Present to Us--Reflection for Sept. 19
apostleshipofprayer on Sep 18, 2011 Reflection for 9/19/11
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ST. JANUARIUS (+305)
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Today’s saint was a bishop in the early Church who is now the patron saint of Naples. Little is actually known about him but he has become quite famous because a relic—a tube of his dried blood—liquefies several times a year, including on his feast day. Scientists have studied this event but have been unable to come up with any natural explanation for it. Perhaps this is God’s way of telling us that the saints are alive in him and can be powerful intercessors for us. Let us ask St. Januarius to pray with us that teachers may have courage like his to seek and share the truth in a world that denies the existence of objective truth. Our reflections is from part of a speech Pope Benedict gave last February to the Congregation for Catholic Education.
The task of educating seems to have become increasingly difficult because, in a culture which all too often makes relativism its creed, the light of truth is lacking; indeed it is even considered dangerous to speak of truth, thereby sowing doubt on the basic values of personal and community life. This explains the importance of the service that the many educational institutions inspired by the Christian vision of man and of reality carry out in the world. Educating is an act of love, an exercise of “intellectual charity” which calls for responsibility, dedication and a consistent life. …
I would also like to stress the connection between theology and the other disciplines, given that it is taught at Catholic, and, in many cases, at secular universities. Bl. John Henry Newman spoke of the “circle of knowledge”, to indicate that an interdependence exists between the various branches of knowledge; but God and God alone has a relationship with the whole of reality; consequently, eliminating God means breaking the circle of knowledge. In this perspective, Catholic universities, with their specific identity and their openness to the “totality” of the human being, can carry out a valuable task to further the unity of knowledge, guiding students and teachers to the Light of the world, "the true light that enlightens every man" (Jn 1:9). These are considerations that also apply to Catholic schools. First of all there must be the courage to proclaim the “broad” value of education, in order to form solid people who can collaborate with others and give meaning to their lives.