Fr. Pedro Ribadeneira, a Jesuit priest, declared to King Phillip II of Spain, "All the well-being of Christianity and of the whole world depends upon the proper education of youth" (O'Malley, 1993, p. 209).
Similarly, Bl. Basil Moreau, the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, encouraged members of his order, “Hurry then, take up this work of resurrection, never forgetting that the special end of your institute is, before all, to sanctify youth” (Christian Education, 1856).
Our Church agrees. The Second Vatican Council Education declared, "So indeed the Catholic school, while it is open, as it must be, to the situation of the contemporary world, leads its students to promote efficaciously the good of the earthly city and also prepares them for service in the spread of the Kingdom of God, so that by leading an exemplary apostolic life they become, as it were, a saving leaven in the human community" (1965, para. 8).
The well-being of our faith and of the whole world, depends on our efforts to form students in the Catholic faith and intellectual traditions.
We participate in the work of the resurrection, transforming dead things into wellsprings of life, hope, and fullness.
We form students so that they can become leaven in the human community, preparing them in the spread of the Kingdom of God.
Today, as we celebrate the feast day of St. John Baptist de La Salle, the patron of teachers, may we experience renewed zeal for our vocation and deeper conviction for doing the work that God has entrusted us to do.
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Hurry.
Take up this work of resurrection. Make our students smarter and better so that they can form our world more closely to the principles of the Gospel, designing stronger systems of justice, creating more beautiful works of art, promoting more authentic statements of truth, and building more mechanisms for charity and healing.
The whole world, and more importantly each of our students, depends on our efforts.
Go change the world.
St. John Baptist de La Salle, pray for us!
