It's Been A Minute

 

It’s been a while. Let’s just say, for the last year, I have been discerning my relationship with Catholic education. I won’t go into the details, but, essentially, I have decided to step away, for the time being.

I’m going to start up this blog again, though, and focus on what I know to be the real heart of Catholic education… encounter with Jesus. I have written before, but all education needs to be directed to something greater than just mastery of content knowledge or practical skills. Education must be directed to an encounter with Truth… the Truth of who we are created to be. Ultimately, that is the only knowledge that will fulfill us. Any school that orients students to a material or temporal Truth is setting limits on who the student can be and how much fulfillment or happiness they can experience.

Summit Lake, Colorado. I just like this picture. If you can make a connection between this blog and this picture, go for it. (photo. P. Smith)


From a Catholic Anthropological perspective, we are created in the image and likeness of God, and we are only really fulfilled when we live out that image and likeness. Certainly, God places in our hearts and minds certain passions or gifts, and some modern education does, in fact, help students to identify and even hone those passions and gifts. If a student is lucky, they may even find a job that leverages those passions and gifts and helps to fulfill them to a certain point. But what seems to be missing from the way we teach is the failure to really help students develop an authentic relationship with God so they can directly encounter the one who has given them those passions and gifts in the first place. It is one thing to be able to figure out what we are passionate about; it is another thing to know exactly how we can use those passions and gifts in a way that makes this world a better place. If our students can encounter Jesus and develop a relationship with him, then they can more easily develop discernment skills to know exactly what God has planned for them to do with their passions in a way that will really fulfill them.

In the last few weeks, I have gotten a few calls from former students asking for my input on some major decisions they are making. I likely did a poor job of teaching them how to develop their own relationship with Jesus and to know exactly how much He Loves them, but thank God I somehow was able to show them that I cared for them…that they could rely on me at any time in the future for practical, educational, spiritual, or emotional support. I am not the best teacher, and I am definitely not the smartest person, but I do believe that I did what I could the be the hands and feet of Jesus and to be an vehicle of encounter for my students between them and Jesus. I may not have shown them properly how much Jesus Loves them and how they can encounter Him directly, but I think I was able to give them a small snippet of that Love and that snippet stuck with them. Now, what can I do to help them encounter Jesus more directly?

I’m going to keep thinking about this. In the last year I have had some intersting things happen in terms of conversations related to Catholic belief and Catholic education. Maybe I can just use this basic platform to share what I have been experiencing.

I’ll get back to you.

 

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