​You are salt and light.

I love these images from Matthew’s Gospel today as we hear Jesus tell his disciples, “You are salt of the earth ... You are the light of the world.” While we may take these two elements for granted in our modern times, they certainly would have been understood as precious and necessary commodities to the disciples.


Salt was used to persevere food and also to provide flavor while oil lamps were used to illuminate their darkened homes. Salt with no flavor would have no purpose and it would have been utterly ridiculous to light a lamp and then immediately cover it with a basket. Rather, Jesus challenges his disciples – “your light must shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”


This past week, we celebrated National Catholic Schools’ Week – an opportunity to give thanks for the blessing of Catholic education in the United States. Currently, there are 5,938 Catholic elementary and secondary schools that serve over 1.6 million students across our nation. These are institutions where students are taught they are “salt and light” and receive the call to go forth to make God known, loved, and served in the world. But just as the early disciples saw salt and light as items of immense value, we too should not take Catholic education for granted.


We are blessed to have our own place of transformation here in Camarillo where St. Mary Magdalen students are challenged to be “salt and light.” Currently serving 298 students from Camarillo and the surrounding communities, our hope for our students is to allow their lives to be changed by their time in our community and then to share those gifts with others.

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The work that we do is something that cannot be done without your prayers and support and to my fellow Padre Serra parishioners, I offer humble words of deep gratitude. Your generosity over the years allows us to continue to grow and thrive. 

This is your school community and you are such an important part of the educational journey and faith development of all our children.

Siempre Adelante!


Michael Ronan
Principal

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P.S. If you have school-aged children and are interested in sending them to St. Mary Magdalen or just want to visit our school, I’d love to invite you for a personal tour of our campus home. Also, note that we are currently accepting applications for the 2023 - 2024 school year for all grades. More information is available on our website (www.smmschool.net). 

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