Watch it on Youtube
Chapters:
[00:01:27] The Mission of Catholic Education
[00:05:47] Addressing Identity Crisis Through Catholic Schools
[00:08:55] Growing Demand for Catholic Education
[00:11:30] The Importance of Catholic Teachers
[00:15:01] Making Catholic Education Affordable
[00:19:57] St. John Paul II Academy and Its Growth
[00:23:05] Encouraging Faith Through Baptisms and RCIA
[00:27:23] Overcoming Challenges in Catholic Schools
[00:35:09] The Role of Catholic Schools in Society
[00:45:57] Strengthening Faith to Rebuild Society
[00:48:27] Conclusion
If you are interested in our school, make sure to check out our website:
https://www.sjp2academy.com/
Follow us on social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sjp2academy/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sjp2academy
X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/SJPIIAcademy
Every Catholic school is a continuation of the mission of the church, to shape lives and build faith. In this episode of Catholic Education Matters, host Troy Van Vliet sits down with Father Augustine who leads Star of the Sea Parish to discuss the vital role of Catholic education, the importance of building strong faith foundations in students, and the challenges of teacher shortages and financial accessibility. With inspiring stories of student baptisms, parent conversions, and the impact of Catholic education on the broader community, this conversation highlights why investing in faith-based schooling is more crucial than ever.
Transcript:
[00:00:00] Troy Van Vliet: Welcome to Catholic Education Matters, the podcast that celebrates the beauty of Catholic education. Join us as we share the stories of those making a lasting impact on Catholic education. Let’s begin.
[00:00:18] Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us today for Catholic Education Matters. Today we’re joined by Father Augstine from Star of the Sea Parish in White Rock, British Columbia. And, uh, he’s going to be talking to us, um, all about, uh, different issues going on with, uh, Catholic education matters. So, um, welcome father. And thank you for joining us here today.
[00:00:43] You’ve been a pastor now at Star of the Sea for a few years. How long has it been now?
[00:00:48] Father Augstine: Two and a half years.
[00:00:49] Troy Van Vliet: Two and a half years. And we’ve seen some incredible changes there. Um, of course we came out of COVID, but, um, what’s really exciting is to see the numbers grow. And, you know, that’s a testament to you and what you’ve brought to, uh, to our parish. Now we’re, we’re, um, one parish, but two churches. We have Star of the Sea Church and Good Shepherd Church, and, um, of which you head both. Um, we’re a growing community. We have a Catholic elementary school, Star of the Sea Elementary, which is also seeing growth and demand increases.
[00:01:27] And another testament to you and to the principal there, Jason Burkowski, who’s done a fantastic job as well. So, um, can you share with us, Father, a little bit about, um, Catholic education, the school, why you think it’s important? And, um, how our community, our entire community, not just the people that attend the schools, but how our community benefits from them?
[00:01:52] Father Augstine: Well, thank you, Troy, for having me. I am, I’m really happy to be here to share my thoughts about Catholic education.
[00:02:02] When we talk about Catholic education, first and foremost, we are talking about the mission of a church. So, the big mistake we make sometimes is that we tend to separate Catholic education from the mission of a church.
[00:02:21] So every Catholic school is a continuation of the mission of the church. So, we cannot separate our schools from our parishes. Every school is a continuation of the parish and also a continuation and extension of the diocese. So, because of that, the Catholic Church establishes schools to continue the mission of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the saving mission of our Lord Jesus Christ. And also, the, which is centered around the proclamation of the good news of salvation.
[00:03:06] So our Lord Jesus Christ, as we are going to hear this coming Sunday, came to set the captives free, to open the eyes of the blind and to make sure the good news are brought and proclaimed to the poor, to everyone. And this mission, the church shares [00:03:30] in this mission, every baptized Christian, we share in this mission and we establish Catholic schools to continue this awesome mission of Proclaiming the good news of salvation to the whole world and also, um, setting captives free and making sure that the truth of the gospel is spread to every corner of the world.
[00:03:54] So, this is the primary reason. So, our catholic schools are very, very important we cannot underestimate the value of Catholic schools because it is a continuation of the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ. But here in our diocese, one of our major reasons why we believe in Catholic education is that Catholic schools help us not only to preach the gospel, but to give our young children a solid foundation for survival in the world.
[00:04:32] So it equips them spiritually, equips them academically, intellectually, and enables them to go out into the world and make their own contributions as good citizens of the world. That’s the primary reason why we have catholic education. It also equips our young children to understand who they are. [00:05:00] That we are not simply, um, products of, uh, um, simple evolution. We’re not simply products of, uh, explosion. That we are individuals created in the image and likeness of a loving God. And God created us for a purpose. There is a meaning to our life. And this is the reason why the archbishop, he doesn’t hesitate to invest [00:05:30] in Catholic education. And if no, every Catholic should support him in this, we must stand together to make sure that we support Catholic education because what it does is, it helps our young children to understand who they are.
[00:05:47] And we have a big problem in our world today identity crisis. You know, identity crisis is basically perverting the whole Um, of our, um, schools today. Young people don’t know who they are. So, our Catholic education is meant to reinforce the good news of salvation. That God created us in his own image and likeness, that every individual is precious in the eyes of the Lord and Catholic Schools stands to eradicate ignorance, you know, it stands and once you we are freed from the shackles of ignorance [00:06:30] Then we become liberated, liberated to pursue The goals we set for ourselves and the goals and the destiny for which god created us. So, our Catholic education is not just an institution established to create young future millionaires or young um, um, um sports athletes. No, no, no our Catholic institution schools are established to create not only citizens for our society here, but also citizens of heaven.
[00:07:05] Troy Van Vliet: Wow. There is so much there that you just said.
[00:07:09] Father Augstine: Yeah. That’s the foundation.
[00:07:12] Troy Van Vliet: You covered so many different topics.
[00:07:13] Father Augstine: Yeah, that’s the foundation.
[00:07:13] Troy Van Vliet: Which is absolutely incredible. Um, yes, I couldn’t agree more with everything that you said there. And we are creating a servant leader to go out into the world and contribute and give back to society.
[00:07:29] And, um, we’re sending them out there with a great foundation and a moral compass. And, um, and it’s in the younger grades, more of an introduction into their faith into, and in the, the high school grades um, still an introduction, but even more solidifying different things, answering questions because yeah, we’re, uh our young people are tested today and tempted in so many ways so many [00:08:00] constantly bombarded with you know, you should be like this, or you should be this, or you should do that, or you should, You know. Or fear of missing out because they see something on a TikTok video or something like that. That’s how I should be living my life or, um. So, it’s a true it’s a true guidance. And, um, we evangelize in our schools as well. To not just to bring people in and build up the church to bring people in and to, um, to help them in their lives and to live a fuller life, well rounded all around. And, um, that’s fantastic.
[00:08:40] You know, and I, uh, the growth with Star of the Sea elementary that we’ve, we’ve had, it’s always been a school that’s been full. But the demand and the amount of families that unfortunately get turned away each year because we’re just, we’re jammed. The demand is there.
[00:08:55] Father Augstine: Yeah.
[00:08:56] Troy Van Vliet: For instance, I believe, uh, James, uh, or sorry, um, Jason had told me that, um, uh, there was only 20 spots available in kindergarten last year. There’s 60 spots, but 40 were taken up by siblings. 20 were, um, available and there was over a hundred families that were applying to get into those 20 spots. How do we, how do we handle that going forward? Um, how do we, what do we, you know, as a parish and then, but schools in general, as, I mean, we want to, we can’t just keep adding on and building and building and building, but, um, we don’t want to turn families away either.
[00:09:33] What do, what do we, how do we do, how do we do, what does that look like going forward?
[00:09:40] Father Augstine: Well, it is, I think is good news.
[00:09:43] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:09:44] Father Augstine: It’s good news that there is a demand for Catholic education in our archdiocese. And that’s also, um, is a testimony to the fact that there must be something good coming out of our Catholic schools.
[00:09:59] Troy Van Vliet: Mm hmm.
[00:09:59] Father Augstine: Because if people are not seeing some positive results, these demand would have somehow diminished. But the demand seems to be growing. So, people are at least, uh, even though our society sometimes appears to be very hostile to the church. But there seems to be one thing that the society seems to appreciate is that we still have something to offer. Um, at least from the perspective of our Catholic education. So, all I think that we can continue to do is to continue to promote Catholic education.
[00:10:36] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:10:37] Father Augstine: We must continue consistently, um, to show our society, our community that Catholic education remains very, very relevant and to invest in Catholic education. I encourage those who can afford to help out to come forward, support the archbishop, support the archdiocese and make sure that Catholic education continues to grow and flourish because this society needs us.
[00:11:07] Troy Van Vliet: Right.
[00:11:08] Father Augstine: Yeah, the society needs us.
[00:11:09] Troy Van Vliet: So, we don’t, we don’t just want to have Catholic schools in name. We want to have them in practice, in belief, in faith, right? We want to dictate that our school is living the faith and have that culture, which I believe we have at Star of the Sea. And at, um, uh, St. John Paul II Academy, the [00:11:30] newest high school that’s going to be growing quickly. We already have that culture, it’s a small school now, we’ve got a great culture that lives the faith.
[00:11:37] How important, and this might sound like a crazy question, but there’s teacher shortages and um, we need more teachers. And more importantly, we need more Catholic teachers in our schools. How important is it that our teachers are practicing Catholics in our school?
[00:11:57] Father Augstine: Troy, it is very, absolutely important.
[00:12:03] Any school is as good as the teachers. Yeah, you can’t, I have never found any successful students. who has no teacher to point to as his or her mentor. So, for us to have a sustainable Catholic education in our archdiocese, for our schools to continue to flourish, we need not just Catholics by name, teachers who are Catholic by name, but teachers who are truly dedicated who believe in Catholic education.
[00:12:40] Troy Van Vliet: Right.
[00:12:40] Father Augstine: And who are ready to make the necessary sacrifices to make our schools successful. See, when parents bring their kids to us, they bring their kids for a reason. Because we claim to be Catholic schools, and they expect us to deliver authentic Catholic education to their kids.
[00:13:06] Troy Van Vliet: Right.
[00:13:06] Father Augstine: It will be very, very unfortunate if we don’t deliver on what we promise. And the only way for us to deliver, um, true, um, genuine Catholic education is if we have good teachers who believe, who know the Catholic faith and ready, um, to bear witness to that mission of the church, which is not just teaching mathematics.
[00:13:35] Not just teaching physical education, but who know how to integrate the good news of salvation in every aspect. That’s why we call it in Catholic pedagogy, integrated system. It is very, very important. So, we must continue to encourage our teachers, support them, and if possible, find a way to retain good Catholic teachers so that our schools may continue to benefit from their experiences.
[00:14:06] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. It’s a huge thing. I mean, it starts with our leaders, you being one, of course, um, you know, check that box. We’ve got a fantastic leader, uh, fantastic pastor. Um, and then it goes to our principals of the schools, um, and then the vice principals and the teachers, of course, and in all aspects, if you keep everything, all the courses, all the subjects, all the sports, everything Christ centered first.
[00:14:33] Um, you can’t just, uh, you know, when you run onto the football field, you can’t just leave your faith on the sideline, you know,
[00:14:42] Father Augstine: Absolutely.
[00:14:42] Troy Van Vliet: That’s difficult to do, but you’ve got to be able to play with, uh, your faith intact as well, you know, and compete with your faith intact as well. And that’s a day-to-day challenge when you get out into the real world after you finish school to keep your faith intact with all of the things that you do.
[00:15:01] So, Father, one of the things that face us, uh, that challenges us, um, in our schools is affordability. And, um, yeah, this is actually a great topic to delve into because, um, the affordability to go to Catholic schools or to private schools in general, isn’t always there for families.
[00:15:21] Father Augstine: Right.
[00:15:21] Troy Van Vliet: And, you know, our founding principal at our school, uh, Mr. Laurier, he had said right out of the gate, he said, Troy, you know what, we never want to turn families away that want their kids educated in the Catholic system. We don’t want to turn them away for financial reasons. So, we’ve got to make sure that if they want their kids educated, that we find a way, if they don’t have the means, that we find a way to have them in.
[00:15:45] You know, and at St. John Paul II academy, we’ve lived up to that. We have not turned any families away for financial reasons. Doesn’t mean there’s not costs. There is, you know, we have to find a way to get those expenses paid in the school still. How do you believe in that? Do you think that that’s the right route?
[00:16:07] Father Augstine: Absolutely. Um, absolutely. Um, I truly understand the financial burden that, um, it’s places on our schools, but at the same time, um, we believe in the, in Catholic education. So as Star of The Sea, we, we have a, um, a system where we put aside a certain amount of money that we raise through our gala, through our walkathon, and from the parish.
[00:16:47] And we put that aside to assist every family that is genuinely in need. to make sure that we have never turned away any child because of finances. Uh, no, we have never done that. And, and, also, I like what’s going on at John Paul II Academy. Um, a lot of people at the beginning, misunderstood what we were doing at John Paul II.
[00:17:13] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:17:14] Father Augstine: And I really want to use this opportunity to put the record clear.
[00:17:18] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:17:18] Father Augstine: And straight, um, no student had ever been turned away from, um, St. John Paul II Academy. And we have this strong policy of accommodating to the best of our ability, every child, every family that needs Catholic education. So, for those who have not applied, simply because you, you feel like you can’t afford it, that shouldn’t be an excuse. Talk to your pastor and come to the school, talk to the school authorities, and we’ll find a way to make it work for you and your [00:18:00] family. Um, we believe in giving every child opportunity to have a good Catholic education, and John Paul II, we are open, um, to assist you if need be.
[00:18:12] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah, that’s it. And, um, we’ll stand by that.
[00:18:15] Father Augstine: Yeah.
[00:18:16] Troy Van Vliet: We will, you know, we’ve been preaching that to all, you know, when we spoke to the families at Star of the Sea, you know, we, were like, we want all of your kids, all 60 that graduate. We want them all to come to our school. We don’t want to have them going anywhere else.
[00:18:31] We want them in the Catholic, keep them in the Catholic school system. So, it’s very important, we realize not all families can afford it because it’s not cheap. Our project is over 120 million dollars to build the new school.
[00:18:43] Father Augstine: Yeah.
[00:18:44] Troy Van Vliet: That’s big money.
[00:18:44] Father Augstine: Yeah.
[00:18:45] Troy Van Vliet: And comes from somewhere and it didn’t just, you know, it’s not like the archdiocese just writes a check for 120 million dollars. No, that doesn’t work.
[00:18:52] Father Augstine: No, No.
[00:18:53] Troy Van Vliet: Um, there’s so many things going on within the archdiocese. So, um, because it’s a big new school, we don’t have parish, uh, parishes chipping in either. Um. It’s stand alone. It’s been a parent led initiative along with the archdiocese, of course. Um, uh, from day one, it’s been like that. And, um, but the bills still have to be paid.
[00:19:15] So because of that, our tuition fees are substantially higher than some of the, uh, the CIA than the CISVA schools. Um, some parents had come to us in the beginning because we knew that our tuition fees were going to be higher and that had said, you know, oh, well this is going to be an elitist school. It’s like, no,
[00:19:32] Father Augstine: No.
[00:19:33] Troy Van Vliet: Couldn’t be further from the truth. We want, we want all families that want a Catholic education, we want it, and we will find a way. If you want to come into our school, you want to be a part of our school, and if you need financial help, um, if it humbles you, life is about being humble. We have to be humble. Um, you do need to ask for help. You do need to say, hey, look, I need to know more about the bursary program. And, uh, it’s on our website.
[00:19:57] Father Augstine: Mm-hm.
[00:19:58] Troy Van Vliet: Um, and um, so you can learn there’s an application process for it because we can’t just give it to everybody.
[00:20:04] Father Augstine: Yeah.
[00:20:05] Troy Van Vliet: Um, but if those families that are in need, yeah, yeah, for sure.
[00:20:08] Father Augstine: Absolutely.
[00:20:08] Troy Van Vliet: You know, um, approach us. And I’ve had that philosophy, I’ve spoken with Archbishop Miller about that in the past as well. That I’ve thought that our, uh, tuition fees in the Catholic schools were, uh, probably a little on the low side, too low. And why I’m saying that is not because we’re a profit center, that’s, that’s not what it’s about.
[00:20:31] But, you know, St. John Paul II Academy is a brand-new school. We’re good for 30 years. After 30 years, we’re going to need some major upgrades, renovations, things like that, um, to keep things relevant and, and, uh, also just general upkeep, repairs, improvements. Um, we can’t be starting from zero with no money at that point. So, you have to be preparing for the future.
[00:20:58] And I know in the Vancouver Archdiocese, there’s a lot of schools that need to be not just tuned up, completely rebuilt. And because of that, that’s a big ticket of which they virtually have no money. And they have no money because we’ve been, been going on this premises to keep the tuitions as low as possible.
[00:21:22] You know, when the tuitions are too low, we can’t pay our teachers what they need to be paid. We can’t upkeep our facilities or build new facilities. It’s a real thing. It doesn’t mean that we still don’t have bursaries, but it does mean that the people that can pay need to pay and the people that need help we’ll get them help.
[00:21:45] Father Augstine: Hm.
[00:21:45] Troy Van Vliet: And that’s what the Catholic church has been about from day one. It’s about helping those in need, um, whether they just need whatever some financial help to get their Catholic education or whether it’s been, you know, help with food, with soup [00:22:00] kitchens, with outreach program social justice program all those kind of things I mean the the, the church has been the solely the largest charity on the planet It’s what we are about.
[00:22:12] It is a hundred percent what we are about. So SJP to is not an exception. It costs money to build that school and it’s a fantastic state of the art school. And we want if you’re if you want your kids to have a Catholic education, we want them in our school. Simple as that. We’ll find a way. We will find a way. So, I take it you agree with that.
[00:22:37] Father Augstine: Absolutely.? I do. I do. Yes.
[00:22:40] Troy Van Vliet: You’ve expressed it many of, many a times in the past.
[00:22:42] Father Augstine: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:43] Troy Van Vliet: Many a times in the past. So now you this is truly inspiring. Um, because when you, when you came over to our parish, you, um, started looking at the, uh, the families within the elementary school. And, um, you started looking at so many of them that were said they were Catholic, but that their kids hadn’t been baptized.
[00:23:05] Father Augstine: Yes.
[00:23:06] Troy Van Vliet: And you took it upon yourself, which I admire you and thank you for doing this. You went out to those families and said, hey, You’re Catholic, your kids are in the school, Catholic school, and they’re not baptized. What’s going on here? And you encourage them to get involved. And last year, how many kids were baptized in the school?
[00:23:31] Father Augstine: In total so far in the past two years, we have baptized a total of 40.
[00:23:37] Troy Van Vliet: 40?
[00:23:37] Father Augstine: Yes.
[00:23:38] Troy Van Vliet: 40 kids in two years?
[00:23:38] Father Augstine: Some of them have Catholic parents.
[00:23:41] Troy Van Vliet: Yes.
[00:23:42] Father Augstine: But majority of them are non, their parents are not Catholics.
[00:23:46] Troy Van Vliet: Not Catholics.
[00:23:47] Father Augstine: Yes. So, about those of Catholic parents, we have a total of about 12 or 15, but the remaining up to, um, 27 students are of non-Catholic parents.
[00:24:04] Troy Van Vliet: Wow.
[00:24:05] Father Augstine: Yeah.
[00:24:06] Troy Van Vliet: And on top of that, you had non-Catholic parents. that they went through RCIA course and also got baptized.
[00:24:14] Father Augstine: Yeah. A total of, to date, a total of 27.
[00:24:19] Troy Van Vliet: 27? This is in two years. Like this hasn’t been as long, you know, this hasn’t taken forever.
[00:24:23] Father Augstine: Yes, yes.
[00:24:23] Troy Van Vliet: This is, I got, you know, I got goosebumps.
[00:24:25] Father Augstine: Yeah. And we have, the good news is we have about 15 right now in RCIA from the school.
[00:24:33] Troy Van Vliet: From the school?
[00:24:33] Father Augstine: Yes. Yeah. Parents. So, what I discovered and uh, sometimes we shy away from preaching the good news.
[00:24:42] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:24:44] Father Augstine: So, I reached out to these parents and went to them and said, you know, you want catholic education for your kids. Why do you truly want catholic education? What is catholic education all about? And I said, it’s about Jesus Christ.
[00:25:01] Troy Van Vliet: Hmmm.
[00:25:02] Father Augstine: Is about Jesus Christ, the son of God, the one who gave his life to redeem us from our sins. That’s what we preach. And this is at the heart, at the center of Catholic education. And I said to them, well, I need your help. I need you to join me in the education of your kids. And the only way to do that is why don’t you make effort to get to know Jesus a little bit?
[00:25:27] Troy Van Vliet: MmHmm.
[00:25:27] Father Augstine: And when they saw the, the impacts of catholic education in the life of their kids, their parents somehow became inquisitive. They wanted to explore; they wanted to learn more about the faith. And from there, we have conversions to the faith.
[00:25:48] Troy Van Vliet: Right. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
[00:25:52] Father Augstine: And I said to myself, if this is the only thing we have gotten from Catholic schools. Well, praise be to God. That’s wonderful.
[00:26:02] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:26:02] Father Augstine: Conversion of souls.
[00:26:04] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It’s been over 10 years ago that we kind of, that we started, uh, St. John Paul, the second Academy. And, um, I have my, you know, I have my own motivation, my own reasons, you know, what kind of ignited it in me, um, many years ago, and it started out with my kids. But not just my kids, um, you know, where are they going to go to high school? It was [00:26:30] after dropping them off at Star of the Sea. And I was like, it doesn’t get any better than this for an education for your kids, um, for your elementary school kids, you know, at Star of the Sea.
[00:26:42] It’s like, where are they going to go to high school? And at the time, there was, of 60 kids graduating from Star of the Sea. There were, um, between 12 and 20 kids that would end up in [00:27:00] Catholic schools when they graduated afterwards. It’s like, that is a problem, that is a real problem. So, um, I wanted my girls to go to Catholic high school, you know, and it was going to be quite a drive, you know, uh, so we ended up starting St. John Paul II Academy. Um, that’s a whole long story and, you know, and that’s what’s inspired, uh, this podcast as well.
[00:27:23] You know, seeing all of the, the reasons, the positives that come out of a Catholic education. And, um, and then all of the challenges that come with it as well. But it was like, this is needed. And this is something to build our church with. This is something, it’s not something that should draw from it. And we got surprisingly a lot of pushback in the beginning, Father. We’ve had conversations like this before too. A lot of pushback in the beginning about, you know, oh, why do we need another high school? You know, they don’t do anything for the parishes. It doesn’t, they just drain money on the parishes. You know, it’s just a financial drain. And it’s like, well, I guess you could look at it that way.
[00:28:03] But that means we’re not doing something; we’re doing something wrong if that’s the way it’s actually working. Because the parishes are in charge and pay for the um, the school, the elementary schools. So, all the, all the elementary schools are attached to a parish in our archdiocese. The high schools, the different parishes would pitch in to, to build the CISVA schools. And then we have some of the congregational schools, um, LFA, Vancouver College, St. Thomas Moore, and then there’s [00:28:30] us. Um, we didn’t get parish funding. Um, we got archdiocese funding, we didn’t get parish funding, um, which is okay. We thought, okay, we got to stand on our own and make this work on our own.
[00:28:43] Um, but if we do this right this will build the parishes and the having a strong high school helps build the elementary schools as well. Because now parents when they’re dropping their little one off their first one at kindergarten, they see a path all the way through high school. Now it’s like, yeah, okay, we’re going to go here from kindergarten to seven, and then eight to 12, that’s where they’re going to go.
[00:29:14] Um, there’s a plan all the way through. And that’s how you build people, build kids in the faith. Once again, with great leadership, though, have to have great leaders have to have great principals, great, uh, vice principals and fantastic teachers [00:29:30] that are also deep in their faith. And, you know, we already have Kids that have graduated the first we’ve only had two graduating classes from St. John Paul II Academy, small graduating classes, too. But we already have some of those kids saying I Enjoyed the my high school has experienced so much that I think I’m going to consider teaching and not just teaching High school, elementary school, I want to teach in a Catholic high school or [00:30:00] elementary school because my experience was great and I want to be able to contribute to that as well. So that’s exciting. That’s fulfilling. That’s rewarding. You know, it’s making what we’re doing with the school, um, really rewarding as well as seeing, uh, kids go on and live out the faith.
[00:30:17] There is financial aspects to a school to operating the school. It’s not free.
[00:30:24] Father Augstine: Yeah.
[00:30:25] Troy Van Vliet: To, um, building the schools really that’s not free and we get zero government help when it comes to that. What do you see some of the challenges going forward? I mean, I’ve got some opinions that I’ve, that I’ve, uh, you know, built up over the years and being involved with building the new high school. But, um, what are some of the challenges that you see with, say, Star of the Sea being a parish?
[00:30:48] Father Augstine: Yeah.
[00:30:49] Troy Van Vliet: Because there’s tuition fees.
[00:30:50] Father Augstine: Yeah.
[00:30:51] Troy Van Vliet: And, um, there’s Catholics, practicing Catholics, and, and there’s, you know, non-Catholics that we also welcome to the church, or, sorry, to the school. Um, and then there’s, um, the aspect of building the church, paying for, paying for the school, I should say. I keep, sorry, I keep messing up my words there. What do you see as those is the big challenges and hurdles that we come across?
[00:31:17] Father Augstine: Yeah.
[00:31:17] Troy Van Vliet: Star of the sea is already established, but there’s still challenges.
[00:31:20] Father Augstine: Of course, of course, there’s challenges. The main challenge actually that we have is still flows from the mentality.
[00:31:30] Troy Van Vliet: Hmmm.
[00:31:30] Father Augstine: There’s still this mentality that separates Catholic schools from the parish. I believe that most of these challenges will somehow disappear once every Catholic understands Catholic schools as an extension of the mission of a church. So, some parishioners still think, well, I don’t have to support Catholic education, [00:32:00] it is only for those who have kids in this school. I don’t have to, even some of our people who are very wealthy, um, don’t see the need to do that anymore because they missed the point, uh, that any investment we make in Catholic education, we are investing in the proclamation of the goodness of salvation. Very important. And we are investing in shaping the future [00:32:30] generation, not just shaping good citizens of our society, preparing young people to be good citizens of heaven. We are preparing them for eternal life.
[00:32:40] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hm.
[00:32:40] Father Augstine: So that, that is very important. So, I believe that once we get this right, get our mentality right about Catholic schools, things will improve somehow. But another problem that we have, another challenge that continues to appear is, um, there also have been, um, some disappointments.
[00:33:04] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hm.
[00:33:06] Father Augstine: Um, a good number of our elderly people today will tell you that they invested in Catholic education. They sent their kids to many of them no longer practice.
[00:33:18] Troy Van Vliet: Hmm.
[00:33:19] Father Augstine: So, some people are telling me now that they don’t see the reason to continue to fund Catholic education since, we are not getting the expected results.
[00:33:31] Troy Van Vliet: Right.
[00:33:32] Father Augstine: But again, I think, um, this is also a wrong, Uh, a misconception. Maybe at this point, we are not getting 100 percent the result that we are looking for. But we have also had some, some very good, um, success stories coming from our catholic schools. And even if our young people fail to continue in the faith.
[00:34:02] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:34:02] Father Augstine: It is still our responsibility to give them a solid spiritual foundation to go out into the world and compete effectively and be able to overcome the challenges. Especially in the area of moral relativism, in the, in the area of indifference and materialism that the world is throwing at them today.
[00:34:25] Troy Van Vliet: Right.
[00:34:25] Father Augstine: So, no matter how we look at it, I strongly believe that catholic schools are very important. Of course, another challenge is recruiting good, solid Catholic teachers.
[00:34:39] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:34:39] Father Augstine: It’s a big challenge. A big challenge that must not be compromised, but in some cases, we have compromised them. And many, um, parents are really concerned about this.
[00:34:51] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:34:51] Father Augstine: How we’ll be able to deliver good, sound Catholic education by some, by some teachers who don’t understand the principles of the Catholic faith.
[00:35:03] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:35:04] Father Augstine: So, all these things we must keep in mind as we continue to promote Catholic education.
[00:35:09] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:35:10] Father Augstine: But I still believe God is with us and he knows we are working in his vineyard. And I strongly believe that he will never fail, um, to give us what we need to continue his mission on earth, the mission of spreading his good news.
[00:35:28] Troy Van Vliet: Mission.
[00:35:28] Father Augstine: Yeah.
[00:35:29] Troy Van Vliet: Lead me where you need me. Right?
[00:35:30] Father Augstine: Yeah.
[00:35:31] Troy Van Vliet: We’ll do the, do the good work. Um, I’m so, I’m so glad that you said all of those things because those were challenges that we faced early on with the, with the high school. But parents or grandparents that, yeah, their kids went through the elementary school, maybe even the Catholic high school, and then the kids fell away from the faith. Maybe they married outside of the faith. You know, I keep telling my oldest daughter like when you know when you do get married it’s, it’s really important to find [00:36:00] somebody of the same faith. Like do interfaith marriages work? Yeah. Are there more challenges? Yeah, there is, and you know marriage is challenging enough as it is let alone, you’re, you’re not aligned in your core values.
[00:36:15] Father Augstine: MmHmm.
[00:36:16] Troy Van Vliet: Um, so those are, those are really important, and you hope your, your, your kids can find somebody that’s aligned, you know, that they spend the rest of their life with, um, that’s extremely, extremely important. And I went through, I mean, I went through Catholic high school, I went to public elementary school, I went to Catholic high school, St. Thomas Moore in Burnaby, um, great school.
[00:36:38] And then I went to public university, went to University of British Columbia. And, um, and I found my, my faith wasn’t as important to me, you know, for, for many of years. And it was there that I had that moral upbringing. My parents, I think, did a great job in instilling that in me. Um, and that always guided me.
[00:37:04] Um, but still my faith wasn’t the biggest part of my life, which, which really it should be because it should guide everything. It should be a part of everything that you do. And it wasn’t until, you know, I we started building the school where I had a real, I’m not a conversion because I’m not a convert I but a reversion back to my faith and it continues to grow every day. And you know, and I try [00:37:30] and live it outside of the church outs in my everyday life as best I can. I fall off the rails every now and then get back on and keep going and that’s, that, If our schools can play a hand in that, even if somebody, like you said, if they fall away from their faith, you know, and then quite often couples get together and they have kids and that’s when all of a sudden the rubber hits the road again.
[00:37:52] They’re like, okay, wait a minute. How are we going to raise little Johnny? And we got to think this through. And it starts with baptized. Do we get them baptized? And then, well, where are they going to go to school? Well, I went to a Catholic school and especially today in the schools, the nonfaith-based schools, there is some challenging stuff that’s leaking in the schools right now that, um, wow, I know, um, it’s much worse. I, I, I’m going to use that word, um, worse today than, um, than it was, you know, 10, 20 years ago. What do you think [00:38:30] of that? The things that are going on in the, in the public system. Um, we have great educators, we have, you know, um, um, great systems.
[00:38:40] Father Augstine: Mm hmm.
[00:38:41] Troy Van Vliet: Some of what’s being taught though, I think has just really gone off the rail. Um, the truth is lost.
[00:38:50] Father Augstine: Yeah, Troy, the problem, the issue we have with our public schools today didn’t start with the public schools.
[00:39:02] Troy Van Vliet: Right.
[00:39:03] Father Augstine: It started with a new mentality.
[00:39:08] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:39:09] Father Augstine: In a secular society.
[00:39:11] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm
[00:39:12] Father Augstine: See, years ago, when you go back to the history of our modern society, the modern society stayed away from certain questions, you know, and was very much aware of his own limitations. It didn’t try to delve into the questions of the ontological nature of the human person,
[00:39:36] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:39:37] Father Augstine: The anthropology of the human person. What does it mean to be a human being? What does it mean to be a man? The society tend to simply say, well, that belongs to the church,
[00:39:47] Troy Van Vliet: Right.
[00:39:48] Father Augstine: The spiritual people to enlighten our people. But now our modern society has a very developed, a very strong opinions about all these questions. The society is no longer staying away from what does it mean to be a human being, to be a man while the church teaches us that we are created in the image and likeness of God. There is certain aspect of our society that is trying to redefine what it means to be a human being and because these voices have become very vocal, very strong, very loud.
[00:40:28] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:40:28] Father Augstine: It has gradually, gradually entered our public school system and of course, begin to pervert the minds of our young generation.
[00:40:40] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:40:42] Father Augstine: And this is where catholic education, why many people are flooding to our college schools because they want answer. See, in philosophy, in philosophy, the philosopher Thomas Aquinas said that there are three fundamental [00:41:00] questions that the human mind always, you know, constantly, um, um, question three major, who am I?
[00:41:11] Who am I? Where did I come from? And what is After this world, what next? For a long time, the secular society, secular never delve into these questions. They left it. But now all of a sudden, a modern society is trying to answer these [00:41:30] questions and creating confusions in the minds of our young children.
[00:41:34] Troy Van Vliet: Right.
[00:41:35] Father Augstine: And this is why catholic schools are needed.
[00:41:38] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:41:39] Father Augstine: We need to stand firm, stand on the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to correct all these misconceptions and all these errors. That a human being has dignity created in the image and likeness of God and because we are created in the image and likeness of God, [00:42:00] our actions do matter. There is what is called objective moral truth that must be defended and uphold at every level of our lives. And the society now is trying to teach our young people that no,
[00:42:17] Troy Van Vliet: No.
[00:42:18] Father Augstine: There is no more truth. Truth is relative. You have your truth; I have my truth.
[00:42:22] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:42:23] Father Augstine: And this is where Catholic school system must stand firm.
[00:42:27] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:42:28] Father Augstine: And [00:42:30] continue to proclaim the good news.
[00:42:33] Troy Van Vliet: Yeah.
[00:42:34] Father Augstine: That our actions do count. If we want a good society, a stable human society, then we must walk and act and speak in every aspect of our lives, like people created in the image and likeness of God. So, the church doesn’t want us to forget this. And it is the job of the school to continue [00:43:00] to remind our children of this.
[00:43:03] Um, and also, that because we are created in the image and likeness of God, who is the truth? The truth matters.
[00:43:13] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:43:13] Father Augstine: Now the truth become relative. It doesn’t matter. And, um, everything is just about secularism. And that’s where the schools come forward. We must continue through [00:43:30] words and action. to help our young children to understand
[00:43:34] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:43:35] Father Augstine: That our actions matter because we have an ultimate destiny.
[00:43:42] Troy Van Vliet: Mm-hmm.
[00:43:42] Father Augstine: Yes, that the our life, there is life beyond this world in which we live in. We are also not just citizens of Canada; we are also citizens of heaven and that one day we shall ask them [00:44:00] before the Lord God to give account of our stewardship.
[00:44:05] Troy Van Vliet: Those are amazing, amazing words, amazing perspectives, Father. Um, I thank you for that because this is to me what, what our society needs to hear today. Um, and I think there’s a lot of people out there that are searching for that right now You know, the pendulum is swinging so far in the in the wrong direction in my humble opinion That people are [00:44:30] going. Well, wait, wait. Whoa. Hold on a second. No people are realizing They’re starting to realize that today’s society it was built on Judeo Christian values. The West was built on that Our laws, our judicial system, all of it was built on that.
[00:44:47] Our education system was, our, our hospital systems were built by the Catholic faith. They were built by that. When people dig into the history and they go, oh, I didn’t even know that. Yes, that’s the, those [00:45:00] systems were built on that. And, um, what society has done of late is just removing Christianity from the West. You’re doing everything, you can’t even talk about it. It’s like, you know, we’re shunned from, from, from being able to talk about it. You know, you’re, you have to double check if it’s okay to say Merry Christmas to somebody, you know, during the season. Um, because, wow, we don’t want to offend somebody. It’s like, well, it’s the Christmas season. That is the season that we are [00:45:30] celebrating. It’s not Santa Claus Day. It’s Christmas. And, um, it’s just being chopped and chopped and chopped and chopped. So, when we are losing the Christian faith, then the next thing to go is the family. The family falls apart. You know, that’s saying that if you pray together, you stay together, you know, as a family, and you, you know, the more your faith is centered, the greater the chance your family has to stick together.
[00:45:57] You’ve got that foundation, you know, [00:46:00] you’re, you’re focusing on the things that truly matter and have meaning, you know, when you’re a family that has a faith that’s practiced. And if the family falls apart. Society falls apart,
[00:46:13] Father Augstine: of course,
[00:46:14] Troy Van Vliet: and that’s where we’re at today because societally up is down left right Like everything is a mess and we’re seeing people Starting to question that and go wait a minute. How did we get here? What happened? It’s like well Let’s look back to the very [00:46:30] beginning. We lost what built us, which is our Christianity. It was our faith That’s what we were grounded with that’s what we were built on and then that destroyed our families, and then that has destroyed our society. There’s so many whack job things that are going on.
[00:46:45] Father Augstine: absolutely.
[00:46:45] Troy Van Vliet: In society today, including our speech and what we’re allowed to say, what we aren’t allowed to say, you know. Um, it’s frustrating. And I see our schools as a beacon of hope to actually make a [00:47:00] difference in the world. That we send out strong servant leaders into our society, you know, that give back.
[00:47:09] And, um, you know, I’ve heard that saying that the, the heart of religion is worship and that the heart of worship is sacrifice. And so many people today aren’t willing to do the sacrifice.
[00:47:26] Father Augstine: Mm-hmm.
[00:47:26] Troy Van Vliet: We’re lazy.
[00:47:28] Father Augstine: Yeah.
[00:47:29] Troy Van Vliet: We want to take the [00:47:30] easy way out, the pleasurable way out, you know, the hedonistic view on life.
[00:47:35] Father Augstine: Mm hmm.
[00:47:36] Troy Van Vliet: And, um, and it’s coming to bite us in the you know where.
[00:47:40] And it’s, uh, it’s happening right now. It’s happening. So, I truly have hope that our Catholic schools can contribute towards a better society and um, that they will help build the church rather than be a tax on the church.
[00:47:54] Father Augstine: Mm hmm.
[00:47:54] Troy Van Vliet: Um, if it’s done right, which I believe wholeheartedly that you’re doing it right. [00:48:00] You are a, uh, a true inspiration. I hope for other pastors as well that might be struggling with their schools, but you know, what can we do to make our schools better, to make them flourish and continue to live the faith. So, father, I want to thank you for coming today and for sharing your great words of wisdom And, um, I’m sure we’ll have you back because there’s so much more.
[00:48:27] I think we could probably talk for hours here, but, um, [00:48:30] there’s so much more that we can discuss. So, thank you very much. God bless you and keep up the great work.
[00:48:37] Father Augstine: Thank you, Troy. Thank you. And you, too. You keep up the good work.
[00:48:40] Troy Van Vliet: All right. I’ll do my best.
[00:48:41] Father Augstine: God bless you. Thank you.
[00:48:43] Troy Van Vliet: Thank you all for joining us today and be sure to join us again for our next episode. We will not disappoint. Thank you for listening to Catholic Education Matters. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast on your favorite listening platform. [00:49:00] rate it and also leave a review. Don’t forget to share this episode with your friends and family to help spread the word about the impact of Catholic education. Be sure to listen again.
