Making history: Thomas Day is first director of religious education to take sabbatical

Mary Jo Thomas Day, director of religious education at St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis, kneels down in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and places her hands on the stone of unction where Jesus was prepared for burial. She participated in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with St. Monica parishioners last April as part of a three-month sabbatical. Thomas Day and her family are members of Holy Cross Parish in Indianapolis. (Submitted photo)

By Sean Gallagher

After being a director of religious education (DRE) at St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis for 31 years, Mary Jo Thomas Day was tired.

And who could blame her?

When she started her ministry at the parish in the late 1970s, she oversaw a religious education program with eight catechists and 80 students.

Three decades later, the program has 85 catechists and more than 500 students. Thomas Day also oversees a burgeoning children’s Christian initiation program that has dual tracks in English and Spanish.

After so many years of tireless service, Msgr. Paul Koetter, St. Monica’s pastor, strongly advised that Thomas Day take a three-month sabbatical partially funded by the parish, something that, according to her and archdiocesan director of catechesis Ken Ogorek, was a first for DREs in the archdiocese.

“I was surprised. I asked him, ‘Are you serious?’ And he said, ‘Yes,’ ” Thomas Day said. “I would never have asked for something like that for myself. I wouldn’t have thought of it because it hadn’t been done.”

“In my 31 years as a priest, I have been blessed with two sabbaticals,” Msgr. Koetter said. “They were rich times of personal renewal, and I can see how they would be the same for our lay ministers.”

Although she was making history by taking the sabbatical, Thomas Day was more interested in viewing history and taking it into her soul.

And for a woman of faith like herself, there is no better place to do that than in the Holy Land.

Beginning on Monday of Holy Week in April, Thomas Day was a pilgrim there for 12 days. She traced Jesus’ steps during Holy Week, and was accompanied by several St. Monica parishioners and Msgr. Koetter on the parish-sponsored Holy Land pilgrimage.

The sabbatical continued over the summer when she took two weeklong courses on Scripture at the Pastoral Institute of Spirituality at Loyola University Chicago.

During the rest of the summer, Thomas Day read a stack of books and spent time with her family, both in Indianapolis and on vacations in Michigan and New Mexico.

“I came back ready to begin again with 110 percent,” Thomas Day said. “When I left, I loved it after 31 years, but I just didn’t have that enthusiasm. I came back with a new enthusiasm.”

“And everyone told me that I didn’t look so tired. I must have looked terrible,” Thomas Day said with a laugh.

Ogorek said that a sabbatical for a DRE can benefit both the lay minister and the parish that he or she serves.

“People in catechetical ministry need a deep well to draw from in serving God’s people,” he said. “And so a sabbatical, after several years of dedicated and successful service, can provide a DRE with an even deeper well.”

Amy McClelland, a third-grade catechist at St. Monica Parish for the past four years, saw that firsthand.

She was Thomas Day’s roommate on the Holy Land pilgrimage. Now she is seeing how the DRE is integrating her experiences into the parish’s religious education programs.

“There’s a greater interest in bringing the Bible alive,” McClelland said. “We’re actually trying to come up with a program for vacation Bible school [next summer] based on our Holy Land experiences.

“That’s something that she and I are trying to work on. [It’s] a way to bring what we saw and how we experienced it to the kids.”

McClelland is also grateful that her hard-working catechetical leader got a chance to renew herself.

“It’s important for all of our spiritual leaders to have some chance to be renewed and rejuvenated,” she said. “I don’t know that everybody really realizes how hard they work and how much they give of themselves.”

Although most archdiocesan parishes are smaller and don’t have as many financial resources as St. Monica, Msgr. Koetter said that, through some creativity, providing a sabbatical for a DRE is a real possibility for lots of faith communities.

“I don’t believe the expense need be huge,” he said. “Of course, the parish would continue to pay salary and benefits, but with a proper blend of timing and volunteers, responsibilities can often be covered temporarily.”

Thomas Day gained a new appreciation for one more thing from her sabbatical—that, at 66, retirement isn’t too far away.

“I love the work, but I will know when I’m ready to retire,” she said.

Although the sabbatical helped her see the end of the road, Thomas Day said her time off helped her value the time she has left.

“I think that’s what I learned, too, in my sabbatical. Be present to the moment and appreciate the moment you have.” †