United in Faith and Community
Our Catholic schools in the Diocese of Palm Beach are a great treasure and a priority in its life. They are a privileged place where young people get together in a context of faith and community to grow as they learn about themselves, the world they are growing in and, above all, the God who created it. This year, Catholic Schools Week is from Jan. 28 to Feb. 3. It is an important week for us as we celebrate our schools, and many events and gatherings will take place in them. The theme for this year’s Catholic Schools Week is United in Faith and Community.
Pope Francis takes Catholic schools very seriously and considers them an important part of the life of the Church. In a message to a conference held by the International Office of Catholic Education, he expressed, “When we approach education, we cannot do so thinking of something merely human, focusing the question on programs, training, resources, areas of reception, since the Christian vocation asks us to give voice to a Word that is not ours, that surpasses us, that transcends us.” Pope Francis has often expressed that one of the great models of his life was his first teacher, who lived to be 98 years old. He never forgot her example and the wisdom that she handed onto him as a young child.
There are so many challenges which face our world and our lives today. The formation of a young person in school is the context in which so much is received to help the child grow in life and to face these challenges. A Catholic school is a place where, from the earliest days, a child grows in a community of faith, and it is that faith which helps him or her to put so much in perspective and to receive the insights that will assist in going forward in life. Our Catholic schools hand on to a child a great deal in terms of the best academic resources and personal programs of growth that will help the young person to understand his or her identity, especially in the context of their relationship with God and each other. One of the most important aspects of this education is an understanding of the formation of the heart.
A school must be able to impart knowledge to a young person, which builds the mind and character of the young person. A great deal is needed in terms of learning skills, which is fostered by the teachers in a Catholic school. However, as much knowledge as possible which is given to a young person, it is the education of the heart, which makes all of the difference in the life of that person. Catholic schools speak not only to the mind but especially to the heart given to us by God, in whose image and likeness we are made. We live in a world today where there is so much information available to us in an instantaneous manner, but so many times in a manner that overlooks the center of who we are, and that is the heart. In many ways, we are living in a heartless age. A Catholic school, in the context of being United in Faith and Community, always places the heart at the center.
The importance of the heart has been recently emphasized by Pope Francis in the wonderful encyclical he has given us on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This encyclical, entitled Dilexit nos, reminds us that we indeed do live in community with God and with each other, and that we need to grow in our faith of the love of God, which comes from His heart. While we need the best in terms of the methods that can help us grow in knowledge, without our hearts being involved in that knowledge it will not assist us in our basic role as human persons made in God’s image.
Artificial intelligence is a new challenge which faces us today. In an age which needs more recognition of the heart, artificial intelligence can bring about a great deal of good. However, at the same time, it can also bring about a great deal of destruction if not used properly. Intelligence is not the same as wisdom. Intelligence is the ability to put together facts and relationships in a manner that helps us to understand and solve problems. Wisdom comes from living life in a manner in which the experience of life teaches us what really matters in life, which is our relationship to God, United in Faith and Community. A Catholic school is a place where the goal is not the best means of technology or artificial intelligence, but the best means of living in the heart, which will bring us to a fuller and more joyful life.
Pope Francis just published an autobiography, entitled Hope, in which he tells about his growth and personal life and the experiences which have brought him to where he is now. During this Jubilee Year of Hope, it is a fitting work to reflect upon the wisdom that Pope Francis offers to us and the wisdom which each of us possesses in terms of our own experience in life. In regard to the necessity of the centrality of the heart and the dangers of artificial intelligence, the pope says, “The world can only change with a change of heart because, as the Second Vatican Council taught us, the imbalances from which it suffers, which come from afar and thrive, and the contemporary liquid society, are connected with a deep imbalance that has taken root in humanity. The algorithm at work and the digital world demonstrates in the end that our thoughts and the decisions of our will are much more conventional, ordinary, standardized than we might think. To a certain extent, they are easily predictable, and just as easily manipulated. With our hearts, it is not the same. We are our heart because it is that which distinguishes us, which configures us in our spiritual identity, which places us in communion with other people.” Indeed, his words testify to the importance of Catholic schools as a place United in Faith and Community so necessary for the lives of our young people.
As we celebrate Catholic Schools Week during this Jubilee Year of Hope, let us do so in a manner in which we renew our commitment to the great treasure of Catholic education and commit ourselves to its support within our Diocese of Palm Beach. We are blessed with wonderful schools, principals, teachers and staff who give of themselves, from their hearts, to the young people entrusted to their care on a daily basis. We are blessed with an outstanding Office of Catholic Education which cares for the staff of the schools in a manner which comes not only from professional competency, but from the heart. Our Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Gary Gelo, and his talented staff, work on a daily basis, United in Faith and Community, to make our schools the best they can be. We are very grateful to them.
May God continue to bless our Catholic schools in the Diocese of Palm Beach, and may they continue to be places of faith and community enriching the lives of our young people, not only in their minds, but especially in their hearts.
Most Reverend Gerald M. Barbarito
