ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Bishop McFadden,
Brother Priests and Deacons,
Consecrated Religious,
Administrators and Teachers in our secondary and special education schools,
Members of the Secretariat for Catholic Education,
All who collaborate in the teaching mission of the Church,
Friends in our Lord Jesus Christ,

It is a joy and privilege to gather with you during Catholic Schools Week. This liturgy is a welcome opportunity to express my esteem for the indispensable role of Catholic schools in the Church and society and the indispensable role you have in Catholic schools. Our celebration of the Eucharist is the supreme expression of gratitude for the many contributions and sacrifices you make to advance Catholic education.

This gathering of Catholic educators is particularly appropriate since we have just commemorated in January the 150th anniversary of the death of Saint John Neumann. John Neumann’s commitment to Catholic education is well known. He was untiring in his efforts to promote Catholic education because he wanted children to have a good formation rooted in the Catholic faith and imbued with religious principles. Through his many sacrifices, John Neumann fostered Catholic schools that continue to make an important contribution to academic, religious and cultural circles.

As you are so well aware, there are many elements that go into offering a quality education. A dedicated faculty, a broad based curriculum that is academically rigorous, an attractive learning environment, creative use of technology, and ample resources are just some. A quality Catholic education is distinguished by its most important element: an acknowledgment of the primacy of God revealed in Jesus Christ and proclaimed by His Church.

Every educational institution finds meaning and is measured by its accountability to the pursuit of truth. It is the pursuit of truth that gives rise to education. In today’s Gospel, Jesus identifies the source of all truth. Praying to his Father, Jesus says, "Your word is truth" (John 17: 17). God’s word is truth. If education involves the search for truth, then God and His word must be alive and present in the school.

When God and God’s word are divorced from education, progress toward truth is thwarted. A lack of openness to the transcendent and the repression of religion hinder the journey toward truth. If education is built only on fashionable arguments and secularistic viewpoints that have little reference to genuine truth, it is detached from its life-giving roots. Students will increasingly struggle to recognize what is true, noble and good. By incorporating faith into education, and upholding spiritual and religious values, Catholic schools deeply enrich students and facilitate their quest for truth.

This means that our Catholic faith must permeate the curriculum and activities in our schools. It must be manifested in liturgy, prayer and acts of charity. It must form the foundation of the lives of faculty and administrators. If the goal of education is the discovery of truth and God’s word is truth, then God must be the foundation and guide of all who teach in Catholic schools.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul identifies himself as a steward of God’s grace. He recognized that the grace that God showered upon him was for the benefit of others. He wanted others to understand the insight into the mystery of Christ that was revealed to him. His capacity to preach the inscrutable riches of Christ to others was contingent upon his own experience of Jesus (cf. Ephesians 3:2-12).

As Catholic educators, you too, dear friends, are stewards of God’s grace. You have been called by God to share your insight, your understanding, your experience of the mystery of Christ with students. This presupposes that you yourselves have probed the mystery of Christ and experienced His presence in your lives. Daily prayer, reading sacred scripture, frequent reception of the Eucharist, regular confession, spiritual reading, ongoing education in theology and spirituality are means to understanding the mystery of Christ and to developing a personal relationship with Him. In this way, you become more convincing witnesses of the Catholic faith and more effective teachers in Catholic schools. Good teachers matter. Good teachers who really witness to their Catholic faith matter greatly.

Teaching, as you know so well, is not an easy calling. Young people have emerged as principal consumers of a culture that emphasizes a materialism and a permissiveness which are designed to sell as efficiently as possible products and entertainment to the greatest number of people. This popular culture has deeply influenced considerations of right and wrong and has increasingly come to obscure the responsibility associated with making choices. Movies, television shows, interactive video games and websites often promote popular culture. They use images that display value-free judgments of right and wrong founded only on expediency and utilitarianism. Much of the advertizing that is aimed at young people seeks to glamorize a culture that has no reference to Christian values. These powerful and attractive messages ignore, devalue or contradict the religious aspirations, morals, or values that young people have (cf. National Directory for Catechesis, p. 16).

Saint Paul faced many challenges. He recognized that the insight into the mystery of Christ that was given to him had been hidden from others. The mystery of Christ is sometimes hidden from the students you teach. Society can so inundate young people with so many images that the image of Christ gets lost.

There is, however, great reason for hope. In today’s Gospel Jesus promises to pray for His disciples and those who will come to believe in Him through their word. Notice that Jesus does not pray that the disciples should be taken out of the world. He prays that they might find victory. He asks his Father to consecrate them, to make them holy, to set them apart for special service.

So it is also with you, dear Catholic educators. Jesus prays for you and for the students you serve. You must always remember that God has chosen you. He has consecrated you in truth, and destined you for special service. That special service includes loving and serving Him and bringing others to do the same. As He did with Saint Paul, God willingly equips you with the qualities of mind and heart and character which are necessary for your task. If you are to serve God, you must be imbued with God’s goodness and wisdom. Anyone who would serve our holy God is called to holiness. God has not left us to carry out this great task by our own strength. Through His grace He fits us for it if we only place our lives in His hands.

Teachers are called to combine a knowledge of their academic discipline with an authentic witness of faith. From the time of Plato, education has been not merely the accumulation of knowledge or skills, but human formation directed toward a virtuous life. As noted by Pope Benedict XVI, if Catholic schools are to educate students properly, if they are to form students to be full and practicing Catholics, if Catholic schools are to be centers of evangelization, if Catholic schools are to assist students in being brought to perfection, then teachers in Catholic schools must proclaim Jesus with boldness and confidence (cf. Address to Academics in the Czech Republic, September 27, 2009).

We do not want our Catholic schools merely to be competitive with other educational institutions. We want our Catholic schools to lead the way. By offering education in a faith-filled environment, Catholic schools open students to God, who is the infinite horizon of life. Students are afforded the opportunity to pursue not simply the truth of a particular field of study, but Jesus, who is Truth itself. In coming to know Jesus, they enter into a relationship with Him and are transformed by Him. As a result, they grow not only in knowledge, but in self discipline, faith and morals (cf. Theme for 2010 Catholic Schools Week: Dividends for Life: faith, knowledge, discipline, morals). They find the fulfillment and happiness for which they long.

Dear friends, I offer you my prayerful good wishes and deep gratitude for your demanding work. Thank you for the many sacrifices you make on behalf of the young people whom God places before you. Through your own witness of faith, you are able to lead your students to enter into the mystery of Christ, to encounter Him, to discover themselves and the meaning of their lives in Him (cf. National Directory for Catechesis, p. 55).

There are, of course, many elements that go into being a good teacher in any school. Mastery of the subject matter, attractive instructional methodology, quality classroom and effective time management are among those ingredients. A good teacher in a Catholic school is distinguished by yet another important characteristic—lively faith. Education is not merely the accumulation of knowledge or skills. It must include helping students to live a virtuous and ethical life (cf. Pope Benedict XVI, ibid.). Teachers whose lives are built on Jesus help their students to come to know Jesus and the love that God has for them.

Through the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Incarnate Word, and the prayers of Saint John Neumann, fourth Bishop of Philadelphia, may Catholic education flourish for years to come in this Archdiocese. And may your generous and dedicated partnership in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for which I reiterate the deepest appreciation of our local Church, bring you profound personal fulfillment, peace and joy. Amen.