Mrs. Jocelyn Jekel, our inestimable director of curriculum, has been guiding our students and faculty this week as we adapt to teaching and learning online. Thank you, Mrs. Jekel, for keeping our eyes on the prize. Thank you to all of our faculty for adapting so quickly, and especially to Mrs. Keara Mooberry for being savvy about the technology and generous with her help. Thank you to our students for being flexible and trying something new, and to our parents for being adventurous and supportive….

Martin Saints Classical President Deacon Roberts’ homily from this past Sunday:

In today’s first reading, the Israelites are wandering in the desert. They’re thirsty and angry, wondering why they ever left Egypt. Wasn’t it easier before they started following God? This passage from Exodus ends with a stark question: “is the Lord in our midst, or not?”

If we’re honest, it’s sometimes our question too. It’s fair to ask: where is God in the coronavirus? How is he at work in the present situation? …

It’s a common, ordinary thing in society and social life to worry at least sometimes about our reputation. None of us want to be the object of gossip. Nobody relishes being talked about or mocked.

That's one reason we have the expression “to put on a brave face” or “to put a good face on it.” Sometimes it happens to all of us: we pretend we’re feeling ok, when, in reality, on the inside, maybe we’re hurt, angry, lonely, ashamed, confused, or just feeling low in ways we can't quite articulate. In those moments, because we’re afraid of what other people might think, or maybe because life is just going too fast, we sometimes wear a mask….