A \u2018clarification of mission\u2019<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Fr. Rossi was ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of Charlotte in 2010. He has served at Catholic churches in Winston-Salem, Charlotte, and Salisbury, N.C., and spent a brief time discerning a monastic vocation with the monks at Belmont Abbey College, which is recognized in The Newman Guide. Since 2018, he has served as pastor of St. Michael\u2019s Catholic Church and Parish in Gastonia, N.C., which has a PK-8 parish school.<\/p>\n St. Katharine Drexel was a generous benefactor of the school, and the Sisters of Mercy staffed it for many years. Initially started in a parishioner\u2019s five-bedroom home, the school moved to its permanent campus in 1952. In 2018, the school received a large private donation and a grant from the Diocese of Charlotte to undergo a major renovation of its facilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But the physical renovation wasn\u2019t the only change that the school was undergoing. There was also a deeper revitalization that was beginning to take place.<\/p>\n Fr. Rossi and a group of committed parents\u2014many affiliated with Belmont Abbey College\u2014set-out to clarify the mission of St. Michael\u2019s Catholic School. He strongly desired for students to experience \u201cwonder\u201d and be \u201cshaped by encountering the true, good, and beautiful\u201d through an integrated curriculum. He believed that \u201cevery subject ought to point to God.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe school needed a clarification of mission. What do we offer? Was saying \u2018We are a Catholic school\u2019 enough to set us apart from other schools in our area? Not really,\u201d said Fr. Rossi.<\/p>\n And so began a three-year transition of the school\u2019s curriculum and training of its teachers to strengthen the school\u2019s academics and Catholic identity. Unfortunately, the first year of the transition happened to coincide with the COVID pandemic in 2020. The school\u2019s enrollment took a hit and dropped to about 85 students, from about 140 the prior year. Still, the efforts moved forward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Putting first things first<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Together with the academic revival, Fr. Rossi embarked on a sacramental revitalization as well. He added both Confession and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament six times each week. Ahead of the 2022 academic year, he announced that the school day would begin with a daily 8:00 a.m. Mass.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Families from all over the Charlotte area began to hear about the changes happening at St. Michael\u2019s, and many were drawn to it. For some families, the addition of daily Mass was the final sign they needed to enroll at St. Michael\u2019s. In the 2022-23 school year, enrollment was impressively up to about 165 students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJesus is our Master Teacher, and so He gets the first class of the day,\u201d Fr. Rossi smiled. \u201cIt\u2019s not about losing time; we\u2019re gaining the best ever at the feet of Christ. It feels right. I hope more Catholic schools do this.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, after a year of daily Masses to begin the school day, Fr. Rossi believes there\u2019s been a big impact on the culture of the school. The daily Mass has been \u201cunbelievably transformative,\u201d he stated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Fr. Rossi believes he has a much better relationship with students because he sees them at least at Mass every day. He also loves seeing many parents staying for Mass and attending with their children.<\/p>\n Building strong families<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhat we do at the school needs to be reinforced by the parents at home, otherwise our efforts are nearly pointless,\u201d says Fr. Rossi. \u201cOur mission is to \u2018build strong families,\u2019 and that\u2019s why we\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n One devotion encouraged among St. Michael\u2019s families is the First Friday devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On the first Friday of each month, homeschoolers are welcome to join the school community for Mass and Adoration, catechetical activities, and athletic activities led by student-athletes from Belmont Abbey College. Students are split into \u201chouseholds\u201d named after Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, so that they can enjoy the day with students of different ages and families and \u201ccompete\u201d against other households in friendly competitions.<\/p>\n Fr. Rossi enjoys being involved in First Friday activities, greeting the children on the playground, reading books in the classroom, and even bringing his \u201cSacristy Road Show\u201d into the classroom.<\/p>\n The students\u2014and the responsibility he feels as a spiritual father\u2014have kept Fr. Rossi committed to the school, despite the challenges of the past three years. He\u2019s excited to help St. Michael\u2019s in continuing to \u201cstrive to be the best classical, Catholic school that St. Michael\u2019s can be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think any saint would have ever said they\u2019re holy enough,\u201d he says. \u201cYou have to keep adapting year after year. You have to keep enhancing what you\u2019re doing well and what you can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n Another bright light for St. Michael\u2019s was the addition of a new headmaster in 2023: Jacob Nolan, who previously served as assistant principal of Lumen Verum Academy in Boston and earned his master\u2019s in Theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, which is recognized in The Newman Guide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re very excited about the leadership he\u2019s bringing to the school,\u201d said Fr. Rossi, who sees the relationship between pastor and headmaster as a \u201ckey piece\u201d in building up a faithful school. Nolan and Fr. Rossi will meet and pray together weekly, and both will strive to set an example of \u201cliving the faith on and off campus\u201d as \u201cspiritual leaders\u201d for the community.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ultimate goal is Heaven,\u201d Fr. Rossi says. \u201cWe\u2019re not just here to impart knowledge and to give facts, but to help students encounter Christ through their education, their teachers.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cDon\u2019t give up on your parish schools. Schools are great challenges, but don\u2019t be afraid to make the hard decisions,\u201d urges Father Lucas Rossi, who serves as pastor of St. Michael\u2019s Catholic Church and School in Gastonia, N.C. \u201cIt\u2019s worth it to go through the difficult times,\u201d Fr. Rossi continues. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"issue":[468,467],"item_type":[53],"coauthors":[59],"class_list":["post-7963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mission-and-governance","issue-commentary-pastoral-leadership","issue-pastoral-leadership","item_type-blog"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cardinalnewmansociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Priests-are-needed-Father-Lucas-Rossi-2-300x293.png\")
Despite initial low enrollment numbers, Fr. Rossi still felt the support of much of his staff and many Catholic families who desired strong Catholic education.<\/p>\n