Principal LI sharing on Education Day of Our Lady of Lourdes Church李德輝校長於露德聖母堂教育日主題分享

Jesus said: Let the children come to me

Why did the disciples rebuke those bringing children to Jesus? Are we parents and teachers rebuke the children to seek God in our daily lives as well? Are we parents and teachers arrange tones of things for the kids to do? But how shall we seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness? God is Love. To seek the kingdom of God is to seek the kingdom of Love, to let His Love reign in our hearts and to love Him in return. To seek His righteousness is to have a constant and resolute will to give to God and our neighbours their due to our love. Therefore, all our thoughts, words and deeds should originate from love. We should persevere in cherishing our faith, worshipping God and doing justice to mankind just as what has been said, “…and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.”(Mi 6:8)

However, to realize justice is only fulfilling our very basic responsibilities. Love demands us to go a step further. We should give our children not only their rights to survival but should guide them in a meaningful and purposeful life. The right to development is not only about developing talents and enjoying leisure and cultural activities. We should also guide them into a lasting tie with our Lord Jesus and a share of His life, which is even more abundant.

YCK2 strictly follows the core values of Catholic education. They are Truth, Justice, Love, Life and Family.

With truth comes wisdom which enables a person to distinguish right from wrong, and good from evil. Truth must be told and practised, even at the cost of making a great sacrifice.

Justice is the moral virtue that consists of a constant and resolute will to give to God and one’s neighbours their due.

Love is the greatest of all virtues. God, the source of life and goodness, has created everything out of love. It is because of love that we should serve each other with humility, and care for the poor and the needy, particularly the disadvantaged, underprivileged and marginalized in society.

Life is a priceless gift from God and is sacred in itself. Every person is entitled to have whatever is necessary for a decent and dignified existence. Only a society which respects human life can bring happiness to all.

Family is the basic unit of society as well as the permanent support for life. YCK2 is the family for our staff and students. We live together as a family. We enjoy our school life here at YCK2.

This year the major area of concern of YCK2 emphasises mostly on Truth: To understand it, to live it and to uphold it. We put this message into our curriculum and design the learning framework in different key learning areas. This is to let the meaning of Truth to live in our daily life.

「讓小孩子到我跟前來」

耶穌說：讓小孩子們到我跟前來。

為什麼門徒阻礙那些帶孩子到耶穌那裡的人呢？我們的父母和老師是否也阻礙孩子們在日常生活中尋求上主？他們是否會安排很多孩子們要做的事情而毫無時間讓孩子與主交流？然而，我們該如何尋求天主的國和它的義德呢？天主是愛，尋求天國就是尋求愛的國度，接受上主以祂的愛統治我們內心，並且還愛於天主。我們尋求義德，就是要毫無保留地讓天主和我們接近，獲得來自各人按自己本份所應付出的愛。因此，我們一切的思言行為都應建基於愛，並應持守對上主的信仰和敬拜，以及對人的正義。就如先知所言「履行正義，愛好慈善，虛心與你的天主來往。」（米 6:8）

不過，履行公義只是最基本的責任，仁愛則要求我們更多走一步：我們給予小孩子不單只是生存權，還要引導他們過有內涵、有意義、有目標的生活；發展他們的天賦潛能，讓他們享受閒暇及文化活動，還要引導他們與上主連繫及分享祂那更豐盛的生命。「余二」嚴格遵循天主教教育的核心價值：包括真理、義德、愛德、生命和家庭。

真理是人類智慧所尋求的，這種尋求真理的慾望必須得到鼓勵和保持。真理帶來了智慧，使人能夠區分是與非，善與惡。真理是必須講述和實踐，即使以犧牲作為代價也要努力持守。

義德，是一種道德之中的美德，包括向上主及身邊近人能時常執行及奉獻這份持久和堅定的意志。這對於上主是“宗教的美德”；對一個身邊的近人來說，是尊重他人的權利，並且建立人際關係中，和諧地促進個人和共同利益的公平。

愛德，是所有美德中最偉大的。上主，生命和善良的泉源，是出於愛，創造了一切，並呼召整個人類家庭成為他的孩子。耶穌基督，上主的兒子，人類的救主，是為世人所做的，彰顯出無私的愛和謙卑的服務，作為信徒的一個好榜樣。

正因為愛，我們應該謙卑地為彼此服務，關心窮人和有需要的人，特別是社會中的弱勢社群和正在處於邊緣的群體。生命是上主無價的禮物，本身就是神聖的。每個人都是按照上主的形象去創造的，並且擁有生命的權利，我們必須從最基本概念到自然目的來尊重生命。每個人都有權獲得別人尊重；每個人都應擁有個人所必需的一切之下而過著有尊嚴的生活。只有尊重人類生活的社會才能為所有人帶來幸福。

家庭是社會的基本單位，也是對生命的永久支持。一個完整和團結的家庭是撫養兒童和青少年最有利的環境，也是人類社會福祉的必要條件。上主祝福婚姻成為一個家庭的基礎，真正令人滿意和幸福的婚姻建立在夫妻之間，無私和純潔的愛情之上，由貞潔和忠誠來實踐和維持，這是一種不可分割的終身承諾。一個家庭充滿著愛，小朋友必定能在愉快的生活中成長。

今年，「余二」的關注領域主要集中在教導學生去認識真理：包括了解真理，活出真理，並且堅定地持守著真理。我們將此信息納入課程，並且在不同的學習領域中，將天主教教育的五個核心價值作為學生學習的框架，讓真理的意義活在我們的日常生活中。

我校今年來了一個澳洲土生土長的中三學生Adwina Ma。她初到「余二」不足一個月，已認識了不同年級的學兄學姊，讓她的校園生活更添姿彩和生趣。Adwina的母語是英文，中文程度一般，所以課餘她總會爭取機會和同學用中文交談，從中鍛鍊一番。她很感恩老師在課堂中中英並用，對她循循教導，事事關顧，在天主教教育的薰陶下，令她能享受溫馨的校園生活。在學習以外，她還參與了在學校的第一次志願服務，教導老年人學習使用虛擬現實科技。 透過活動，讓老人有機會使用VR設備探訪及參觀香港的不同地區。這次甚具意義的社區服務，讓她有機會去多關心老年人，實在是一次寶貴的經歷！透過認真學習，彼此關顧，但願我們的學生都能活出真理的意義。

─李德輝校長於9月23日露德聖母堂教育日主題分享