The Spirit of Communion

The Spirit of Communion

"...but I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven..." Matt. 5.44

Gospel Reading for the 7th Sunday of OT: Matt 5. 38-48

(Note: while most of these posts are inclusive to the Christian community at large, the reflection below is of particular interests to teachers, parents, trustees and all those committed to Catholic education)

This past Friday night and Saturday I was blessed to attend the Catholic Education Symposium sponsored by The Alberta Catholic Trustee's Association. I have been also been tasked to summarize the findings and created a guide that can be used for school boards across the province. My first task will be to bring together all the comments, ideas and strategies that came out of the discussions from the 200+ delegates.

So on Sunday, I took a step back and allowed Sabbath to enter in before I begin. And as it always does, being fed by Word and Eucharist connected powerfully to what I had just experienced.

One of the keynote speakers at the Symposium was Archbishop Michael Miller from Vancouver, who presented to us the "five marks" of Catholic school identity. He neatly summarized the key points found in the documents of the Sacred Congregation of Catholic Education. ( To read about the five marks go to http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/education/ed0395.htm)

One of the marks that identifies a school as Catholic is a spirituality of communion. This has a multiple layers of meaning:

• The Catholic school is a community first, and an institution second
• Human dignity and desire for the common good are core values
• The Catholic school goes beyond collaboration, team-work and co-operation- since we live a spirituality of communion, we are connected to each others as children of God, and live in the love of the ultimate communion of Persons- the Trinity.

So, when we read this section of the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew's Gospel, we can recognize right away that Jesus is asking us to enter into that very life of the Trinity. It has no room for revenge, retaliation and hatred. There is only room for love.

This is our core curriculum. This is what we mean by "faith permeation". All teachers, no matter what grade or area of subject specialty, are called to teach the Gospel of love.

Always. Every Day. No need to have "Random Acts of Kindness Week" if we are living and teaching Matthew 5. No need for Anti-bullying campaigns if we live and teach the Gospel of love.

Of course we struggle to be "perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect". But I don't think Jesus is setting before us an impossible task.
 
It is an invitation. An invitation to enter into the life of the Trinity. To enter into spiritual communion. To love our enemies. To do good to those who harm us.

To be children of God once again.

For this week: Consider how you can reach out to those who have caused you pain - a student, a co-worker, a family member. First, pray for them. Then do good towards them in word or action. Do not expect kindness in return. Continue to pray for them.