The Joy and Wonder of Catholic Education
By Bishop James Conley
In the second century, St. Irenaeus coined one of the most famous phrases in Christianity: “The glory of God is man, fully alive!”
But becoming “fully alive” does not come naturally to us. Because we have each suffered the effects of sin, we do not easily choose or even recognize the true, the good, and the beautiful—the universal attributes of being. We do not always choose and live as we should. We do not, left to our own devices, exercise the full potential of the gifts that God has given us. This is precisely why education—and Catholic education especially—is so important.
Education is the process of shaping us to fulfill the purpose of our lives; to know the happiness that comes from living in accord with our dignity and our nature. Education is the work of drawing out, developing, and learning to use our intellects, our memories, our wills, and our imaginations, to the fullness of their potential. Since education is the formation of human hearts, minds, and wills for the glory of their Creator, it has always been a priority within Catholicism. But this raises the question: what makes an education genuinely Catholic?
The Five Essential Marks of Catholic Education
Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, the former Secretary for the Congregation for Catholic Education at the Vatican, examined numerous papal and Vatican documents and enumerated five characteristics essential to Catholic education. If a school is to be authentically Catholic, it must be: 1) inspired by a supernatural vision, 2) founded on Christian anthropology, 3) animated by communion and community, 4) imbued with a Catholic worldview throughout its curriculum, and 5) sustained by gospel witness. As the Archbishop explains, “These benchmarks help to answer the critical question: Is this a Catholic school according to the mind of the Church?” (The Holy See’s Teaching on Catholic Schools, 17.) These elements must be thoroughly understood and fully implemented, so let’s explore them.
1. Inspired by a Supernatural Vision
A truly Catholic education is concerned with the formation of the whole person: intellectually, morally, socially, and spiritually. The ancient Greeks said that education makes us free—freeing us from error, falsehood, and slavery so as to live the fullness of human life, in virtue and excellence. As a liberal education seeks to unshackle students to be independent thinkers, a Catholic liberal education seeks to free the students to live the truth of being made in the image and likeness of God. This understanding serves as the foundation of each person’s inalienable dignity, which is so under assault in today’s culture. A supernatural vision teaches students that happiness comes from living in accord with our dignity and our nature, placing God’s will first.
A Catholic education also teaches baptized students to live in the glorious freedom of the children of God (see Romans 8:21). As students come to understand the immense privilege of baptism, they learn what it means to be temples of the Holy Spirit, partake in divine life, and embrace their vocation “through their sacrificial efforts to bring people to God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1241). It also highlights the power of grace to potentially love as God Himself loves. Naturally, such an education must be faithful to the Gospel and to the teachings of the Church, emphasizing them as the true path to human flourishing and fulfillment. This supernatural vision also helps even unbaptized students recognize they are unfathomably loved by God and that He desires their adoption as sons and daughters through Christ.
This formation does far more than prepare students for a job. It frees them to know, love, and live fully the joy and wonder of the Christian life. It provides meaning, shaping students to fulfill the purpose of their lives and giving them a vision of life by which they can fully integrate its disparate-seeming aspects.
2. Founded on a Christian Anthropology
An authentically Catholic education is centered on the person of Jesus Christ. Catholic schools are not merely information delivery systems focused on secular success, but rather are about transformation in Christ. Our educational mission goes far beyond conveying factual knowledge of history, science, literature, or even of the faith; it begins and ends with students’ potential for holiness.
Every student is made for holiness, made to become a saint. A Catholic education, again, draws out of students a sense of their own call to holiness, helping them experience the grace that renews their minds (see Romans 12:2) and frees them from sin and death (see Romans 8:2). An authentically Catholic school teaches students that through Jesus they can become the people God calls them to be. Instead of a myopic emphasis on what students can do, a Catholic education cultivates their inner potential on natural and supernatural planes, thereby also preparing them for any kind of work the future holds.
The Incarnation is indispensable, grounding students in a Christian anthropology and providing a clear roadmap in life. When students learn that God took on and retains a human nature, they discover the goodness of materiality—especially the human body—as well as the privileges and responsibilities that accompany it. They learn that happiness comes through living in accord with our God-given human nature, not from ignoring or manipulating it. A Catholic education also stresses that it is only Christ who “fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear” (Gaudium et Spes, 22), teaching students not to seek answers in lesser goods. By following Christ’s example of doing the will of His Father, students learn that this is the path to God’s peace, which surpasses all understanding (see Philippians 4:7).
Since grace builds on nature, a Catholic school’s emphasis on the supernatural integrates seamlessly with the natural plane. As Pope Benedict XVI explained, “knowing the truth leads us to discover the good” (Address to Catholic Educators at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., April 17, 2008). In that process of learning, from delight, to joy, to wonder, to wisdom, students learn to order their emotions. They learn what to love and what not to love. They learn what is good, true, and beautiful while, at the same time, they learn what is bad, false, and ugly. St. Augustine called this the ordering of the emotions or passions, ordo amoris. At young ages students should learn that they are loved and created good. This formation of the entire person teaches students how to lead a life ordered through Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to God the Father—a life ordered to true and everlasting happiness.
3. Animated by Communion and Community
“The Holy See describes the school as a community in four areas: the teamwork among all those involved; the cooperation between educators and bishops; the interaction of students with teachers; and the school’s physical environment” (The Holy See’s Teaching on Catholic Schools, 29). Teamwork between teachers, staff, and principal is obviously essential to a well-run school. Teachers in a school must become a “faculty of friends,” mutually encouraging one another in their common mission of helping to transform their students into saints.
Catholic schools must also prioritize cooperation between the staff and the students’ families, especially parents, who “have the first responsibility for the education of their children” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2223). This promotes the mutual exchanges of gifts, to the benefit of students and the school’s mission.
Healthy cooperation between educators and bishops also helps further an authentically Catholic education. As a bishop, I have the responsibility of overseeing Catholic schools in my diocese, ensuring they “are outstanding in correct doctrine, the witness of a Christian life, and teaching skill” (Code of Canon Law, 804 §2). But I can’t lead effectively without the trust of my teachers. By respectful listening, honoring each other’s gifts, and understanding our complementary roles and responsibilities, we have been able to come together to address the pressing challenges of Catholic education in our own time.
Just as Catholic schools require a good rapport between bishops and educators to thrive, they also need reciprocity between teachers and students. True Catholic formation demands a personal relationship, one in which students are known and loved as individuals. Coupled with healthy boundaries, authentic relationships promote a learning atmosphere. When educators maintain a healthy level of personal involvement with their students, they can accompany their charges along the road of intellectual, spiritual, religious, emotional, and social growth.
A school’s physical environment also plays a key role in generating community. A Catholic school is not meant to look like an institution but instead be a welcoming place of beauty—with windows, plants, rugs, and excellent secular art. It should reflect our faith, which is both spiritual and material (like us!). The physical can make visible the invisible, and so a school’s environment should include crucifixes, statues, images, and objects of devotion that reinforce the incarnational aspects of Catholicism.
Music, both sacred and profane, also builds up the community of a school. Singing in common, particularly in choirs, is an expression of communion. This is especially true with regard to the sacred liturgy. Just as the Eucharist “is the source and summit of the Christian life” (Lumen Gentium, 11), so the Eucharist must be the heart of every school. The opportunity for daily Mass and frequent confession should be part of the rhythm of life in a Catholic school.
Communal prayer outside of the Mass also helps foster community, teaching students to pray with and for each other in joys and sorrows. Eucharistic processions through the hallways of the school and opportunities for silent Eucharistic adoration should also be a part of the liturgical life of every school.
Lastly, I would add that Catholic schools should be apostolates of the entire community, supported by all parishes and Catholics in the diocese. Even Catholics who don’t have children, or whose children are grown, have a vested interest in educating the youth. First, it is our duty as Catholics to evangelize, and a genuinely Catholic education directs young souls to Christ. Catholic schools offer the best opportunity for evangelization, both of non-Catholics as well as of Catholics who are not fully living their faith. Second, Catholic schools have been proven to be one of the best ways to bring families and whole communities out of poverty (see Lost Classroom, Lost Community: Catholic Schools' Importance in Urban America by Nicole Stelle Garnett and Margaret Brinig). So it’s always a tragedy when schools have to close in inner cities because they’re not sustainable. Third, education serves the common good, and Catholic education does so even more by forming not only good citizens, but ambassadors of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:20) who work to make present the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Imagine the change within our country if even a fraction of today’s students were on fire with the love of God, seeking to share that love and working for the common good of all!
Of course, education is primarily about the good of the students, and because Catholic education is so transformational, Catholic schools should be affordable. In the Lincoln diocese, we have some of the lowest elementary and high school tuition rates in the country, largely due to Bishop Glennon Patrick Flavin’s prioritization of Catholic education. By having enough priests to utilize some in Catholic education and thanks to the sacrifices of lay teachers, we have been able to keep tuition down. Additionally, it is our goal that no child should be turned away because of an inability to pay. All Christians “have a right to a Christian education” (Gravissimum Educationis, 2), and charity demands we ensure Catholic education is not a privilege reserved only for those who can afford it. Catholics within the Lincoln diocese have risen to this call, with parishioners taking ownership of their parish schools and contributing a substantial part of what it costs to educate each student. Their generosity has helped keep Catholic education accessible and affordable.
Catholics within the community should also lobby elected officials to help families offset the cost of education by supporting parental choice in the form of vouchers, tax credit scholarships, or educational savings accounts. This principle of parental choice in the education of their children is an important piece in the mosaic of social justice—especially because such programs typically have income caps and therefore disproportionately benefit low-income households. Still, more reform is needed to include middle-income families—especially those with multiple children, who are embracing the pro-life teaching of the Catholic Church.
4. Imbued with a Catholic Worldview throughout the Curriculum
To effectively help students develop toward the fullness of their potential, Christ and His teachings must animate all the school’s efforts. Therefore, a truly catholic (or universal) curriculum is integrated, interdisciplinary, historically aligned, and aimed at developing the whole person.
We can have the very best religion classes in the world, and still lose the students if faith is not woven through the entire curriculum. Faith cannot be added on as a stand-alone subject; it must be integrated into every class, subject, and activity in a school, like yeast that causes everything to rise. To simply tack on faith would be as unfair as giving students a ten-thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle, without providing a picture on the box showing how all the pieces fit together to make a whole.
Math and science and the other STEM subjects are privileged gateways into the divine order of things. Every subject bears the fingerprints of God, pointing to the beauty, joy, and wonder behind all reality. Whether that be the marvel of number, equation, order, and sequence in mathematics, or salvation history, all reality is “charged with the grandeur of God.” It is filled with meaning and purpose and should provide the answer to the “whys” behind everything.
Another hallmark of a Catholic worldview is that it fosters joy and wonder, natural happiness, confidence, virtue, and an eagerness to learn. Forming a sacramental imagination fosters a love for learning because it associates learning with the experience of delight. Students can become creators of beauty: singing, painting, performing on stage, entering into the great stories, reciting poems, and writing creatively. They should rhyme with Mother Goose, adventure into Narnia and Middle Earth, lift their spirits with Bach and Mozart, explore the complexities of life with Shakespeare, and soar into the sacramental vision of Michelangelo.
Education can be work for children, but it also ought to be fun! Catholic schools, forming children for the delight of eternal life with the Lord, should foster joy. I would submit to you that one reason students find so little joy in learning today is that they’re not taught the meaning of things. They are not learning how everything fits together as a whole nor how God gives meaning and purpose to reality and, ultimately, their lives. Technology can also sap students’ imaginations of their natural creativity and curiosity, leaving them anxiety-ridden, flat souled, and unmoored in a culture of joylessness. There is a disturbing rise in mental health issues among young people today connected to smart phones and social media (see The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt).
In times past, real experiences have formed our imaginations, as did the experience of envisioning fairy tales, novels, songs, and poems. Today, as images are ubiquitous, many students’ imaginations have become passive or, worse, started withering. Because of this crisis of the imagination, Catholic education in our time must nurture the imaginations of children, especially in their early years, helping them to prepare for a life of inspiration and hope. To mold saints, we must form vivid and joyful Christian imaginations.
We aspire to greatness more easily when our imaginations point us to something beyond our own experiences. Our imaginations motivate us to strive for happiness, excellence, purpose, and joy. They give us hope or cause us discouragement. They can even lead us down the pathway to despondency and despair. The imagination proposes possibilities and proposals that lie in the future, a future with hope. When well formed, it leads us to the true, the good, and the beautiful. We aspire to be holy, in part, because our imaginations inspire us to greater hope, faith, and charity than we have experienced, or than we even believe possible. A Catholic worldview therefore demands the fostering of the imagination, and its integration into the whole curriculum.
5. Sustained by Gospel Witness
Education is a form of friendship. In a genuinely Catholic school, teachers and administrators foster friendship through the hard work of love. They inspire, form, and lead students out of the virtual into the world of what’s real—to the true, good, and beautiful—where they can encounter and glorify the Lord. Our call is to help students experience the joy of being alive, the wonder of God’s creation, a love of learning, and a hunger for faith. To do so, we must live these ourselves.
In other words, teachers give testimony to a Catholic worldview and the faith through their lives. Nothing sours students to religion faster than hypocrisy, so it is crucial to hire faithful Catholics whenever possible.
Additionally, students discover themselves and the faith more readily when teachers can share their life experiences. Teachers should feel confident to “teach themselves,” allowing students to know them on a personal level (for instance, favorite hobbies, the number of children they have, the story of their conversion or what made them first start taking the faith seriously, etc.). Such details can be shared while maintaining the hierarchical structure of the classroom, and help students connect on a relational level.
A final important part of Gospel witness is ensuring priests and religious play a central role in the education of students and the leadership of Catholic schools. In the Lincoln diocese we are blessed to have 63 diocesan priests and 29 religious sisters as teachers or administrators in our schools. Their presence witnesses to a life consecrated to Christ and encourages young people to consider religious and priestly vocations. Their service in our schools is a grace that enriches the vitality and health of our entire diocese.
In the years to come, we must all continue to discern how to form our children, sustainably and responsibly, in the midst of changing times and changing circumstances. We may be called to try new models or approaches and be invited to new kinds of sacrifice. We must seek wisdom from the Lord, generously responding to the movement of the Holy Spirit, and consult and collaborate with one another. Our call is to trust in the Lord, who has made us in His image to know and love Him. Let us ask Mary, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom and Spouse of the Holy Spirit, to make us docile to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And may Jesus, the master teacher, form all of us for the freedom of holiness.
The Most Reverend James D. Conley, D.D., S.T.L. is bishop of Lincoln. His episcopal motto is the same as John Henry Cardinal Newman’s, “cor ad cor loquitur,” which means “heart speaks to heart.” This essay is an abridgement of Bishop Conley’s full pastoral letter, The Joy and Wonder of Catholic Education.