The Christian educator, witness to fruitfulness

The Christian educator, witness to fruitfulness
From Giovanni Perrone Executive Member World Union of Catholic Teachers

«Be fruitful Go forth and multiply », this was the first instruction God gave to His creatures. This means not only «Give birth to children!», though this is very important for the development of humanity, but it means above all an invitation that God gives us every day : to the desire and the knowledge to be fruitful. This invitation should engage and orient every human being during his/her entire life. For the educator, especially for the Christian educator, this means even more... It is the fruitfulness which comes from the Spirit, a spiritual, intellectual, professional, relational fruitfulness. It means bearing fruit in word and action.
To bear fruit is an expression of love, of the capacity to give oneself to the other. It is intelligent, knows how to meet problems and find good solutions. It is able to find new paths and new strategies.
It manifests itself by means of intelligence and generosity, creativity and responsibility, engagement and perseverance, dynamism and witness. It increases competence and the joy of living.
It makes you say: «I wish to be engaged! I am responsible! Despite everything, I want to be enthusiastic and persevering in tenacity! ».
There is a personal fruitfulness but also the responsibility of institutions in wishing and knowing how to bear fruit. We may especially think of it in school institutions, of educational projects of establishments, of the work of every teacher…
It is true: bearing fruit is not easy today. Western society is losing also the fruit of procreation. More and more we have recourse to manipulations, implantations, and we do not understand that we need to change our life. Fruitfulness of the spirit cannot mean IVF (In vitro fertilisation), cannot be reanimated by artificial means. We have to feed ourselves every day by means of a life based upon effective relations with ourselves, with others and with God, and upon reflection and gift.
Certainly: sometimes there is fatigue, loneliness, and the spirit is weak. Many people ask for help and only few are given it. … Yet, we must not get discouraged, but sustain each other God; the origin of all fruitfulness grants us his support and accompanies us. He gives us the spirit of strength and of commitment, He gives us eyes and brains to look into the distance, He helps us to achieve the capacity of adequately answering the challenges of every day life, He gives us the courage to change, and helps us to find the best way of living and enlivening in others, true values in our society.
I think that today the huge challenge of the Christian educator (in the Catholic school and even more in the lay school, where a witnessing Christian may find him or herself alone) is that of bearing witness to fruitfulness and of educating to bear fruit. In fact, education alone can give direction to orientate ourselves in the pluralist society, and to learn to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, beauty from ugliness.
Especially in the Northern countries education has to take upon itself care for a fruitful spirit: the right to spiritual development must be granted above all to children. There is much talk about the economic crisis in the North and the countries have to face it, yet the economic difficulties must not make us forget to form children spiritually, which means to give them the remedies and to help them live life fully, in other words wishing and to desire and know how to be fruitful for themselves, for others, for the entire world. It will be only the most fruitful human beings and institutions who will advance towards the future!