Category: General

Brothers and sisters in Christ, I would like to share two brief reflections for the Triduum, as the reality of our “yes” to the Lord is made known in the cross of Christ. 

First, in the context of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus says, “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first…” (Jn. 15:18). The reality is, by choosing Jesus we are choosing to be counter-cultural. By choosing Jesus we are choosing to be alienated, and yes, hated. By choosing Jesus we are choosing to be persecuted. The question I wish to posit is, do we know who/what we are choosing, fully and completely? The Triduum gives us a glimpse into our choosing Jesus, which does not end in death, but rises in glory. 

The second brief reflection is this: As Catholics, the cross and the crucifixion have a special place in our hearts for adornment because the crucifixion reminds us of our calling, namely, to be persecuted with and for Christ’s sake so we may rise with Him. As Pope St. John Paul II notes in his Triduum reflection, “the Church puts the adoration of the Cross at the center of the Good Friday liturgy, not as a symbol of death but as a source of authentic life.”      

My master’s thesis was on “Theology of Suffering and Vicarious Satisfaction” (I’d be happy to share with anyone interested), so I have spent a lot of time learning and reflecting on redemptive suffering and how the most intimate relationship I have found with the Lord is in meditating on His cross. For me, the cross of Christ has been the learning tree. I invite you all, as a family and as a community, to sit at the foot of the learning tree, where the Lord wishes to reveal the glory He has stored up for you in the Resurrection. 

Happy Triduum and most especially, Happy anticipatory Resurrection. — Headmaster Eric Schreiber

St. John Paul II Classical School and Chesterton Academy are of the Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) School System. They are private Catholic classical schools serving Montessori preschool and elementary through high school. They have open enrollment and provide an individualized education in an integrated faith-based environment. Each child is supported not only academically, but spiritually. Learn more by scheduling a visit.

“In the midst of this season of sorrow and repentance we are presented with the hope of the Annunciation. It is in Mary’s fiat to the Incarnation, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk. 1:38), that we receive Jesus’ fiat to the cross, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done” (Lk. 22:42).  

I would argue that the lens with which we pray the Annunciation, especially during this Lenten season, we are equipped more fully to enter into Holy Week next week. It is not about mere submission; rather, it is about entering into God’s love with a response of love. In the words of one of my theological heroes, Pope Benedict XVI, it affirmed: “Mary’s yes to God was not just an act of submission, but an act of profound trust and love.” 

Mary’s response models for us the lifelong journey of saying yes to God, daily; not only when it is easy or convenient. Our “yes” begins at conception and ends at death. As we fast and practice self-denial this Lent, it is worth asking: What are we making room for? What is our “yes” forming within us, and how is it shaping our relationship with the Lord?”   — Headmaster Eric Schreiber

St. John Paul II Classical School and Chesterton Academy are of the Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) School System. They are private Catholic classical schools serving Montessori preschool and elementary through high school. They have open enrollment and provide an individualized education in an integrated faith-based environment. Each child is supported not only academically, but spiritually. Learn more by scheduling a visit.

As we enter the last couple weeks of Lent, a most powerful reflection has sat on my heart that I wish to share:

“Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep [Gate] a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be well?’” – Jn. 5:2-6.

At first glance, the answer seems obvious, but the Gospel reveals something deeper. After 38 years, the man’s suffering had become familiar, even formative. His identity was shaped by it.

In asking this question, Christ is not seeking information; He is inviting transformation.

To be made well is not simply to be healed; it is to step into a new way of living. It requires letting go of what has defined us, even when it is burdensome, and embracing the responsibility, freedom, and vulnerability that come with conversion. There is a real tension here: It can feel easier to remain where we are—to explain, to justify, even to dwell in our limitations—than to rise and be changed.

Lent confronts us with this same question. Do we truly desire the wholeness Christ offers? And if so, are we willing to surrender what is comfortable, familiar, or self-defining in order to receive it?

Christ’s invitation is clear, but our response must be intentional. — Headmaster Eric Schreiber

St. John Paul II Classical School and Chesterton Academy are of the Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) School System. They are private Catholic classical schools serving Montessori preschool and elementary through high school. They have open enrollment and provide an individualized education in an integrated faith-based environment. Each child is supported not only academically, but spiritually. Learn more by scheduling a visit.

“In his 1981 Lenten message, Pope John Paul II said:

“Lent is a time of profound truth, which brings conversion, restores hope, and, by putting everything back in its proper place, brings peace and optimism. Lent is a time that makes us think about our relationship with ‘Our Father’; it re-establishes the order that should reign between brothers and sisters. Lent is a time that makes us jointly responsible for one another; it detaches us from our selfishness, small-mindedness, meanness and pride; it is a time that enlightens us and makes us understand better that we too, like Christ, must serve.”

Notice the language he uses: relationship, order, responsibility, service. This is precisely the foundation of our identity as a Catholic classical school.

From rightly ordered relationships, we receive our identity. And from our identity flows our mission. Without ordered relationships, the other two become subjective ideologies, left to one’s own interpretations. 

If we allow God to order our relationships, clarify our identity, and purify our intentions, we will emerge from this season stronger, more unified, deeply rooted in who we are called to be. 

As we continue in this Lenten journey together, take some time to identify areas within that have contributed to disunity (i.e. gossip, slander, detraction, judgement, etc.), offer them to the Lord, and prudently allow the healing power of the cross to move us toward forgiveness. — Headmaster Eric Schreiber

St. John Paul II Classical School and Chesterton Academy are of the Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) School System. They are private Catholic classical schools serving Montessori preschool and elementary through high school. They have open enrollment and provide an individualized education in an integrated faith-based environment. Each child is supported not only academically, but spiritually. Learn more by scheduling a visit.

Recently, GRACE School System President Kimberly Desotell spoke about the Pennings Promise Plan from St. Norbert College. Her quote was included in this article about the scholarship.

You can learn more about the Pennings Promise Plan here.

St. John Paul II Catholic School and Chesterton Academy are of the Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) School System. They are private Catholic schools serving Preschool and Elementary through high school, adding one grade per year. They have with open enrollment and provide an individualized education in a faith-based environment. Each child is supported not only academically, but spiritually. Learn more by scheduling a visit.

As our patron and great saint of the 20th century said about Lent, 
Lent is a time of profound truth, which brings conversion, restores hope and, by putting everything back in its proper place, brings peace and optimism. Lent is a time that makes us think about our relationship with “Our Father”; it re-establishes the order that should reign between brothers and sisters. Lent is a time that makes us jointly responsible for one another; it detaches us from our selfishness, small-mindedness, meanness and pride; it is a time that enlightens us and makes us understand better that we too, like Christ, must serve (Pope JPII, Message for Lent 1981).  

From our rightly ordered relationships we receive our identity, which in turn defines our mission. 

Because our mission requires unity and emphasizes forming saints for the new millennium, I am challenging everyone in our community to recommit themselves to this mission. Moreover, the more we recommit ourselves the more this will be a fight. This is why the Lenten season is a perfect opportunity to trust in the Lord and persevere as we enter into God’s Glory.    — Headmaster Mr. Schreiber

St. John Paul II Classical School and Chesterton Academy are of the Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) School System. They are private Catholic classical schools serving Montessori preschool and elementary through high school. They have open enrollment and provide an individualized education in an integrated faith-based environment. Each child is supported not only academically, but spiritually. Learn more by scheduling a visit.

Today is Ash Wednesday, and the official beginning of the Lenten season. It is a season of renewal, sacrifice, and preparation. Many of us have specific Lenten penances that we do with our families, and so it is also a season of community. 

This week I want to share a quote that will pack a punch and hopefully lead to deeper reflection:
“First, our wounds are not arbitrary, they are not random. Satan is like a sniper. He intuits with his angelic intellect the destiny of every human person and he shoots his deadly arrows into the place that will do the most damage in order to thwart the flourishing of the person and God’s plan for their life. Satan succeeds when he can convince us to hate God, hate ourselves, and hate others for the wounds we bear.” – Sr. Miriam James Heidland SOLT’s book Restore p. 63.  

My reflection is simple: We are a community committed to forming saints for the new millennium, and the evil one is going to shoot his arrows at the places that will do the most damage—division. He wishes to divide and conquer the spirit and community of SJPII Classical School, and we must be on guard. 

I challenge everyone—as a family—to enter into this Lenten season prepared, knowing there is going to be a fight, trusting in the Lord, and persevering as we enter into God’s Glory.  

— Headmaster Eric Schreiber

St. John Paul II Classical School and Chesterton Academy are of the Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) School System. They are private Catholic classical schools serving Montessori preschool and elementary through high school. They have open enrollment and provide an individualized education in an integrated faith-based environment. Each child is supported not only academically, but spiritually. Learn more by scheduling a visit.

“Last week, I reflected on my favorite scripture passage (Cf. James 1: 2-6) which happened to coincide with the virtue of the month, perseverance. Perseverance is a beautiful virtue as the unsung attribute of discipleship. It’s also necessarily appropriate for this month of February, which often sees the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday and the journey we enter into during that time.  

Because Ash Wednesday is next week, I find it appropriate for all of us as a community to reflect and prepare our hearts for the journey, strengthening ourselves in perseverance. The reality is, the more we move closer to Christ—especially through our sufferings—the more spiritual attacks we will receive. The evil one does not wish for us to be close to Christ; he does not want us to be united to Christ in the Cross. This is where perseverance needs to be a well-formed habit.  

I challenge everyone—as a family—to enter into this Lenten season prepared, knowing there is going to be a fight, trusting in the Lord, and persevering as we enter into God’s Glory. — Headmaster Eric Schreiber

St. John Paul II Classical School and Chesterton Academy are of the Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) School System. They are private Catholic classical schools serving Montessori preschool and elementary through high school. They have open enrollment and provide an individualized education in an integrated faith-based environment. Each child is supported not only academically, but spiritually. Learn more by scheduling a visit.

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it. But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind” (James 1: 2-6).

I have always seen this verse as the Christian journey, knowing that everything is given from a generous and loving Father. Perseverance is the unsung attribute of discipleship that pushes us to take up our cross and follow the Lord daily (Cf. Lk. 9:23). It is the attribute that challenges us to move beyond the daily trials—that are inevitable—and continue to put our faith, hope, and love in the Lord.

This is also the attribute of SJPII Classical School that I have come to appreciate. As we celebrate our upcoming anniversary of 10 years, this school and this community can be seen as the true fruit of perseverance. And the more we continue to do the work of God, the more we will encounter various trials; and let’s pray that our perseverance becomes perfect.       — Headmaster Eric Schreiber

St. John Paul II Classical School and Chesterton Academy are of the Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) School System. They are private Catholic classical schools serving Montessori preschool and elementary through high school. They have open enrollment and provide an individualized education in an integrated faith-based environment. Each child is supported not only academically, but spiritually. Learn more by scheduling a visit.

“Happy Catholic Schools Week to you all! What a wonderful celebration of the gift of Catholic schools, where we have the freedom to live our faith daily. At the same time, there is a danger that comes with this freedom, where we as humans lose sight of our daily call, to take up our crosses and follow Jesus (Cf. Lk. 9:23). 

I was reminded while watching one of our seniors’ capstone presentations that we as Catholics are born to be warriors; the evil one is always lurking to undermine the good we are striving for. Our faith—and the freedom to live it authentically and daily—should not be taken for granted, whereby we get caught up in how the world thinks. Our faith should be a lived expression of hope, joy, love, and peace.

Our school—our Catholic school—and the community that makes us who we are, must always be on guard, for our “adversary the devil prowls around” (1Pt. 5:8) and we are his prey. This imagery is meant to inspire us to strengthen our community and help lift one another up. All this comes from and leads us back to the Eucharist, to the source and summit of our faith, to gratitude.” — Headmaster Eric Schreiber

St. John Paul II Classical School and Chesterton Academy are of the Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE) School System. They are private Catholic classical schools serving Montessori preschool and elementary through high school. They have open enrollment and provide an individualized education in an integrated faith-based environment. Each child is supported not only academically, but spiritually. Learn more by scheduling a visit.