ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Brother Priests,
Dear Religious and Lay Faithful,
Members of the Secretariat for Catholic Education,
Honored Jubilarians, Families and Friends,

It is a joy, and indeed a privilege, to join with you in celebrating your jubilee in Catholic education. Your jubilee is a special occasion in its own right. It acquires added significance since it occurs during our Bicentennial Year. During this period we observe the founding, two hundred years ago, of our Diocese of Philadelphia. We commemorate countless people, including Saints John Neumann and Katharine Drexel, who have ministered to thousands of students in Catholic schools. At this time the Church gratefully acknowledges your place in the long history of Catholic education. As collaborators in the Church’s mission, you have greatly contributed to perpetuate a rich legacy of faith.

The custom of celebrating jubilees can be traced to the Old Testament. A jubilee was a joyful event, an occasion to honor God, to offer Him praise and thanks. On behalf of all in the Archdiocese, I congratulate you for the vital role you have in providing Catholic education across generations. Our celebration of the Eucharist is the supreme expression of gratitude for the many contributions and sacrifices you have made to advance Catholic education. Together in Jesus Christ, we give praise and honor to God the Father for having sustained you in your noble calling for these many years.

Today’s Gospel recounts an encounter that Jesus had with a Samaritan woman. Tired from His journey, He meets her at a well and asks for a drink of water. When the woman hesitates, Jesus takes the opportunity to offer her living water and insists that whoever drinks this living water will never thirst again. Though she considers Him to be a prophet, she is not yet aware of who Jesus is and what He is offering. Jesus is Himself the living water. To drink the living water that He offers is to enter into a relationship with Him. The water He gives is a spring of water that wells up to eternal life.

The students you teach are thirsting. So much of what our culture offers them fails to satisfy their thirst for truth and lasting happiness. Young people in search of truth turn to you. Your teaching science, history, mathematics, the arts and other subjects nurtures and responds to their intellectual curiosity. In all this you hold them to the highest standards of academic excellence.

However, you do more than that. As teachers in a Catholic school you relate all subjects to Jesus Christ. He is truly the living water for whom the students thirst. You are God’s instruments, offering them this living water. In so doing, you respond to their deepest longing. In different ways you show how Jesus illumines all of life, as you teach values for this life and for eternal life.

Students in our Catholic schools are fortunate that their quest for truth takes place within a religious atmosphere. Catholic schools are not merely institutions which offer an academic instruction of high quality. They are an effective vehicle of total Christian formation. As teachers in Catholic schools, you help provide a favorable setting where, daily, students are afforded the opportunity to hear and live the Gospel; to learn and appreciate the teachings of the Church; to acquire a deep understanding, reverence and love for the Liturgy; to build community; to pray and properly form their consciences; to develop virtue and participate in Christian service. They are provided "an education by virtue of which their whole lives may be inspired by the spirit of Christ" (Gravissimum Educationis, 8).

Teaching at any level is not easy. Today’s readings remind us that fidelity to God’s call involves sacrifice. In our first reading, the Book of Exodus reveals that the people grumbled against Moses, the very individual who led them forth from slavery. Fearing for his life, Moses cried out to God, "What shall I do with these people?" In his letter to the Romans, Paul testifies to the challenge associated with discipleship. He writes of the experience of being helpless and the difficulty involved in sacrificing for another.

As teachers, you have made many sacrifices. Your work is time-consuming and demanding. It is easy to become discouraged when students seem indifferent to the subject matter and when the fruits of your labor are not immediately visible. The sacrifices you make for your students provide inspiration for them. They need witnesses who have given totally of themselves to show them the way. By your teaching and sacrifice, you demonstrate your hope for them and, in so doing, you give them hope for themselves and their future.

To persevere as a witness for Christ in the face of so many challenges requires faith. It was his faith that sustained Saint Paul. In the Letter to the Romans, he boasts of a hope that is rooted in faith. He writes of the peace that flows from being justified by faith. He encourages us to face life with confidence. "Hope," he says, "will not disappoint because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit."

Faith is strengthened in a close personal relationship with Jesus, and this relationship is only possible through prayer and the sacraments. There is no more effective prayer than the Eucharist. It is the most powerful means for achieving union with Jesus. The Eucharist must be at the heart of who we are as teachers. It is the source from which the teaching ministry draws its life. It is the goal of all Catholic education.

The weeks of Lent are an especially grace-filled time. They are an opportunity for us to draw closer to the Cross of Christ. We are reminded by Saint Paul "that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." In so doing, "God proves his love for us." The Eucharist empowers us to a love of others and commits us to bear witness to God’s love through our words and actions. The Eucharist transforms us. We become what we have received, Christ Himself. Through the Eucharist, you become then, dear friends, the means by which God’s love and compassion reach students. This should indeed give you a great sense of fulfillment.

A jubilee is a time of joy. Your jubilee is an occasion of special grace, a day blessed by the Lord. It is an opportunity to reflect on the past, to offer praise and thanksgiving. We are grateful for so much today. I express thanks, first of all, to the parents who have entrusted the education and formation of their children to our Catholic schools. I am grateful for the support of the entire Catholic community who by their prayers and financial support help our schools to accomplish their mission. In particular, I congratulate you, the Religious Sisters and Lay faithful who celebrate your jubilee together this afternoon. I express deep appreciation for your many years of faith-filled service to this Archdiocese and to our Catholic schools. You have given generously of yourselves to advance the teaching mission of Jesus Christ and His Church. Much has been accomplished by God working in and through you. We all thank God for you.

A jubilee is also a blessed opportunity to look forward to the future. Young people of the third millennium must furnish energy and leadership in our Church and our society. We depend upon you to set high academic standards for them and to instill in them a spirit of faith and Christian values. By equipping our young people with an education rooted in the person of Jesus Christ, you are helping them to live moral and upright Christian lives in our complex modern world.

Today’s Gospel reveals that as a result of her encounter with Jesus, the Samaritan woman told others about Him and led them to Him. By your sacrifices and your love, you help your students to encounter Jesus. Through you, they experience His love for them. In turn they learn to love the Lord and to lead others to encounter Jesus in His Church. What a great role you fulfill as you encourage young people to be witnesses for Christ!

In affirming you today in the joy of your jubilee, I thank you all for your long and tested commitment to Catholic education and for the many sacrifices you make on behalf of the children whom God places before you. Your dedicated work is a mighty contribution to the cause of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the building up of His Church in faith and love.

And so, dear friends, as you recommit yourselves to your work of faith and labor of love, may Mary, the Mother of Jesus, be for all of you, today and always, the Cause of your Joy. Amen.