Beyond the Books:
Catholic Schools Elevate Education with Faith!
Catholic schools are more than just places of academic instruction. They are vibrant spaces where the light of Christ illuminates every subject, transforming learning into an exciting journey of discovery. Imagine a classroom where mathematics reveals the unwavering truths of God, science becomes an adventure into His creation, and history unveils His hand in the unfolding of time. This is the enriching vision our Catholic schools strive to achieve, where the Holy Spirit invigorates each child with a zeal for learning, seeing God woven into the very fabric of knowledge, and fostering a love for truth that overflows beyond the classroom walls.
By August 27, all 24 of our Catholic schools will have begun their journey into the 2025-2026 school year.
Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston Seminarian Clifton Mastran, serving at Ss Peter and Paul Church and School in Oak Hill, recently presented a reflection on how the Catholic school and its teachers help our children walk in the Light of Christ – weaving God into every subject.
The following is a summary of the message he conveyed.
The Holy Spirit is enriching all subjects with the reality of their relationship to God, how they integrate from the parts and into the whole. This is an exciting endeavor, and it should invigorate a zeal for learning within each child to learn what they can to the best of their abilities in every class. And this love for learning about each subject in relationship to God should overflow out of the classroom, where it cannot be contained or kept locked-up in a locker door, silenced when the final bell rings.
We pray that all of what we create with our knowledge adheres to His Holy Will and brings glory to His Holy Name!
• Mathematics represents fundamental elements of unchangeable truths, as 1 + 1 will always = 2, no matter what – a reflection of the eternal, unchangeable Truth of God.
• Science is an exciting adventure in which we discover the world – a gift from God to be continually opened, as it reveals and presents itself to us, for us to learn what it is, how it works, and to use our reasoning and moral judgments – for the Good and betterment of all humanity.
• History unfolds the universe over time – all forever entwined with its Maker.
• Social Studies, of our cultures and societies, follows a similar track as that of history – not fully understood without knowing what and who Jesus is, and knowing that he was created in the image and likeness of God; and we are destined to be sons and daughters of the Father, loving and serving God in this world.
• Language studies expression, meanings, and allows us to grow closer to understanding and loving each other, the world around us, and God.
• Literature captures the human experience in a timeless and beautiful way, revealing truths expressed with words.
• Art and music express God’s Creation in a way that words cannot – each moves the heart of Man and stirs up emotions that touch the soul.
• Physical Education reveals we are not souls trapped in bodies but embodied souls.
No subject is beyond this approach, and when we view, study, and teach in this manner, how can our eyes not grow wide with wonder, as discoverers on a wild and exciting adventure of learning?
We all must help each child to go and take what they have learned in the academic arena and engage with and encounter the rest of the world – with eyes that see reality as it is, in the Light of Christ. And while we are making them stronger in their hearts and minds with this wonderful gift of true knowledge, we must also encourage and strengthen them to share this with everyone they know and meet in the world, from family to friends to strangers. This is a wonderful opportunity to take every day as it comes and help others in the world to see it as we do, in the Light of Christ! There will be no shortage of opportunities to do this given our current state of affairs, of a world that has actively tried to cut-out God.
We must pray that what we teach and how we teach young souls in our classrooms will lead to their salvation and to that of the world…one soul at a time.Let us pray for all of our students:
Come, Holy Spirit, Divine Creator,
true source of light and fountain of wisdom!
Pour forth your brilliance upon my dense intellect,
dissipate the darkness which covers me, that of sin and of ignorance.
Grant me a penetrating mind to understand,
a retentive memory, method and ease in learning,
the lucidity to comprehend, and abundant grace in expressing myself.
Guide the beginning of my work, direct its progress,
and bring it to successful completion.
This I ask through Jesus Christ,
true God and true man,
living and reigning with You and the Father,
forever and ever.
Amen.St. Thomas Aquinas…pray for us.
