Convocation of Catholic Schools
Feast of St. Bartholomew
Church of the Nativity
August 24, 2023
Introduction
Well, here we are again! Summer has rushed by and it’s time for a new school year. To our returning presidents, principals, and teachers, I say, “thank you”. And to those of you joining the adventure of Catholic education, I say, “welcome!” Welcome to one of the most transformative ministries of the Roman Catholic Church. Welcome to the opportunity to influence the lives of children and their families for the good. Welcome to the enterprise of providing what Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens calls “a Christ-centered education.”
…the very Christ whom the future Apostle Nathanael (aka Bartholomew) first met and encountered in today’s Gospel. That encounter is emblematic of the ministry to which all of us are dedicating ourselves anew today.
Nathanael’s Response to Jesus
…beginning with this: Nathanael’s strongly prejudiced attitude against Jesus. Invited by Philip to meet Jesus, Nathanael scoffed: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” he asked. …Not unlike the questions, doubts, and prejudices you may encounter in some parents and in some students as they become more socially aware. “Can anything good come from the scandal-ridden Roman Catholic Church?” Or it might go something like this: “My relationship with the Church is purely transactional. I’m paying for a private education but I want little to do with the Church’s teachings, policies, worship, and leadership.”
These questions, doubts, and prejudices will try your patience even as they tried the patience, resolve, and ingenuity of the great Catholic educators whom we honor here today. When the faith and the Church herself are thought to add no value, the transactional relationship can become difficult indeed.
Philip the Faithful Disciple and Credible Witness
What to do? My advice is this: do what Philip did in today’s Gospel. Faced with Nathanael’s prejudicial response to Jesus, Philip didn’t become angry or defensive, nor did he nag or scold. He simply offered an invitation: “Come and see.”
How could Philip so confidently offer this invitation? What made him think he’s break down the barriers Nathanael had put up? Only this: Philip himself had seen and heard. Philip himself had encountered Christ. His presence, his love, his wisdom—in a word, his mystery—had taken hold of him. To turn a phrase, “Joy in the Lord Was His Strength”. So, when he spoke those three little words, “Come and see”, they were brimming with God’s truth and love and grace – and joy. It’s not that Philip understood everything. It’s not that he was the perfect disciple. It’s not that he didn’t have to rely on the witness of others, the Law and the Prophets. But Philip was, in himself, a credible witness.
Becoming Disciples and Credible Witnesses
Let’s pause here. All of you and each of you bring immense talent, expertise, and great heartedness to the ministry of Catholic education. But because it is a ministry, one more thing is needed: that we ourselves be disciples and credible witnesses. Disciples who know how to listen to the Lord, who know how to encounter him in Word, Sacrament, and Mystery – and therefore disciples who know how to detect in the questions, demands, and prejudices you encounter a hunger for something more, something greater, indeed Somone more and greater!
And yes, credible witnesses who can invited unchurched and barely churched parents and families ‘to come and see’ – to meet the One who knows them better than they know themselves, the One who loves them more deeply than they love themselves.
Will your invitations always be as successful as Philip’s? Not always. But let us be convinced that our invitation comes, not from ourselves, but from the One who touched and transformed our souls in Baptism, the One who forgives our sins in Reconciliation with a ready and abundant mercy, the One who comes to us in the reality of his presence and in his sacrificial love – in the sacred banquet, the Eucharist. This is how and where we encounter Christ. This is why our invitation is fraught with divine power. This is what makes us disciples and witness.
Years ago, Pope St. Paul VI famously said this: “Nowadays, the world listens more readily to witnesses than teachers, and if to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” My prayer is that you will encounter many Nathanael’s in the year ahead – moms and dads and children without guile, who will truly be open to the wisdom, both divine and human, you will offer them in the amazingly beautiful and effective ministry we call Catholic education. And may God bless you and keep you in his love! Thank you!