In the 17th to 19th centuries, the religious founders – St John Baptist de La Salle, Bd Nicolas Barré, St Magdalene of Canossa, St Louis Marie de Montfort and St Marcellin Champagnat – established schools for destitute children in Europe. Many of them had become vagrants on the streets and had fallen into delinquency and crime. Education would give them the necessary skills to make an honest living and religious education would provide moral formation.

Religious orders first established schools as a charitable work, in response to the needs of the poor, in a time when states did not see it as their role to provide education to the masses. When the Church expanded its mission to the New World, schools also served the mission of evangelization. Indeed, in schools many Catholic children received their formation in the faith, and many were converted and baptized.

In Singapore, Catholic schools can trace their beginnings to the arrival of Fr Jean-Marie Beurel, MEP, in 1839. As soon as he was appointed leader of the Catholic Mission on the island, he was determined to establish Catholic schools, convinced that schools were a necessity for the evangelization of Singapore. In the early years, the British East India Company was more concerned with its own business interests than the education of the locals. However, it later realized that a better-educated people could also contribute to its business interests, and saw in Christian missionaries partners who would take on this responsibility. Anglican and Methodist missionaries set up the first schools in the Straits Settlements.

Fr Beurel recognized that, if Catholic schools were not established, children would be forced to attend schools of other denominations. He wrote to the Superior-General of the La Salle Brothers and on a visit to Paris secured the services of four Sisters of the Congregation of the Charitable Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus. They opened the first Catholic schools in Singapore in 1852 and 1854 respectively.

Since the first schools were established here, there has always been a tension between secular and religious education. A balance has always been found based on two principles – that religious education is good for moral development, and that religious schools must be open to all, even as students are not compelled to attend religious classes. Since independence in 1965, the widespread investment in education as well as Singapore’s commitment to secularism has often elicited the question: Why does a secular Singaporean state need Catholic schools? What do they offer that is different from secular schools?

According to MOE’s mission and vision statement of 2007, the aim of education is to ‘acquire the skills and knowledge, as well as the right values and attitude to assure the survival and success of the individual and country’.

The uniqueness of the Catholic vision sees a reality beyond individual and country. The Vatican II Declaration on Christian Education Gravissimum Educationis declares that while the state has its legitimate purposes and objectives, the Church has the mandate ‘of proclaiming the mystery of salvation to all people. The Church must be concerned with the whole of a person’s life, even the secular part of it insofar as it has a bearing on one’s heavenly calling. Therefore, she has a role in the progress and development of education.’ Catholic education aims not only to form persons to survive and to attain success in this life, but it ‘aims at the formation of the human person in the pursuit of his or her ultimate end and of the good of society’. The Church’s fundamental mission is proclaiming the Kingdom of God and shaping the secular society with the values of the Kingdom, a Kingdom that has begun on this earth but finds its ultimate fulfilment only in the transcendent and eternal. Hence, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium explains that the Church also works to establish the Kingdom by engaging in temporal affairs, directing them to God’s will and thereby sanctifying the world.

Catholic schools are called to be the salt of the earth and light to the world, the lamp that will light the whole house (Matthew 5:13–16). Catholic schools have as their mission the provision not only of quality education but of holistic development – educating people of all faiths to serve their nation and humanity, but ultimately God and God’s Kingdom.

References

Dicastery for Catholic Education. The Identity of the Catholic School for a Culture of Dialogue. 2022.

Fernandez, Valentina. Catholic teachers and the teaching of Religious Education in Catholic Schools in Singapore: A qualitative study across schools of six religious teaching orders. 2009. University of Western Australia, MEd Thesis.

Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. Gravissimum Educationis. 1965.

Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. Lumen Gentium. 1964.

Wijeysingha, Eugene. Going Forth, The Catholic Church in Singapore 1819–2004. Singapore.

Every time I announce details of events happening in school, my students will ask ‘what if’ questions – what if it rains? what if we don’t bring our planner?’ So, I considered a ‘what if’ question that had been in my mind in the past. What if Jesus did not resurrect and ascend to His Father? When I posed this question as a student, I was told that then my whole belief would all be a lie. How so?

In Genesis, we learnt that when Adam and Eve sinned, heaven was closed to Man. God sought man time and again to bring us back to Heaven. However, time and again, this relationship was broken until God offered his only Son to us to die once and for all to sin. Jesus became man, died and resurrected to open the doors of heaven for us. If He had not, our life on earth remains just that. Life will cease when we die. Why bother to do anything or achieve anything? Life would just be a meaningless existence.

Life would also be based on pure luck. If we were lucky to be born rich, life may be a smooth passage, if not, suffering would be just that. We could just snuff out our life of misery. We’d have no hope to change anything.

The Bible might be an edition in the Chicken Soup series, filled with feel-good stories of living in this world. But what would our motivation be? Any happiness we feel would be fleeting. Nothing lasts. We should just eat and be merry for when we die, life would just end.

In his preaching on earth, St. Paul encountered people in Corinth who did not believe in the resurrection of the body. He wrote to the Corinthians:

“For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ had not been raised, then all our preaching is useless and your faith is useless.” (1 Corinthians 15: 13- 14)

St. Paul says further, “And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anything in the world.” (1 Corinthians 17-19) Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is the new Passover from death to life eternal. Jesus showed us in his transfiguration, as believers, what life is like back with the Father. That we will be made whole and radiant, bathed in the light of God. In our baptism, we have a share in that life. The Book of Revelations paints a beautiful picture of what life is like with God – “life is made new.” and “there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain!” This Easter, as I leave this “what if” question behind, I pray not just to fix my own eyes on heaven, but also to form my students as whole persons, “loving God and neighbour and enriching society with the leaven of the gospel, and who will also be citizens of the world to come, thus fulfilling their destiny to become saints.” (Cf. Gravissimum Educationis, 8)

The Lunar New Year, which began on 29 January, 2025, is an important festival for the Chinese in the Far East and the worldwide diaspora, including Singapore. Marking the arrival of spring, its celebration is steeped in rich cultural traditions having deep spiritual meanings.

It reminds us of the importance of family relationships, the circle of life in the natural world, and the collective hope for a brighter and more prosperous future; its association with springtime inspires not only fresh ideas and new ways of doing things, but also any sacrifices required to make space for new growth in our lives.

Springtime is also a metaphor for the spiritual renewal that Christianity offers. Just as the earth emerges from the cold grasp of winter into a season of growth, Christians believe in the possibility of personal and communal spiritual rebirth through faith in Christ. As we enter into the Lunar New Year how then can we, as educators and parents, bear witness to this spirit of faith and renewal?

Education

In February 2024, in his concluding message to Catholic educators who participated in a four- month-long conference in Madrid organised by the Spanish Bishops’ Conference (CEE)1, Pope Francis said: “Education is, above all, an act of hope in those before us, in their possibilities to change and contribute to the renewal of society.”

The Holy See sees “education as a process … that forms the whole child and seeks to fix his or her eyes on heaven.” What else but hope can give us the confidence to train our young people’s spiritual vision despite their world being dominated by a culture of individualism, relativism and secularism?

From our experiences as parents and educators, we can surely find something deep within us that gives rise to the hope that our children and students – made in the image and likeness of God – can be better versions of themselves. We must also put our faith in our God who will continue to love us, no matter the number of times we fail or fall.

Faith and renewal

Take, for example, the making New Year’s resolutions: if we’ve already made some, and already failed to keep them, let us not be too hard on ourselves.

Fr Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, a well-regarded Catholic columnist, explains: “It is a sign of health that we keep making new resolutions, despite a life-long history of failure. Why? In making new resolutions we are saying: ‘I believe in a God who continues to love me, even when I can’t live up to it.’ But more than that, making new resolutions is to express faith in the God of the resurrection. To try for new life, for a fresh start, precisely when bad habit has kept me so long in a certain helplessness, is to say: ‘I believe in the resurrection and the life!’”

In the same way, parents and educators should not give up on children and youth easily, but instead, persevere to nurture them to their fullest potential to be the unique individuals that God has called them to be.

As Pope Francis told the Spanish educators, “the distinctive feature of Catholic education is true humanisation that arises from faith, and generates a culture of encounter.”

As parents and educators, let us constantly remind ourselves that, in our encounters with our young people, we are called to make daily acts of hope, keeping faith in their potential to be future contributors to the change and renewal of society and the world.

Let us also ponder: As parents (or first educators) and teachers in schools, do we subscribe to this Catholic vision of parenting and educating? Will we build a culture based on this Catholic vision in our homes and schools? This year, will we make a resolution to believe in the goodness of each and every child because he or she is made in the image and likeness of God?

After all, Pope Francis also said that “To be saints is not a privilege for a few, but a vocation for everyone”

“The greatest gift we can give anyone is the gift of Jesus. Don’t be afraid to give Jesus to our young people. Don’t be afraid! They will be grateful to you for eternity!” This was the closing exhortation of Cardinal William Goh to some 500 Catholic educators, educators and students in Catholic schools, religious sisters and brothers, Management Committee and Board members of Catholic schools gathered for the annual Commencement of School Year (COSY) Mass on 19 January, 2025 at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. How exactly do we give our students Jesus? Pope Francis proposed a divine pedagogy to members of the Catholic Union of Teachers, Managers, Educators, Trainers (UCIIM), the Italian Association of Catholic Teachers (AIMC), and the Association of Catholic School Parents (AGESC) during a private audience held on 4 January, 2025 in the Vatican.

Pope Francis celebrates’ the 80th anniversary of the UCIIM and AIMC, and the 50th anniversary of the AGESC, with their representatives in Vatican City’s Pope Paul VI Hall on 4 January 2025. Photo: Vatican Media)

I have taken the liberty of repackaging what the Pope outlined as characteristics of God’s ‘educational method’ into 7 elements as follows: his original speech is at https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2025/january/documents/202 50104-uciim-aimc-agesc.html

1. Closeness, compassion and tenderness

“Christmas is a time that shows us God is close, compassionate and tender. The Lord is a teacher who enters the world of his pupils, living among them and teaching them through the language of life and love. A remote pedagogy, distant from the people, is of no use, and does not help.” The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). The Son of God became man so that we might become God (St. Athanasius). Emmanuel, God-with-us, can identify with all our children and students, be they infants, toddlers, preschoolers, primary school children, teenagers or young adults, because He has gone through all these phases of growing up Himself. He sees their hearts’ desire for love, acceptance and belonging. We too were young once. How much do we empathise with our students, and try to support them? Do we speak the words of kindness, affirmation and encouragement they long to hear? How much have we, as shepherds, ‘taken on the smell of our sheep’?

2. Humility and generosity

“Jesus was born in a condition of poverty and simplicity: Christmas teaches us that greatness is not manifested in success or wealth, but in love and service to others. God’s is a pedagogy of giving.” Whenever Jesus discerned a need, He was filled with compassion, and sought to provide, never using his authority to lord it over others. For example, when Jesus saw the vast crowd at the multiplication of the fish and the loaves, ‘His heart was moved with pity for them,” unlike His disciples who wanted to dismiss them, so they could buy their own food. (Matthew14:14-16) How much are we willing to give of our time and other resources to serve those in the greatest need? Are we Good Samaritans doing for others what we would like others do for us, or merely indifferent observers or passers-by?

3. Communion and family

“God’s pedagogy of giving is a call to live in communion with Him and with others, as part of a plan of universal fraternity, a plan in which the family has a central and irreplaceable position… In the family, one talks! Family is dialogue, it is dialogue that makes us grow.” Jesus could always engage in authentic dialogue with everyone, whether with Our Lady at the wedding at Cana, the Twelve during his public ministry, friends like Martha, Mary and Lazarus, his enemies the scribes and Pharisee, or the crowds. How familiar are we with our students’ family circumstances? Do we genuinely seek open and honest dialogue with our students and their parents? As children of God, how often do we commune with God in prayer, whether on our own or together with our fellow Catholics?

4. Acceptance and respect for human dignity

“God’s pedagogy is an invitation to recognise the dignity of every person, starting from those who are rejected and at the margins, just as the shepherds were treated two thousand years ago, and to appreciate the value of every phase of life, including childhood.” Jesus was willing to give of Himself to serve and minister with love and non-judgment – saint or sinner, lord or labourer – because all had equal dignity as human persons created by God. Do we meet our students where they are, and accept them for who they are? Are we able to see the image and likeness of God in each of them? ‘God has no favourites’ (Romans 2:11) – do we?

5. A culture of peace, not war

“You are called to develop and transmit a new culture, based on the encounter between generations, on inclusion, on the discernment of the true, the good and the beautiful; a culture of responsibility, both personal and collective, to face global challenges [particularly] the great challenge of peace. But if at school you wage war among yourselves, that is preparing for war, not peace.” St. Paul describes how we might acculturate ourselves to Christ, the Prince of Peace: “As God’s chosen people, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive, as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.” (Colossians 3:12-15) What wars rage in our hearts? How reconciled are we with ourselves, with others, and with our life circumstances, whether in school, at home or in church? Are we at peace with God? We cannot share what we do not already possess.

6. Accompaniment in hope

“A good teacher is a man or a woman of hope, devoting themselves with confidence and patience to [nurturing their students] in the conviction that every educational effort has value, and that every person has a dignity and a vocation that deserves to be nurtured.” As Cardinal Goh said at the COSY Mass, “the whole approach of Catholic education should be to help the child find his or her vocation” because “every vocation is a form of service: it is in service to others that we find our true selves, and it is in ‘being’ for others that we find our own ‘being’.” When we are tempted to lose hope in ourselves or our students, let us emulate Our Lady, who did not give up hope on God’s promise to give her son a kingdom that would never end (Luke 1:33), even when Christ was taken down from the cross and laid in her arms. “Hope is the motor that sustains educators in their daily effort, even in difficulty and failure. So as not to lose hope, and to foster it every day, let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, our teacher and travelling companion!” as did the disciples on the road to Emmaus, after their eyes were opened at the breaking of bread. (Luke 24:13-35) Do we see our role in Catholic education as a vocation, a divine calling, or as a career, a job, a secular pursuit? How do we use our God-given talents – in hope born of faith and lived in charity for others, or with hubris and self-love? Do we keep our students on the path of Jesus’ teachings, or lead them astray?

7. Collective memory and commitment

“It is a good opportunity to remember your history and look to the future. This movement between roots, memory and fruits, is the key to commitment in education… Never forget where you come from, but do not walk with your head facing the other way, mourning times past. Instead, think of the present of the school, which is the future of society… [Work together] because in this way you can better bear witness to the face of the Church in the schools and for the schools.” Our Catholic schools stand proud today as the fruits of their founders’ labours of love and faith, and the perseverance and sustained hope of those who came after them. Now it is our turn to read the ‘signs of the times’ and continue their mission to preserve their legacy. How familiar are we with our schools’ history? Are we a vibrant, evangelising and missionary school in the spirit of our founders, conquering hearts for Christ, or are we a an institution in mere maintenance mode?

The 7 elements of God’s pedagogy and the 5 essential marks of Catholic schools

The 7 elements of God’s pedagogy mirror the 5 essential marks. If we adopt the 7 elements and seal our schools with the 5 marks, then we will surely bless our students with the gift of Jesus, and the hope, joy, peace and life in abundance only He can bring. We will not be alone: Christ our Master Teacher walks alongside us. In this Jubilee Year of Hope, Pope Francis encourages us forward: “Optimism disappoints, but hope never disappoints, never; hope is always on the move, and makes us move too, so go forth in confidence!”

New Year, new beginnings. New Year, clean slate. Perhaps what makes a new year so enticing is its untapped potential and promise, the perfect opportunity to make and experience newness and change. Isn’t this the reason why so many decide to make New Year’s resolutions? While I, like many in our fraternity (admit it, teachers!), enjoy both the idea and making of an airtight plan and SMART- goals, 2024 has taught me that God can change the best laid plans overnight, but always with good reason, and always with love. In my teenage years, a friend once remarked that God’s idea of a joke is watching Man make plans. I used to wonder about the implications of this, baffled by the thought that God would upend things when He was the one who gave us free will, confused by the possibility that God could be cruel.

But God is never cruel; He is good all the time. This truth is the only thing that can endure time and outlast civilisations; and to stop holding on to this truth, would mark the beginning of a long and painful downward spiral that takes us further and further from our faith.

No one exemplified pure faith better than Mary, whose surrender to and trust in God gave us the most precious gift ever, and showed the world that God is indeed good all the time. To be visited by Gabriel out of nowhere and informed so abruptly that she would conceive the son of God despite being a virgin, must have been overwhelming and disturbing. The reactions that this scandal would have caused must also have been troubling to imagine and anticipate. Yet two things stand out to me. First, that the most unimaginable or unpleasant news and situation can be reframed if we remember that God holds us in the palm of His hand. I think of how certain pieces of news and requests at work are sometimes delivered with a preamble or a disclaimer, as a complaint, or even accompanied by compliments to put us in the right mood and set the context. Gabriel had announced his arrival saying “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.” (Lk 1:28), and upon delivering the news, assured Mary that she had “found favour with God” (Lk 1:30). How striking it is that the emphasis was on how this was neither a punishment nor a travesty, but a special gift of goodness, and a favourable blessing! Uncertainty, pain and worry are part of life, but even if we do not feel exceptionally “favoured” in the moment, we must remember that God is always with us, just like He was with Mary. Without this reminder, we tend to forget that God’s plan is always the best plan and that His favour is all we need to carry us through life. The second thing that strikes me is the way Mary accepted this announcement and upheaval to her life. She asked only one question, confused by the idea that she could conceive despite being a virgin, and then accepted this bold and sudden news, surrendering herself to God’s will and accepting that she was “God’s servant”. Her courage and grace fill me with curiosity, humility and inspiration all at the same time. One might argue that her reaction isn’t just stoic, but downright muted and worlds apart from the reactions that every single one of us is prone to having, especially when things do not go according to our plan. We rationalise our behaviour and reactions all the time, consoling ourselves that we are only human. Well, Mary was human too. Did God choose Mary for this extraordinary task because He knew that she would fulfil His will without complaint? I would like to believe that she rose to the occasion through trust, faith and surrender; she became Mary, Mother of God.

And so, I have no grand plans for the New Year. I think about how Mankind came to have a saviour because one woman chose to say “Yes” to God; and if this is not a reminder that God is good all the time, waiting patiently for us to surrender to His will and say “Yes” to His loving call and plans, then what else can be? Mary’s “Yes” paved the way to the birth of Christ, and she had to bear witness to His pain and suffering later and experience tremendous heartache herself; but this “Yes” also enabled many, many miracles that remind us of the power of faith, and the power of our wonderful and loving God. In 2025, may we be courageous, faithful and “full of grace” like Mary, our Mother.

The author shares some reflections on the Jubilee Year of Hope, with special emphasis for educators.

…

A happy New Year 2025 to one and all! And to everyone reading this on or before January 12, a blessed Christmastide too! We have just ushered in the Jubilee Year of Hope, declared by Pope Francis in May 2024 through a Papal Bull of Indiction (official Vatican document) entitled Spes Non Confundit (Hope Does Not Disappoint, SNC). 1 This holy year was officially inaugurated in Rome on 24 December 2024 with the Pope’s opening of the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and here in Singapore with an opening Mass celebrated by Cardinal William Goh on 28 December 2024 at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. It will end on 6 January 2026, the feast of the Epiphany. To help us reap fully the fruits of this Jubilee Year, which is themed ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ , let us ponder on the following:

1. Jubilee

Under the Old Testament Mosaic law (Leviticus 25:8-55; 27: 16-25, the 50th year occurring at the end of 7 cycles of 7 years was to be a year of special grace and restoration dedicated to God and the remembrance of his mercy, where creditors forgave all debts owed to them, mortgagees returned land to their ancestral owners, masters set their slaves free, and land was allowed to lie fallow. Each such year was proclaimed by the blowing of a trumpet fashioned from a rams’ horn, in Hebrew yovel, from which the English jubilee is derived. In the age of the Church, Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of this law, and Isaiah’s prophecy: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. ” (Luke 4: 18-19)

Now proclaimed every 25 years, rather than every 50, today’s jubilee years are opportunities given to us by the Church “to re-establish a proper relationship with the Lord, with one another, and with all of creation.”

2. Hope

The Jubilee Year of 2025 is centred on hope. The source of this hope is Jesus Christ.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “[Christ is] the true shepherd, the one who knows even the path that passes through the valley of death; one who walks with me even on the path of final solitude, where no one can accompany me, guiding me through: he himself has walked this path, he has descended into the kingdom of death, he has conquered death, and he has returned to accompany us now and to give us the certainty that, together with him, we can find a way through. The realisation that there is One who, with his ‘rod and his staff comfort me’ so that ‘I fear no evil’ (Psalm 23:4), this was the new ‘hope’ that arose over the life of believers.”

Pope Francis reiterates that the death and resurrection of Jesus is the heart of our faith and the basis of our hope,^ and assures us that “Hope is not an empty word, or a vague desire of ours that things may turn out for the best; hope is a certainty, because it is founded on God’s fidelity to His promises. And this is why it is called a theological virtue: because it is infused by God and has God as its guarantor.”

3. Pilgrimage

The Vatican Jubilee website explains: “The word pilgrimage comes from the Latin per ager meaning ‘across the fields’ or perhaps from per eger meaning ‘border crossing’; both possible origins point to the distinctive aspect of undertaking a journey.

In the Bible, Abraham is described as a person on a journey: “Go forth from your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house” (Genesis 12:1). With these words Abraham begins his adventure, which ends in the Promised Land.

Jesus’ ministry can also be seen as a journey, from Galilee to the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Christ himself calls His disciples to walk this road, and even today Christians are those who follow him and set out after Him.”

Pope Benedict XVI reflected:

“To go on pilgrimage is not simply to visit a place to admire its treasures of nature, art or history. To go on pilgrimage really means to step out of ourselves in order to encounter God where he has revealed himself, where his grace has shone with particular splendour and produced rich fruits of conversion and holiness among those who believe.”

4. Encounter

The Jubilee Year’s theme reminds us that we are all members of the pilgrim People of God making their earthly journey towards the heavenly Jerusalem, led by Jesus the Good Shepherd, called to “step out of ourselves”.

In the words of the Vatican Jubilee website: “When we travel, we do not only change place physically, but we also change ourselves. Hence, it is important to prepare ourselves well, to plan the route, and learn about the destination… Along the way our traveling companions enrich us with new ways of understanding things and fresh perspectives.

Contemplation of creation is also part of the journey. Pilgrimage is an experience of conversion, of transforming one’s very being to conform it to the holiness of God.”

Our recent participation in the Synod on Synodality has surely prepared us for this Jubilee, having trained us to walk together as Church, sharing and listening to each other from and with the heart in honest and open dialogue, and discerning collectively on where to go next as Church and individual.

May this holy year continue to offer us “precious times for taking stock of our lives, both as individuals and as communities” and “opportunities for reflection, recollection, and listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us today through hearts open to the Lord.”

5. Mission

The hope of the Pope is therefore: “For everyone, may the Jubilee be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the ‘door’ of our salvation, whom the Church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere and to all as ‘our hope!’.”

He reminds us why we are sent to proclaim the Good News of Christ our hope:

“Hope is not an empty word, or a vague desire of ours that things may turn out for the best; hope is a certainty, because it is founded on God’s fidelity to His promises. And this is why it is called a theological virtue: because it is infused by God and has God as its guarantor. It is not a passive virtue, which merely waits for things to happen. It is a supremely active virtue that helps make them happen.

A Christian cannot be satisfied with having hope; he or she must also radiate hope, be a sower of hope. It is the most beautiful gift that the Church can give to all of humanity” especially in our present time, when war, violence, natural disaster and ills of every kind seem to overwhelm the world.

He writes: “The apostle Peter exhorted the first Christians with these words: ‘Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope’. But he added a recommendation: ‘Do it with gentleness and reverence’ (1 Peter 3:15-16). This is because it is not so much the strength of the arguments that will convince people, but rather the love that we know how to put in them. This is the first and most effective form of evangelisation. And it is open to everyone!”

The logo of the Jubilee of Hope

The official is a beautiful representation of what we must strive for this year.

“The logo representing all of humanity, coming from the four corners of the earth. They embrace each other to indicate the solidarity and fraternity which should unite all peoples. The figure at the front is holding onto the cross. It is not only the sign of our faith, but also of our hope, which can never be abandoned, because we are always in need of hope, especially in our moments of greatest need.

There are the rough waves under the figures, symbolising the fact that life’s pilgrimage does not always go smoothly in calm waters. Often the circumstances of daily life and events in the wider world require a greater call to hope. That’s why we should pay special attention to the lower part of the cross which has been elongated and turned into the shape of an anchor which is let down into the waves. The anchor is well known as a symbol of hope. In maritime jargon the ‘anchor of hope’ refers to the reserve anchor used by vessels involved in emergency manoeuvres to stabilise the ship during storms.

It is worth noting that the image illustrates the pilgrim’s journey not as an individual undertaking, but rather as something communal, marked by an increasing dynamism leading one ever closer to the cross. The cross in the logo is by no means static, but it is also dynamic. It bends down towards humanity, not leaving human beings alone, but stretching out to them to offer the certainty of its presence and the security of hope.”

Stepping out into the Jubilee Year

As we begin the new school year, let us ponder, with the above as guidance, what the Jubilee Year might mean for us as educators, and for our schools, our families and our faith communities. May it inspire us to think about concrete practical ways we can proclaim the hope we have in Christ to those God has put into our lives, especially our young people.

A good way to begin is with Pope Francis’ Jubilee Prayer: