Oasis of Love

Why bullying should never occur in a Catholic school

09/09/2022

LK 6:39-42 Jesus told his disciples a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”

Today, with Mr. Rocha’s permission, I want to talk to you about the serious problem of bullying. I hope it is not a serious problem here at Ozark Catholic Academy. But you should know that we will not tolerate bullying, and if we hear about it, we will take immediate and decisive steps to address it. There is no place for bullying in a Catholic school, and it has absolutely no place here at OCA. In fact that expectation that a Catholic school is an oasis of love and respect may be the reason some of you decided to come to OCA. In other words, some students might have been bullied at other schools decided, “I will go to a Catholic school where I am sure there will be no bullying.” And that is a reasonable expectation in a Catholic school.

I think this is one of the reasons my parents always sent me, and my brother and sister, to Catholic schools. When I was growing up in New Delhi, India, my parents sent me to Sacred Heart School for first and second grades. When we moved to the United States, we didn’t have any money, so I went to public school for third and fourth grade. But then after my parents saved and sacrificed a lot, they sent me to Catholic school in fifth grade, and I went to Catholic schools all the way through college at the University of Dallas. I think my parents knew I would get a great education and learn my Catholic faith in a Catholic school. But they also believed the school was a safe place – an oasis of love – for me to grow up in. Why?

Well, because my family is different from most American families. How so? First of all, we are brown people. I love to ask people where they love to go for vacation. And most people usually say they love to go to the beach. And I reply: “Yes, everybody is trying to look like Fr. John because they want to have his deep-island tan!” Today I can joke about looking different from others. But when I was in school I was scared to look different. I wanted to fit in, and look like everyone else. And that is what bullies do: they pick on people who are different.

One of the ways we try to stop bullying here at OCA is by wearing uniforms. How does that work? Uniforms make people look the same by removing one of the reasons we look different, namely, street clothes. The word “uniform” comes from the Latin word “unus” which means “one”. Uniforms make us one, because they make us look the same.

Soldiers wear uniforms, police officers wear uniforms, doctors and nurses wear uniforms, and priests wear uniforms. Why? These professions wear uniforms to highlight their unity (unus) and their uniformity (oneness of purpose), and to diminish their differences. Uniform means “one,” one family, and we do not bully each other by picking on our differences. That uniform is one reason my parents sent me to Catholic schools, and why some of your parents send you to OCA.

Another reason there should be no bullying in a Catholic school is “religion”. And what does religion teach us? Well, it teaches us a lot of things, but perhaps its most important lesson we learn is that God is everywhere. That means that even though we cannot see him, he can see us all the time, and everywhere we may be. There is no privacy from God.

One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 139, which reads: “Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee? If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol (the netherworld), there you are. If I take the wings of dawn and dwell beyond the sea, your right hand holds me fast.” In other words, God loves us so much, he never wants to leave us. When you love someone you want to be with them all the time. But no one loves us as much as God, and so he wants to be with us all the time. And therefore he sees us all the time.

Here at OCA we are a small school, and that means our teachers can see all the students all the time. And we want you to know we are watching you because we love you. But we are also watching you because we do not want anyone to bully anyone else. But even if we don’t see you, guess who still does? Bingo: the Big Man upstairs, God. In other words, God sees you in public school, and he sees you in Catholic schools. But here the difference: in a Catholic school we know he sees us, because that is what religion teaches us. There should never be bullying in a Catholic school, because Someone (God) always sees it, even if you are hiding behind a social media profile, or think you are on “privacy mode”. Remember: there is no privacy from God.

Boys and girls, I hope you know what a blessing it is to be able to go to a Catholic school. I did not know that while I was in school, but I know it now. Lots of people are making lots of sacrifices for you to be here, just like my parents made lots of sacrifices to send me to a Catholic school. One big reason this school is such a blessing is because there should be no bullying.

Praised be Jesus Christ!