EVERYTHING BELONGS: LIVING THE MESSAGE

In Week 3 of this term, I shared a reflection on Catholic Education Week centred on the wisdom of Fr Richard Rohr: “Secular freedom is having to do what you want to do. Religious freedom is wanting to do what you have to do.”

At the heart of that message is a radical invitation: to stop building our lives around preference, ego, or appearance, and instead to live with open hands — receiving life as it is, trusting that God is present in both the light and the dark. It is a call to move from asking, “Do I like this?” to asking, “What is God teaching me here?”

That shift can change everything. It offers our young people (and us as adults!) freedom from the fragile self-image that comes from comparison and constant judgement. It roots our identity not in “what I want” or “how I appear” but in the unshakeable truth of who we are in Christ.

So how do we begin to live this out? Here are a few footholds — simple but concrete practices that can help us lean into this way of being:

• Pause before reacting. When something frustrates or disappoints, resist the reflex to decide if you “like” it. Instead, take a breath and ask: What is this moment here to teach me?

• Practise gratitude for both light and shadow. At the end of each day, thank God not only for what went well but also for the challenges — trusting that both belong.

• Shift the conversation at home. With your children, instead of asking “Did you enjoy it?” try: “What did you learn from it?” This small change in language shifts the focus from pleasure to growth.

• Hold your identity lightly. Remind yourself daily: “I am not my achievements. I am not my failures. I am hidden in Christ, loved as I am.”

If even in small ways we can practise these habits, we begin to form hearts that are not fragile but free, not restless but rooted. And that, I believe, is the true work of Catholic education: to listen not only with our ears, but with our hearts. For in the end, everything belongs.

Mr Casimir Douglas

Sunday 25th August, 2025