By Sr. Mary Alma, C.K.
School Sisters of Christ the King
One of the most beautiful persons I have ever known received his education – when he was fortunate – in refugee camps. The rest of his instruction took place while trudging through the bushes and jungles of southern Sudan, foraging for food, hiding from marauding soldiers, and desperately seeking a place to call home.
Ajak Kuai, of whom I speak, was one of the “Lost Boys” of Sudan. Standing six-and-a-half feet tall, he is humble, mild, patient, intelligent, faith-filled, and a gentleman. I marvel at his goodness. How could this be with such a background? What makes a person beautiful? As a religious Sister and Catholic educator, I want to know, for I desire to be beautiful before God, and I want to help others become so as well.
In religious life, there are many helps to the beautification (some might call it sanctification) process. Daily Mass, weekly confessions, and hours of prayer time are built right into our schedule. We also have our vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience which, if lived well, clear away all sorts of ugly selfishness and make room for love to grow. Finally, we live continuously in community and that is quite an extraordinary help in smoothing down rough edges and ennobling the heart.
As far as Catholic education goes, I have been at it for close to 30 years now, and so have many thoughts on the topic. The telos, or end, of Catholic education is that the students know God, who is Beauty Himself, and through a total surrender of love, become eternally beautiful in Him. If God is the source of all beauty, then Catholic educators must soak their students in beauty.
Leisurely experiences in God’s creation excel in helping students become splendid, shining persons. (We Sisters love to spend time in nature. Just the other evening, several of us were out at night with flashlights, trying to spot the beavers who are making such clever barriers in our creek and leaving tree trunks looking like sharpened pencils, but back to the students.)
Students should observe the morning sky with its ever-changing colors and cloud configurations, and they should know the diamond-like constellations of the night. They should linger long over the graceful shapes and charming hues of flowers, the humble grasses, seeds, insects, and animals of all sorts. Unhurried, quiet time in nature will lead to a sensed and sweet interior happiness. Though some may not recognize this sweetness as the presence of the living God, all are able to experience it, to wonder about it, and to yearn for more. Catholic education can help students follow the trajectory from the happiness which nature offers to the God of all loveliness.
Catholic school students should be doused with the most beautiful, and therefore good and true, insights which humanity has conceived in poetry, prose, and science. They should memorize these so that the beauty penetrates their hearts. They should be exposed to hundreds of stories which tell of virtue, strength, and goodness; especially the story of salvation history found in the Sacred Scriptures. They should often hear, sing, and play beautiful music. They should dance and run and be strengthened until their bodies are wonderfully agile.
Students should gaze long and attentively at great pieces of art. They should know the loveliness of discovering pattern and order in arithmetic, and of understanding with unshakable certainty that a concept in Euclidean geometry can only be true.
I am certain of the power of religious life and of Catholic education to form beautiful persons, and yet still in my mind looms Ajak Kuai. At the age of 7, his family and villagers were murdered by misguided radicals. Subsequently he knew hunger and danger for the next 14 years of his life. How ever did he become as he is today?
He himself explained to me, “When we were feeling vulnerable there in the jungle without any of the things that make us feel safe at home, our faith in God kept us going, and God protected us on the way. Our message to ourselves was, ‘Never give up,’ ‘help one another along’ and ‘know that you will never be lost from God.’”
So, I have my answer. Accepting one’s cross with faith beautifies a person in a supreme way. I should have known, for Jesus taught us this during His passion.
Religious life and Catholic education are immeasurable blessings and graced opportunities for becoming beautiful within God who is Beauty. Yet, suffering, when willingly embraced, is the supreme beautifier of the person.
P.S. Ajak’s crosses are now very similar to most in middle class America. He does not find them easy. He does, however, accept them with faith and trust God.
