Today, we celebrate the Sunday of the Word of God.
This is a celebration introduced by Pope Francis a few years ago to encourage us to focus on the power and wisdom of scripture – the Word of God.
And the Word of God has inspired many to work for others, to be holy and contribute positively to society. Catholic schools are an example.
We are also marking today as the end of Catholic Schools Week 2026, a week in which we have been invited to reflect on, and celebrate, the work of Catholic schools in our parishes and communities.
While both celebrations are distinct, they can be linked easily enough too. The Word of God must inspire and influence our daily lives, and the Word of God must inform or permeate our Catholic schools too.
Today’s First Reading from the Prophet Isaiah has a sort of Christmas feel to it.
‘The People that walked in darkness has seen a great light’. While the passage itself referred to the coming of the Messiah, it also could be said to refer to Catholic schools. The light of knowledge, certainly, but also the light of faith. Both are important and both complement each other.
The mission of the Catholic school is, essentially, Faith and Reason. The theme of Catholic Schools Week this year was ‘normal lives, called to holiness’. The light that Isaiah refers to is that sense of faith and holiness in everyday lives!
The themes of the week illustrate it further: Called to holiness through prayer; called to holiness through love and friendship; called to holiness in family life; called to holiness through service and courage; called to holiness through joy and mission.
Without that call to holiness, without that outreach to others, education could easily be reduced to a self-serving exercise that promotes selfishness and capitalism. That would be wrong and not at all Catholic.
God knows our world: our time and our young people need something more than self-serving platitudes and capitalism.
Today’s Opening Prayer provides a different view, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son, we may abound in good works.
Good works or actions are always the test of faith and the measure of a Catholic school.
What is often called the institutional Church, for all its failings, was aware of this. Many followers of Christ, lay and religious, from this parish, this diocese and every other, have worked with the poor here and elsewhere, they have given the new sight of education to generations of young people and improved their standards of living. That account is not mere history.
In this country, in this parish, several men and women are still operating by that charter, motivated by Christ, putting their faith into practice, making this place a better place to live in.
That is the contribution that Christianity and Catholic education have made – and should make – to society. Providing the light of knowledge, faith and opportunity.
Many schools today are involved in outreach programmes to the community that involve assisting, supporting, visiting and, in so doing, learn valuable lessons on social responsibility, social justice and social obligations.
The recent ecological movement has been supported by students of Catholic schools who, like Pope Francis, see care for our common home a vital obligation.
The John Paul II awards that we present each year here to students from the diocese are also a case in point. The tasks undertaken for the award are an inspiring chronicle of faith in action in local communities. Today’s Opening Prayer: ‘that we may abound in good works’ comes to mind.
I often quote Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Mercy Sisters, ‘The function of a school is to fit its students for life without unfitting them for eternal life’.
In a world that is becoming closed in on itself, where walls are being built on so many fronts, where nationalism is being interpreted as exclusionary, and where charity and compassion are becoming rare in thought, word and deed, the Word of God that we celebrate today, and the call to holiness, these are very much part of the Catholic school and have been an integral part of the week that we just celebrated.
We are reminded that a Catholic education is not a preparation for capitalism, or a narrow narcissistic and selfish view of life but, rather, one of compassion, service, respect and using one’s talents and opportunities. That contribution of the Catholic school to society is now needed more than it ever was.
Our schools and our pupils need a vision of something that goes beyond themselves, they need something more idealistic than capitalism and self-interest and they need models of generosity, compassion and care all based on the person and example of Jesus Christ.
That is the call to holiness. That is what was celebrated over this past week in our schools, and long may our schools provide that vision and example.
May God continue to bless that work and those who assist it, particularly the teachers, students and boards of management in our schools. Amen.