YOU MAY THINK THAT AS A UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT...

...I have possessed a life-long love for education. Well, not so. As a young girl, I constantly complained about school and its drudgery. Nevertheless, my demanding mother, a first-generation American of Japanese parents, took academic achievement very seriously. Her constant reply was, “School is work. Work is good. Now get to work!” As a point of honor, I obeyed. It was not until later in life that I began to sincerely appreciate the real value of education. And, it was not until I began my work as a professional and a scholar in higher education that I could honestly define school in the loftier terms so often used by college educators and serious students. Rather than “work,” I now find myself characterizing the college experience in such high expressions as “the joy of learning,” “the search for truth and beauty,” “understanding the human experience,” and “faith seeking the reason.”

These lofty aspects of education are important and too often overlooked. Nevertheless, they are not enough to fully describe an authentically Franciscan college experience. For St. Francis and other leaders of the early Franciscan religious and educational movement, learning was not meant to be solely intellectual. Knowledge was not gained simply for its intrinsic value. Education was not valuable as an end unto itself. Rather, education was to be a means to serve others, to build and strengthen relationships among God’s people and to build the human community. Now, that requires work!

The life of St. Francis is a beautiful example of hard work. In fact, some Franciscan scholars assert that he seemed always to learn things the hard way. For example, when St. Francis was praying in the broken-down church at San Damiano, he heard God’s call to rebuild His church.

St. Francis immediately embarked on a long and grueling building project “full of actual sweat, humiliation, and hardship.” It wasn’t until much later that he understood that he was being called to build the broader church, the Kingdom of God on earth. This education for St. Francis was work in its most literal sense.

Yes, “School is work, and work is good.” Like St. Francis, we as educators and as students are commanded to “get to work” as we create living stones of each other. And, it is with these living stones that we are to build His church. Through education and formation, we are called to do His work, a true labor of love for all whom we serve.

Tina S. Holland, Ph.D.
President
Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University

Comments

THE MANGER & THE MONSTRANCE: WHAT ST. FRANCIS’ MANGER SCENE CAN TEACH US ABOUT THE BREAD OF LIFE IN THE YEAR OF EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL

The manger scene evokes our memories of Christmas: sharing delicious holiday dishes with family members, sitting around a Christmas tree with hot cocoa, or roasting chestnuts on an open fire. However, on this night, St. Francis did not partake in the feasting typical at Christmastime in the Middle Ages. Instead, he desired to “…enact the memory of that babe who was born in Bethlehem: to see as much as is possible with [his] own bodily eyes the discomfort of [Christ’s] infant needs, how he lay in a manger, and how, with an ox and ass standing by, he rested on hay”. Thus, the manger scene was born. On Christmas Eve in 1223, St. Francis of Assisi had the first live manger scene created in the town of Greccio. He gathered the townspeople from near and far to celebrate Mass and recall the origins of Christ’s humble birth. Francis saw Our Lord’s birth as fundamental. His Birth is intimately tied to His Death. The two bookends of Christ’s Life on earth form the basis of Francis’ spiritu...

SELF-AWARENESS, SELF-ACTUALIZATION

On his deathbed, St. Francis freed his Brothers by saying, “I have done what was mine to do, may Christ now teach you what you are to do.” Why did he say this? So that his Brothers would not try to become him. God created each of Francis’ Brothers to be who they were, not who St. Francis was. The key for them finding out what was theirs to do was discovering whom God intended them to be. Now, 800 years later, self-awareness for our students is just - if not - more important. A Franciscan view of career suggests each of our students needs to know who they are so that they can see the Good inside themselves, and share that Good to maximize their contribution to transform a world desperately in need of their Good. Sadly, for most college students, self-awareness is in short supply. On my radio show Thank God For Monday, guests advise that today’s college graduates are not self-aware. Sure, they know accounting and biology and information tec...

A MOVEMENT OF SERVICE

I first became aware of the Franciscan tradition when I was 12 years old. My dad got a new job at Alvernia University (then College), a school rich with Franciscan traditions. I was at an age where I could appreciate what that meant, but I was also a pre-teen in middle school, so learning about St. Francis was not at the forefront of my mind. Still, I learned a little. I met the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters and learned about the importance of their role on Alvernia’s campus as the founders and sponsors of the school. Through my dad’s job, I saw the importance of prayer, peace and, my most favorite, service. Eleven years later, I have found myself back at Alvernia in a role where I get to encompass all of the parts I love most about St. Francis. St. Francis was determined to help the poor and to live among them. After experiencing a life of wealth and prosperity, he chose a life of poverty. A great sacrifice for anyone to make. But in doing so, he started a movement that has lasted cen...

Franciscan Month Reflection Series

Search This Blog