By Father José Noriega, Pastor at St. Mary Parish, Littleton
& Father James de Cendra, Principal at St. Mary Catholic Virtue School
What is education?
Who has not been surprised to hear a child saying: “now I understand,” or “I want to do this on my own”? Until that very moment everything was struggle and darkness. Afterwards, the path was made clear, and everything was illuminated.
Today we have great difficulty in understanding what it means to educate. On the one hand, we want the child to see the same truths we see and to want the same goods that we want; while on the other, we expect him to discover by himself what is true for him, and desire what he himself has determined to be good. In doing so, we move between indoctrination on one side and teaching only procedures on the other.
To educate means, according to its etymology, “to make come out,” “to bring to light,” “to give birth.” What comes out or is brought out from within is the light of the truth and the desire for good. Whoever educates, gives birth to a very great novelty: the child not only understands “what” things are, but also “why” and “what for.” The origin and destiny of things are revealed to him, and thus he understands the project of the Creator.
How do we get there? Plato explained: “after a long conversation on a certain question and, in a friendship, suddenly, as a fire is lit from a spark, light arises in the soul, and from then on the person lives from that light.”
The spark that ignites the fire is the one that uncovers to the child what makes life great and beautiful, and why. Thus, he understands what happiness is and decides to walk in its pursuit and actualization.
To educate is not simply to prepare someone for a job in the future, but to light the fire that illuminates what makes life great and beautiful. The child needs many sparks to get an overall vision of the greatness of his life and how to make it possible. As the diverse sparks ignite in the various stages of his life, he will acquire the virtues that will allow him to be a man, capable of enlightening the truth for himself and to want the good by himself.
What educates?
Education is the indirect effect that remains in the minds and hearts of young people when we do good things together: be it seeking the truth, competing in sports, playing, eating, praying, or preparing activities in which various persons can participate. The child focuses on something that is good and, by practicing it with others and seeking the internal good of that activity, a spark arises, igniting a fire that will leave in their minds and hearts an educational effect: virtues.
What is the role of the Eucharist in education?
The Eucharist is not an educational practice although it has a huge indirect educational effect. Its meaning, hidden to the child in the beginning, will be gradually revealed to him by his participation in it. Moreover, it will be disclosed to him that the Eucharist is the key to understanding the whole universe.
What first appears to him is that, in this rite, the most important words are those of the consecration: “Take and eat, this is my body for you.” The child will realize that “for you” here means “for me,” that God gives himself for him. And thus, he will discover his incomparable dignity in the fact that he is worthy of the blood of Christ.
Secondly, he will discover that God is sensitive to his response of love. If the Lord has given himself by saying “my body for you,” through eating that body, he can now respond to him in return, saying: “my body for you.”
Third, in the Eucharist the child learns the drama of life. There is blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins. There is the possibility of redemption, of change, of healing, because sins are never greater than his love, whose forgiveness is able to regenerate lost friendship.
Fourth, the child understands that time is not only the movement of the clock or the passing of the days. The Lord asks us to “do this in memory of me” of something past that becomes actual now and that opens a future for us.
Celebrating the Eucharist is often like a continuous conversation about the meaning of the body, of creation, of freedom, of history, and a way of being introduced into the dynamic of Christ’s Love. From its fire, a spark can ignite in the heart of the child, who will be now able to understand the ultimate meaning of everything and to want true happiness.
That inner fire reveals to him the meaning of all creation: “It is God’s gift to you.” In that manner arises in him the desire to respond to this gift by giving himself in return, “making himself a gift for others.” This is the desire that will move him in the future to get ready for building a family and getting a job.
In the Eucharist, we find the formula that explains the ultimate meaning of everything: “My body for you.” To eat it is to enter his own dynamism of self-giving.
The Eucharist and the protagonists of education
The Eucharist unites us to the Body of Christ, transforms us into him, makes us one with his body. The fire that burned in the Heart of Christ burns in those who receive communion. The same blood that flowed through Christ’s veins now flows through our veins. This is how the educational covenant uniting God, the child, the family, and the teacher is generated, in which each one of us has our own protagonist role:
a) The child is the main protagonist because his natural curiosity becomes a desire to know the ultimate “why” and “what for” of things. His desire to participate in common activities becomes harmonious with his parents and teachers so that the process of trusting them will allow him to accept the challenge of leaving his comfort zone. However, as the main character in his education, the child must choose to receive such a gift. Only in that manner can he join the covenant that will allow his education.
b) Secondly, parents and siblings enter in. The Eucharist allows them to say, “my body for you” and to give their time and skills to the children. Thus, they will be able to generate a covenant in their family. To educate becomes therefore to transmit the law of God, especially the new law which is the Holy Spirit.
c) Finally, there is the role of the classroom teachers themselves. Their passion for making their students’ life great and beautiful is born from the Eucharist where they learn that they are not mere facilitators, but “midwives,” according to the classical image, for they give birth to the desire for truth, goodness and beauty. In receiving communion, teachers experience a twofold effect: they understand the greatness of their students and they are able to show students why “my body for you” is the key to understanding all reality, especially the aspect of reality currently being taught. Therein lies the ultimate truth of all truths that could ever be taught; that all creation is God’s gift to us, and it is in the Eucharist that we understand it to be so.
It is in this educational covenant that the excellence of life is communicated.
What is excellence?
We are used to regarding an excellent student as the one who surpasses the others, who performs above average. However, that understanding of excellence is a poor one with disastrous educational results.
We are also used to hearing that excellence consists in “reaching the full potential” of the student. But again, that is also a limited understanding of our topic. Excellence comes from the Latin excellere which means to surpass. But what is surpassed? Precisely the child’s measure, his own initial and natural potential. That is what an excellent student is, the one who surpasses himself. To do so, he must leave his comfort zone, his own measure, his own way of thinking and feeling. Then he will be able to acquire the measure of a truth and a goodness that is greater than himself. How is that possible? How can anyone go beyond his own potential?
The Eucharist makes it possible. For the Eucharist gives us Christ as a gift that transforms our own nature. Doing so, he gives us the telos and introduces us into his own fullness. Life then ceases to be the effort to reach an ideal and becomes the development of a gift we have received. Every gift, however, must be accepted, and acceptance in this case means commitment to the friend. This friendship will not only provide comfort but a continuous challenge where our own measure will be stretched and expanded to the measure of Christ, something that will not happen without suffering.
Practices
The next step in this process is to find the best way to foster the connection between the student and the Eucharist in the school setting. There are several options that could be used, whether it is a mandatory daily or weekly Mass, an all-school or by grade Mass, or even an option between study hall or Mass, and it is important to understand that one of the goals is to help the students to develop a personal and intimate friendship with Christ. Therefore, whatever practice we decide to use, it should move the students to make a personal choice for Christ’s friendship, for they are called to become the main protagonists in the educational covenant. We want them to be able to stick to that relationship when they will be on their own, first in high school and afterwards in college.
Any solution regarding Mass during the week should take into account the centrality of Sunday Mass. From Sunday to Sunday the Mass marks the new beginning which is the source of the entire school week.
Another practice worth considering is a School of Adoration, where students are taken to the church and taught to adore the Lord in the Eucharist. It is a good way to create that expectation for the moment in which the One adored in the Eucharist will be consumed and received in the student’s body.
The Eucharist is not an educational practice, but it is the key for education to reach its goal: the divinization of our human nature that makes us alter Christus.
