The common term for a school or university that you have graduated from is alma mater, Latin for “nourishing mother”. The oldest extant university in the world is the University of Bologna, founded in 1088 by Catholic students who hired scholars to teach them subjects including law and theology. It is also known as Alma Mater Studiorum, “nourishing mother of studies”.

The term alma mater is liturgically linked to Mother Mary, in particular with the antiphon Alma Redemptoris Mater, translated as “Sweet/Loving Mother of the Redeemer”.

Mother of God

May is traditionally dedicated to Our Lady; as Bishop Kevin Rhoades notes: “The month of May is always part of the Easter season, the fifty days we celebrate in the liturgy the Resurrection of Our Lord, a time also of awaiting the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

“The celebration of May as a Marian month fits well with the liturgical celebrations of Easter and Pentecost as we recall Mary’s great joy in her Son’s victory over death as well as her presence with the apostles in the upper room prayerfully awaiting the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.”

Mama

On the second Sunday of May, we also celebrate Mother’s Day. Catholics used to celebrate this on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, when it was the custom to return to your mother church – the parish in which you were baptised, or the closest cathedral – the mother church of all the parishes in a diocese. Thus, it was also known as “Mothering Sunday”. Domestic servants were given leave to be with their families, and often brought gifts for their mothers back home.

As Protestantism gradually shed such devotions, a vacuum was created. The Mother’s Day we celebrate was initiated by Anna Jarvis in the USA, as a way to honour her late mother. She campaigned assiduously until it became an official celebration. On 8 May 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution that formally designated the second Sunday of May as Mother’s Day.

Schola

Just like Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, taught Jesus in His humanity to be a virtuous Jewish boy, and as our mothers are meant to teach and form us to become flourishing members of society, so too do our teachers, acting in loco parentis, take on the responsibility to impart knowledge, skills and values to us so that we can live fulfilling lives contributing to our community.

Thus, our schools are truly nourishing mothers to us, being the extension of our parents’ desire to fulfil their duty of raising us. Healthy school communities can function as extended families, providing loving communities where students can learn from staff and each other to practise living virtuously.

Is your school a loving mother to you? How can you help create a nourishing environment for your school community?

Last year, the Congregation for Catholic Education released a document titled, “The Identity of the Catholic School for a Culture of Dialogue”. It focused on how in today’s globalised world with multicultural and multireligious societies, it has become more important than ever to maintain a strong Catholic identity in our educational institutions while engaging in interreligious and intercultural dialogue.

The Congregation quotes Pope Francis: “We cannot create a culture of dialogue if we do not have identity.” Indeed, the etymology of dialogue is dia (across, between) and legein (to speak). If we do not first understand our own position, it would be futile to attempt a meaningful discussion with those who do not share or understand our beliefs.

Gospel Message

The document asserts that “a strong and united action by the Church in the field of education” is needed “in an increasingly fragmented and conflict-ridden world”. The whole reason that the Church has long been involved in education is “in obedience to her mission to proclaim the Gospel by teaching all nations”.

The Congregation refers to the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Christian Education, Gravissimum educationis, reiterating the universal right to education and the responsibility of the state to support parents in their fundamental right to select the kind of education which they prefer for their offspring.

Moreover, the Church has “the duty to educate” because of her “responsibility of announcing the way of salvation to all men, of communicating the life of Christ to those who believe, and… of assisting men to be able to come to the fullness of this life.” We see that the primary goal of Catholic education is to enable students to know, love and serve God in this life, and be forever blessed with Him in the next.

At the same time, Catholic educators are meant to promote “the complete perfection of the human person, the good of earthly society and the building of a world that is more human”. As Christ is the foremost example of what it means to be truly human, Catholic education instils Christlike virtues and values in pupils, emphasising compassion, integrity, humility, justice and mercy.

Scholastic Mission

As Pope Benedict XVI said in 2010, “A good school provides a rounded education for the whole person. And a good Catholic school, over and above this, should help all its students to become saints.”

He added, “It is only right that respect and friendship for members of other religious traditions should be among the virtues learned in a Catholic school.” Certainly, for those who are secure in their identity as Christians, it is possible to develop deep, lifelong friendships with people of various religious or non-religious backgrounds, learning from their perspectives while respectfully and joyfully sharing the faith with them.

The Congregation observes that a school is a community of learning where students of various talents and backgrounds can grow together in harmony, imbibing cultural and scientific knowledge while honing their personal skills and discerning their paths in life. On top of that, a Catholic school is to be centred on Jesus Christ: “The personal relationship with Christ enables the believer to look at the whole of reality in a radically new way,” providing “adequate responses to the fundamental questions for every woman and man”. The Catholic school must “bear witness”, enabling students to encounter God.

The document goes on to discuss the responsibilities of the school community, comprised of “students, parents, teachers, non-teaching personnel and the school management”, including how it is meant to be integrated with the wider Catholic community. It provides a cohesive blueprint for Catholic education, in a world where the Catholic identity of once-esteemed schools has been undermined by secular ideas that distort the Gospel. May the Catholic schools of Singapore continue to hold fast to Gospel values, presenting the light of Christ to all.

On the Feast of the Holy Family in 1997, the Congregation for Catholic Education released this incisive document reflecting on the challenges facing Catholic schools in the postmodern age and the continuing mission of Catholic education in a fractured world.

Buttressing the Family

The writers note that students often “lack authentic models to guide them, often even in their own families”, and educators can provide “unpretentious yet caring and sensitive help offered in those cases, more and more numerous above all in wealthy nations, of families which are ‘fragile’ or have broken up.”

Indeed, for children and youth growing up in unhappy or unstable households, school can be a haven, a place where they can flourish in comparative peace and genuine love among their teachers and friends.

At the same time, “parents have a particularly important part to play in the educating community, since it is to them that primary and natural responsibility for their children’s education belongs.” Teachers are to collaborate with parents in the education of the young, creating a “personalised approach which is needed for an educational project to be efficacious.”

Holistic Formation

The document affirms that each Catholic school “sets out to be a school for the human person and of human persons.” In modern times, there has been a “noticeable tendency to reduce education to its purely technical and practical aspects”, which fails to nurture the humanity of each pupil, “the human person in his or her integral, transcendent, historical identity.”

The Catholic school is to be “a school for all” while maintaining its “ecclesial identity”, “a genuine instrument of the Church, a place of real and specific pastoral ministry.” This can be seen particularly on Catholic Education Sunday in Singapore, where pupils, teachers and parents from our Catholic pre-schools and schools participate in the Eucharist at parishes near their educational institutions, with students serving in various roles during Holy Mass.

Growth and Maturity

The Congregation states that Catholic education “demands an atmosphere characterised by the search for truth, in which competent, convinced and coherent educators, teachers of learning and of life, may be a reflection, albeit imperfect but still vivid, of the one Teacher”, that is, Christ. They add that “in the Christian educational project all subjects collaborate, each with its own specific content, to the formation of mature personalities.”

Instead of mere cogs in the economic machine, students are seen as young ladies and gentlemen to be formed in virtue, so that they may be instruments of love within their families and communities, wherever they may go in life.

Catholic educators are meant to be “spurred on by the aim of offering to all, and especially to the poor and marginalised, the opportunity of an education, of training for a job, of human and Christian formation… (with) fervent dedication which is a manifestation of Christ’s love for the poor, the humble, the masses seeking for truth.”

Within the World

The document continues: “The school cannot be considered separately from other educational institutions and administered as an entity apart, but must be related to the world of politics, economy, culture and society as a whole.”

Catholic education cannot take place within a silo, but is situated within the context of wider society, equipping students to live out the Gospel values in their homes and future places of employment, ushering in the Kingdom of God.

Every February 15, Singapore marks Total Defence Day, on the anniversary of the day that Singapore surrendered to Japan in World War II and began to suffer under the Japanese Occupation.

Total Defence Day emphasises that every sector of society is vital to the defence of the nation. It is not just the army, navy and air force that protects our country, but also the civil defence forces and the civilian populace.

We have six pillars of Total Defence: Military, Civil, Economic, Social, Digital and Psychological Defence.

Spiritual Warfare

Likewise, in the spiritual life, we have various means of defence against the wiles of the devil and temptations of this world. St Paul wrote to the Ephesians (6:10-17):

“… be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

How do we maintain our spiritual armour? We cannot simply go to church on Sundays and neglect our spiritual life during the rest of the week – our armour will become rusty. Faith is meant to infuse every aspect of our lives, guiding us to make ethical decisions and to grow ever closer to God as we prepare during this earthly pilgrimage to someday enter Heaven.

Practical Steps

As Lent approaches, we can take up spiritual exercises and practise praying, fasting and almsgiving. In today’s modern materialistic and high-tech society, it can be all too easy to become distracted from our ultimate goal – God – and immersed in our possessions and entertainment media. Lent is an opportunity to reset our habits and polish up our spiritual armour.

We can take up spiritual reading and study apologetics to strengthen our belts of truth. The sacrament of Confession will give us the graces necessary to live righteous and upright lives, shielding our hearts like a breastplate. Frequent scripture reading – perhaps set aside 10-15 minutes each morning to contemplate the Mass readings for the day – and scriptural meditation through the Rosary will instil in us the sense of abiding peace that comes from being rooted in the Word of God.

We are never alone – our guardian angels are fighting right beside us for the good of our souls, and we are surrounded by a cloud of heavenly witnesses, the saints who have completed their earthly lives in the Church Militant and are now cheering us on as the Church Triumphant. Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Throughout history, men and women in the Catholic Church have devoted their lives to educating the young. St Jean Baptiste de la Salle is known as the Father of Modern Education, controversially providing free education to the poor in France, in a time when illiteracy was common as education was mainly reserved for the upper classes.

Most of our Catholic schools in Singapore were founded by religious brothers or sisters, who left behind their homes in Europe in order to bring the light of the Gospel to the Pearl of Orient. Yet, from the beginning, lay teachers have also been involved alongside the religious. St Jean Baptiste formulated programmes to train lay teachers and encouraged parents to be involved with the education of their children.

When the Canossian School for the Deaf was established in Singapore in 1956, Sr Natalia Tasca FDCC gathered a group of six to work with her – this was the beginning of the Lay Canossians, who now number over a hundred.

As vocations to the religious life have dwindled, the role of lay Catholic teachers has grown even more important. In 1982, the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education produced a document on this topic titled “Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith”. The Sacred Congregation observed: “Every person who contributes to integral human formation is an educator; but teachers have made integral human formation their very profession.”

Forming Teachers

The document goes on to state: “The task of a teacher goes well beyond transmission of knowledge, although that is not excluded. Therefore, if adequate professional preparation is required in order to transmit knowledge, then adequate professional preparation is even more necessary in order to fulfil the role of a genuine teacher. It is an indispensable human formation, and without it, it would be foolish to undertake any educational work.”

Indeed, the religious spend several years in formation before they are fully-fledged and ready for their life’s mission work; the same principle applies to teachers, who have the malleable minds and hearts of the next generation in their hands. We expect teachers to be well-qualified for their vocation, which is a demanding task. Just as in other professions where skills and knowledge must constantly be updated, teaching requires educators to regularly attend workshops and seminars to hone their methods.

Humanity

The Sacred Congregation acknowledges that we live in a “pluralistic world”, while underscoring the Christian vision of the human person, made in the image and likeness of God. The Church “calls for the fullest development of all that is human, because we have been made masters of the world by its Creator… Thus, Catholic educators can be certain that they make human beings more human.”

The document continues: “The vocation of every Catholic educator includes the work of ongoing social development: to form men and women who will be ready to take their place in society, preparing them in such a way that they will make the kind of social commitment which will enable them to work for the improvement of social structures, making these structures more conformed to the principles of the Gospel. Thus, they will form human beings who will make human society more peaceful, fraternal, and communitarian.”

The vision of Catholic education in this document is truly inspiring, and well worth the read. May it remind educators of their noble calling, encouraging them in the holistic education of the youth.

The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican is known for producing several documents on various aspects of the Church and Christian life. In total, there are sixteen documents, among which is the Declaration on Christian Education, Gravissimum educationis, promulgated in October 1965.

In a study and discussion guide on the declaration, Aquinas College in Nashville, Tennessee states: “This is the seminal document for all subsequent documents on Catholic education, whether considering that topic in general or considering Catholic schools, in particular.” Thus, it is a crucial text for anyone involved in Catholic education.

Universal Right to Education
The Declaration notes: “the circumstances of our time have made it easier and at once more urgent to educate young people and, what is more, to continue the education of adults.”

Illiteracy was common across the world just a few generations ago, particularly in pre-industrial societies where the majority lived as subsistence farmers. As demographic researcher William Hung writes, the pioneers of Singapore were mainly “peasants, jungle villagers and manual labourers from southern China, the Malay peninsula and the Indian subcontinent. Many of them were illiterate and yet their grandsons and granddaughters built the most modern city in Southeast Asia.”

Today, however, the skills of reading and writing (or at least typing) are necessary for survival, where smartphones are widely considered a necessity to function as a member of society. With knowledge-based economies, adults must regularly upskill to stay relevant in their professions. For example, teachers usually spend school holidays attending training seminars. Lifelong education is vital for personal and professional growth.

The Goal of Education
The Declaration continues: “All men of every race, condition and age, since they enjoy the dignity of a human being, have an inalienable right to an education that is in keeping with their ultimate goal… For a true education aims at the formation of the human person in the pursuit of his ultimate end and of the good of the societies of which, as man, he is a member, and in whose obligations, as an adult, he will share.”

The Vatican Council promoted holistic education, where children and youth may “develop harmoniously their physical, moral and intellectual endowments”. Indeed, as we are body and soul united, and are members of the Body of Christ as well as the general community, it is critical to receive basic human formation as well as spiritual formation in order to flourish. Those who neglect one aspect of their education will find themselves developmentally lopsided.

Parents as Primary Educators
The Council averred: “Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognised as the primary and principal educators.”

In today’s busy, hyperconnected world, it can be difficult for overworked parents to uphold this responsibility. It can be tempting to leave it all to schoolteachers and tutors. However, children learn best when their parents model to them the importance and joy of learning. Taking the time and effort to teach your child also enables you to have quality time bonding over beloved books or educational puzzles and games. Even if you are not naturally adept at the subject, the mere effort of trying to find answers with your child will demonstrate how much you cherish your offspring, setting aside your own pursuits to help him. It also teaches the child that we ought to do our best, even though it may not be perfect.

Gravissimum educationis goes on to extol the importance of schools in partnering with parents to educate their children. The Catholic Church is the largest non-governmental provider of education in the world, with many mission schools founded for the purpose of lifting children and their families out of poverty, besides introducing them to the Gospel. The Declaration exhorts young adults to consider the noble profession of teaching, passing on the treasures of the faith and the wonders of human knowledge to future generations.