Catholic Schools Week: Bishop thanks parents and teachers
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Bishop Michael W. Fisher thanked parents and teachers who help children in Catholic schools for the sacrifice they make. The bishop offered his gratitude during the kickoff Mass for Catholic Schools Week held Jan. 28 at St. Benedict Parish in Eggertsville.
The children’s choir performed and students from St. Benedict School served as lectors for the Mass. Bishop Fisher encouraged them to continue the practice. “It’s the Word of God where we are instructed; where we learn about the good news and beauty and truth about our God,” he told them.
The opening prayer for the Mass read, “Grant us Lord, our God, that we may honor you with our mind and love everyone in truth of heart.”
“We honor God, certainly, by using our minds,” the bishop said in his homily. “God is glorified when we educate our human intellect, a human intellect that He gave to each one of us. By using the minds that God gives us, as the opening prayer continues, we glean the capacity to love everyone in truth of heart. One cannot love what one does not know. And that is the beauty of learning and teaching.”
Education must precede love. Love, the bishop explained, comes from an understanding of truth and beauty in our world, the truth and beauty of our God, our humanity, and our natural world. Learning to love involves learning how the human person and natural world work.
“Authentic educators lead students to see the whole of reality, from the first principles of philosophy to a knowledge of astronomy, to molecular biology and subatomic physics, to geometric theorems. (‘Oh, I had trouble with those,’ Bishop Fisher admitted.) And every kind of mathematics, the science of history, languages and music and art. Every subject brings us closer and in contact to God’s truth. And every subject is integral to what it means to be Catholic, to be universal, to have a universal and authentic education.”
Catholic education is more than learning theology or understanding the catechism, he continued. “Our Catholic education is that beautiful golden strand that goes through all the subjects – math, music, art and languages. That golden strand where we can see and experience God’s truth, God’s beauty, and God’s voice.”
In closing, the bishop advised everyone to be “mindful of heaven, and your mind will flourish on earth. Be mindful of the truths of God, and your mind will see the truths of humanity.”
National Catholic Schools Week is an annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. Now entering its 50th anniversary year, CSW has traditionally been held the last week in January. This year CSW is held Jan. 28 to Feb. 3 with the theme “United in Faith and community.” Schools typically observe the week with Masses, assemblies and other activities for students, families, parishioners and community members to celebrate what makes Catholic schools great.
Listen to Michael Mroziak’s report here:
