A Lived Experience of the Church: An Interview with Fr. Jonathan Meyer
By Ben Kleier, literature/history teacher and communications assistant
Fiat Classical Academy was founded in part because the world is trying to rediscover the best way to educate a child. Rather than focus on the human person and humanity’s relationship to the One who created us, the attention of educators is caught by the latest trends, buzzwords, and innovations that flit past us on social media feeds, professional training, and advertisements. New complicated methodologies, technological advancements, or flashy techniques promise to help students become more literate, to overcome attention deficits, and prepare for an ever elusive level of success. Despite all the resources educators and parents have at their disposal, they are floundering in a sea of quick fixes that don’t address the needs of students.
At Fiat, our advisory team, board and faculty have created a curriculum in which the foundational questions of who God is and who we are in relation to Him are at the center of our mission. Our four pillars keep students and the school community rooted in this pursuit of what is most important in education: cultivating wonder, encouraging encounter, fostering integration, and seeking excellence.
As a member of our advisory team, Father Jonathan Meyer, pastor in solidum of All Saints, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, St. Lawrence, and St. Mary’s Parishes in Dearborn County, IN, has helped shape our curriculum and school culture to focus on these pillars. The purpose of a Catholic education is “to focus more on formation of the person as a child of God [rather] than just instilling facts” said Father Meyer. The classical approach puts “the focus on beauty, art, and creativity. You cannot beat the arts. Our young people need the arts, love the arts, and need to find God in the beauty that is timeless.” When these two aspects of education are fused together, education is not merely a means to material success and prestige but rather a means to something more fundamental: growing in relationship with our Creator and the vocation he has in store for each of us.
As a priest of 23 years, Father Meyer says, “I have committed much of my priesthood to forming young Catholics. I be
lieve that children are our future but also our now. I bring a perspective of prayer conversion, lived experience and growth. I have seen it all: Catholic School, Homeschooling, youth groups, World Youth Day, Steubenville Youth Conferences, Catholic Family Land, National Catholic Youth Conferences . . . I bring a down-to-earth experience and a national and international love and lived experience of the Church.”
Father Meyer’s commitment and understanding of the first principles shows why these varied ministries work to teach and transmit the faith. When the focus is on Christ, then the purpose and goal of a school becomes centered in discerning vocation and growing in relationship with God and each other. Students can learn and encourage each other rather than seeking to create themselves in a vacuum of solipsism.
Yet, formal education is only part of forming the individual, the family is central to the formation of men and women committed to the faith, and the parish is essential for integrating the individual to the community of believers. Fiat draws students from across three dioceses, and many parishes. “This is a gift. It opens our young people to the universality of the Church. Although different, we are all united!” says Father Meyer. The school, while it educates young men and women, also supports and encourages students to participate in their parishes. The Catholic school helps students live as “joy-filled witnesses.”
Fiat Classical Academy fulfills a small role in the wider movements of restoring Catholic education. It provides a unique education that seeks to revitalize the fundamentals and introduce students to the purpose of education as they grow into men and women of virtue and mission. There are a lot of issues and problems facing students today. “Our young people deserve the best. Fiat is striving to offer THE BEST to our young people. [This does not focus on the] new, flashy, technological, cutting edge, and rare . . . but truth, tradition, love, art, beauty and joy!” says Father Meyer.