Blessing & Opening of the New Extensions & Renovations
at Penola College, Broadmeadows

Address given by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Penola College, Broadmeadows,
on Tuesday, 7th June, 2005, at 2.30pm

Introduction

My dear young friends,

I am delighted to be with Mr. Joseph Favrin and all your staff on this important occasion when we, yet again, bless new facilities for the College.

The proud history of Penola comes from Geoghegan, Therry and Sancta Sophia Colleges and unites the people of the northern suburbs in a common search for the presence of Jesus Christ in Catholic education.

Our work is no mere notional preparation of young people for life, but it has a distinctive flavour in that it is accomplished to focus on Jesus Christ, to work within the charism of the Sisters of Saint Joseph who first occupied this site, and to underline for us that all education has its basis in our understanding of the dignity of the human person, of the primacy of God as our Creator, and of the maintaining of our relationship with God, as being essential to proper preparation for life.

In this moment of thanksgiving, let us remember these important facts as we proceed to hear the Word of God and to reflect on it.

Homily

My dear young friends,

As Archbishop, I am delighted to return to be with you for the blessing of a new College facility. In Catholic education our focus is always on God’s unfolding revelation of himself to us and our response, together with our realisation of how our relationship with God is to be developed.

The last time that I was with you I spoke about the important partnership which exists between teachers and students in education. Today I want to speak about the relationship between faith and reason in our preparation for life.

The facilities that we bless today are meant to serve the formation of young Catholic women and men, to prepare them as committed and articulate young people to live as Catholics and to make the contribution which Catholics alone can make to the society of our time.

I note specifically the value we have of God and practice of our religious faith through Mass and the Sacraments. This must always be a striving point of our relationship, which emphasises the link between faith and reason. Coming on from that is our understanding of the natural law, the dignity of the human person and the fact that each of us is made by God, unique and special. It is in a Catholic college that the value of each person is to be judged according to Christian standards and is to be valued and honoured in a way that we see will make our contribution to society unique.

The Bible indicates very clearly how deeply related are the knowledge conferred by faith and the knowledge conferred by reason. The wisdom literature in the Old Testament shows that its experience embodies not only the faith of Israel, but also the treasures of cultures and civilisations which have long vanished. The sacred author writes, “Happy the one who meditates on wisdom and reasons intelligently, who reflects in his heart on her ways and honours her secrets. He pursues her like a hunter and lies in wait on her paths. He peers through her windows and listens at her doors.” ( Sirac, 14.20)

Thus we know the desire for knowledge is characteristic of all people. Intelligence enables believer and non-believer alike to reach the deep waters of knowledge. Ancient Israel did not come to its knowledge of the world by the way of abstraction as did the Greek philosophers or the Egyptian sages. The biblical world has and does make its distinctive contribution to human knowledge. As we hear in the Book of Proverbs, “The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps.” ( Proverbs, 16:9 ) Or putting it another way, “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.” ( Proverbs, 25:2 )

Through the centuries people have understood that reason must respect certain basic rules. The first of these, as Pope John Paul says in his Letter on Faith and Reason ( no. 18 ) is that “reason must realise that human knowledge is a journey which allows no rest; the second of these rules stems from the awareness that such a path is not for the proud who think everything is the fruit of personal conquest; a third rule is grounded in the ‘fear of God’, whose transcendent sovereignty and provident love in the governance of the world reason must recognise.”

So as human beings, with our intelligence we recognise God as creator of all and we relate all that we do by reason to God. You and I in modern terms know this as the search for truth and of course this is not without the strain which comes once the limits of reason are reached. We explore and then we lean on God, continuing to reach out always and everywhere for all that is beautiful, good and true.

My dear young friends, it is most important that you learn that the leadership of God, the value of prayer to shed light on our mind and heart, and the use of our human reason go hand in hand if we are to be authentic searchers for truth and to recognise the delicate balance which exists in our world between faith and reason and how the two complement each other.

May the God of truth inspire in each of you the faith to know and love him and the intellectual search to follow fearlessly the challenge, always enlightened by his goodness, his truth, his love and the mysteries of his guidance through prayer and sacraments.

May Penola College be a place especially noted for these great gifts, as today we move forward together to this new project.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.