As far as I recall this is the second Prize Giving of your school that I attend. It is with great joy therefore that I accepted this invitation.

If I may briefly recall the genesis of this school – it began as a private English school run by a good lady from whom the Church then took-over. The much revered Fr. Robert Fernando, who was the first parish priest of Wellawatte, then ventured to improve the school to make it one of the outstanding schools in Colombo for Catholic girls. He realized that the girls in Wellawatte needed facilities for a good Catholic education and invited the Good Shepherd Sisters to take charge of the school. This is how the School today is one of the leading schools run by the Good Shepherd Sisters.

As most of the other Private Schools, this School too had to suffer a bleak period in the 1960s immediately after the Takeover of Denominational Schools by the State. Thank God and thank the generous benefactors who helped the school at this time of crisis – the school could survive the long onslaught and see this day. I wish to record my deep appreciation here of the founders of the school and those who shared the burden of continuing this school during that long period of penury and crisis. Today, St. Lawrence’s stands as an outstanding Catholic school in Colombo and in our Archdiocese. The Annual Report presented by the Sr. Principal is ample testimony to this fact and I congratulate the Principal and the Staff on the achievements of the current period. I also owe it to thank the past Principals and the staff members who have contributed their mite to build this school gradually to what it is.

Education as you know is one of the greatest contributions that the Church could make to society. It is not the churches we build that would matter. In fact the Lord did not build a single temple, nor did He build a synagogue. He went into those that have already been built and taught. He was primarily a teacher. His healing came thereafter and as a supplement to augment the credibility of His teaching. Therefore, I believe, the first mission of the Church is also to teach. All else is complimentary and supplementary.

In one of the latest documents Pastores Gregis of our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II stresses this concern of the bishop. The spiritual accompaniment of the young people is one of the points he stresses. The Pope says – “A minister of hope can hardly fail to build the future together with those to whom the future is entrusted, that is, with the young people. Like sentinels of the morning, young people are awaiting the dawn of a new world.” His statement further adds – “…many young people are ready to commit themselves in the Church and in the world, if only they are offered real responsibility and an integral Christian formation.”

This is what we venture to do and give in the formation we inculcate in our Catholic schools. If we do not give or cannot give that Christian formation in our schools then there is no reason to burden ourselves with this enormous formidable task.

We witness today the failure of a society that has thrown aside religious and ethical values. Human life has lost both its value and its meaning. The forthcoming election may give us more opportunities to see the depths to which our society, its leaders not exempted, have descended. Today a Culture of Death has pervaded our country. Take even the dreadful fate of countless innocent victims of the ethnic crisis, and the uncertainty and the fear lurking in the hearts and minds of our citizens due not only to the fratricidal war but due to the conditions of fear generated to destroy our long traditions of peaceful co-existence. These are most discouraging as much as they are frightening prospects of a bleak future for the whole country. Reckless politicians and certain sections of our irresponsible media appear to keep fiddling like Nero, as Rome is ablaze.

In this state of chaos we have to confess with a sense of profound disappointment that it is the failure of our system of education to inculcate true and lasting values that has resulted in this situation. Education was gauged only as an infusion of knowledge. For that matter even that has not been done properly. And as a result the second pillar in the arch of education viz formation, got largely, if not totally, neglected. Naturally the whole arch has now virtually collapsed.

Christian hope tells us that it is better to light one candle than curse the darkness. Let us therefore do what is possible for us to do and it is schools like St. Lawrence’s that can do something. I appeal to you teachers, I appeal to you parents and above all I appeal to you Religious Sisters who are in consecrated life, to consider the formation of children as your sole priority. Let education be one of your priorities dear Sisters in consecrated life. No doubt it calls for great sacrifice and personal dedication. It is hard labour that sees not immediate result. But as the Psalmist says – “Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.”

Those of you who are engaged in educating and training children, adolescents and young people should not yield into discouragement because of difficulties and give up their commendable work; but rather intensify their efforts to achieve better results. It is your personal contact with them that will encourage them and form them to live a life of generosity and service of others, free from selfishness, ambition and private greed.

Today, virtually every profession is sullied and tainted with greed and ambition. This is true even of those professions we considered the most noble like medicine and law. Honesty is an extremely rare commodity. The great noble men and women who upheld the luster of these professions must be sad to see this deterioration. I do not say that there is no one left who is good. But the deterioration is significant and remarkable. Therefore it is essential for us to promote a new culture that will restore and re-establish those Gospel values what we preach and uphold.

In my opinion the school and the family share the burden of this task. Let us join to save our future generation and save the future for the coming generations. Let us consider education seriously and dedicate ourselves to that service. Let us think of our children as God’s gift entrusted to us so that we may share with them the life of grace that God has given us so that we may someday share with them the eternal life that God gives all of us.

With these few words I wish once again to congratulate the Sister Principal for the very encouraging report she presented. I also congratulate and thank the staff without whose cooperation this would not have been possible, and finally I thank the parents and well-wishers of the School for their unstinted co-operation in running this school.

Let me conclude thanking you for honouring me with your kind invitation and thanking all of you for your patient hearing. May God bless you.