In this Season of Creation, Pope Francis often speaks about education and its importance in creating a better world. This short reflection by Fr David O’Malley reminds us of why our school and its ethos matters. Why everyone matters.

Pope Francis has said that we no longer live in an era of change, instead we live in a change of era. Everything is changing, human relationships are in radical change as migration increases, traditional cultures are losing their power to hold people together, the patterns of employment are adapting to increasing mechanisation, virtual reality is eating into everyone’s free time. In the background to those changes the relentless progress of climate change threatens the very existence of humanity. We are part of a great acceleration into uncertainty and time is short. We cannot ‘fix’ many of these issues, but we can fix ourselves and adapt to a new future, and that is the task of education.

 Young people are resilient, usually optimistic and have a natural energy for life. They are the greatest resource that humanity possesses. As educators we need develop in them not just intelligence but also wisdom if we are to prepare them for the unknown…That inner call to fullness of life in young people is our best hope for the future.