Modern culture presents conflicting political and moral messages to the young people with whom we work in our schools. Our students find themselves bombarded with the pressures of an often amoral culture.

As educators in the Visitation tradition, our greatest challenge is to prepare our youth to navigate a morally complex society with hearts and minds formed by our Catholic faith and Salesian Spirituality. How do we help them find a rootedness in the truth of the Gospel message that informs the way they approach this world? How can we prepare them to confront differences with understanding and appreciation, but also with a strong sense of their own identity as faith-filled women of “faith, vision, and purpose”? How can we help them bring the human touch of Jesus to our suffering world?

Academic programs in a Visitation school are designed to provide students with critical thinking skills to use when faced with the conflicting values that society often holds before them. In addition, the academic course of study offers a compassionate view of the world, underpinned by a Catholic, Salesian worldview, in order that our students will have the intellectual tools to argue for the common good. Our graduates can become agents of change to a world in need.

Some elements in Salesian Spirituality that lend themselves to counteracting pressures of life in the United States today might include the following:

• A sense of balance to counteract the frenetic pace and demands of modern life
• A commitment to respect the dignity of each person, recognizing that each is created in the image and likeness of God and avoiding negative stereotypes
• A spirit of Christian humanism reflecting the beauty of a well-ordered life disposed to the good and not a secular mentality that promotes an “anything goes” attitude
• An optimistic view of life based on confidence in God, and not a pessimistic view disposed toward cynicism
• A life rooted in the spirit of simplicity versus one inclined toward consumerism and materialism
• An emphasis on a student’s becoming her best self to counteract a “follow the crowd” mentality
• A celebration and appreciation of the beauty of the environment to promote prudent care for the environment rather than thoughtless disregard
• A call to serve the issues of peace and justice to overcome society’s callousness to the needs of the poor and downtrodden
• A commitment to fostering a strong community of caring people versus an attitude of self-centeredness

Through our work in education, we have the privilege of being effective guides who set a positive example for our students. We can show them how it is possible to integrate a strong sense of spiritual values with a reflective, creative life of joyful optimism. We are also privileged to follow, with enthusiasm and conviction, those who have gone before us in the long histories of our schools, those whose fidelity has established the strong Salesian tradition that has enriched Visitation students for many generations.

Salesian Spirituality is “a spirituality of a listening heart which strives to beat in rhythm with the heart of Jesus” (HEART). This heart listens to the cries of the poor, the sick and the suffering in the tradition of Jane de Chantal; it listens to the needs of immediate neighbors; it listens to God’s will as found in the present moment; it listens attentively to God’s Word as proclaimed in Eucharistic liturgies. Finally, it listens to the promptings of our own hearts to love God with our whole mind, our whole heart and all our strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This spirituality of Living Jesus is what marks our education as particularly Visitation. Our faculty and staff are invited to model it for our students and our students are nurtured to be bearers of the Sisters’ tradition of Living Jesus so as to carry the charism into their life beyond our schools.