Faith, Science, and Departmentalization: Part Two

            Father Greg Boyle is the president of Homeboy Industries. Of you don’t know about Homeboy Industries, it is a business and ministry that “provides hope, training, and support to formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated men and women…” Father Greg describes how one of the biggest obstacles in their work is convincing the greater community that these current, transitioning, or former gang members are, in fact, people who Hope to be more than what the gang image tells the world. The preconceptions exist even in the various businesses that Homeboy Industries runs. He tells stories of men or women from rival gangs having to work together. At first, all they know about the other is that they are a rival. The entire Truth of their new coworker is condensed into a gang name or a color or any number of surface or material Truths. It is easy to vilify or hate someone if they are just a “color” or a label. But as they grow in relationship with each other…as they share in a mission or a business in this case… they start to see through and past the previous and false “truth” they had accepted. You cannot hate or oppose someone if you really know them.

Despite differences, as teachers we can create space for our students to practice dialogue and development of authentic relationships. (photo P. Smith)

            Catholic schools can learn from Father Greg. Maybe more accurately, Catholic schools can learn from Father Greg’s gang members…his “homies”, as he calls them. Teachers are not members of opposing forces, competing for the attention of our students or even the success of our students. The goal of teachers and of Catholic schools, I would argue, is not even to convince our students that the individual subject matter or topics they are learning are the purpose of education. The purpose of education is to help our students realize what they already know: we are made to be in relationship with each other so we can Love and be Loved. The various subjects we teach are not in opposition to each other; they are opportunities to engage in conversation so we can model for our students what the Trinity looks like…what we are made to look like. This means we must look at each subject as profoundly valuable and independent in its own right because in that value and independence we have the opportunity to encounter other human beings and other ideas. It is not a matter of what subject is the most important. It is not a matter of who is right or who is wrong… the purpose of our differences is to enter into dialogue… so we can develop relationship… so we can encounter Love.