assessments without overloading ourselves with
grading?”
 “What are our students’ greatest academic shortcomings and what
can we do in the classroom and school-wide to work them
out?”
 “What works best for responding to common discipline problems
in the classroom?”
 “Provide some input on how a course syllabus should look. What
would you want to see as a parent?”
 “What are the most convenient and effective means (from teacher
and parent perspectives) of updating parents on student progress?
Are we doing all we can and should?”
 “What do we need to do to prevent/overcome religious
indifference? Apathy and sloth in study?”
 “How can we use liturgical seasons to reinforce our school-wide
learning and behavior objectives?”
 “How should we answer students when they ask why they need to
learn the material or when they are going to use it?”

34

Athletics

“Train yourself for devotion, for, while physical training is of limited
value, devotion is valuable in every respect, since it holds a promise
of life both for the present and for the future.” ~ 1 Timothy 4:8

We live in a sports crazed
society. In many ways,
sports has been elevated
to the level of religion in
modern culture. For much
of the world, sports is the
one thing that arouses
passion, camaraderie, and
self-sacrifice. Would that
faith, family, and the
apostolate could motivate
such fervor.

Sports are great. We should enjoy sports. They bring to light some
great virtues: teamwork, preparation, civic pride, good health,
recreation, creativity, talent, to name a few. Sports should not, though,
be the obsession that it has become—it is disproportionate.

The obsession with sports has trickled (more like flooded) down to
our schools. Many parents today can testify that they spend most of
their evenings trucking children from one athletic event to another—
sometimes traveling hours for events—attending multiple practices
and games each week. Students start multiple weekly practices in
multiple sports from as early as 2nd or 3rd grade. Schools divert
massive resources to building and maintaining sports facilities (most
of which they cannot afford). Sports becomes the prime focus of the
school community in many districts, and student athletes are
subjected to pressures and accolades that are not appropriate for
their age.

35

Lumen Christi has not fallen prey to this...yet. God willing, it never
will. Will Lumen Christi ever offer athletics? This is not for one
administrator to decide. Should our students enjoy sports?
Absolutely. Like all activities that occur at Lumen Christi, sports
should be oriented to our vision. That is to say, how do sports support
the formation of students as faithful Catholics who are developing all
their faculties for the fullest exercise of human dominion in the world?

Sports are one piece of a fully developed person. We need to be
healthy in mind and body in order to have the energy and well-being
to do God's will. For most people these ends are achievable by taking
up a life-long sport such as weight training, running, swimming,
biking, and golf (there are others). These are the kinds of sports that
can be done on one's own—that do not require multiple teammates.
They are also the kind of sports that do not place unreasonable
demands on a school's staff, volunteers, and finances.

It may be that intramural sports become part of the life of Lumen
Christi in the future, but even this should be a matter of discussion as
to its merits in fulfilling the mission. It is wise to be cautious about
the introduction of sports because, in schools, even intramural
programs can spark an incremental desire for something bigger and
more competitive. This happened at Franciscan University of
Steubenville, which has managed the program well, but which has also
created a whole new need for fundraising and a whole new category
of student life to manage. This has and will continue to create facility
and staffing demands that were not there before. For now, it might be
best to plug Lumen Christi students into CYO, encourage personal
exercise, and look for informal opportunities for students to engage in
sports together (open gym, road races, etc.).

36

Service

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be
hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel
basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your
good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” ~ Matthew 5:14-16

Apostolic works, service to God and one another, start in one's

immediate environment. God regularly brings into our lives

opportunities to serve one another, but we might miss them if we are

not looking for them. There is a place for service in a school. Lumen

Christi has been involved in multiple forms of charitable service over

the years, and is always looking for ways to expand service

opportunities for students (teachers and families too). There is a

balance however, between what a Catholic school asks of students in

service, and what the students are called to do in their parishes and

families. Catholic schools should be mindful that while Catholic school

is an important source of formation, the parish and family are

primary. Parishes work

hard to involve young

people in active service

ministry, but often fail to

win their interest and

participation. Catholic

schools occupy students

roughly 40 hours per

week, and perhaps

another 10-15 hours per

week in homework.

This still leaves some

Student fulfill the corporal work of mercy, room for extra service
“Visit the imprisoned,” by bringing cookies activities, pilgrimages,
to prisoners. and field trips, which
are all enriching to the

37

school and its students. Beyond this, the parish and family ought to
benefit from the service initiatives of our young people. While in
school, students are reminded that, as everyone is called according
one's state in life, being a good student, minding the needs of
classmates, and contributing to the life of one's parish and family are
sources of abundant service opportunities.

38

Development: Rooted in Evangelization

The first task of development is to promote our vision in the
community—to publicize our mission, our distinctiveness, and our
accomplishments. Resource support will be generated by convincing
our friends in the community that we are worth the investment.
There are undoubtedly motivated prospective patrons who are
looking for ways to support authentic Catholic education, specifically
a school that will devote resources efficiently to the bottom line—
faithful Catholic scholarship. The world is in great need of scholar-
saints to restore the proper intellectual and moral foundations for
freedom to prosper, and this is a mission in which all concerned
citizens have a stake.

In order to connect our mission with supporters, we have to seize
opportunities to broadcast what makes us unique:

 Vibrant orthodoxy
 Daily Mass
 Superior academic standards integrated with content-driven

religious instruction
 Small class sizes in an intimate and personalized

environment
 Devoted teachers who sign an oath of loyalty to the Magisterium
 Parents who fully support the religious mission of the school and

its integration across all school activities.
 No-nonsense curriculum based on fundamentals

In this way, our campaign to garner support for our school’s needs,
becomes a mission of evangelization universally applicable to Catholic
life. Lumen Christi represents fidelity to the teachings of the Church,
integrity of spiritual and corporeal life, and a commitment to
simplicity, all hallmarks of sound Catholicity.

There are many opportunities to publicize and seek support for our
mission:

 Cultivating existing relationships. Our benefactors often supply

39

us with resources to advance the work of the school, but they also
offer us their friendship and their prayers. Once they are
connected with us, they become members of our family.
 Speaking and staffing vendor tables at local/regional conferences
of apostolates related to our mission
 Seeking out radio/television interviews to highlight the school
and school-related events
 Press releases to Catholic publications
 Publishing by our board members, administration, teachers, and
parents
 Networking with pastors and lay leaders at parishes
 Sponsoring and conducting catechetical initiatives (Catholic
speakers, parent workshops, discussion groups, etc.)
 Conventional advertising on Catholic radio, internet, and print
media
 Improving the web site to increase views and public
interaction
 Brainstorming new creative, low-cost, fundraisers in addition to
those we currently operate (auctions, Scrip, shopping cards,
etc.)
 Endowment fund capital campaigns (utilizing our new
promotional video and board contacts)
 Direct giving opportunities on the website

We will exercise care in funding and organizational integrity. Trust in
God’s providence demands that we avoid money-motivated
compromises in our mission. Our supporters understand the calling
of this school. They have given selflessly, beyond our expectations,
and they have always respected the integrity of the school's decision-
making process. We want to continue that tradition. Love for the
Church and our students, parents, and teachers wins influence at
Lumen Christi. God will provide for our needs so long as we stay true
to his calling.

40

Independent Accreditation

Independent Accreditation

through NAPCIS is not a

renegade or isolationist

position. Rather it is a way

to maximize our mission

effectiveness. Lumen

Christi serves parents who

want traditional-minded

Catholic education in an

intimate setting that

focuses on doing a few things really well: Theological instruction,

sacramental life, and down-to-earth academic fundamentals in a

thoroughly Catholic framework. Parents appreciate the pure and

simple approach that Lumen Christi takes, which contrasts

significantly with the often complex and over programmed

environments that weigh down many other Catholic schools.

Independence allows Lumen Christi the flexibility to pursue our goals

without bureaucratization and micromanagement from multiple non-

Catholic oversight agencies, and/or diocesan agencies/personnel

unaccustomed to the culture of the school.

Lumen Christi maintains that simpler and smaller works better to
preserve our shared vision. Diocesan Catholic schools, while led and
staffed by well-intentioned and qualified personnel, submit to a high
level of state curriculum regulation and non-Catholic accrediting
standards. Granting such influence to state and secular agencies tends
to steer them away from interdisciplinary Catholic curricula, simple
and responsive leadership structures, and localized priority-setting.
Self-governance allows Lumen Christi to put mission first—that is, to

41

base decisions on the shared vision of the board, administration,
parents, and students. Parents are more assured that their students’
classmates come from families with similar priorities as their own.
Lumen Christi’s autonomy, in other words, has situated it as a magnet
school for families with some or all of these distinctive needs:
 a curriculum that incorporates Catholic connections in all

subjects
 a schedule built around daily Mass attendance for all

students
 a faculty unanimously loyal to the Church’s

Magisterium
 a culture welcoming to home-schooling backgrounds and

sensibilities
 an emphasis on traditional devotions
 a back-to-basics setting that models simplicity
 a family base that prioritizes faith and whose prime motivation

for choosing Catholic education is their children’s growth in
holiness

42

The Role of Headmaster: Mission

Specialist, Teacher Advisor, Parent Link,

Facilitator

A recent survey of school Principals by Education World ranked “has
a stated vision for the school and a plan to achieve that vision” as the
number one trait in a school administrator. The preeminent task of a
school administrator is to insure the vision of the school, and nowhere
is this more important than at Lumen Christi, because mission is why
parents choose us. The mission, as variously stated above, can be
distilled to this:

Lumen Christi Catholic School is an independent Catholic School that
imparts Catholic faith and scholarship in four ways:

 The grace of the sacraments
 A commitment by the whole Lumen Christi community to Catholic

belief and practice in accordance with the Church’s Magisterial
teachings
 Challenging curriculum based on lively discussions and engaging
texts
 A commitment to the virtue of simplicity

The plan for achieving this mission:

 Daily all-school Mass. Lumen Christi was founded on this principle
and blessed with the ability to carry it out. This should continue
permanently.

 Communicate the mission to parents, teachers, and students
proactively (stated in all our literature, school tours, open houses,
admission interviews and application materials, advertisements,
public speaking events, mission statements, contracts, evaluations,
school discipline plan, and most importantly, by our lived witness).

 Form the curriculum around the mission by choosing materials of
high Catholic and academic value across the curriculum, and
review the curriculum for effectiveness regularly.

 Mentor and reinforce classroom instruction that arouses true faith
and practices sound principles of scholarship, by sharing ideas,

43

conducting regular teacher observations and follow-ups, and
providing ample opportunities for teacher training.
 Hire promising teachers that demonstrate commitment to the
school’s mission.
 Promote the value of simplicity by focusing on the two pillars of
our academic program (faith and scholarship) and minimizing
non-essential activities.

The Headmaster is a link to parents as a two-way communicator,
informing families of school vision, policies, events, changes, and
needs. He also listens to parent input and creates structures for
utilizing parent insights and talents. It is essential that part of the
Headmaster's day is devoted to communication by phone, computer,
or personal appointments. There are protocols that need to be
established ahead of time in the Headmaster-parent interchange in
which two minimum standards are set. First, charity must be the rule
of all conversation. Incivility and belligerence are irreconcilable with
Christian decency. Second, while parent input is not only welcomed
but deliberately sought, the administration/board cannot be expected
to yield to every opinion. All ideas are taken seriously, but not all will
become school policy.

Finally, the ideal form of leadership in a Headmaster is reflective and
facilitative. While it is necessary, at times, to make swift command
decisions, this is an exception not a rule. The best broad-based
decisions come about as a result of weighing options carefully,
seeking input, and making an informed judgment driven by the
school’s vision. Consultative authority can take time, but in the long
run it helps prevent trial and error mismanagement. No leadership
model, save that established by Christ, is infallible, so mistakes will be
made and corrected, but this is how positive growth occurs so long as
we remain patient, flexible, and imaginative.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in
darkness, but will have the light of life”
John 8:12

[email protected]

44

45