Today, we celebrate the beginning of Catholic Schools Week, a week in which we are invited to reflect on and celebrate the work of Catholic schools in our parishes and communities.
I am delighted to be launching
the Week from the Cathedral in Mullingar with representatives of the
Catholic post-primary schools in the parish; Saint Finian’s, a
co-educational post-primary school under the Patronage of the Bishop,
Saint Mary’s, a boys post-primary school under the Patronage of ERST and
Loreto Girls Post Primary School under the Patronage of the Loreto
Schools Trust.
Yesterday, we also celebrated the Sunday of the Word of God. This is a
celebration that Pope Francis introduced to encourage us to focus on the
power and wisdom of scripture – the Word of God.
While both celebrations are distinct, they can be linked easily enough
too. The Word of God must inspire and influence our daily lives and the
Word of God must inform or permeate our Catholic schools. Indeed,
yesterday’s response to the Psalm, ‘Lord make me know your ways’ can be
said to be the mission of the Catholic school; the Good News of
salvation, the light of knowledge and the power of opportunity.
Today’s gospel, like yesterday’s, is taken from the opening chapters of
the gospel of Saint Mark and, like last week’s Sunday gospel, portrays
an account of the start of Jesus public ministry. The gospel relates
how Jesus invited and gathered the apostles around him. It was an
invitation but the personality and witness of Christ must have
influenced the response of Simon, Andrew, James and John too.
In many ways, today’s gospel is a challenge to the Catholic school. The
personality and the witness of Christ must inform the teaching and
management of Catholic schools and the school, by its actions, must
invite its pupils to encounter Christ.
Much has been written about Catholic schools. There can be some
confusion about what a Catholic school is and does. For some, it is an
excellent academic education, for others, it is a more general and broad
contribution, bearing in mind the needs of the student. Unfortunately,
others see it as indoctrination. The reality is broader.
A Catholic school, and by extension, a Catholic education, is about
people. Students come from different backgrounds, with different
personalities and have different experiences but, like everyone
else, are made in God’s image. Today, the diversity in our Catholic
schools in terms of ability, nationality, socio-economic background,
ethnicity and faith is significant and that is as it should be. When
these five criteria are taken into consideration, I would challenge
anyone to tell me that Catholic schools are not as inclusive as any
other type of school. They must be to be true to their ethos!
The Catholic school must embody respect. Respect for the individual
student with their own distinctive talents and characteristics and
respect for others, also made in the image and likeness of Christ.
Respect for others is a key task for schools and society. Catholic
schools, conscious that we are made in the image and likeness of God
believe this to be true and it is and must be a key characteristic of
any Catholic school. Faith in Jesus Christ has something to inform and
influence debate and actions in this regard.
Faith cannot be compartmentalised to a Church on Sunday morning but must
have an influence on how we act and on what we say. Indeed, the issue
of respect and respect for others is a key one for our time and has come
to the fore in Irish society in recent weeks, particularly in relation
to those from other countries and those from our own country seeking
accommodation.
In addressing this point, I must mention the teachers who teach in our
schools, those who know and who respect their students, those who
acknowledge difference and those who support, not just academically, the
students with many varied abilities and gifts. Our teachers are
integral to the mission of the Catholic school and they have our thanks
and our admiration. The voluntary work of Board members must also be
acknowledged. Their dedication is further evidence of the esteem in
which such Catholic schools are held. If we value something, we will
work for it and give our time to it.
That is true of all schools. However, faith as well as reason is
important in a Catholic school. Faith is too important for our Church
and our students to be diluted by ideology and political correctness.
Our students need a vision and the reassurance of a God who loves them,
they need a sense of a compassionate Church, they need a way of
expressing their faith and they need hope for the future. They need a
sense that we are born for more than what this life can offer. That is
the importance of a faith-based education. You, I, and society as a
whole must be careful at this time that we do not close the door to
faith and deprive our students of the hope, consolation and direction
that faith can offer. Faith is not an empirical or comparative study –
it is an encounter, an invitation and an openness to God in our lives.
True plurality, be it in society or in education, will always support
and encourage faith, as it will those who do not profess faith.
Plurality or inclusion cannot be against faith otherwise it is a mere
ideology.
To quote Saint Peter, we must always be prepared to give a reason for
the Hope that is within us. Christianity dictates that neither our
schools, our students nor ourselves should be hopeless in the broader
sense. Faith is important! It is ironic that when we live in an age of
searching and seeking, the person, the compassion, the transforming and
reassuring message and teaching of Jesus Christ offers what many are
seeking.
It is a repeat of Saint Paul’s experience in the Acts of the Apostles
when he said to the people of Athens that the unknown God that they were
searching for and had an altar erected to, was in effect, Jesus
Christ. Perhaps there may be a case to make that we have taught in
Ireland a rather restrictive version of faith, of Catholicism and of
Jesus. The challenge for all of us involved in Catholic education is to
teach the entire picture that gives life, confidence and, critically
for our students at this time, a sense of hope. A Catholic school after
all is a school that can say of itself that quotation from John 10:10
‘I have come that they may have life and have it to the full’.
At this time, many parents are hoping to enrol their children in
Catholic primary and post-primary schools because they appreciate the
vision and service that such schools give. This year Catholic Schools
Week celebrates that service to friends, family, and the local community
and to faith. That service is the contribution of Catholic schools to
this and every parish community and to Irish Society. How many talents
have been nurtured, and, how many doors have been opened and, in so
doing, how many were able to live life to the full?
It is easy to forget that Catholic schools predate free education in
Ireland and provides opportunity and education to many. Indeed, many of
our Catholic schools were founded by Religious Congregations and Orders
in fulfilment of the corporal works of mercy, to instruct and, in so
doing, to feed, to cloth, to open doors and to train and enable a new
generation for a new world and provide new opportunity. That point was
well made on a documentary on RTÉ last week. That is the historic
contribution and service that Catholic schools have given to
individuals, local communities and society.
Today, many Catholic schools are involved in outreach programmes to the
community that involve assisting, supporting, visiting and so learn
valuable lessons on social responsibility, social justice and social
obligations. Indeed, students of Catholic schools who, like Pope
Francis, see Care for our Common Home as a vital obligation have
supported the ecological movement. Catholic schools do serve the
community!
To conclude, one could do worse than to quote Catherine McCauley, the
foundress of the Mercy Sisters ‘The function of a school is to fit its
students for life without unfitting them for eternal life’. A good
education, a Catholic education is not a preparation for capitalism or a
narrow narcissistic and selfish view of life, a view that is gaining
traction throughout the world, but rather one of compassion, of service,
of respect and of using one’s talents and opportunities for the greater
good. Society needs that vision! Service is an important word and
service to the community is worth celebrating. That is the theme or
message of Catholic Schools Week this year.
May God continue to bless that work of service in and by our Catholic
schools and those who assist it and may that work of service continue to
be done in Catholic schools throughout the country and may it be
appreciated, valued and celebrated.