What a blessing our Catholic schools are for the children and young adults in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati! As attendance at Mass continues to wane, our Catholic grade and high schools often become the only avenues by which we can teach the beauty of the Gospels—where students attend Mass and learn among a community of believers.

When students graduate from a Catholic high school, however, it can also end their formal connection to a community of believers. If we are not actively working with our students to form them in their faith, to provide a foundation for their life in college and beyond, then we are missing the boat, squandering an opportunity—and worse, we are not fully serving those students.

The question, in my mind, is not whether we teach our faith, but how do we do so in a way that connects and resonates with our students, setting them up for a lifetime of prayer and engagement. In my experience, there is no right way to answer this question—for every student, this answer might be a little different. In the same way our teachers differentiate instruction so as to reach each student, we must also be mindful to differentiate our faith instruction.

For some, their faith is best experienced vertically, as a relationship between themselves and God. For people who connect vertically, opportunities such as silent retreats, Eucharistic Adoration, or Lauds are excellent opportunities to quietly reflect on their relationship with Christ. Providing these opportunities allows our students to turn off the outside world and build, using imagery from St. Teresa of Avila, to bolster their own Interior Castles.

For others, their faith is primarily experienced horizontally, seeing Christ in the other and living a life of service. For these students, service trips, volunteering at Matthew 25:  Ministries or simply visiting with residents at a retirement home provide them the opportunity to live out their faith in the world around them.

As St. Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit, there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To us the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes” (1 Cor. 12: 4-11).

Of course, our faith should be both vertical and horizontal. Our prayers to God should inform how we treat others, and seeing Christ in others should feed our spiritual life. However, as our students learn more about who they are and begin to transition to an adult faith, it is important to provide as many diverse opportunities as possible. Our Catholic schools are a blessing because they are an avenue through which we can provide daily faith formation. It is critical that we make use of this time by providing all students with opportunities to live their faith in a way that makes the most sense for them.

Michael Shaffer is the first-year principal at Archbishop Moeller High School, where he taught and was an administrator for the past 21 years. After attending Mount St. Joseph University, where he double majored in religious studies and psychology, he earned two Master’s Degrees from Xavier University, the first in theology and the second in education administration.

This article appeared in the October 2024 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.