Celebrating Catholic Schools Week
Where Faith & Knowledge Meet

by Sister Betty Larson, OSB

The Catholic schools in the Diocese of New Ulm are truly places where faith and knowledge meet. Under the leadership of strong principals and dedicated teachers, the students are daily given the opportunity to learn the doctrines of their faith as well as deepen their personal relationship with God. These activities take place in an environment of faith community where all work together for the good of everyone.

These schools are places where the students can experience growth in wisdom- through the presence of many volunteers who witness to them the values of faith lived in daily life. The students grow in age- each year being challenged to do a little more, learn a little more and give a little more. Growth in grace comes in many forms through the celebration of the Eucharist, the sacrament of reconciliation and in a variety of prayer opportunities provided for classroom and the whole school.

These opportunities for growth continue in the homes where student’s faith is nurtured by adults who also witness to their faith. Parents are the primary educators of their children. It is the duty of the school to support that initial formation. Parents, guardians, are you taking this role seriously? Do you provide your children with an opportunity to attend Mass with you on Sundays? Do you pray with your children regularly? Do you support them in learning and in living out their faith in service to others? Yes, the Catholic schools in this diocese are excellent sources for the meeting of faith and knowledge, but the school personnel cannot do it alone. We need you, the adults in this diocese to help us to form these young men and women to be Catholics in our world, ready to live as Jesus did.

Sr. Betty Larson, OSB, is the Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of New Ulm.