In gratitude for Catholic Education

In gratitude for Catholic Education

This Sunday we give thanks for the gift of Catholic Education in the Province of Alberta. We are blessed to have publicly funded Catholic Education in our province, in addition to having the freedom to have private Catholic schools and Catholic homeschooling initiatives.

A few years ago, I spoke with the graduating class at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy in Canmore to get a sense why Catholic education was important to them. They offered a variety of answers but the one that stuck with me came from a young lady who was the valedictorian that year.

She shared that what was most meaningful to her for having studied in a publicly funded Catholic school was that she never felt bullied. I had not expected this answer as being what was most important to her for having studied in a Catholic school. It struck me as being a sign of our Catholic faith in action that one student felt both loved and affirmed when she went to school where these virtues were promoted and cultivated and that she did not become an object of discrimination or hurtful words. It is hopeful that her experience was not an isolated one but something most of our students experience in our Catholic schools.

Please join me in offering prayers of gratitude to God for the various forms of Catholic Education in our province and please also consider offering a monetary donation to our schools to help continue their mission of proclaiming the Good News of Christ.