INTRODUCTION
(April, 2011)
The Institute of the Brothers of the Holy Family sets, with this Educational Project, the type of education that seeks to carry out in schools and other educational environments in which has a responsibility in direction, animation or coordination.
The purpose of this document is to establish a bond of unity between people and institutions of the Sa-Fa Family that share the educational ideal of Brother Gabriel Taborin, offering the features that characterize today the Holy Family School in its task of internal building and openness to the ecclesial and social mission.
The evolution of society and the guidance of the Church led the General Chapter of 2007 to propose the update of the Educational Project of the Institute. The central insight of the Chapter resulted in the expression “Nazareth, school of humanity” and proposed as a program for these years: “We are called to witness that the Nazarene charism of Brother Gabriel is a gift for the Church and society, an offer of humanity and humanization in the image of the Son of God made man in the belief that ‘whoever follows after Christ, the perfect man, becomes himself more of a man’ (Gaudium et Spes, 41)”. Our contribution to the humanization process in different cultures, enlightened by the Gospel, will draw its inspiration from the school of Nazareth, “where the Holy Family lived the mystery of the Incarnation, and allowed to be formed by the action of the Spirit”.[1]
This Educational Project, whose update has been made after extensive consultation, is addressed to all persons and groups that are part of or are in connection with the Institute of the Brothers of the Holy Family and have Brother Gabriel Taborin as a common reference as Founder of the Institute, which he gave the name and patronage of the Holy Family.
The diversity of cultures and social and ecclesial situations calls for each Educational Centre to develop and update periodically their own Project. The indications given below are the basis on which to build these Projects and provide evaluation criteria to determine, beyond the designations, the belonging and identity of each School or Educational environment to the Sa-Fa Family.
Given the previous version of the Educational Project of the Brothers of the Holy Family (1990), the content is divided into the following:
- The person we want to form.
- The school we want to inspire.
- The educational community we want to be.
- The mission of the Holy Family School in the society and in the Church.
- New horizons and challenges for our school.
I-. THE PERSON WE WANT TO FORM
The person is a being that is realized in the dynamics of love and needs to be developed in three fundamental dimensions: individual, social and transcendent. It is, therefore, necessary to apply a pedagogy both determined and clearly personal and Christian, noting in it the core values of dignity. All other school concerns must be subordinated to the person of the pupil. So everything has to be oriented so that the student may discover the mystery of his personal being, which is inalienable, and oriented to lead towards his “inner core” in which his qualities, aspirations, dispositions and actions find identity, possession, unity and meaning.
1-. IN HIS PERSONAL DIMENSION
- A free and responsible person, capable of assuming his own project of life, while integrating his aspirations and desires, his real possibilities and duties.
- A person seeking to give meaning to his life and that tends towards human maturity, integrating the different elements of personality.
- A person aware of his own dignity, his peculiar conditions, his qualities and limitations, and willing to be direct and to choose responsibly.
- A person open to transcendence, and that assumes his true individual, cultural and social reality.
- A person respectful with nature, attentive to the common good and that strives to find in it a common home.
Points of action:
- To take as its starting point the essential dimensions of the person, present in all his aspirations: emotions, will, ability to relate to others and transcendence.
- To educate to exercise real freedom that encourages autonomy and authentic communication.
- To exercise the ability to make choices and take responsibility for decisions.
- To support the ability to overcoming and personal growth through effort and openness to educational activities.
2-. IN HIS COMMUNITY DIMENSION
- A person who is open to others, aware of the value of others and able to build up the community with his contribution.
- A person under construction in relation to others.
- A person with a right criterion, capable of interacting and working with others in a climate of respect, solidarity and tolerance.
- A person who knows how to integrate responsibly in the community at all levels (local, national, international) and helps to improve it.
- A person rooted in the culture of his people and, at the same time, open to the cultures and problems of his time and of the world.
Points of action:
- To educate for friendship, solidarity and hospitality.
- To support the creation of strong and lasting relationships.
- To assess human relationships in order to give meaning to the organization and structures.
- To recognize and to express own feelings and those of others in order to communicate with objectivity and independence.
- To help people to emerge from isolation to enter a process of openness and interaction with others.
3-. IN HIS SPIRITUAL DIMENSION
- A person whose spiritual dimension is based on a human base that allows him to respect and engage in dialogue with people living cultural and religious alternatives.
- A person who recognizes God as Father, called to live in a filial relationship with Him and fraternal relationship with all, and to find in Jesus Christ, brother of all, the fullness of his existence.
- A person to whom the Gospel is proposed in response to the deepest aspirations of his life and the world.
- A person who lives, celebrates and bears witness to his faith, personal and communitarian, in various fields.
- A person who assumes the values of the Gospel (fraternity, peace, justice, liberation of man, truth and mercy) whose fullness is in Christ, and tries to embody them in his own history and to live them with others.
Points of action:
- To recognize that the relationship with the other, reciprocity, intercultural dialogue, ecumenical and interreligious dialogue are necessary means for the construction of identity and of all genuine growth in humanity.
- To proposematuration in faith and love, in order to discover the Christian vocation and to get specific commitments from faith.
- To take a reading of one’s life and that of others from the invitation of the Gospel to transform themselves and the reality as Jesus did.
- To receive and build peace as an Easter gift through prayer, work and love.
- To cultivate the ability of internalizing and of spirituality that is inside everyone and enables a personal and communal relationship with God.
II-. THE SCHOOL WE WANT TO INSPIRE
It is hallmark of our school to create in the school community a lively atmosphere animated by the “family spirit” that inspires and encourages relations between its members and wants to be an extension of the family home. Therefore, our school offers this style of animation that enriches the educational proposal. We understand, therefore, education as an exercise and a shared living that improves and strengthens the people’s lives.
1. The Holy Family School is a meeting point of people and institutions to perform some of its fundamental rights-duties:
- Of everybody, to an education adapted to their capacities.
- Of the parents, first responsible for the education of their children, to choose the type of education they prefer to offer them.
- Of the Church, to be present in the world of education and culture to bring the Gospel message.
- Of the people and institutions, to create and direct schools in order to propose the kind of education they wish to promote.
- Of the educators, to perform their functions freely in accordance with the particular nature of the Centre.
Points of action:
- To organize an integral education that responds to the guidelines of current pedagogy, the State’s standards and the aspirations of the families, always in line with the Education Project.
- To create, promote and facilitate meeting places and structures that promote collaboration and participation in a welcoming ambience and an atmosphere of integration.
- To know to propose projects and activities involving groups and the entire school.
- To lead change processes, being attentive to reality, practicing discernment and self-assessment, and focusing always on the search for the best.
- To inform parents the Educational Project so that they can actually exercise the right of choice of education.
2. The Holy Family School, within the plurality of educational options offered by the society, is defined as “Catholic school”[2]:
- Puts the person of the learner at the centre of the educational process and seeks his development in all his dimensions.
- Is open to all who accept its own character and share its Educational Project.
- Proposes an educational project that is based on the Christian view of man and the world.
- Explicitly announces the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as transmitted by the Church, and promotes, through various means, growth in the Christian life of the components of the educational community, respecting the conscience of each one.
- Tries to live the synthesis between faith, culture and life, trying to establish consistency between the announced message and the embodiment of its values.
Points of action:
- To organize the school in pastoral key: to propose the catechesis and pastoral activities both organically and adapted to children, youth and adults.
- To ensure the teaching of Religion and of the religious fact.
- To provide a constant reflection on the meaning of life this is given by the cultivation, systematization and hierarchy of values.
- To propose the Christian meaning of love expressed in the sense of generosity, of donation, of selfless service, forgiveness and acceptance of limits.
- To cultivate the interiority of children and youth as a means of construction of their personality and genuine openness to the other and the Other.
- To develop in the child and young the reason to believe, to love and to hope.
- To welcome people with their concrete situations and problems.
3. The Holy Family School, following the inspiration of its origins, is characterised by the “family spirit”:
- Has as a point of reference the Holy Family of Nazareth, according to the foundational intuition of Bro. Gabriel Taborin.
- Tries to live today the mystery of the Family of Nazareth, where “they prayed, they worked and they loved”.
- Is set in its human and cultural environment and is open to all, educating for peace and contributing to the great family of God’s children.
- Constantly looks for sources of inspiration for its own character.
Points of action:
- To create family relationships among the components of the educational community: atmosphere of simplicity, kindness, respect, trust, understanding and unity.
- To care about everyone, especially the weak and disadvantaged.
- To share and celebrate in community events that affect everyone.
- To encourage dialogue between generations, persons and groups in the educational community.
- To promote the value of the Christian family as guarantor of the security of life and welcome to families in situations of fragility or that require special attention.
- To propose the Holy Family as a model of family life and to promote its cult.
III-. THE EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITY WE WANT TO BE
The Holy Family School, and the various areas where educational activity is exercised, is the meeting place for a group of people that, although from different perspectives, have a common mission: the comprehensive education of children and youth. We call this “Educational Community”. Its core of cohesion is the acceptance and responsible participation in the implementation of the Educational Project.
a) Members of the Educational Community:
1-. THE ENTITY OWNER
- The Institute of the Brothers of the Holy Family, in the centres where it is the entity owner, or where it is under its tutelage, defines the type of education the Holy Family School offers and promotes it through communication and application of this Educational Project.
- The Institute, through its governing bodies and in accordance with the rules of the Church, with its Constitutions and Directories, assumes the representation and legal responsibility incumbent on it, according to the laws in different countries.
- The Institute ensures consistency and continuity in implementing the principles established in the Educational Project, and encourages contact and exchange between the centres animated and guided by the various members of the “Sa-Fa Family”.
- The Institute is concerned that teachers and other educators are selected, integrated, trained and accompanied by careful determination so that they may collaborate with creativity in the pastoral processes specific to the Holy Family School, taking into account the diversity of beliefs, experiences, expectations, interests and personal priorities.
- The Institute promotes initiatives for the formation of various groups in the educational community in all matters relating to its Educational Project and the reference texts of educational inspiration.
- The Institute accompanies, supports and also encourages educational centres and other Works inspired by this Project and that are linked to it somehow.
2-. THE COMMUNITY OF BROTHERS
- As Religious[3], the Brothers express their vocation and religious consecration in the educational mission and in the pastoral.
- “The Brothers undertake their apostolic work mainly as community”[4]. This, by its presence, its testimony and action, promotes communion and participation within the educational community.
- The Religious Community, with its active presence, is committed to strengthening the Christian identity of the educational work and promotes training activities on the inspiration of the Educational Project.
- The Brothers, as witnesses of the educational charism of Bro. Gabriel Taborin, live the family spirit, which “guides them in their mission among men, characterizes their educational work and strengthens the bonds of human solidarity wherever they are sent”[5].
3-. THE TEACHING STAFF
- Teachers, along with other educators working in the Centre, are the key for the development of the mission of the Sa-Fa School, with their pedagogical skills and the competence in the subjects they teach, the testimony and coherence of life.
- Teachers care and develop their social and emotional skills to interact with students and do not forget that their spiritual experiences have significant repercussions in and out of the classroom.
- Teachers take responsibility of on-going formation to achieve the right skills both in professional matters and in pastoral ones.
- Teachers participate in the different direction teams, management and improvement, and they help create a climate of dialogue, serenity and continuing creativity that allows the realization of the Project.
- Teachers know the value of teamwork and strive to implement it; like this, they themselves identify and commit more to the mission of the Centre and give a better response to the training needs of the students.
- Teachers, either lay, religious or priests, have as mission to collaborate with the parents in the education of the students by teaching and other educational and pastoral activities.
4-. THE COLLABORATORS
- Non-teaching staff of the Centre contributes with their competence and their capability in the service to the good functioning of the Centre and its educational mission. Their work should be considered and valued as an essential contribution to the development of the Educational Project.
- People who work in secretaries, administrations, different departments, and other services and activities of the school, with their attitudes and testimony, are a valuable support in the educational task. Their good performance expresses the quality of the institution.
- These collaborators are integrated into the structures of participation and management thereof, as per rules in each Centre.
- Among non-teaching staff has an important meaning and value the contribution of the animators and catechists in pastoral and animation activities carried out with children and young people.
5-. THE STUDENTS
- The students are the main characters of their own development aided by their families and educators. The educational action will be really full when the students feel essentially loved and be involved in their development, in the one of their classmates and the one of their environment.
- The students, along with their teachers, strive so that the school years may become one of the most significant experiences of their lives.
- The students exercise the dimension of listening as a basic educational attitude in the relationship with teachers and other educators. This openness and availability enables the sharing of values and experiences.
- The students accept, recognize and integrate into their educational process the authority of teachers, necessary for their personal growth and learning.
- The students accept and promote the work of personalized accompaniment offered in tutoring and other forms.
- The students, as soon as they are open to life, learn to value the various career options that are offered for the future.
- The students participate in the organization and development of the educational community, according to the rules of each Centre, creating an atmosphere of friendship, cooperation, work and responsible freedom, and joining in the activities promoted by the Centre.
6 -. THE FAMILIES
- Parents are the first and main educators of their children; the choice of a Holy Family School should lead them to a commitment of close cooperation with it.
- The family who chooses a Holy Family School, accepts its Educational Project and is committed to being an active factor, participatory and responsible.
- The family and the school, as areas in which the life of the child and young is developed, try to enhance the biggest possible coherence between the educational regulations and the criteria of behaviour.
- The family and the school aim to reach a shared vision and mutual agreement on how to educate, in the respect and attention of both family and school ambiences; for this purpose, there can be formed teams of work composed by teachers and families in respect to the competences of each one and establish a program or “plan of tutorial action with families” as part of the Educational Project.
- Communication between school and family is essential: personal dialogue and other means of communication contribute to the development of the learner, to create a climate of mutual trust and the prevention and solution of conflicts.
- Involving families in school life through formative meetings, festive and leisure activities, religious celebrations of the school are an important element for the educational community.
- The integration of families in the organization, animation and direction of educational centres is done through the Parents’ Associations or Commissions, in accordance with the Educational Project of the Centre and the rules of each place.
7-. THE ALUMNI (EX-STUDENTS)
- The ex-students, by the formation received and by their situation and integration in society, contribute to humanize it with the testimony of human and Christian values and “family spirit”.
- The ex-students contribute with their experience and their current possibilities to improve, maintain and update the Centre in which they have been formed.
- The ex-students help to maintain and strengthen the spirit and identity of our educational centres, through the integration of some of them in the diverse educational and pastoral activities.
- The ex-students, through associations or other forms, try to maintain the connection, closeness, integration and participation in our educational centres for a greater mutual enrichment. Those responsible in the Centre will encourage this initiative.
b) Organisms of participation
‑ Participation and co-responsibility of all those who integrate the educational community, in their own competences, are essential to make real the Educational Project.
‑ The School Council, Centre Council (or other names depending on the country), as a body representing all the members of the educational community, has a vital importance to energize, at the stages of programming, implementation and review, the Educational Project of the Centre.
‑ The integration of the various bodies, advisory, management, counselling or direction of the Centre, as well as the collaboration with the diverse services, is a concrete way of expressing shared responsibility.
‑ The associations of the various groups within the educational community, in accordance with their rules and own purposes, are a very effective means to encourage participation and responsibility, as well as promoting the on-going training of their members.
IV-. THE MISSION OF THE HOLY FAMILY SCHOOL IN THE SOCIETY AND IN THE CHURCH
Education goes beyond a task and a job, is a mission that requires vocation. In the educational act several actors (teachers and students) participate with different motivations, but all with one purpose: the integral growth of children and youth.
The mission of the Holy Family School is twofold: as educational centre it is involved in human and social promotion; as for its Christian character it is a place of dialogue between faith and culture that takes place in a particular ecclesial community, whose members have various degrees of commitment[6]. Both aspects make the school a place of humanization. Collaboration between all the members of the educational community is an authentic implementation of the “shared mission”.
The Institute of the Brothers of the Holy Family, faithful to its Founder, Vble. Bro. Gabriel Taborin[7], understands its activity in the educational field as a participation in the mission of the Church with a particular style inspired by the Holy Family of Nazareth[8].
The figure of the educator that is incurred by the experience and the teachings of Venerable Bro. Gabriel Taborin, and the educational relationship inspired by his charism must be faithful to the name he adopted for himself and for those who wish to follow him: the name of brother. The idea is to create fraternal relationships, that is, without losing the adult status, becoming brothers and sisters of the young people. It is a relationship of mutual education: we educate each other, walking together and being open to the concerns and innovations that come from those who educate.
1-. AS EDUCATIONAL CENTRE
The Holy Family School is not just a place for acquiring knowledge but education for life[9].
The Holy Family School is open to all who choose its project and try to form people in all their dimensions. This involves the disposition to remove any discrimination and to deepen the dialogue in order to achieve a higher enrichment of people.
Points of action:
In the cultural order, to give everyone a solid cultural formation, integrated in the educational system of each country, and opened to dialogue with the culture of the society where it lives and promoting the collaboration with other non-school institutions.
- In the socio-economic order, to tend to a greater cultural equality between social classes, receiving or claiming public funds and equal opportunities, optimizing all the resources, teaching boldly the demands of justice and trying to make them operational in the school community[10].
- In the moral order, to educate the conscience and the personal and communitarian sensibility in order to work for solidarity and sharing as exercise creating community and common good; to devote an especial attention to students with difficulties[11] and to be alert to emerging values.
- In the religious order, forming Christian students and welcoming students of other faiths and even unbelievers[12].
- In the pedagogical order, being open to the new educational trends, to the use of new technologies and mass media, all bearing in mind that they should be useful for a more complete humanization of the students.
- In the educational order, to cultivate the dimension of the personal effort, not only as a necessary means for the acquisition of good academic marks, but as a capacity for a better service to humanity and the self-realization. To cultivate rationality, self-criticism, dialogue, empathic communication and body language.
2-. AS CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
The Holy Family School, by its very nature, is both educational community and Christian community. From its identity, it is in communion with the Church, participates in her mission and is integrated into the various ecclesial diocesan bodies, national and international, of the Catholic school.
The pastoral activity of the Holy Family School is based on the person and activity of Vble. Bro. Gabriel Taborin: his love of children and youth, his dynamism in the educational and pastoral activities, his creativity as animator, his project of linking school with families and local church, his proposal of looking at the Holy Family, image of the divine Trinity and family in which Jesus grew up, as an educational model, simple and close.
The pastoral activity of each Centre is animated by a group of people with diverse competences and has as a reference an organic program of contents and experiences that enable children, youth and adults a gradual growth in Christian life.
Points of action:
- The school community is recognized and presented “as true and particular ecclesial subject”, as “place of evangelization, of authentic apostolate and of pastoral action”[13].
- The school community invites and helps students and families to be inserted in diocesan and parish pastoral as well as various social service groups.
- The school community encourages and promotes the formation of groups of reflection and Christian action, as well as volunteering, animation, youth and adult movements and associations, that are moving around its centres and helps them mature in faith, testimony and commitment.
- The school community knows how to insert itself in the pastoral of the whole local church and follows the guidelines of the Church, especially in relation to pastoral education, family, youth, vocation and social work.
- The school community offers its proposal of Christian formation for all the families, not just those who express their Christian commitment.
3-. AS PLACE OF HUMANIZATION
Both from the educational task and from the Christian motivations and those coming from the own spirituality (“Nazareth, school of humanity”), the Holy Family School intends to pay special attention to the humanizing aspects of its mission[14]. The common ground is the absolute value of the human person.
“We are called to be witness that Vble. Bro. Gabriel Taborin’s charism is a gift to the Church and society, an offer of humanity and humanization in the image of the Son of God made man, in the belief that ‘anyone who follows Christ, perfect man, he too becomes full man’ (GS 41). Our contribution to the humanization process in the different cultures, illuminated by the Gospel, will draw its inspiration in the school of Nazareth, where the Holy Family lived the mystery of the Incarnation, and let itself be modeled by the action of the Spirit”[15].
Points of action:
- To support from all areas of the Centre “the creation of humanizing spaces, that build man in the integrity of his dimensions and of his locations of authentic relationships that help people to become aware of their value and dignity”[16].
- To include in the gestures of daily interaction the respect and openness to other, valuing his identity and his dignity and regarding him as a gift.
- To educate for the hospitality and openness to others, assessing the otherness and letting oneself be questioned by the difference.
- To pay an especial attention to the weakest, the disabled, to those who are in difficulties.
- To lead to a culture of human coexistence, practising good manners and behaviours and respecting the spaces, the legitimate options and privacy of others.
- To pervade the mutual relations of cordiality, friendship and simplicity, banishing the rivalry, the competitions, the intrigue, the falsehood and all that impairs the healthy living.
- To educate for the respect and care of the nature.
- To promote activities that raise solidarity with those living in situations of poverty, sometimes nearby (in the area of the school) or distant.
4-. IN SHARED MISSION
Both in its human-cultural dimension as in its Christian-pastoral one, the educational mission is shared by people from the various vocations and states of life.
If diversity of educational agents and experiences enriches the student from the Christian point of view, “even in that special expression of the Church that is the Catholic school, spirituality of communion must become the living breath of the educational community, the criterion for the full ecclesial development of its members and the fundamental point of reference for the implementation of a truly shared mission”[17]. “Keeping each one its own vocational characteristic, priests, religious and lay people must be fully integrated in the educational community and to have in it a respect of true equality”[18].
Points of action:
- To educate for a spirituality of communion, the ability to feel the brother as an equal member of the community of the children of God.
- To educate and organize ourselves for the reciprocal relationship before the various vocations, modalities, gifts and riches of the members of the community.
- To educate so that, in the community setting, the “esprit de corps and family” may be set as a priority for the formation of the younger generations towards building up the world based on dialogue, coexistence and search of the communion.
- To promote activities of joint formation between religious and laity, in particular on inspirational themes of the Educational Project (life and work of Bro. Gabriel Taborin, spirituality of the Sa-Fa Family, history of the Institute of the Brothers of the Holy Family) and the way how to carry it out in the Church and in the society today.
- To respect in the school organization the principles of participation and subsidiarity so that everyone may feel responsible for the quality of education and mission of the school in all its dimensions[19].
V-. NEW HORIZONS AND CHALLENGES FOR OUR SCHOOL
Education, if valid for the future, must respond to the deepest aspiration of the human beings, their deepest desires, from the concrete situations of life. A educational system, a pedagogical theory or didactic orientation that does not value the school’s contribution to the development of identity, self-esteem and does not build the personality of the students, fails in one of its basic functions.
The educational process is primarily a relationship among people and they can find the best ways of organization to carry it out. The educational action involves community responsibility of all its members to accompany, to guide, to encourage, to manage and to propose initiatives with a vision of future.
The educational action is somewhat anticipatory of the future of the new generations. So they must remain always listening and move towards these horizons:
- To commit to the “prophecy of hope”, exploring historical trends bearers of hopeful future and to propose actions that best meet the Christian ideals.
- To commit to the “prophecy of life”, with all its strength and fragility, as primary task of Christian education.
- To commit to the “prophecy of fraternity”, with the value of links among people in order to build habitable and humanizing ambiences.
- To commit to the “prophecy of multiculturality and interculturality”, characterized by the respect for diversity of cultures, the meeting, dialogue and mutual enrichment.
- To commit to the “prophecy of ethics and spirituality”, promoting the values that dignify the person and that opens him to his wholeness.
- To commit to the “prophecy of good and beauty”, in search of authentic human values that lead to completion from the proposal of the Gospel.
- To commit to the “prophecy of solidarity”, paying especial attention to situations of poverty that go beyond our school means in order to approach vulnerable situations: children and youth not attending school, abandoned people and other situations of risk.
- To commit to the “prophecy of inculturation”, so that our Educational Project may respond to the need of education in various countries, through mutual support among all members of the Sa-Fa Family.
- To commit to the “prophecy of happiness”, as an expression of the balance, interior serenity and dynamism of those who live in truth and work to share the situations of difficulty and sadness of themselves and others.
CONCLUSION
In the daily activity of education, both in the educational centres as in non-formal spaces, the members of the Sa-Fa Family intend to fulfil this noble task of humanization and evangelization of culture following the mission of the Institute as it was understood by the Founder, Bro. Gabriel Taborin: “One of the most important aims of our Institute is the education of the youth in the schools. Let us cultivate intelligently and carefully this beautiful parcel entrusted to us in the field of the family Father, because it is of great interest for the future of the Church and Society”[20].
The Church reminds us of the importance of education before the current challenges and the radical change that has occurred in the culture: “Such an outlook calls for courageous renewal on the part of the Catholic school. The precious heritage of the experience gained over the centuries reveals its vitality precisely in the capacity for prudent innovation. And so, now as in the past, the Catholic school must be able to speak for itself effectively and convincingly. It is not merely a question of adaptation, but of missionary thrust, the fundamental duty to evangelize, to go towards men and women wherever they are, so that they may receive the gift of salvation”[21].
The presence and significant action in the field of education carries a way of understanding life and a willingness to collaborate in order to transform the world contributing the best of oneself: “To say present is a way of affirming the own existence, a way of identifying. To make oneself present is a way of accompanying, of being close. To be present is the condition to be recognized, at a time, to be able to enter in relation, to enrich, to listen, to participate. To be a presence means to be inserted in time and space, in history, in culture, in family”[22].
CONTENT
I-. THE PERSON WE WANT TO FORM… 2
1-. IN HIS PERSONAL DIMENSION.. 2
2-. IN HIS COMMUNITY DIMENSION.. 3
3-. IN HIS SPIRITUAL DIMENSION.. 3
II-. THE SCHOOL WE WANT TO INSPIRE. 4
III-. THE EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITY WE WANT TO BE. 6
a) Members of the Educational Community:6
2-. THE COMMUNITY OF BROTHERS. 7
7-. THE ALUMNI (EX-STUDENTS). 9
b) Organisms of participation. 9
IV-. THE MISSION OF THE HOLY FAMILY SCHOOL IN THE SOCIETY AND IN THE CHURCH.. 10
2-. AS CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY. 12
3-. AS PLACE OF HUMANIZATION.. 13
V-. NEW HORIZONS AND CHALLENGES FOR OUR SCHOOL. 14
[1] FSF, Documents of the General Chapter of 2007. [2]“It is opportune to devote careful attention to certain fundamental characteristics of the Catholic school, which are of great importance if its educational activity is to be effectual in the Church and in society. Such are: the Catholic school as a place of integral education of the human person through a clear educational project of which Christ is the foundation; its ecclesial and cultural identity; its mission of education as a work of love; its service to society; the traits which should characterize the educating community” (Congregation for Catholic Education, The Catholic School on the threshold of the Third Millennium, 4, 1997). [3] “Consecrated persons undertake to be witnesses in schools to the truth about persons and to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. With their lives they confirm that faith enlightens the whole field of education by raising and strengthening human values… Due to their experience of community life, consecrated persons are in a most favourable position for cooperating to make the educational plan of the school promote the creation of a true community” (Congregation for Catholic Education, Consecrated Persons and their Mission in Schools, 38 & 46, 2002). [4] FSF, Constitutions of the Brothers of the Holy Family, art. 117. [5] FSF, Constitutions of the Brothers of the Holy Family, art. 14. [6] FSF, The Mission of the Institute of the Brothers of the Holy Family, Today, 2001. [7] “The Institute of the Brothers of the Holy Family participates in the mission of the Church in order to build the Kingdom of God in the world. It gets its origin from the apostolic impulse of Brother Gabriel Taborin who, sensitive to the needs of his time, gave it this fundamental orientation: ‘The Brothers of the Holy Family seek, above all, the glory of God and their own sanctification. Under holy obedience, they can devote themselves to all kinds of good works, impelled by the love of God and for the neighbour; however, their main and specific end is: 1st) to exercise in the cities, towns and villages the humble functions of teachers of Christian schools, song leaders and sacristans; 2nd) to direct boarding schools for primary education, as well as orphanages, workshops, prisons (NG, Art.II)” (FSF, Constitutions of the Brothers of the Holy Family, 15). [8] “In the testimony of their lives and in their apostolic activities the Brothers are “sent”. They take inspiration from the humble, simple and active lifestyle of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Just as that family was poor among the poor, they share their time, talents, energy, the same gift of their vocation, with simplicity and pay special attention to the neediest” (FSF, Constitutions of the Brothers of the Holy Family, 18). [9] “Instruction is not enough to form an honest man, a citizen, a true Christian. It is necessary to add to all this the education, i.e., it is essential to teach how to channel his own conscience and customs, and to provide both light and strength, that may powerfully help him be faithful to his duties to God, to himself and to his neighbours” (Bro. Gabriel Taborin, Circulars to the Brothers of the Holy Family, No. 12 (1856)). [10] Congregation for Catholic Education, The Catholic School, 58, 1977. [11] “For believers, the world derives neither from blind chance nor from strict necessity, but from God’s plan. This is what gives rise to the duty of believers to unite their efforts with those of all men and women of good will, with the followers of other religions and with non-believers, so that this world of ours may effectively correspond to the divine plan: living as a family under the Creator’s watchful eye” (Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 57, 2009). [12] Congregation for Catholic Education, The Catholic School, 85, 1977. [13] Congregation for Catholic Education, The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School, 33, 1988. [14] “In line with our charism, the Church reminds us and reinforces the value of life, of dignity of the human person, the social and ecclesial importance of the family and of education. It encourages us to cultivate the love of truth, to have the courage to denounce all kind of corruption, and encourages us to human-evangelizing action of the educational task, especially in the most impoverished” (FSF, Documents of the General Chapter of 2007). [15] FSF, Documents of the General Chapter of 2007. [16] FSF, Documents of the General Chapter of 2007. [17] Congregation for Catholic Education, Educating Together in Catholic Schools. A Shared Mission between Consecrated Persons and the Lay Faithful, 16, 2007. [18] Congregation for Catholic Education, Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith, 24, 1982. [19] Congregation for Catholic Education, The Catholic School, 70, 1977. [20] Bro. Gabriel Taborin, Circulars to the Brothers of the Holy Family, No. 12 (1856). [21]Congregation for Catholic Education, The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium, 3, 1997. [22] FSF, Documents of the General Chapter of 2007.