Since 1974, National Catholic Schools Week ("CSW") has been observed in the United States through promotion by the National Catholic Education Association ("NCEA") and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ("USCCB"). This annual observance, which begins on the last Sunday of January, has been an essential part of Catholic Schools and Parishes celebrating the gift of Catholic Education.
When I was a Catholic School student in the 80s and 90s, CSW meant a week of fun with catchy phrases like "Be Rad, Stay Plaid" that would help promote the activities and garner attention and interest in Catholic Schools. Since then, the NCEA has assigned a larger framework for CSW with a national theme for the week and individual themes for each day.
The CSW 2025–2026 theme is, "Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community." Daily themes include celebrating your parish, community, students, volunteers, vocations, families, nation, faculty, and staff. The week often begins with the celebration of Mass, usually on the opening Sunday, as part of the regular parish celebration. The closing Mass is traditionally held within the context of the weekly school liturgy.
In my experience, CSW is sometimes misconstrued as lessening the importance or effectiveness of public schools. As a pastor, this is my opportunity to explain what CSW is and is not. CSW is not a condemnation of public schools or homeschools. Quite the opposite, we need all three systems: Catholic schools, public schools, and homeschool options. No one system can consume the other two.
Furthermore, the choice of where a child is educated is a decision that only the family has the right to make. Additionally, the USCCB does provide opportunities to celebrate the Church's work in educating her youth through observances outside CSW, such as Catechetical Sunday. If anything, CSW aims to bring all of education under the Church's answer to what Christ has charged us to do - to promote the truth of the Gospel. CSW is not an opportunity to exclude but to open our arms of welcome and our mouths with truth.
Now that we have the "dictionary" definition of what CSW is – I offer my explanation of CSW with three words that come to mind: sacrifice, vocation, and hope. While these three words are already connected to the life of the Christian, I believe they take on a specific importance when it comes to Catholic education and why and how we focus on this special week.
In my opinion, sacrifice is an action that has been lost in our society. All of us, at times, convince ourselves that we are making a sacrifice when we experience a little pain, an inconvenience, or a "first-world problem." Christian love, as modeled by Love Himself, has at its heart the act of putting aside oneself for the sake of the other. The mystery of redemptive suffering found on the Cross of Jesus Christ is the true reality of the sacrifice we are all called to. Throughout my time in Catholic Education as a student and administrator, I have been surrounded by great examples of sacrifice. Every year, when I preach the opening Mass for CSW, I make sure I thank my parents for their sacrifice. Paying Catholic school tuition for everyone is a sacrifice, no matter the family's financial situation. Growing up, my parents worked hard to meet the financial obligation of Catholic School tuition. In answer to a question about why they chose to make this sacrifice, my father once wrote that in my mom, the person God chose to be his partner for life, he saw how Catholic education helped to mold her into the person she became and he wanted the same for his children.
Sacrifice places demands on us. I remember in my early years of priesthood as a high school chaplain, I accompanied the school's music department on a trip to Disney World. As we boarded the plane to Orlando, one of the students asked me, "Father, how many times have you been to Disney?" To which I responded, "This is my first." The shocked and dismayed look on that child's face gave me pause. Sure, had my parents sent us to public school, our lives may have had a whole list of things: double the gifts at Christmas, vacations that included plane rides, and even a few trips to Disney. But here's the truth: sacrifices are a pathway to happiness that even Disney World cannot bring. Our summers were filled with days at the local pool, day trips to the Jersey Shore, trips to Dutch Wonderland and the Philadelphia Zoo, and yes, we were happy! We were happy because we were together, and the sacrifices my parents made reminded us that life is about the people and love you have around you and not the things you fill your life with that can create the mirage of love and sacrifice.
Sacrifice leads to the second description of CSW, which is vocation. Again, as a student and an administrator in our Catholic Schools, I have been surrounded by educators who saw what they did as a vocation and not just a job. Furthermore, their vocation was to witness the love of Christ to us by the manner of their life so that we could also find our vocation. One of the principal reasons I am a priest today is because of the teachers who sacrificed their time, talent, and treasure to make sure I knew they loved me as an extension of my family and God's love for me. The additional benefit of the vocations present and formed in Catholic Schools is the ability to talk about the One who is at the heart of it all. Living in a world of assumptions that everyone "knows" what we mean when alluding to God or the Christian life is not a safe space at all. Mean what you say and say what you mean has become an essential concept for our youth today. Knowing the Person from Whom all of that comes and being able to speak His name not only at home but at school makes a big difference.
We are now at the beginning of 2025 when the Church celebrates the Ordinary Jubilee, which is celebrated every 25 years. When the Church celebrated the last Ordinary Jubilee 25 years ago, in the year 2000, I was a 17-year-old high school student who had the opportunity to attend World Youth in Rome with St. John Paul II. It was there that the Lord sealed the vocation to the priesthood in this priest. But the seed of my vocation was planted years earlier by those around me whose sacrifice and vocations revealed the hope that awaited me.
This Jubilee Year that we enter is the "Year of Hope," in which each of us is called to be a Pilgrim of Hope. Catholic Schools will celebrate the Year of Hope in 2025, but they have always taught young and old alike that hope is not a thing or a concept. It is not something we generate on our own. Hope is rooted in a Person, and it is in the Person, Jesus Christ, where hope was given to the world because He lived out His vocation as One who willingly sacrificed himself for others.
So, my dear friends, as we take time from January 26 to February 1, 2025, to celebrate Catholic Schools Week, please do not let the opportunity pass you by. While the week will be full of open houses, fun events, and focused themes, I challenge you to think more deeply about this year's celebration. Ask yourself what really matters. What do I value for myself, my children, my family, and society? If things like sacrificing for others, finding your ultimate happiness in your vocation, and embracing hope guided by the Savior of the World aren't fundamental in your lives or aren't things you want to instill in your children, then "continue scrolling." However, if sacrifice, vocation, and hope appeal to you as core values and the true bedrock of life and happiness, take a moment to celebrate the people, places, and things that make Catholic Schools possible and say thank you.
I was always taught to lead by example; while not perfect, I strive every day to give my best effort. So let me end by thanking God, my guardian angel, St. John Paul II, my mom and dad, Fr. Joe, Mrs. Foley, Mrs. Graham, Sr. Nicholas, Sr. Mary Ellen, Sr. Carol, Mr. Arty, Mrs. Thompson, Msgr. Bocian, Sr. Rita, Mrs. McCarthy, Mrs. Motely, Mr. Nemes, Mr. Bach, Mrs. Miskar, Mrs. Miller, Mr. Smith, Mr. Kindlick, Mrs. Prechtl, and so many others who reminded me along the way what Catholic Schools are all about and why it's important to celebrate them.
By Fr. Allen J. Hoffa, Pastor of Holy Guardian Angels Parish in Reading.
