Spiritual reflections ...

Every successful company found its success by doing something right. McDonald’s was probably the Big Mac, Microsoft was indeed Office and Windows and so on with every other good example that we can think of. Over time it has been proven that if a company stops doing well, what made it successful, then the company will collapse. If McDonald’s stops making the Big Mac or Microsoft drops Office, the companies will fall apart. Sure they change with time, but the core reasons for their success remain the same.

What makes St Thomas’ successful? Indeed, it is not just rugby. Instead, it is the virtue that such things can teach; if a young boy cannot truly become a man of God in our school, then our school will fall apart. It will lose its direction. “Virtute Scientiam Complete” is what we claim; in English, it can be translated to the perfection of virtue and knowledge and means that St Thomas’ is called to lead the hearts and minds of these boys into the full maturity of men of God. We must be careful about this, for it can be lost if we don’t actively fight for it and focus on it. Leading these young men to treat all with dignity and respect, and honour God above all, is not given on a silver platter. It is not as easy as making a Big Mac; if there are things in our school that hinder us from living of the call, then it must go; if there are things that promote the full maturity of the human person, then it must be nurtured. All must lead to the true good of these young men.

Father Michael Therese Scheerger, Parish Priest of Christchurch West.