Mission Report – July 28.2016

The wisdom Catholic tradition expresses can sometimes be found in -‘un-looked for’ moments. This week our students, parents and staff were offered a session detailing on-line safety by guest presenter Ray Nasher. Ray spoke from technical expertise in social media but also from his deep commitment to see each student flourish in their humanity. From this, it was when he spoke gently but powerfully of how the Catholic tradition grounded his beliefs and values in this area that the transforming depth of what he offered was made clear. I wish to share three points that struck me.

Firstly, parents and teachers must educate our children for the world that they will inhabit, not for the world as we wish it to be. This does not mean that we merely expect our young men to conform to the world but rather that they will become effective and successful witnesses to what is good and just in our world. When Jesus sent out his disciples to preach the good news of God’s kingdom he sent them without haversack or extra tunics, leaving behind the things of their world. Jesus told them to stay with the people as they found them and eat what they were offered. That is, bring the good news to the world as they find it.

Secondly, what was true and good for the human person will always be. One of the first great revelations in the Book of Genesis is that we are made in the image of the unchanging and loving God. Even though the world is constantly changing the demands of the human conscience remains the same: to love our neighbour as ourselves, to care for the widowed and the orphaned, to love God with all our mind, our heart and our strength. Jesus, through his divine and human natures, is the great translator of God’s divine language into the language of our human life.

Thirdly, the ones who are willing to disagree, debate and argue with us are the ones who think we are worth the effort -“ they are invested in our future. For parents this is an essential message. Growing up is a confusing drama of events and emotions, with the desire to belong a very powerful drive. Through friendship with his peers a young man will discover the ways and value of belonging to his -‘group’, but through friendship with parents and teachers he will learn the ways and value of becoming an adult. The resolution of this tension constitutes a great theme in the drama of life.

There is so much at stake in the education and formation of a young person. The wisdom of Catholic tradition and the power of the Gospels remain foundations that we can always rely on.-