By Sister Ellen Rose Coughlin, SSJ
Superintendent of Schools

The theme for Catholic Schools Week 2012 is “Catholic Schools: Faith – Academics – Service.”

For many of our 15 schools, observance of Catholic Schools Week begins Sunday, Jan. 29and extends throughout the week until Feb. 5.  Due to testing schedules and the timing of the winter “break” some schools choose to hold the annual celebration later in February.

Regardless of when it is celebrated, Catholic Schools Week is a special week for our school communities. It provides an opportunity to acknowledge the accomplishments of our students, express gratitude to pastors, parents, parishioners and volunteers who give so much time and talent to our schools and, most importantly, to express the unique character of  Catholic schools.

This year’s theme focuses on three priorities that distinguish our schools from other educational institutions. Our children and young people are taught the basics of our Christian faith. These fundamental doctrines impart knowledge about our faith, the teachings that are the foundation of our faith.

But more than knowledge about our faith, our students encounter the person of Christ, experience His love and learn how to become companions and disciples of Christ.  “. . . comprehensive and systematic formation in the faith . . . includes more than instruction: it is an apprenticeship of the entire Christian life, . . . which promotes an authentic following of Christ, focused on his Person; it implies education in knowledge of the faith and in the life of faith, in such a manner that the entire person, at his deepest levels, feels enriched by the word of God”
(National Directory of Catechesis, #19. D).

Our academic programs provide the knowledge and skills our students need to be integral members of the Church and society. But here, too, Catholic schools have an added value. The Gospel and the teachings of the Church are integrated into all subject areas, programs and the environment of the school.  No subject is only a secular pursuit.  Each subject is enriched by the virtues which spring from the grace of the Gospel accepted and lived. This integration develops and supports the vital connection between faith and life and faith and culture.
The service aspect of Catholic schools is receiving a heightened emphasis in our schools this year. At the fall Superintendent’s Conference the principal from each school presented Bishop LaValley with the school’s pledge to engage in service throughout the year. 

Although service is a regular feature in our Catholic schools, this year the schools are maintaining a record of the students’ service hours.  On May 14th, delegations from each school will join Bishop LaValley for a prayer service at St. Mary’s Cathedral at which time they will present him with the actual hours of service performed by the school community and a display of the particular forms of service in which the school was engaged.

I was recently reminded of the importance of service when I participated in a meeting at the Emmaus Room, the parish conference center at St. Peter’s parish in Plattsburgh. As I approached the building I noticed a striking wall relief of Jesus washing the feet of St. Peter. The plaque accompanying the relief said, “Caring for one another is the very essence of being a follower of the Lord Jesus.” The relief and the words on the plaque brought to mind the Last Supper scene as depicted in Saint John’s Gospel.  “. . . if I washed your feet – I who am Teacher and Lord – then you must wash each other’s feet. What I just did was to give you an example: as I have done, so you must do” (Jn 13: 14). 

From the Master’s example, St. Peter learned the importance of service. So must we. So must our students. A disciple is one who serves as Christ served. Matthew’s Gospel is clear also about the importance of service to our neighbor. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the imprisoned, promoting justice and comforting the suffering (cf. Mt 25:31-46) are works of service by which the disciple of Christ can reach out to others.  Our very salvation depends upon recognizing Christ in our brothers and sisters and reaching out to them through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

The specific purpose of Catholic education is the formation of students who will be good citizens of this world, loving God and neighbor and enriching society with the leaven of the Gospel, and who will also, one day, be citizens of heaven, enjoying the company of  all the blessed who have heard, accepted and lived the Gospel.
Catholic Schools Week is a wonderful time to celebrate this purpose, to experience how this purpose is a reality in each of our schools and to invite anyone who is interested in learning more about our schools to visit one of them.