Life shines brightly not because we are rich, beautiful or powerful. Instead, it shines when we discover within ourselves the truth that we are called by God, have a vocation, have a mission, that our lives serve something greater than ourselves. Every single creature has a role to play. The contribution that each person can make is uniquely valuable, and the task of educational communities is to encourage and cherish that contribution. Let us not forget that at the heart of the educational journey we do not find abstract individuals but real people, especially those who seem to be underperforming according to the parameters of economies that exclude or even kill them. We are called to form people, so that they may shine like stars in their full dignity.
We can say, then, that from a Christian perspective education helps everyone to become saints. Nothing less will do. Pope Benedict XVI, on his Apostolic Journey to Great Britain in September 2010, during which he beatified John Henry Newman, invited young people to become saints with these words: “What God wants most of all for each one of you is that you should become holy. He loves you much more than you could ever begin to imagine.” [2] This is the universal call to holiness that the Second Vatican Council made an essential part of its message (cf. Lumen Gentium, Chapter V). And holiness is intended for everyone, without exception, as a personal and communal journey marked out by the Beatitudes.
I pray that Catholic education will help each person to discover their own call to holiness. Saint Augustine, whom Saint John Henry Newman greatly admired, once said that we are fellow students who have one Teacher, whose school is on earth and whose chair is in heaven (cf. Serm. 292,1).
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https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/events/event.dir.html/content/vaticanevents/en/2025/11/1/messa-giubileo-formatori.html