It is widely recognized that Catholic schools are to be communities of faith in which the Christian message, the experience of community, worship, and social concern, are integrated in the total experience of students, their parents, and members of the faculty. How fortunate we all are to be engaged in a ministry which offers continuing opportunities for evangelization, not only for impressionable students, but also for those engaged in the ministry of Catholic education. Community is at the heart of Christian education, not simply as a concept to be taught, but as a reality to be lived. The strong esprit de corps enlivening the school community is testimony to the preeminent goal of teaching love of God, self, and others through educational ministry.
Catholic schools provide a valuable demonstration of the Catholic Christian tradition at work.
This tradition is the larger life of a believing community, rooted in Scripture and service to each other. Catholic schools invite children to know God more fully by practicing Christ's commandment to love God and one another. Faith grows and is strengthened by commonplace acts of daily living where people engage in dialogue, work, prayer, and support of each other. Adults pray aloud with and for children, teaching them to pray for themselves and for the needs and issues of their families and their world. If children are to develop their maximum Christian potential, they must be valued and molded by the parents and teachers with whom they have nurturing relationships of trust.