(Article published in the book of All India Association of Catholic Schools in their 44th National AINACS Convention on 22nd Oct. 2011).
1. Educational Apostolate and Evangelization.
Jesus the Teacher
is our model and inspiration in educational Apostolate. Jesus came into the world to establish God’s
Kingdom on earth. He came to show us a
better way of living, loving, forgiving and serving. He ignited this big dream in his
Apostles. Through our schools we
continue to share this dream with tens of thousands of students and their
parents. In the Acts of the Apostles we
read that the initial name of Christianity was “those who belonged to the way.”
(Acts 19:9). Often the focus of school
education and education in general is on academic excellence and as a result we
are not able to give holistic education.
To bridge the gap between education and life we are going to discuss
Education for Life as the Ultimate Gift.
1.1
Vatican II on Education: Declaration on Christian
Education
As Priests and Religious
our work in an educational institution is part of our vocation and not mere
profession. We are involved in bringing
the required paradigm shift and work for the transformation of all those who
enter our campus and work for the empowerment of the weaker sections of the
society.
Relationship with
Christ is the key to effectiveness in educational apostolate. (Jn. 15:1-6)
Catholic Principals help the person and message of Christ find expression in
teaching and learning, curricular and extra-curricular activities so as to bear
witness to the Kingdom Values.
“Among all the agencies of education, the school has a special
importance. By virtue of its very purpose while it cultivates the intellect
with unremitting attention, the school ripens the capacity for right judgment,
provides an introduction into the cultural heritage won by past generations,
promotes a sense of values and readies the pupils for professional life. By creating friendly contacts between
students of diverse temperament and background, the school fosters among them a
willingness to understand one another.
Moreover, the school sets up a kind of center whose operation and progress
deserves to engage the joint participation of families, teachers, various kinds
of cultural, civic and religious groups, civil society and the entire human
community.” (Vatican II, Declaration on Christian Education)
1.2
Catholic Schools:
Prospects and Challenges
Though significant contribution in Nation Building, yet we have people
having been students of our schools betraying the institution and fighting
against the Catholic Church. What is the
impact of Christian Education at the National level? Needless to say that united we stand, divided
we fall. It is time to revisit our educational Apostolate. How much of Loyalty and Gratitude do we
elicit? Or are we producing selfish
intellectual giants? How true, “All who
have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the
fate of the empires depends on the education of the youth." (Aristotle) The time to act is NOW.
1.3
Be an effective
Principal: Centrality of Leadership in Schools.
The Principal is the pivot around which the
whole administrative system revolves. When schools have good leaders, they
become leading schools. Outstanding schools have effective Principals. Effective
Principals develop outstanding schools. There is crisis of leadership in all
walks of life. Principals and teachers would be effective if they become
effective leaders.
1.3.1 Involvement of the
Stakeholders.
If we involve all stakeholders like Students, Teachers, Parents, Alumni,
Society and Industry we would be able evolve a system of education that would
be holistic and relevant. The distance
between the stakeholders make the process of education hyphenated and meaningless. As a result of this students do
not develop required employability skills.
1.3.2 Education for Life: A Tree Is Known by Its
Fruit – Lk. 6.43,44
Jesus said that a tree is known by its
fruits. Similarly the success of our school education would be seen by the
success stories of our students. Most of the students who come out of our
institutions are well placed and doing well professionally. It is important also to assess and see how
many of them have become better human beings who are able to reach out, touch
and heal the broken world. How many of them have imbibed kingdom values and how
many of them are grateful to us and ready to stand by us particularly in times
of religious persecution. We need to
have a paradigm shift from education for amassing wealth and personal glory to
education for social transformation and empowerment. Education for life would
provide insights and skills that would help one to live meaningfully and
contribute to the building up of an inclusive society.
1.4
India: The Emerging Superpower with deteriorating moral
standards
“India is an
emerging Asian superpower. From high
technology to the creative arts, India is rapidly becoming a global player”
said, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
1.5 Seven Sins
according to Mahatma Gandhi
1.
Wealth without Work. 2. Pleasure without
Conscience 3. Science without Humanity. 4. Knowledge without Character. 5. Politics
without Principle. 6. Commerce without Morality. 7.Worship without Sacrifice.
2.
The Ultimate Gift: Timeless Lessons for Life Change
The Ultimate Gift
written by Jim Stovall begins with the reading of the Last Will and Testament
of Red Stevens. His entire greedy family is present and awaiting their
treasures bestowed unto them by Red’s death. It was a frightfully morbid scene
with greed completely obscuring any grief...if there had been any grief to
begin with. One by one Red’s lawyer reads the gifts given to each individual
and that person would then be escorted out. Finally there is one person left in
the room, the youngest inheritor and nephew, Jason.
An extremely wise
and wealthy grandfather gives his shallow, spoiled grandson the ultimate
inheritance. In The Ultimate Gift,
Jason Stevens, learns there's more to life than money. Instead of the expected
cash windfall, Red Stevens has prepared twelve gifts to be given after his
death to his grandson. The series of gifts, leading up to the ultimate gift,
take Jason on a challenging journey of personal growth and self-discovery. It
causes the reader to immediately want to make positive changes in his or her
own life. The Ultimate Gift leaves a lasting impression and a thunderous
impact.
The Twelve Gifts that are needed for holistic grown of a person according to the author of
the book are as follows:
2.1 The gift of work: Appreciation and satisfaction come from earning
something. Leisure is only enjoyable when you earn it. Today we live in a world
of instant coffee, instant food and instant success. The good old saying “99% perspiration and 1%
inspiration is the secret of success” is almost made redundant by those people
who indulge in short cut to success. People want to make money without doing
any work. Thus corruption, bribery and
black money is almost institutionalized. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam addressed the
students of St. Aloysius college, (Autonomous) Jabalpur on the 12th
of July 2011 saying “Work with integrity and succeed with integrity.” How relevant it is in today’s context. Hard works is its own reward, But it also
reward the people we work for. It is important to teach our students, “ Get on your knees and Pray, then get on your feet and
work.” (Gordon B. Hindkey) Let us promote work culture and help them to work
smart and succeed.
2.2 The gift of Money: Money is nothing more than a tool. It can be a force for good, a force for evil
or simply be idle. Story of the seven
richest people of the world would be a big eye opener to everyone. In 1923, the
World’s Wealthiest men met at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago, Illinois.
At that time, they controlled more money than the total amount contained in the
United States Treasury. Here is a list of who was there and what eventually
happened of them:
Charles Schwab – President of the largest
Independent steel Company-died broke. Arthur Cutten – Greatest of the wheat
speculators – died abroad, insolvent. Richard Witney – president of the New
York Stock Exchange-died just after release from Sing prison. Albert Fall –
member of a U.S. president’s cabinet – was pardoned from prison so that he
could die at home. Jess Livermore-
Greatest “bear” on Wall Street – Committed Suicide. Leon Fraser – President of
the Bank of International Settlements- committed suicide. Lvar Kreuger – Head
of the world’s greatest monopoly – committed suicide. St. Paul said that money
is the root cause of all evil. Money is a good servant and a bad master. School
education could be a very powerful medium of teaching students the importance
of money and its ill effect. How true, “Money often costs too much.” (Ralph
Waldo Emerson)
2.3 The gift of friends: No man is an island. Even a bird needs two wings to
fly. We have grown from dependence to independence and then to inter-
dependence. True loyal friends are hard to find and so treat them that way. You
never know when a new friendship is
about to begin. A True Friend is the greatest of all blessings. As said “A
friend is one who walks in when others walk out." (Walter Winchell) This
would enable us to build an inclusive society. It is a
wealthy person, indeed, who calculates riches not in gold but in friends.
2.4 The gift of learning: Have a burning desire and love for self education.
Often we consider education as a finished product where as it is an ongoing
process till death. Teach them to learn, unlearn, re-learn. Education
is a lifelong process of learning. Give a person a fish, and
you feed them for a day. Teach a person how to fish, and you feed him for a
lifetime. “Knowledge is like a
garden: if it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.” – African Proverb.
2.5 The gift of problems: It is said that every problem has a gift for
you in its hands. These prepare us for what’s ahead in life so embrace
them and enjoy the accomplishment.
Difficulties are opportunities to do better things; they are stepping stones to
greater experience. When one door closes, another always opens. A problem is a
chance to do our best. It is a challenge and opportunity to accomplish greater
things in life. The inspirational talk “No Arms, No Legs, No Worries” by
Nick Vijicic can motivate any one to face life as it comes and make the best of
it. His attitude to life changed him from a man with no limbs to a man with no
limits.
2.6 The gift of family: Some are
born with a wonderful family, others have to find and create one. Either way,
it’s essential. “You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to
you, as you are to them.” ~Desmond Tutu. We are confronted with gender discrimination, female infanticide, dowry
death, broken families, depression, loneliness, unhappiness,
meaninglessness, ingratitude, Drug and Alcohol Addiction and Illegal affairs. Students
should become aware of the stark realities of life and learn to understand the
importance of family life. Happy
families are made by happy and emotionally mature people. We need to focus on family Life/Education to
Love/HIV-Aids/Counseling to Parents and appropriate education for responsible
parenthood.
2.7 The gift of Laughter: Laughter is good medicine for soul. Our world is
desperately in need of more such medicine. A child laughs spontaneously several
times and remains healthy. We take life too seriously and end up with serious
health problems. And so we have laughter clubs all over the world. It has been
found that we have no ability to laugh at ourselves; we need to develop a sense
of humour to promote healthy interactions and relationships. We also need to address in our class, Stress
Management / Anger Management and find out ways and means to overcome these and
promote peace and contentment.
2.8 The gift of dreams: See yourself accomplishing your goals and desires
before you live through them. Dream
until your last day. Ignite the big dream. “Dream children, dream and dream; if you
would dream, thoughts would come, transform thoughts into action.” ~ Dr. A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam “Dream is not what you see
in sleep. It is a thing which does not
let you sleep” – Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. If you follow your Dreams you will
never be the same. Young students are full of potentials and talents. We need to
help them to discover themselves.
Education should give them roots to remain rooted to the ground and
wings to fly and explore unexplored horizons of life.
2.9 The gift of giving. Small gifts
to you could be huge gifts for others. Give more than you take. The more you
give the more you receive, said Jesus. “One man gives freely, yet grows all the
richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. A liberal
man will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.” (Proverbs
11:24-25) "You make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you
give." – Winston Churchill We must introduce our students to the power in Altruism
and the Joy of Giving. Schools could
celebrate the joy of giving week every year. Giving also can be in the form of love, time, Care, respect,
peace etc.
2.10
The gift of
gratitude: In those times we
yearn more to have in our lives, we should dwell on the things we already have.
In doing so we will often find that our lives are already full to overflowing. Schools
can become commercial centers and students may look at us as Big Bazaar dolling
out education!! They will never grow up with a sense of gratitude to the
teachers and the institution. Care must be taken to cultivate this very significant
value system. It would be good to make them aware of the benefits of Being
Grateful - Grateful people sleep better; are happier; less depressed; less
stressed; and more satisfied with their lives and social relationships; have
higher levels of control of their environments; personal growth; purpose in
life; and self acceptance; have more positive ways of coping with the
difficulties they experience in life; have less negative coping strategies;
being less likely to try to avoid the problem.
2.11
The gift of the day. Every day is a gift, and how
you use it brings you either one day closer to or one day farther from your
goal. Life in its essence boils down to
one day at a time. TODAY is the day! The
Gift That Makes You Happier and More Successful at Work and in Life,
Today!
The book, The Present written by Spencer Johnson tells a parable of a
young man who is mentored by an older gentleman. The gentleman tells the man
about “The Present”, and he does all he can to figure out what exactly that
means. He finally realizes the “present” is not a physical gift, but a concept
involving being totally involved in whatever you are currently doing. The
present is not the past and it is not the future. The present is the present moment. The present is right now. The past is history and the future is mystery
and the present is a gift and that is why it is called present. Be in the
Present; Learn from the Past; Help create the Future; Realize your purpose.
2.12
The gift of love. In a world full of hatred and
violence we as Christian schools must go all out to promote love and build up a
civilization of love. Love makes each gift and experience worth living. “Love
is life. And if you miss love, you miss life.” - Leo F. Buscaglia. We could discuss with the
students the benefits of love. A loving person is Kind and Patient; Forgiving
and Humble, Courteous, Generous and honest. Love makes us live longer and keeps
you forever young. It facilitates faster healing, reduces stress and promotes mental health, has an anti cancer
effect, it reduces pain and it promotes
better blood circulation, lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart
diseases. What is love NOT? Possessiveness
is not love, Jealousy is not love, Lust is not love, Fear is not love, Keeping
people all to yourself is not love and Expecting something from someone is not
love.
In the end, life lived to its fullest is its own Ultimate Gift. “I have come that you may have life and have
it in abundance.” Jn. 10:10
3. Conclusion: Discover
the power in your wings and strength in your roots.
Our educational apostolate should aim at Social
and societal transformation, as a major goal and mission of our education. Form
communities of solidarity, and of justice and equality, at the service of all
people, especially the poor and the marginalized. As CBCI proclaimed in 2000, we are committed
to “A new society built on justice, peace, love and harmony: a civilization of
love”.
“Education without
values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a cleverer devil.” (C.S.
Lewis). “What we are today is the result of what we valued yesterday….. What we
will be tomorrow will be the result of what we value today....” “Excess
of knowledge and power, without holiness, makes human being devils.” “They alone live, who live for others, the
rest are more dead than alive.” - Swami Vivekananda “Literary
education is of no value, if it is not able to build up a sound character.” -
Mahatma Gandhi
Education for life should include: 1. Caring
for others 2. Concern for the welfare of the society 3. nation and the
international community 4. Concern for the environment 5. Concern for cultural
heritage 6. self-esteem and self reliance 7. social responsibility 8.
spirituality 9. peaceful conflict resolution 9. equality 10. justice 11. truth
12. freedom. (The National Institute of
Educational Research of Japan)
Our schools shall
be the light, salt and leaven of the society promoting Kingdom values. For this “You Must Be the Change, You Wish To
See In the World.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi.
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