Not a job, but a ministry

Richard A. Sokerka

Teachers will be welcoming students back to class next week in schools around the Diocese, making this edition of The Beacon with its annual Back-to-School section, a good time to reflect on the dedication of these Catholic educators.

Excellent scores on standardized testing year after year give testimony to the academic values of a Catholic school education. But that’s only a small part of the overall success story of Catholic schools. The real key to the achievements of Catholic schools can be found in their excellent teaching staffs.

Catholic educators are concerned with more than just academic excellence. It’s their commitment to each student as a person, showing them how to live a values-based Christian life based on the teachings of the Catholic Church and making each child aware of God’s love for them, which makes a difference.

Through their teaching staffs, Catholic schools provide not only a quality academic experience but also give students values that can be applied in their everyday lives, no matter what their future profession may be.

Catholic school teachers today fit the mold and carry on the mission of their patron saint, John Baptist de la Salle.

Founder of the Brothers of Christian Schools in 1694, he was considered a pedagogical genius. His innovations include designing a curriculum to make the Gospel message permeate the entire educational program. In his “Method of Mental Prayer,” a spiritual program for the religious brothers in the order, he compared a teacher’s work to that of St. Paul in spreading the Gospel message. He stressed that teachers in Catholic schools have a key role: “You should look upon the work entrusted to you by bishops and the fathers and mothers of these children as being one of the most necessary functions in the Church.”

Many Catholic school teachers spend their entire careers in the Catholic school system because they have a mission to accomplish just as St. John the Baptist de la Salle did. Catholic educators don’t consider their work a job at all, but rather a ministry.

Their dedication in bringing the message of Christ to students deserves not only the support of everyone in the Diocese but also our thanks.