St. Augustine said, “Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.” At Seton, we work towards justice and equity through education—to defy the idea that demography is destiny. I have been praying for our Seton community, and for all of you—and I have been praying that this will be a historic moment for change in our country.
The middle of June marked the end of formal learning for our Seton school communities. All sixteen (and soon to be twenty) of our schools—Catholic and charter alike—are communities of hope. Over the past 3+ months, that became ever more clear. As our Catholic tradition teaches, hope is the “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.” Our staff, living Seton’s mission of hope and justice, worked tirelessly to make sure that we did right by the children and families we serve, living in COVID-19’s hardest hit communities.
We could not have done so without God’s grace and your generosity. When we launched our Living Hope campaign in March, we wanted to showcase the small and large acts of sacrifice and kindness in our communities. Then you asked how you could help. Your response was breathtaking.
I am so very grateful for your many, many acts of love for Seton’s children and families. In just 12 weeks, we raised well over $300,000 from hundreds of people who had never before given to our work—and who didn’t personally know the families we serve. I am overwhelmed by your generosity. Thank you.
This brief video highlights the real good that you did in such a short period of time. You literally fed our children and sheltered our families. You paid for the funeral of a father who died of COVID-19 so his wife and children could grieve without additional anxiety. And you made sure that rigorous learning in caring communities did not skip a beat.
A friend of mine said to me, “Do all you can, for all you can, as often as you can. It could be what makes all the difference.” And you did exactly that.
As we reach the end of a historic school year and a pivotal moment of reckoning in our country, I am left with a well-spring of gratitude. Yes, the evil and suffering in this world is real. And there is also so much goodness—so much hope. YOU are our Living Hope.
