|
In the Heart of the Church: Archbishop Raymond Burke |
 Catholic
schools and consecrated life
Archbishop Raymond L. Burke
Written during his time as Archbishop of St. Louis
February 2, 2007
Catholic Schools
Week
We have been celebrating Catholic Schools Week, our annual time to
reflect on the treasured gift of our Catholic schools and to
recommit ourselves to the apostolate of the Catholic school in the
Archdiocese of St. Louis. We have special reason to give thanks to
God because of the extraordinary number of our Catholic schools,
both archdiocesan and parish schools, and schools sponsored by
communities of consecrated religious or associations of the
faithful. We also have special reason to recommit ourselves to the
Catholic schools, which are a treasured inheritance requiring our
constant and generous care and support.
Before reflecting briefly about the Catholic schools, I want to say
how deeply impressed I have been and continue to be by the strong
commitment of parents in the archdiocese to provide a
Catholic-school education for their children from preschool through
high school, and even at the level of university studies. I know of
the tremendous sacrifices parents make over many years so that their
children may be enrolled in a Catholic school. As archbishop, I am
responsible to see that the name "Catholic" is used only by schools
which are, in fact, Catholic in identity. I am deeply conscious of
the sacred trust that I have with parents who have the natural right
to expect that a school which is called Catholic is truly Catholic
in identity.
Catholic or complete education
The special gift of the Catholic school to its students is a
complete education. The Catholic school not only imparts knowledge
to students and develops their skills, like all good schools do, but
it does so in the context of their daily relationship with God. All
growth in knowledge and skills in the Catholic school is seen in the
context of faith in God who is the source of all that we are and
have.
Not only is the faith taught in the Catholic school, but the faith
is celebrated by prayers, devotions and, above all, the regular
celebration of the Holy Mass and regular opportunities for the
students to go to Confession. Prayer and the Sacred Liturgy are at
the heart of the life of the Catholic school.
Finally, we look at the faith which is taught is lived in the
Catholic school. The teaching of the Catholic faith would be empty
if the life of the school did not exemplify and foster the Christian
virtues. The Catholic school is a "school of Christ," for the
faculty and students, and all who are part of the school are one in
Christ and strive to imitate Christ more and more in the daily
activities of the school.
Catholic school and the new evangelization
The Catholic school in our time faces a tremendous challenge from
the culture that surrounds us. While the Catholic school imparts the
knowledge of God’s plan for us and for our world, and inculcates
deep respect for God’s law, the culture tells children and young
people that everything is relative to what they think and to what
pleases them. While the Catholic school teaches selfless love, the
culture leads students to be self-centered and to view life from the
sole perspective of personal pleasure and gain.
The culture is pervasive. Administration, faculty, students and all
who are part of the Catholic school must, therefore, cultivate a
disciplined spiritual life, a life of prayer, devotion and spiritual
reading and meditation, which finds its culmination in the
Eucharistic Sacrifice. Regular Confession is also essential if we
are to have the wisdom and courage to meet the challenge of Catholic
education in our time.
This year, the Office of Catholic Education has been assisting
administrators and teachers to be formed in the new evangelization
which the situation of our culture demands. What better place than
the Catholic school to foster the new enthusiasm and the new energy
which are needed to teach, celebrate and live our Catholic faith in
our time. The Catholic school seeks to inspire in students the deep
appreciation of the Catholic faith, which will lead them to live
their faith, as if for the first time, imitating the first disciples
of our Lord and the first missionaries to the archdiocese.
Please keep in your prayers our Catholic schools. Please pray that
they will be outstanding instruments of the new evangelization.
Candlemas
Feb. 2 is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord or, as it is
popularly called, Candlemas. Forty days after Christmas, the Blessed
Virgin Mary, together with her saintly husband Joseph, brought the
Child Jesus to the temple, in fulfillment of the Law of Moses. The
Presentation, however, was much more than an act of obedience to the
Mosaic law; it was the meeting of the Lord with His people, the
Church, represented by Simeon and Anna. In the Eastern Church, in
fact, the Presentation is called the Feast of the Meeting.
Christ, after His birth, comes to meet us in the Temple which He
purifies in preparation for His sacrifice on Calvary and its
perpetuation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. When Simeon received the
Christ Child into his arms, he declared Him to be the Light of the
Nations. The candle is a fundamental symbol of our Lord, who is
indeed our light, the light for all mankind, guiding us to eternal
life. On the Feast of the Presentation, the candles to be used in
the Church for the coming year are blessed. Candles for devotional
use in the home also are blessed.
Vocation to the consecrated life
Candlemas is the day on which the Church honors, in a special way,
those called to the consecrated life: consecrated virgins, hermits,
monks, contemplative religious, apostolic religious and members of
secular institutes. The vocation to the consecrated life, which is
so rich in its forms, is a wonderful manifestation of the light of
Christ in the world for the salvation of all mankind. Those called
to the consecrated life strive to follow Christ more closely and
are, as a result, a source of inspiration and strength for those
called to the married life, the dedicated single life or the
priesthood. In consecrated persons, we all see the purity and
generosity of Christ’s love of us and are inspired to be more pure
and generous in the love we are called to give to one another in our
respective vocations.
In recent decades, there has been a decline in the number of those
who have responded to the vocation to the consecrated life. In the
present time, however, there is a new flowering of response to the
vocation among our young people. Let us pray for all whom God is
calling to the consecrated life so that they will respond with an
undivided heart, giving themselves totally to Christ for love of Him
and all of us in the Church. By their response to the consecrated
life, the light of Christ will shine forth in them to guide us all
on the way of eternal salvation.
Heart of Jesus,
formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, have mercy
on us.
On
December 2, 2003, Bishop Burke was named Archbishop of St. Louis,
succeeding Justin Cardinal Rigali. Archbishop Burke was installed in
St. Louis on January 26, 2004, the fifth anniversary of Pope John
Paul II's historic pastoral visit to the archdiocese. Pope John Paul
II invested Archbishop Burke with the pallium on June 29, 2004, at
the Basilica of St. Peter, in Rome. On June 27, 2008 Pope Benedict
XVI appointed him to Rome where he now serves as Prefect of the
Apostolic Signatura and President of the Commission for Advocates.
Link to More Homilies of Archbishop Burke>>>
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
|
