I would like to invite the entire Everest community - faculty, staff, students, parents, grandparents, benefactors, board members, alumni, and friends - to join me in consecrating ourselves and Everest Academy to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The act of consecration will take place on May 31st, the Feast of the Visitation. The normal length of preparation is 33 days, which means that we will start this Friday, April 28th for consecration to take place on May 31st.

But why are we doing this? And why should we consecrate ourselves? As a new principal, I have spent many hours in prayer asking God for guidance and support. I believe strongly in our mission to form Christian leaders and have always felt deeply in my heart that God has special plans for Everest. Consecration simply means "to make holy" and when you make an act of consecration, it is made ultimately to God with an understanding that our consecration is a serious commitment on our part to respond faithfully to God's grace at work in our lives. When consecrating ourselves to Mary, we are consecrating ourselves to Jesus through his Mother. Mary gives us a beautiful example of simply striving to live in union with God. When we consecrate ourselves to Mary, it’s not with the intention of replacing God but rather, of allowing Mary to bring us closer to him, as other servants of the Lord, committed to doing his will in the world. In consecrating our school to Jesus through Mary, my hope is that our school will be more united to the will of God. If we as a community want to know and follow the will of God, then there’s no better person to entrust the care of our souls and our school than to Mary herself. 

We will be using Fr. Michael Gaitley's book, 33 Days to Morning Glory, to guide us on our 33-day preparation for consecration. To help us get a better understanding of why and how we are making this 33-day consecration, today and tomorrow, we will hear more about how Fr. Michael came to write his book and how we will prepare for our consecration on May 31st.

Thank you for joining me on this 33 day journey. May Mary, Our Mother, lead us to the most merciful and Sacred Heart of Jesus and help Everest to fulfill its mission in forming Christian leaders.

God bless,