(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
From Jan. 27 through Feb. 2, Catholic Schools Week is being observed throughout our nation. I am truly proud of our Catholic schools. In my Diocese of Arlington, these Catholic schools educate 17,000 students in 34 elementary and three secondary schools. I thank the dedicated principals, teachers and staffs of these schools. I realize that, for them, their participation in this particular form of Catholic education is more an apostolate than a job, because many of them remain in our schools despite much sacrifice.
I applaud the parents who send their children to our Catholic schools, often at considerable sacrifice. Parents, the gift you give to your children in this way will last a lifetime and beyond, because it is the gift of authentic faith-formation within the context of quality education. This year’s theme says this so well: “Catholic Schools: Where Faith and Knowledge Meet”.
During this Catholic Schools Week, I invite us all to reflect on Catholic education, particularly as it takes on a specific form through the Catholic school. Within Catholic education, the Catholic school holds a central place. Why? Because in a sustained manner, the Catholic school provides the opportunity for a person to be formed totally: physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. I repeat that the Catholic school does this in a sustained manner – five hours per day, five days per week. No other process of formation has this extended time frame.
In his address on May 30, 1998, to a group of United States bishops making their Ad Limina visit, the Holy Father stated: “The mission of the Catholic school is the integral formation of students, so that they may be true to their condition as Christ’s disciples and as such work effectively for the evangelization of the culture and for the common good of society. … A Catholic school is a place where students live a shared experience of faith in God and where they learn the riches of a Catholic culture…. Catholic schools must help students to deepen a relationship with God and to discover that all things human have their deepest meaning in the person and teaching of Jesus Christ.”
This, then, is the heart of Catholic education: that students be formed in the Catholic faith and culture and thereby come to recognize the deepest meaning of all things in the person and teachings of Jesus Christ. Whether studying religion, science, history or mathematics, the students will be led to a deeper understanding of God, if all of these subjects are fully integrated within a Christian perspective. Conversely, as our students come to a deeper understanding of God, they will also come to a deeper understanding of their subjects.
Allow me to share with you some observations made by a Catholic educator concerning Catholic education. “…we are not in the business of education merely to teach English and Geography and History better than the public schools. If all we stand for is more disciplined classrooms and some funny stories about…religious practices for our students to tell when they become grownups, then there’s not much point to continuing this enterprise, especially given the great struggles most of us face each day. We are really here for one purpose: so that our students may have life and have it more abundantly.”
The Catholic school facilitates a process “where faith and knowledge meet”. At the center of this process is catechesis, that is, the transmitting of the faith. In that same address on May 30, 1998, the Holy Father stated: “Catechesis, either in schools or in parish-based programs, plays a fundamental role in transmitting the faith.” Yes, catechesis transmits faith: faith understood as a way of life whose core is a person – Jesus Christ, the Son of God become flesh; faith understood as the surrender of the total person to Jesus and to His teachings found in the Sacred Scriptures, given fuller meaning through the Tradition of the Church and authentically interpreted by the Teaching Office of the Church; faith understood as a powerful capacity to live life with meaning – to cope; faith understood as the summary and articulation of what we believe and why we believe what we believe.
Yes, I salute the principals, teachers and staff of all our Catholic schools and echo gratitude to them for all of their diligent work and dedication. You are engaged in a task of immense importance; you are forming the future of the Church and of the nation. Love Christ and transmit that love to your students! Our Holy Father, during that same Ad Limina visit reflected upon the role of the teacher in Catholic education saying, “Transmitting knowledge about the faith, though essential, is not sufficient. If students in Catholic schools are to gain a genuine experience of the Church, the example of teachers and others responsible for their formation is crucial: The witness of adults in the school community is a vital part of the school’s identity.”
We cannot end this reflection on Catholic schools without recalling St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the secondary patron of our diocese. Popularly known as Mother Seton, St. Elizabeth Ann started the first parochial school in the United States. She also opened the first Catholic orphanage in the United States and founded the Sisters of Charity, who, later on, entered into a relationship with the Daughters of Charity, originally founded in France by St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillae. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton continues to be a good role model for Catholic education. Sister Virginia Ann Brooks, a member of the Daughters of Charity comments: “St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was a good educator because she cared about the children she taught and their faith life. She helped them to grow and many (of her students) became leaders of our country and also leaders of the Church…. It is important for us to remember to care about the children who come to us for an education and to help them grow in their faith life.”
The continuing challenge for us is to provide in our Catholic schools an education that is second to none. I know all those involved in Catholic education join me in pledging our best efforts in maintaining and developing quality Catholic schools “Where Faith and Knowledge Meet.”
