This week, NCEA is attending the World Meeting of Families on behalf of Catholic schools across the country. Throughout the week, we will be live tweeting, blogging and posting on our Facebook page. This post was prepared by Ryan Lombardozzi, Social Media Coordinator.
Bishop Robert Barron, founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, is no stranger to presenting to large audiences. His website, WordOnFire.org has reached over 3.8 million people, and he has become one of the most influential Catholic figures on social media with his weekly YouTube videos having been viewed over 9 million times.
On September 22, Bishop Robert Barron was the keynote speaker following the opening ceremonies at the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. His keynote address was “Living as the Image of God: Created for Joy and Love.”
“It is a biblical claim that human beings have been made in the image and likeness of God. Our likeness to God is revealed in our intelligence, our hunger for the good, our creativity, our freedom, and above all, in our capacity for relationship. In living for the other, in giving ourselves away in love, we most resemble God, who is love.”
Each and every one of us are made in the image of God, and this means humanity has a mission. The glory of God is a human being fully alive. That is Christianity. And there is no greater humanism than Christianity. The image of God is not only for us, not only for our family, but the image of God is for the world.
But how does this translate into our daily lives and what exactly is our mission?
The family is the basic cell of civil society – the family is the place where the image of God is brought to life – the family is the place where we are taught to fulfill our mission to be priests, prophets and kings. Families that pray together, families that go to mass together, families where the parents bless their children before bed, these families are where basic moral truths are taught and above all, are lived.
As Catholic educators, we play a role in the extended family. Let us pray for one another as we work with students, their families and our communities so we may all better live in the image and likeness of God.
