Jesus is Lord!” This is the summation of St. Peter’s proclamation on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:36) and of St. Paul’s declaration in Philippians 2:9–11. The demand of Rome on the early Christians, when they were arrested, was to stand before the image of Caesar and declare, “Caesar is Lord.” If they did so, they were free to practice their faith minus one ingredient: they could not declare “Jesus is Lord.” These three words, however, were the basis of the first baptismal creeds.
What does it mean to declare “Jesus is Lord?” It means that Jesus is very God of very God, ruler over every realm, not merely in the future, but now. “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). He is Lord now. As He declared, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18). Every sphere of life is thus under His authority: if it does not serve Him, He will in due time destroy it. This means, not the priority of the church but the priority of Christ the Lord. Both church and state must serve Christ the Lord. So too must the individual, the family, the arts and sciences, the vocations, recreation, all things, and this clearly includes the school.
