This week I am at the St. Benedict Abbey in Still River, MA on my annual priest retreat. I met a very fascinating priest who belongs to the Order of Preachers, or, for short--a Dominican. He is originally from Australia and currently teaches at Providence College in Providence, RI. But more interestingly, he obtained his PhD in Economics from Oxford University in England. He’s a very smart man! We had lunch with him a couple of times as we were doing separate retreats at the same Abbey, but what caught my attention was his research on the correlation between economics and Catholic schools and how the two go together. He did an extraordinary amount of research for his book and the topic has spurred me on even more to emphasize the importance of fundraising for our Catholic school. The “economics” of it all is that we can’t afford to keep Catholic schools open anywhere in the U.S. without sufficient donations from the private sector. So, God bless all of our families and donors who make personal sacrifices to keep Catholic schools open in St. Johnsbury and across the country. One doesn’t need to be an economist to understand that we couldn’t do it without you!

Written By: Father Lance W. Harlow

Date Published: August 22, 2024