Office of Catholic Schools

16 Encountering Christ The reason the Catholic Church invests in schools is that she recognizes that Jesus should be at the center of everything that we do. It is not enough to visit him an hour a week. Our relationship with Jesus should be at the heart of our study and work, giving meaning and purpose to our daily life. Cath- olic schools provide an integrated experience of faith and life by uniting study, prayer, service, and charac- ter formation so that our students learn how to live a truly fulfilled and happy life. Jesus becomes the true teacher, who leads to the truth of the world and who inspires love in response to the truth. Pope Benedict XVI, when visiting the United States and speaking to Catholic educators, related, "First and foremost every Catholic educational institution is a place to encoun- ter the living God who in Jesus Christ reveals his transforming love and truth" ("Meeting with Catholic Educators," April 17, 2008). How does the school bring students into an en- counter with Christ? The school should proclaim the kerygma (the announcement of the Gospel) and invite students to faith. Students at a Catholic school must come to know who Jesus is—the Son of God made man—and also what Jesus has done to save us—that he died to take away our sins and rose to give us new life. The teacher must become a spokesperson for God, sharing the divinely revealed message. Once again, this should not occur simply as information, but as a transformation, as a mes - sage f rom God that requires a response. Students should be invited to believe this message and to formulate a commitment to accept Jesus as Lord. We can see how this proclamation was central to the mission of the early Church in the Acts of the Apostles and summarized by Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians:

• Cover