By Fr. Thomas Brouillette
Vicar General
Chief Administrative Officer, Hastings Catholic Schools
National Catholic Schools Week began in 1974 and is the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. The 50th anniversary begins Sunday, Jan. 28 through Saturday, Feb. 3 and marks the time for this special week to ‘Celebrate Catholic Schools.’
The key foundational principles on which our Schools, and any Catholic Christian School is founded, are:
1. Inspired by a Supernatural Vision
2. Founded on Christian Anthropology
3. Animated by Communion and Community
4. Imbued with a Catholic Christian World View through its curriculum
5.Sustained by Gospel Witness
These are the five essential marks of a Catholic School. Jesus is the Person who inspires this supernatural vision: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:19-20)
Christian anthropology is the study of the human person as it relates to God. Based on God’s revelation and human reason, and enlightened by the gift of faith, we learn there is a certain way in which we are made (male and female), and called to live in this passing world; morally, ethically and according to our divine calling.
Our schools are “Animated by Communion and Community” in the learning environment, the community support we receive and depend on, and in the celebration of the Eucharist, the source and summit of our Communion and Community.
The Catholic Christian world view is different from the view of others. We learn for the sake of understanding who we are called to be so that we can give ourselves as a gift to others, as Christ did for us. For example, learning about science, we discover the laws of the universe and how God designed nature and creation, and then learn how to serve others with this knowledge, making the world a better place.
Our schools are sustained by Gospel witness. As disciples, we lay down our lives in loving service for our friends, as Jesus did for us. Parents, grandparents, teachers, staff, administrators, pastors, parishioners, and even students model this gospel witness.
These five essential marks of our school system and holistic approach set us apart from other educational settings. This is what we would call a liberal education in the sense that it frees a person from the mundane, or a life without meaning and purpose. And there is no greater work we can do than to provide this opportunity for our children to encounter Christ, grow in knowledge and become Christian witnesses in service of Christ’s gospel.
Two great American saints we have to thank for Catholic Schools Week are St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. John Neumann. St. Elizabeth was the first native born American (New York, N.Y.) to be canonized in the Catholic Church. Her contributions to Catholic education are important. A convert to the faith from Anglicanism, she first fell in love with the faith when friends in Italy introduced her to Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament and explained the theology of the Eucharist to her. Upon her return to the United States and following the death of her husband, she continued raising her five children and seven young brothers and sisters of her late husband, having undergone great suffering from her ‘friends’ who abandoned her when she converted.
At the suggestion of the president of St. Mary’s College in Baltimore, Elizabeth started a school. The school had originally been secular. It was then Seton, and two other young women who helped her in her work, who established the first free Catholic school in America. In many ways it was in response to the ‘protestant schools’ (now public schools), so that the faith could be taught in its fullness. At the time there was great anti-Catholic sentiment.
St. John Neumann was the Archbishop of Philadelphia beginning in 1852. As the archbishop he was the first to organize a diocesan Catholic school system. A founder of Catholic education in this country, he increased the number of Catholic schools from two to 100. He died in 1860. In just eight years’ time he opened 98 schools. Incredible! The 40 hours devotion of the Eucharist in parishes is also credited to him.
These people are giants of the faith and of Catholic schools. We stand on their shoulders, and the shoulders of those who opened our schools and sacrificed for them. Jesus, the Master Teacher, is profoundly present in our schools. May we give thanks for those that have taught us the faith, and continue to teach us how best to serve God and our neighbor.
“Go and make disciples of all nations… teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
