Then Jesus went to town on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?” (Matthew 16: 24 – 26)

Jesus says, “Take up your cross and follow me.” It is one of those Gospel lines we have heard so often that it can lose its edge. But for those of us working in Catholic education, perhaps it is worth hearing again with fresh ears.

Taking up our cross is not about making life harder than it already is. It is about choosing what matters, even when it costs us something. It can mean staying patient when we are tired, speaking up when something is not right, noticing the student who is quietly struggling, or choosing compassion when frustration would be easier.

Jesus also asks a confronting question: “What will it profit you to gain the whole world but forfeit your life?” In a school culture that can sometimes measure success through results, deadlines, data, achievement and productivity, this question lands differently. What if success is also measured by the lives we strengthen, the dignity we protect and the hope we help restore?

Every day, teachers and support staff in Catholic schools have countless opportunities to choose what kind of people we want to be. The Gospel challenges us not simply to get through the day, but to make the day count.

Perhaps the real challenge is this: In the busyness of school life, what are we refusing to lose sight of?