Formed by the Lasallian education philosophy: the Lasallian education
A Lasallian school exists to educate the whole person within a community rooted in faith and shared responsibility. Lasallian education combines academics, spiritual formation, and communal life so that faith is present throughout the school. Young people are formed to recognize God’s presence, honor the dignity of every person, and respond to the needs of the world. This summer season offers an opportunity to reflect on these Lasallian characteristics and renew our commitment to living the Lasallian mission in the year to come.
The Lasallian school—the entirety of its academic, spiritual, pastoral, athletic, and communal life—is the proper environment for the Christian education of the young.
Although religion teachers help students explore the meaning and significance of Christian faith, Christian education is not confined to the religion classroom. All Lasallian educators, Brothers, and lay colleagues alike are evangelizers and catechists by their vocation of giving witness to the Gospel in ways that invite young people into a deeper, more integrated, more committed faith. Lasallian schools provide young people with formation in the Catholic worldview and an apprenticeship in Christian living. Gospel values are to be embodied throughout the school, and religious reflection is to be integrated with all subjects across the curriculum.
Christian education in Lasallian schools is an encounter with a God who is always present—God who is present in the world, not removed from the world; God who unites, not separates.
Remembering that we are in the presence of God is, in one respect, an outcome of Christian education—we remember that God is present with us always, in every situation, in every experience, in every relationship, in every culture. This is an especially imperative point in our age of technology. In the rapid pace of society, especially in communication, the transmittal of information, and the expansive availability of entertainment through technological means, we are faced with the challenge of helping young people learn how to simply be in God’s presence. We must seek new understanding and ways in which to utilize technology for the sake of the Christian message, which is ultimately about the primacy of meaningful relationships.
Hiring for excellence and fidelity to mission is a critical responsibility of Lasallian schools.
The young entrusted to our care, especially the poor, deserve excellence in education. It is not sufficient for teachers to be competent in their specific academic field or for coaches to be accomplished and knowledgeable in their particular extracurricular activity. The Lasallian educator must be committed to the values and mission of the Church and of the Institute, and to the Lasallian school as a community that gives witness to and embodies Gospel values. Although the teachers of religion in the school may have a unique role or opportunity in the evangelization and catechesis of the young, the entire Lasallian educational community assists the young to interiorize and make normative Gospel values in their lives, to become more and more conscious of God calling them to help “fashion a world according to God’s design.”
The Lasallian school is rich in cultural, religious diversity and pluralism and so is a welcome environment for interreligious dialogue and the advancement of ecumenism.
The Lasallian school body itself often reflects society’s cultural and religious diversity and pluralism. This demands an appropriate interreligious dialogue and literacy within the Lasallian school. The Lasallian school also must foster ecumenical Christian unity in and through formation in Catholic identity.
The Christian education of the Lasallian school is communal and holistic. Lasallian spirituality is innately inclusive.
That is, we recognize, seek, and find God in community—together and by association. A Lasallian education is one that illuminates a young person’s experiences with the light of the Gospel. Knowledge of faith cannot be separated or compartmentalized from the whole of life. As well, catechesis is an education and formation in a living faith that is most effectively undertaken through the proclamation of the Gospel, service, community, worship, and prayer.
Christian service, especially the service of the poor, is a normative dimension of Lasallian education.
Service may first be undertaken by the young as an outcome of catechetical method, but as a catechetical method, we know that service, when undertaken with selflessness, is a profound entry point for the young to recognize and be attracted to the Gospel at work in the world. Christian service invites young people to walk through a transformative doorway that leads to awareness of their true vocation as Christians—to love and serve others. God does not call us to an impossible task.
