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Bill Eager
Dear Brother and Sister Cursillistas, When Joan Brown asked me to write a witness for His Banner, I thought not me. It wasn't so much that I'm not worthy but rather that I really didn't have that much to say. How hard is it to be a witness in a Catholic school? Well, Joan was encouraging and so I said "yes". She told me to focus on how I have worked to change my environment, a good Cursillo word. I made my Cursillo in May, 1985. I have a picture on my desk of "the laughing Christ". I think I've only seen one such picture in all my Christian bookstore shopping. If you have a "picture" in your mind of what I'm referring to, I'm sure it's the one on my desk. Anyway, that picture best describes my Cursillo weekend. My weekend was a living experience of the real joy of what it means to know the Lord and to know how much he loves you. It was the celebration of what I had believed my whole life. It took my belief system and put it into a relationship with real people. At the time of my weekend, I had been a Catholic school principal for about six years. I am now in my twentieth. I went from over ten years in corporate life to the ministry of catholic education. Twenty years later, I am very grateful the work God has allowed me to do and I am totally happy in my job. My sharing begins about three years ago. My wife, Carol, and I have eleven children. When my daughter, Elizabeth, (#5) graduated from college, she became a volunteer in a catholic teaching program serving inner-city schools. She requested southeast Washington, D.C. and was assigned a 4th grade class there. I had spent 13 years in a suburban school on this side of the river; talking to my daughter, I became aware of the special needs and challenges of some of the city schools. I requested a transfer into the city and had several interviews. I accepted a position at St. Anthony Catholic School "in the heart of Brookland." My first goal was to get to know the faculty. Since it was the end of the school year, I decided to meet with each faculty member over the summer. I asked each one to sign-up to meet with me individually for four hours. As you might imagine some of the "veterans" wondered what we would do for four hours! Well, for two hours we had a conversation. I wanted to know what was their passion for catholic education and St. Anthony's. I wanted to know what they wanted me to keep and what they wanted me to change. We went to the noon Mass and then to lunch together. For the most part, I listened but also planted the seeds of several new ideas that I planned to initiate. They were relatively simple things but they would change school life. I told the teachers that beginning the next school year we would meet every morning for prayer. I explained that the prayer would rotate each week from teacher to teacher. Each teacher would be totally responsible for the content, style and length of the prayer. After the prayer, we would discuss issues of the day.I also told them that each week would begin and end with an all-school prayer service. All of our students along with their teachers would come together in prayer to open and close our week at school. Each week the prayer service would rotate from class to class. Some teachers liked my ideas but most felt it was another stress on an already difficult schedule. I appreciated their concerns but was determined to have these prayer times become part of our school environment. As you know, there are no "magic wands", but I love gathering with the faculty to begin each day. Remember the old adage, "the family that prays together stays together?" It works for catholic school faculties, too. I find there's not too much "small talk" in the faculty room when you acknowledge your common unity each day. Each Monday and Friday we gather in the hall as a particular class leads us in prayer. We always close by joining hands and praying the Our Father. There is an energy and a power in the hall when this happens. Often this is my closest moment to Christ for the week. Afterwards, I take a few minutes to talk with the students. I feel very fortunate at these times. These minutes and times like them are the major reason I have stayed in catholic education all these years. I get to share with our students what I "felt" in such a strong way on my Cursillo weekend; God loves you. Now love somebody else.Earlier, I said these changes were rather simple ones. God works, however, in our simple efforts. At the end of this year a second teacher will leave our school to become a principal in the Archdiocese of Washington. We are all proud of that. When our first colleague became principal, he called me. He wanted me to know that in his new school they had begun to meet each morning to pray and plan. He also wanted me to know that their school community now began and ended each week in prayer. One of the most encouraging words came on our recent faculty retreat. During a sharing about the good things at our school, our most senior teacher(33 years of service) stated that the most positive thing in the school over the past few years are the weekly prayer services. Thank you, Lord, for faithfulness in blessing our small efforts at acknowledging your presence where we live and work. DeColores, Bill Eager |
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