In 2016, upon the merger of St. Cecilia’s and Sacred Heart Schools, it was the Year of Mercy in the Catholic Church, and Fr. Zig so aptly named the new school Divine Mercy Academy.  This should give us pause.  What’s in a name?  How does this help us in our identity as a Catholic School family?  There are three main components to the devotion of Divine Mercy: asking for and obtaining the mercy of God, trusting in Christ’s mercy, and showing mercy to others. 

At Divine Mercy Academy, our kids will be not only introduced but also encouraged to go to prayer, to go to God throughout the day.  In the busyness of the day, there is an intentionality in starting the day in prayer, thanking God midday through the Angelus, and talking about God in study.  Hopefully, with this, He won’t feel so far away, and our kids will feel compelled to go to their Father and ask- ask for help, ask for forgiveness, ask for mercy.  They will find that God, whose nature is Love and Mercy itself, will grant it to them, in one way or another.

And yet, DMA isn’t a bubble, safe from all things of the world.  Our kids will still encounter struggles that come with humanity and societal pressures.  However, DMA can be a safe place during a tenuous time of developing and learning; it can be safe because making mistakes can be met with common values.  When it seems the rest of the world is living their own version of truth or encouraging others to do just what feels right at that moment, DMA has the Truth in God and the teachings of the Church to help guide the way.  For example, while other schools lean heavily on the procedures set forth by laws and policies, we have, in addition to that, the spiritual works of mercy to emphasize instructing the ignorant, forgiving offenses, bearing wrongs patiently, and more.   

Our hope as parents is that when our kids leave here, they have a better and stronger formed idea of who they are.  They are children of God, who in their own brokenness and imperfection, can ask God for forgiveness and mercy.  They are armed and equipped.  Having been exposed to some struggle but also enough faith formation through the years, they know what values to uphold in the face of greater struggles and greater adversity.  As parents, by giving our children this opportunity to entwine their academics with their faith and values, we are allowing them to know that their relationship with God is in all times and all places.  Yet it is also our duty and privilege to help instill, inflame, and emphasize all these teachings at home as well.  Choosing Catholic School is not an easy decision, and it’s not effortless on the day to day either.  However, our kids will eventually make many more decisions on their own, and we can only pray that we set them up with the very best foundation we could.  So, the best thing we can do is pray, “Jesus, I trust in You.”