Dear St. Mary Families,
One of the central aims of Catholic education is not simply helping children know what is good, but helping them learn to choose the good.
Virtue is formed slowly, through repeated acts of love, service, honesty, courage, patience, and sacrifice.
Children become generous by practicing generosity. They become truthful by speaking truth. They become charitable by learning to notice and respond to the needs of others.
This week, our students have several opportunities to live this formation in concrete ways.
Through Mission Warmth, they are invited to recognize the needs of others and respond with generosity.
Through Confession, students experience the mercy of Christ and the opportunity to begin again.
And at Mass, we are reminded that all Christian life begins and ends in communion with Him.
These moments help children understand that goodness is not an abstract idea.
It is something we practice.
Our hope is that St. Mary students increasingly develop the habit of asking:
“What is the good thing to do—and will I choose it?”
Scripture for the Journey — Choose Goodness
“You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
— Micah 6:8
Micah reminds us that the Christian life is not merely about knowing what God asks of us. We are called to live it.
To choose goodness means learning to recognize what is right and then having the courage and discipline to act upon it—even when another choice might be easier.
This is why formation in virtue matters so deeply.
Every small act of kindness, every truthful word, every moment of self-control, every apology, and every sacrifice for another person is helping shape the kind of person a child is becoming.
At St. Mary, we want our students not merely to understand goodness, but to love it enough to choose it.
Seek Truth. Choose Goodness. Reflect Beauty.
In Christ,
Eric Pfeifer
Principal