Educators Archives - Page 10 of 14 - Archdiocesan Commission for Catholic Schools

8 January 2016

Six steps to great new year’s resolutions for Catholic educators

At the start of every new year, people come up with resolutions in order to improve their habits and the way they do things. But as time goes by, we often give up because they are too difficult or unrealistic to keep to. It is useful to reflect on the past year and pinpoint the areas in our lives that require change, so that we can make more focused goals. This can also serve as a time when we look back and examine our spiritual lives, and think about how to grow closer to God in the coming year. Here are a few simple steps to reflecting on the past year:

1. Make a timeline of the past year
Teachers are often very busy throughout the academic year, and lack the time to reflect on their own thoughts and actions. Putting words on paper is the fastest and most visual method for putting one’s ideas into perspective. Draw a timeline for the past year and ensure that every month in your timeline has enough space for note-taking.

2. Write down the major responsibilities you have undertaken each month
Teachers know that there are many different dimensions to teaching. Lesson planning, marking papers and disciplining students are all different parts of the same responsibility. Note down the things that required your attention. If you helped to plan an event in school, headed student programmes, or chaired a committee, note these down as well.

3. Write down what you have done well, and what can be improved
List down the things that you have done well. If your lessons are engaging students effectively or if their grades are improving – these are results that you want to repeat for the following year. Trace the methodology you used, and include it in your lesson plans and teaching strategy for the new year.

Next, consider the areas you think need extra attention. Are there disciplinary issues? Did students have difficulty learning? Teachers devote a lot of time and energy into making students learn, but different students learn at different paces. Consider the ways in which you can make your pedagogy more encompassing and effective.

Also, think about how you have carried God’s message in your teaching. Apart from teaching academic content, did you also impart correct values to your students? Did you promote any principles opposed to the faith or the Church’s teachings? Reflect on ways to better incorporate your spiritual mission into your professional calling.

4. Write down the most encouraging (and most discouraging) feedback you’ve received from students
At the heart of a teacher’s mission is her students. Recall the most encouraging feedback you received from your students. They may be comments that are seemingly trivial, like how nice you are to them, or how funny your lessons are. But these words give meaning to a teacher’s career, and make her know that her students care. Write them down as a reminder of the rewards of teaching!

On the other hand, teachers can become hurt and discouraged by negative words. In the bid to become role models for students, educators often forget that they are just as human as anyone. Reflect on comments from students that discouraged you. What were their motivations? Perhaps they do not fully understand your intentions? Or perhaps they have deeper issues affecting them? Putting their words into context will make you more aware of their needs, and make you feel less upset at them.

5. Remember your calling
Take this time to reflect on your calling as a Christian teacher. Your profession is a noble one – to nurture the minds and morals of the young. This journey contains both joys and struggles, and an educator may become disheartened along the way. Remind yourself how this calling serves a critical role of God’s plan in providing the best for His children.

6. Write down your resolutions for the New Year
Now that you are more aware of your strengths and shortcomings as a teacher, you can incorporate this newfound wisdom into your New Year’s resolutions! What are the practices that make you a good Catholic educator? What are the bad ones that bring you further from the Church, and from God? And lastly, what are some new ideas that you can try out this year? Include these into your planning for the new year.

7. (Bonus) Try this out with your students
If you feel that this exercise has helped you, try it with your students! Give them the opportunity to think back on the positive and negative things that have influenced them in the past year, and put these things into perspective. (You can make it a private exercise, so that they don’t have to share it with others, if they don’t wish to.)

Regardless of the different challenges that all teachers have faced in the past year, the new year brings even greater opportunities and trials for everyone. It is important to both reflect on the past to assess where we are in our relationship with God, and to look ahead to new hopes and dreams.

Got a great tip? Share with us in the comments section below how you made your new year resolutions.

RE Coordinators and Chaplaincy team members gather for a time of fellowship

20 November 2015

Tags: Educators

Categories: Events, Reflections

RE Coordinators and Chaplaincy team members gather for a time of fellowship

On 17 November, the chaplains and Religious Education (RE) coordinators of Catholic schools gathered at the Catholic Archdiocesan Education Centre (CAEC) for a time of fellowship with fellow educators. An engaging session was conducted by former RE educator, Mrs Patricia Lee. The teachers were also briefed about various events ACCS has planned for 2016.

They were also introduced to the programmes to be conducted by the Brisbane Catholic Education Office, namely the ‘Catching Fire’ Faith Formation programme for principals, vice-principals and RE coordinators due to take place in August, as well as the Religious Education Access Programme (REAP) workshops in November 2016.

An engaging session was conducted by former RE educator, Mrs Patricia Lee.

Ms Geraldine Krishnasamy, who attended the event, shares with us about her reflections on the gathering.

What was the focus of the event, and how did you find yourself relating to it, from your own experience in the classroom?
The event was a gathering of all RE Coordinators. The facilitation was very well conducted. It gave me an opportunity to interact with other RE Coordinators and learn how they ensure the Catholic ethos in the school is maintained. The session helped me reflect on the activities, events, programmes I had initiated in my school and the importance of having such programmes. The session also made me realise that it is from the little activities I do in my own classroom that I make the faith come alive in small ways.

How did you feel while reviewing the highlights of the year? How does it help you plan ahead?
Firstly, I have to thank God for providing me with the time to attend the meeting this year. I was previously unable to attend the gathering because I was in the afternoon session and usually the sessions were held in the afternoons. This is actually my first attendance because my school had gone single session starting this year.

Through the interaction with the RE Coordinators from other schools, I learnt how some activities that I thought were impossible can indeed be done in my school. How my school manages Catholic Values Education with Values Education (for non-Catholics) was well-received by the RE Coordinator from another school.

The opportunity to plan for our future and writing down our wish list was awesome. It gave me a direction and concrete goals I can look forward to.

What was your main takeaway from the session?
RE activities are just as important as the other subjects taught in school. I learned that as the RE Coordinator, I am actually very important in school because I serve to ensure that the Catholic ethos of the school is firmly upheld. It is of paramount importance to bring the faith evident in all programmes in the school.

I also learnt that it is important to have the support of the Catholic community in the school even though the number of Catholic staff may be small. It is quite sad to see that the number of Catholic teachers in my school is much lower compared to some other schools.

An RE coordinator present at the session gave pragmatic advice in saying that ultimately, we have to answer to the Ministry. As much as I see the significance of being an MOE staff, I also value and respect my role as an RE Coordinator.

6 November 2015

Tags: Educators

Categories: Reflections

A day in the life of… Sr Agatha Tan IJ

Many students over past decades still remember the impact Sr Agatha Tan IJ made in their lives. From feeding and clothing poor students, to offering a hug to a student in her desparate moments, Sr Agatha has truly been more than a teacher. She shares more about her life and work as an educator.

What are your roles and responsibilities as a religious involved in education?
A teacher, counsellor, adviser, friend, nurse – all in one! My main responsibility is to mould and help pupils to grow in grace and wisdom. To instil in them the important values like integrity, freedom and love. To help them accept themselves and others as they are. To enable them to be people of dignity and love.

What are some of the difficulties in your area of work with schools and education?
More time is allotted to teaching of academic subjects as society nowadays aim for academic excellence rather than values in life and faith formation.

How do you overcome them?
With the constant help of God and faith conviction, together with RE lessons and daily reflection in the morning. Of course, not forgetting prayer and communication with the pupils and staff.

What is the fondest memory of your time working in the education sector?
To meet past pupils who bring back such pleasant memories like, “Sister, what you taught us have a great impact in our lives”. Others remember captions like “self last, others first”, “think before you speak”.

When you are faced with difficult students, what is one thing you tell yourself?
I always treat these students with love and tender care as they are God’s gift to me. As such, I treat each one of these students with patience, showing them great care and concern. The more difficult they are, the more I love them.

What does being a Catholic educator mean to you?
It means a lot to and for me. As far as possible, I have tried my best to create a Christ-like environment, making Jesus known and loved to those I live and work with.

Why is education an important aspect of the IJ Sisters?
It is the charism of our founder, Blessed Nicholas Barre. He started educating the poor girls in his time. He was the one who founded the Infant Jesus congregation. Our order is a teaching order. Blessed Barre’s dedication and commitment inspires me. I feel deep within me that I ought to emulate his example.

Has a student or a teacher ever inspired you or taught you something valuable?
Yes, one student inspired me by the way she accepted suffering cheerfully and yet still studied conscientiously to make the grade. There is also one particular teacher who is really admirable. She is very calm. She is talented and never says “no” to anyone who needs help. She is a true “person for others”.

What is one aspect or character of a Catholic school that you appreciate the most?
That God is our number one. We always begin the day with a prayer and morning reflection. A Catholic treats every student with love. A Catholic school not only sees to the academic studies of students but instills in them moral values that will prepare them for society living.

What is one advice you would give to teachers today?
Teaching is a noble profession. We must embrace it with dedication and love because we are moulding and preparing the young of tomorrow.

Pope John Paul II on the school’s role in catechesis

16 October 2015

Tags: Educators, Parents

Categories: Homilies / Messages, News

Pope John Paul II on the school’s role in catechesis

The following is from Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi Tradendae, given this day, 16 October, in 1979.

69. Together with and in connection with the family, the school provides catechesis with possibilities that are not to be neglected. In the unfortunately decreasing number of countries in which it is possible to give education in the faith within the school framework, the Church has the duty to do so as well as possible. This of course concerns first and foremost the Catholic school: it would no longer deserve this title if, no matter how much it shone for its high level of teaching in non-religious matters, there were justification for reproaching it for negligence or deviation in strictly religious education. Let it not be said that such education will always be given implicitly and indirectly. The special character of the Catholic school, the underlying reason for it, the reason why Catholic parents should prefer it, is precisely the quality of the religious instruction integrated into the education of the pupils. While Catholic establishments should respect freedom of conscience, that is to say, avoid burdening consciences from without by exerting physical or moral pressure, especially in the case of the religious activity of adolescents, they still have a grave duty to offer a religious training suited to the often widely varying religious situations of the pupils. They also have a duty to make them understand that, although God’s call to serve Him in spirit and truth, in accordance with the Commandments of God and the precepts of the Church, does not apply constraint, it is nevertheless binding in conscience.

Admittedly, apart from the school, many other elements of life help in influencing the mentality of the young, for instance, recreation, social background and work surroundings. But those who study are bound to bear the stamp of their studies, to be introduced to cultural or moral values within the atmosphere of the establishment in which they are taught, and to be faced with many ideas met with in school. It is important for catechesis to take full account of this effect of the school on the pupils, if it is to keep in touch with the other elements of the pupil’s knowledge and education; thus the Gospel will impregnate the mentality of the pupils in the field of their learning, and the harmonization of their culture will be achieved in the light of faith. Accordingly, I give encouragement to the priests, religious and lay people who are devoting themselves to sustaining these pupils’ faith. This is moreover an occasion for me to reaffirm my firm conviction that to show respect for the Catholic faith of the young to the extent of facilitating its education, its implantation, its consolidation, its free profession and practice would certainly be to the honor of any government, whatever be the system on which it is based or the ideology from which it draws its inspiration.

A day in the life of… Br Nicholas Seet FSC

9 October 2015

Tags: Educators

Categories: Reflections

A day in the life of… Br Nicholas Seet FSC

Br Nicholas Seet, a Lasallian brother for nearly 30 years, is a Subject Head for Citizenship and Character Education, and also teaches History, Social Studies, and Religious Citizenship and Character Education at St Patrick’s Secondary School. He shares more about his life and calling to be a religious educator.

What are some difficulties in your area of work with schools and education?
The challenge is in guiding our students to develop their character based on values as well as help our Catholic students to centre their lives on the Lord Jesus. Being in their growing years, some students may test the boundaries of behaviour and try or experiment with at-risk activities and easily succumb to negative peer pressure.

How do you overcome them?
Through developing a rapport with the students so that they will trust us as teachers. It is by building a reservoir of goodwill or social capital such that the students will feel comfortable with you, share with you their difficulties and challenges in school, in their family and in their personal lives.

What is the fondest memory of your time working in the education sector?
It is to meet former students who have done well in life, are still single or married and having children. To do well does not mean having a high paying job but that they have grown into responsible men and fathers.

When you are faced with difficult students, what is one thing you tell yourself?
The students are confided to our care by the Lord and being young, they are still learning and growing. I must give them the leeway to make mistakes, and more importantly, to help them to learn from their mistakes. I cannot condemn them just because of the mistakes they make. They are still growing and need to be helped to earn to become more responsible to their families and themselves.

What does being a Catholic educator mean to you?
I am a religious Brother and Catholic education is my calling in life. The Lord has called me to this mission. Being Catholic means that I must help to strengthen and deepen the students’ relationships with the Lord through various means in the school, such as public prayer, Catholic CCAs like the Legion of Mary, our RCCE lessons, and Catholic programmes.

Being Catholic also means that I do not neglect the other non-Catholic students in my school. On the contrary, it means that I must be a brother also to the non-Catholics that the Lord has sent to our schools. I must help them too to become better human beings, respectful of their religious traditions and beliefs. I am reminded that the Church is here to serve everyone, both Catholic and non-Catholic. In this way, the Church can be a service to our society and nation. I think that when we help build a harmonious society of diverse races and religions, then we help to build the Kingdom of God on earth.

Why is education an important aspect of the La Salle Brothers?
Our holy founder, St John Baptist de La Salle, founded the Brothers to look after the education of the poor children in Reims, France more than 350 years ago. We continue our founder’s vision and mission in our schools and educational centres in Singapore. We seek to groom students whose lives are based on values and who can live out those values in society.

What is one thing about St John Baptist de La Salle that inspires you?
For my founder, it is that the Lord led him one step at a time. St La Salle had mentioned that if he had known what the Lord had in mind for him near the end of his life, he would have thought twice about it. Rather, he acknowledged that the Lord led him from one commitment to another, and in spite of the challenges, the result was that the poor children of France had an education—a privilege reserved for the rich and upper class during his time. At the end of his life, my founder said “I adore in all things, the Will of God, in my regard.”

Has a student ever inspired you or taught you something valuable?
I learn from the students much more than I can ever teach them. There are too many stories to share. Perhaps, it is of the students whom we judge that they cannot cope academically. Yet these are the ones who will come back to school, to thank the teachers and to be able to hear their stories of how they have done well.

I am reminded of a student who did not do well academically, had great difficulties in his family but who eventually came back to the practice of the Faith. He is married and has started his own business. I would not have thought then when he was a student that he could be so successful today. Of course, these are the successful stories. There are still former students who have made good after some grave mistakes in their lives. I think it is a matter of time when the Lord will lead them in the right path. After all, they had studied in our Lasallian schools which will remind them of the love and care that the teachers had tried to shower on them, though for some, it will be tough love.

How about your teacher colleagues? Has a teacher ever inspired you or taught you something valuable?
I admire the many past teachers and Brothers who taught me when I was a child. I studied at the then St Michael’s School, St Joseph’s Institution at Bras Basah Road and at Catholic Junior College. Looking back, each teacher is unique and they taught me what it is that makes a person more human. I cannot remember exactly what they taught me academically but I remember their sense of commitment and their dedication to their work. For the Brothers, I saw them as men of prayer and men who gave their lives to the Lord. That is why I became a Brother, because of the good example of these Brothers whom I saw in school.

What is one aspect or character of a Catholic school that you appreciate the most?
It is the many daily reminders of the Lord. Here at St Patrick’s School where I teach, we have Morning Prayers with about 35 boys each morning. Then we have our Morning Assembly Prayers, the praying of the Angelus at noon, the school Prayer services and Masses as well as the Catholic societies like the St Vincent de Paul Society to help the less fortunate children and the Legion of Mary.

What difference would it make if a parent (especially a Catholic parent) enrolled his children in a Catholic school?
In a Catholic school, the child is constantly reminded that there is a spiritual dimension in life and the Catholic environment and ambience will help to strengthen his or her relationship with the Lord.

What is one advice you would give to teachers today?
Our vocation is a God-given one and we are privileged that the Lord has called us to this task or mission. I am sure many teachers feel the same way.

Almost a hundred educators benefit from REAP workshop

29 September 2015

Tags: Educators

Categories: Events, News

Almost a hundred educators benefit from REAP workshop

On 10 August, the religious education services team from the Brisbane Catholic Education Office (BCEO) returned to Singapore to conduct the Religious Education Training Programme (REAP) Workshop.

A team of six senior education officers flew from Australia to deliver the workshop, a third run in Singapore, on Saturday, 15 August at the Catholic Junior College, to an overwhelming number of 90 participants.

The participants were split into four groups that rotated over the course of the day. Music, visual arts, scripture activities, prayer strategies and drama were explored in the itinerary for the day and were aimed at providing useful resources and techniques for teachers in their instruction of young children of the faith in compelling and meaningful ways. The day’s eventful programme was closed with a blessing, followed by afternoon tea at around 3.30pm.

Participants of the workshop felt that the programme was well structured, practical and relevant and felt that they would be able to apply or even reflect on the content presented. Kathleen Ang, a teacher at CHIJ St Joseph’s Convent, appreciated that the session on music coupled “silent mindfulness with active song and dance,” and she was “thankful for the introduction of the different [material] that made understanding the liturgy easier”.

Tan Eng Lian, also a teacher at CHIJ St, Joseph’s Convent felt that the workshops on teaching scripture and prayer strategies “have broadened [my] repertoire of ways to teach religious education … [it was a] very refreshing change of teaching and sharing scripture.”

Mark Minjoot, Principal of Montfort Secondary School, also affirmed the sentiments: “The trainers and facilitators were very skilful, and each session was extremely engaging and meaningful. I strongly recommend it to anyone involved in Catholic Education. Everyone and anyone – teachers, administrators, religious will benefit from this!”

The workshop was the culmination of an itinerary that started with the Literacy Education Access Programme (LEAP), another partnership project between the BCEO and the ACCS. This pilot attachment programme saw four primary schools and six kindergartens host 10 literacy teachers from the Archdiocese of Brisbane between 12 and 14 August. During the attachment programme, the Australian Primary and Preschool educators were able to observe English lessons in both Kindergartens as well as Primary 1 and Primary 2 classes. It also gave the visiting teachers the chance to exchange ideas with the teachers, vice-principals and principals of the host schools.

One of the visiting teachers, Jo-Anne Downing, was inspired after the programme: “What has been very obvious is the passion and commitment of the teachers to the children’s wellbeing and learning. Children are recognised as unique individuals and as such are treated with love and respect. All schools [seem to] recognise and aspire to the values and qualities of their founding patron and to the Gospel values, which is evident immediately upon entering the schools.”

Evelyn Chapman, Brisbane Education Officer (Arts), was just as impressed: “My experience working with the Singaporean teachers has been profound. Commitment and alignment from all staff about their understanding of mission and values is inspiring. I will take this back to Brisbane as a challenge to all our schools and teachers to truly know, understand and act on their mission”.

Building on a budding relationship between the BCEO and the ACCS, the Australian team will be conducting up to five programmes in 2016, including a full, four-day run of REAP in November 2016. Look out for announcements on these exciting programmes in the coming months.

Address of Pope Francis to Students in Cuba

22 September 2015

Tags: Educators, Parents, Students

Categories: Homilies / Messages, News

Address of Pope Francis to Students in Cuba

Unprepared remarks of the Holy Father given at the Fr Félix Varela Cultural Center, Havana on the occasion of his visit to Cuba on 20 September 2015.

You are standing up and I am sitting. How rude! But you know why I am sitting; it is because I was taking notes on some of the things which our companion here was saying. Those are the things I want to talk about.

One really striking word he used was “dream”. A Latin American writer once said that we all have two eyes: one of flesh and another of glass. With the eye of flesh, we see what is in front of us. With the eye of glass, we see what we dream of. Beautiful, isn’t it?

In the daily reality of life, there has to be room for dreaming. A young person incapable of dreaming is cut off, self-enclosed. Everyone sometimes dreams of things which are never going to happen. But dream them anyway, desire them, seek new horizons, be open to great things.

I’m not sure if you use this word in Cuba, but in Argentina we say: “Don’t be a pushover!” Don’t bend or yield; open up. Open up and dream! Dream that with you the world can be different. Dream that if you give your best, you are going to help make this world a different place. Don’t forget to dream! If you get carried away and dream too much, life will cut you short. It makes no difference; dream anyway, and share your dreams. Talk about the great things you wish for, because the greater your ability to dream, the farther you will have gone; even if life cuts you short half way, you will still have gone a great distance. So, first of all, dream!

You said something which I had wrote down and underlined. You said that we have to know how to welcome and accept those who think differently than we do. Honestly, sometimes we are very closed. We shut ourselves up in our little world: “Either things go my way or not at all”. And you went even further. You said that we must not become enclosed in our little ideological or religious “worlds”… that we need to outgrow forms of individualism.

When a religion becomes a “little world”, it loses the best that it has, it stops worshiping God, believing in God. It becomes a little world of words, of prayers, of “I am good and you are bad”, of moral rules and regulations. When I have my ideology, my way of thinking, and you have yours, I lock myself up in this little world of ideology.

Open hearts and open minds. If you are different than I am, then why don’t we talk? Why do we always throw stones at one another over what separates us, what makes us different? Why don’t we extend a hand where we have common ground? Why not try to speak about what we have in common, and then we can talk about where we differ. But I’m saying “talk”; I’m not saying “fight”. I am not saying retreat into our “little worlds”, to use your word. But this can only happen when I am able to speak about what I have in common with the other person, about things we can work on together.

In Buenos Aires, in a new parish in an extremely poor area, a group of university students were building some rooms for the parish. So the parish priest said to me: “Why don’t you come one Saturday and I’ll introduce them to you”. They were building on Saturdays and Sundays. They were young men and women from the university. So I arrived, I saw them and they were introduced to me: “This is the architect. He’s Jewish. This one is Communist. This one is a practicing Catholic”. They were all different, yet they were all working for the common good.

This is called social friendship, where everyone works for the common good. Social enmity instead destroys. A family is destroyed by enmity. A country is destroyed by enmity. The world is destroyed by enmity. And the greatest enmity is war. Today we see that the world is being destroyed by war, because people are incapable of sitting down and talking. “Good, let’s negotiate. What can we do together? Where are we going to draw the line? But let’s not kill any more people”. Where there is division, there is death: the death of the soul, since we are killing our ability to come together. We are killing social friendship. And this is what I’m asking you today: to find ways of building social friendship”.

Then there was another word you said: “hope”. The young are the hope of every people; we hear this all the time. But what is hope? Does it mean being optimistic? No. Optimism is a state of mind. Tomorrow, you wake up in a bad mood and you’re not optimistic at all; you see everything in a bad light. Hope is something more. Hope involves suffering. Hope can accept suffering as part of building something; it is able to sacrifice. Are you able to sacrifice for the future, or do you simply want to live for the day and let those yet to come fend for themselves? Hope is fruitful. Hope gives life. Are you able to be life-giving? Or are you going to be young people who are spiritually barren, incapable of giving life to others, incapable of building social friendship, incapable of building a nation, incapable of doing great things?

Hope is fruitful. Hope comes from working, from having a job. Here I would mention a very grave problem in Europe: the number of young people who are unemployed. There are countries in Europe where 40% of young people twenty-five years and younger are unemployed. I am thinking of one country. In another country, it is 47% and in another still, 50%.

Clearly, when a people is not concerned with providing work to its young – and when I say “a people”, I don’t mean governments; I mean the entire people who ought to be concerned whether these young people have jobs or not – that people has no future. Young people become part of the throwaway culture and all of us know that today, under the rule of mammon, things get thrown away and people get thrown away. Children are thrown away because they are not wanted, or killed before they are born. The elderly are thrown away – I’m speaking about the world in general – because they are no longer productive. In some countries, euthanasia is legal, but in so many others there is a hidden, covert euthanasia. Young people are thrown away because they are not given work. So then, what is left for a young person who has no work? When a country – a people – does not create employment opportunities for its young, what is left for these young people if not forms of addiction, or suicide, or going off in search of armies of destruction in order to make war.

This throwaway culture is harming us all; it is taking away our hope. And this is what you asked for in the name of young people: “We want hope”. A hope which requires effort, hard work, and which bears fruit; a hope which gives us work and saves us from the throwaway culture. A hope which unites people, all people, because a people can join in looking to the future and in building social friendship – for all their differences – such a people has hope.

For me, meeting a young person without hope is, as I once said, like meeting a young retiree. There are young people who seem to have retired at the age of twenty-two. They are young people filled with existential dreariness, young people who have surrendered to defeatism, young people who whine and run away from life. The path of hope is not an easy one. And it can’t be taken alone. There is an African proverb which says: “If you want to go quickly, walk alone, but if you want to go far, walk with another”.

So this is what I have to say to you, the young people of Cuba. For all your different ways of thinking and seeing things, I would like you to walk with others, together, looking for hope, seeking the future and the nobility of your homeland.

We began with the word “dream”, and I would like to conclude with another word that you said and which I myself often use: “the culture of encounter”. Please, let us not “dis-encounter” one another. Let us go side by side with one other, as one. Encountering one another, even though we may think differently, even though we may feel differently. There is something bigger than us, it is the grandeur of our people, the grandeur of our homeland, that beauty, that sweet hope for our homeland, which we must reach.

Thank you very much. I now leave you with my best wishes. For you I wish… everything I told you; that is what I wish for you. I am going to pray for you. And I ask you to pray for me. And if any of you are not believers – and you can’t pray because you don’t believe – at least wish me well. May God bless you and bring you to tread this path of hope which leads to the culture of encounter, while avoiding those “little worlds” that our companion spoke about. May God bless all of you.

—–

Dear Friends,

I am very happy to be with you here in this Cultural Center which is so important for Cuban history. I thank God for this opportunity to meet so many young people who, by their work, studies and training, are dreaming of, and already making real, the future of Cuba.

I thank Leonardo for his words of welcome, and particularly because, although he could have spoken about so many other important and concrete things such as our difficulties, fears, and doubts – as real and human as they are – he spoke to us about hope. He talked to us about those dreams and aspirations so firmly planted in the heart of young Cubans, transcending all their differences in education, culture, beliefs or ideas. Thank you, Leonardo, because, when I look at all of you, the first thing that comes into my mind and heart, too, is the word “hope”. I cannot imagine a young person who is listless, without dreams or ideals, without a longing for something greater.

But what kind of hope does a young Cuban have at this moment of history? Nothing more or less than that of any other young person in any other part of the world. Because hope speaks to us of something deeply rooted in every human heart, independently of our concrete circumstances and historical conditioning. Hope speaks to us of a thirst, an aspiration, a longing for a life of fulfillment, a desire to achieve great things, things which fill our heart and lift our spirit to lofty realities like truth, goodness and beauty, justice and love. But it also involves taking risks. It means being ready not to be seduced by what is fleeting, by false promises of happiness, by immediate and selfish pleasures, by a life of mediocrity and self-centeredness, which only fills the heart with sadness and bitterness. No, hope is bold; it can look beyond personal convenience, the petty securities and compensations which limit our horizon, and can open us up to grand ideals which make life more beautiful and worthwhile. I would ask each one of you: What is it that shapes your life? What lies deep in your heart? Where do your hopes and aspirations lie? Are you ready to put yourself on the line for the sake of something even greater?

Perhaps you may say: “Yes, Father, I am strongly attracted to those ideals. I feel their call, their beauty, their light shining in my heart. But I feel too weak, I am not ready to decide to take the path of hope. The goal is lofty and my strength is all too little. It is better to be content with small things, less grand but more realistic, more within my reach”. I can understand that reaction; it is normal to feel weighed down by difficult and demanding things. But take care not to yield to the temptation of a disenchantment which paralyzes the intellect and the will, or that apathy which is a radical form of pessimism about the future. These attitudes end either in a flight from reality towards vain utopias, or else in selfish isolation and a cynicism deaf to the cry for justice, truth and humanity which rises up around us and within us.

But what are we to do? How do we find paths of hope in the situations in which we live? How do we make those hopes for fulfillment, authenticity, justice and truth, become a reality in our personal lives, in our country and our world? I think that there are three ideas which can help to keep our hope alive:

Hope is a path made of memory and discernment. Hope is the virtue which goes places. It isn’t simply a path we take for the pleasure of it, but it has an end, a goal which is practical and lights up our way. Hope is also nourished by memory; it looks not only to the future but also to the past and present. To keep moving forward in life, in addition to knowing where we want to go, we also need to know who we are and where we come from. Individuals or peoples who have no memory and erase their past risk losing their identity and destroying their future. So we need to remember who we are, and in what our spiritual and moral heritage consists. This, I believe, was the experience and the insight of that great Cuban, Father Félix Varela. Discernment is also needed, because it is essential to be open to reality and to be able to interpret it without fear or prejudice. Partial and ideological interpretations are useless; they only disfigure reality by trying to fit it into our preconceived schemas, and they always cause disappointment and despair. We need discernment and memory, because discernment is not blind; it is built on solid ethical and moral criteria which help us to see what is good and just.

Hope is a path taken with others. An African proverb says: “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go with others”. Isolation and aloofness never generate hope; but closeness to others and encounter do. Left to ourselves, we will go nowhere. Nor by exclusion will we be able to build a future for anyone, even ourselves. A path of hope calls for a culture of encounter, dialogue, which can overcome conflict and sterile confrontation. To create that culture, it is vital to see different ways of thinking not in terms of risk, but of richness and growth. The world needs this culture of encounter. It needs young people who seek to know and love one another, to journey together in building a country like that which José Martí dreamed of: “With all, and for the good of all”.

Hope is a path of solidarity. The culture of encounter should naturally lead to a culture of solidarity. I was struck by what Leonardo said at the beginning, when he spoke of solidarity as a source of strength for overcoming all obstacles. Without solidarity, no country has a future. Beyond all other considerations or interests, there has to be concern for that person who may be my friend, my companion, but also someone who may think differently than I do, someone with his own ideas yet just as human and just as Cuban as I am. Simple tolerance is not enough; we have to go well beyond that, passing from a suspicious and defensive attitude to one of acceptance, cooperation, concrete service and effective assistance. Do not be afraid of solidarity, service and offering a helping hand, so that no one is excluded from the path.

This path of life is lit up by a higher hope: the hope born of our faith in Christ. He made himself our companion along the way. Not only does he encourage us, he also accompanies us; he is at our side and he extends a friendly hand to us. The Son of God, he wanted to become someone like us, to accompany us on our way. Faith in his presence, in his friendship and love, lights up all our hopes and dreams. With him at our side, we learn to discern what is real, to encounter and serve others, and to walk the path of solidarity.

Dear young people of Cuba, if God himself entered our history and became flesh in Jesus, if he shouldered our weakness and sin, then you need not be afraid of hope, or of the future, because God is on your side. He believes in you, and he hopes in you.

Dear friends, thank you for this meeting. May hope in Christ, your friend, always guide you along your path in life. And, please, remember to pray for me. May the Lord bless all of you.

Source: Vatican.va
Photo credit: Getty Images

16 September 2015

Tags: Educators

Categories: Events, Homilies / Messages

Remembering the Identity of a Teacher

Msgr Ambrose Vaz reaffirms Catholic educators of their important role and identity at this year’s Teacher’s Day Mass.

Nearly 200 Catholic educators, staff, family, and friends once again gathered to commemorate Teachers’ Day, at a specially organised Mass held on 12 September. Organised annually by the Archdiocesan Commission for Catholic Schools (ACCS), the Eucharistic celebration took place at Catholic High School, and was presided by Msgr Ambrose Vaz and concelebrants, Fr Edward Seah and Fr Adrian Danker.

In his homily, Msgr Ambrose reaffirmed the identity and mission of Catholic educators as he drew parallels to the week’s gospel, in which Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do people say I am?”

Popular opinion and God’s definition
Msgr Ambrose explained that there is often a popular opinion of the identity of the messiah, who is seen as “a powerful figure; in terms of earthly, political, even military power”, as compared to an identity of the messiah according to God.

He elaborates, “The disciples had got the terminology right, that Jesus is the messiah. But Jesus went on to teach them what this truly meant. The messiah would be like the son of man, a title that would describe obedience to God, such obedience that would even require one to submit to suffering, and to ultimately be put to death.”

In this same way, Msgr Ambrose expresses that there is also often a popular opinion of the identity of teachers, “where the teacher is one that simply imparts knowledge and dispatches information”, as compared to the identity of teachers according to God, “as seen in Jesus, THE teacher”.

He emphasises, “A teacher does much more than impart knowledge, much more than dispatch information. The understanding of the identity of a teacher, as seen in Jesus, is to communicate, to pass on, an experience of God.”

Walking in the presence of the Lord
Going further to reaffirm the identity of a Catholic educator, Msgr Amrbose also highlighted that this seemingly tall order is in fact very possible, if teachers choose to “walk in the presence of the Lord”. This was not only the responsorial psalm for the Mass, but was also the theme of this year’s Teacher’s Day Mass.

“This is what the teacher is ultimately all about. The teacher shares from his or her ordinary experience, of what it is to walk in the presence of the Lord, and to remind others to experience the same joy,” explained Msgr Ambrose.

He also acknowledged the difficulties teachers often face in their work, particularly when students “resist being taught or cared for”. Msgr Ambrose reaffirmed the dedication of educators, who in the face of discouragement, “continues to communicate God’s love in their lives, by the way they live out this conviction of God’s love for us.”

He added that this is why, in the second reading, St James writes that faith is not just something “believed in our minds and hearts, but is also shown, expressed in the way we live”. Because good works always accompanies faith, Msgr Ambrose affirms that, “As teachers, we are tasked really to express, through the life we live, our dedication and service, our commitment to our students, our willingness to express in our lives the love of God.”

Concluding his homily, Msgr Ambrose expressed gratitude to Catholic educators for their service and ministry to God’s children. “On behalf of the Church, the Archdiocese, we really thank all our teachers for being that example of God’s love in the dedication of their lives, in the way that you carry out not only instructing your students, but essentially and hopefully, teaching them the joy of being called by God to be His children,” he said.

The teachers’ fellowship
The Mass was followed by a reception, where visitors as well as student volunteers had their fill of food and drink. Teachers relished in the opportunity to get to know one another, as there were educators who “don’t know many Catholic teachers, because I don’t teach in a Catholic school,” shared Edward Toh, English and Art teacher at East Spring Primary School, “The homily really spoke to me; to recognise Jesus also as a teacher for us.”

Monica Khng, Assistant Programme Teacher at Christian Outreach to the Handicapped, agreed to his sentiments, “It was wonderful to see the students so well co-ordinated with their teachers and the bond and team-spirit they share. It is a nice reminder that we have to be like that as teachers; to build them up and be examples and mentors, as we often stand as moral compasses for students, pointing toward the life of Christ.”

Fr Edward Seah, Interim Executive Director of ACCS, expressed gratitude for the success of the event, which had certainly helped encourage and edify Catholic educators in Singapore. Encouraging educators is one of ACCS’s major interests, as Fr Edward reveals the reason for choosing this year’s theme, “We chose the one that we felt is the most edifying. The theme, ‘Walking in the Presence of the Lord’, helps to remind educators that they are not walking alone. God is always with them, especially so when they are doing God’s work.”

16 September 2015

Tags: Educators

Categories: Events, Homilies / Messages

Teachers Day 2015 – Homily

By Msgr Ambrose Vaz

Dear teachers and friends, we come to celebrate this Mass today, not so much as to celebrate a day – Teacher’s Day – but more to celebrate a vocation – a call from God – to teach. The success of our mission, how we carry out our vocation, depends very much on the understanding, the conviction, of our identity. If we’re not clear about our identity of what it means to be a teacher, it will be quite impossible for us to effectively carry out our mission.

We see this in our gospel today (Mark 8:27-35): Jesus asking his disciples who do people say he is and finally asking them: “Who do you say I am?” Not so much for an ego-trip; not because he wanted to know if he was well-known, but because he wanted to share with them and to clarify what their understanding of his identity was and what was his understanding of his identity.

So we find that he [had] asked them “who do people say I am”. The disciples said that [his] identity is John the Baptist, others Elijah, others one of the prophets. What Jesus would say was, “Well, that was far from true, but what do you say?” Peter comes up with the right identity: “You are the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one of God.”

Jesus would say that that was the right answer but then he was quite sure they didn’t really understand the implications. In terms of the terminology, they got it right: he was the Christ, he was the Messiah, but there were so many different opinions – expectations, you could say – as to who and what the Messiah would be all about.

The most popular opinion was that the Messiah would be a powerful figure in terms of earthly, political, even military power. They were hoping that the Messiah would come and defeat the Romans [and] take Israel to the time of King David, victorious in war, extending the borders of the land, and so on. Some would say that besides that, he would be a political figure, one that would also perhaps bring them up to a level of prosperity; material prosperity that would far exceed anything Israel ever knew. They had their idea of a Messiah, but it was wrong. Jesus deepens this conversation so that he could clarify what the world thinks the Messiah is all about and what God expects the Messiah to be.

Jesus began to teach them the true identity of the messiah. He would be like the Son of Man. A title that would describe obedience – obedience to God. Such obedience that would even require him to submit to suffering, destined to suffer grievously, be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes and ultimately to be put to death but eventually to rise after three days. Then of course we see Peter, who started to remonstrate with them: “This is not what we understand of the messiah; this is wrong!” But Jesus had to tell him: “Get behind me, Satan“. “Your way of understanding the Messiah is very wrong, that is not the identity of the Messiah.”

Today my dear friends, this Gospel is very apt for us as we celebrate Teacher’s Day; very apt as we reflect on what the identity of a teacher is all about. Because that is, of course, the popular opinion or understanding of what a teacher is all about and God’s understanding of what a teacher should be. Most of the time perhaps, people tend to think that a teacher is one that imparts knowledge – the one that dispatches information. As long as I tell you and give you some information, I have taught you. But God’s understanding as he did in Jesus, the teacher, would be much more than imparting knowledge, dispatching information.

The understanding of the identity of a teacher as seen in Jesus is to communicate, to pass on an experience of God. Essentially, a teacher is one that communicates to the one they had taught, the experience of truth, essentially consisting of a relationship with God, the ultimate truth. And so we make use of the opportunities we get as we pass on knowledge, whether it be secular sciences or any other type of knowledge. Even in the process of communicating this knowledge, it is good to ask ourselves: Do we pass on the experience of a loving God?

This is what we see in our Responsorial Psalm (Ps 116:1-6,8-9): “I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.” This what a teacher is ultimately all about: The teacher, sharing from his or her own experience of what it is to walk in the presence of the Lord and remind others to experience that same joy.

We know today therefore, how difficult it can be to be a teacher. Not only is it just telling others about the ultimate good, but first being able to experience it, to live it out for ourselves, to be able to be convincing in passing it on to others.

When we look at the first reading (Isaiah 50:5-9A), the Prophet Isaiah as a teacher, and his conviction of who God is in his life, that he is able to say: “I set my face like a flint. I know I shall not be shamed. Despite all the difficulties, I’m going to go through, for my part, I made no resistance. I offered my back and did not cover my face.” Basically, a teacher is being very thick-skinned in communicating the truth, in communicating the essential ultimate truth, the experience of a loving God in our life. A teacher will face much difficulties. Sometimes perhaps in total resistance from students who do not want to accept being formed, being taught, being loved, being cared for, being shown the meaning of God’s love; there would be those who completely reject and refuse such instruction. Then there will be others who will perhaps belittle the effort that you make [and] who will not appreciate the need for us to do that.

Yet the true teacher continues to communicate, firstly in our own lives, by the way we live out this conviction of God’s love for us, and secondly, by showing it in practical example. And that is why St James tells us in our second reading (James 2:14-18). Faith is not just something that we believe in our minds or in our hearts, but [it] has to be shown, expressed in the way we live. Faith is like this, St James tells us: Good works must accompany it. And so as teachers, our task will be to express, through the life we live – our dedication, service, commitment to our students – our willingness to express in our life the love of God. Sometimes it is difficult. We find children who are not willing to learn, not willing to cooperate. We find systems, maybe, that do not really encourage us to give of ourselves. Nevertheless that is what faith is all about, expressed in good works.

If we go back to the Gospel again, we see Jesus, the ultimate teacher, who comes to teach us the recipe of life. The whole role and purpose of life is to be able to experience truth, communicated in love, that we see in Jesus. Today, we ask ourselves, as teachers, [if we are] effective in bringing this love of God to the people we minister to, to our students, even as we are called to instruct them in the different sciences, subjects that we teach, all bearing in mind that our ultimate goal is much more than helping them to pass exams but to help them to understand the meaning of life. Sometimes we can do well, we can pass exams, but we still miss out the real meaning of life. The real meaning of life is to be able to experience the joy of God who calls us into his life; to be able to experience him through experiencing love. A love that we cannot teach but can only show; we can only express [it] in the way we live our lives.

Today, dear teachers, we thank you on behalf of the Church and the Archdiocese. We thank all our teachers for being that example of God’s love in the education of their lives, in the way that you carry out, not only instructing your students [and] teaching them many new facts, but essentially and hopefully, teaching them the joy of being called by God to be his children. See him principally in your own joy in being called to be a teacher, to communicate this important message to your students.

As we celebrate this Mass today, we pray for all our teachers, as well as our students. We pray principally for our teachers that they never get too tired of ministering to the students [that] they are called to; that they never get too tired to express the love of God in their own lives, especially in moments when they are burdened, tired, sometimes even perhaps rejected. We pray for our teachers. We pray today that God will continue to send as many good teachers who will be desiring to communicate much more than knowledge but would be desiring to share their lives [and] to share God with their students. We pray for this [and] we pray for one another as we celebrate this Mass.

Catholic Preschools’ educators take part in special Teachers Day celebrations

10 September 2015

Tags: Educators

Categories: Events, News

Catholic Preschools’ educators take part in special Teachers Day celebrations

The inaugural combined Catholic Preschools Teacher’s Day celebration was held on 4 September 2015 at the Yio Chu Kang Grassroots Club from 9am to 2pm, attended by Preschool teachers and principals.

These 114 educators participated actively in games and dance activities organised by the staff of St Anne’s Church Kindergarten and Nativity Church Kindergarten.

Mrs Agnes Lee, a teacher at St Anne’s Church Kindergarten, was involved in the planning of the celebration. She saw this celebration as “an opportunity to celebrate each other’s calling to be a teacher”. “To me, it must be a meaningful get-together for us to rediscover the special qualities of a Preschool teacher. The feel-good activities allowed teachers to not only reflect on how they symbolise themselves [as an educator], but at the same time, to affirm each other.”

A sense of community and belonging was experienced by teachers, with many commenting that they had arrived as strangers, but departed as one big family of Catholic Preschool educators.

A participant at the celebrations, also named Mrs Agnes Lee, said: “[it] was certainly a special and unique occasion where we had meaningful fun”. Mrs Lee, Principal of Holy Family Kindergarten, added: “I enjoyed [myself] most when we shared, learned from each other, sang, danced and played games together. I was tremendously inspired by the many creative events put up by the teachers.”

“I really enjoyed this opportunity of celebrating Teacher’s Day together where there was so much bonding and friendship made. We definitely had a time of our lives!”

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Unprepared remarks of the Holy Father given at the Fr Félix Varela Cultural Center, Havana on the occasion of his visit to Cuba on 20 September 2015.

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