So often we focus on what needs to be better, what has to change, where we are falling short. These are important things to consider as we review our lives and our ministries as individuals, parishes and a diocese. But it is just as important to point out and celebrate the things that are going very well. Instead of just focusing on what needs to be better, we should recognize what is excellent.

In the focus on education, which is a priority for our bishop, we are making great strides.

Bishop O’Connell has been very clear about how our Office of Catholic Education combines two educational aspects into a single united mission. Catholic schools and religious education programs are two sides of the same coin. It is their mission to share the foundational truths of the faith; to convey the importance of the content of the faith that we celebrate and live, and to reinforce the notion that discipleship can only grow when the truth of the faith are proclaimed and lived and the sacraments are celebrated in conformity with the rites of the Catholic Church.

Schools and parishes throughout the Diocese of Trenton are working very hard to teach and encourage living the faith among our children and through our children in their families.

Two examples among the many great success stories stand out for me.

This past week I had the pleasure of presiding at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament for religious education students in St. Gregory the Great Parish, Hamilton Square. Several of our parishes have reintroduced this devotion to their students. I was so pleased to see how engaged the children were in the rite. They sang and recited the prayers, and were very responsive during the homily. We talked about prayer, silence and the need to stay close to Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist. I was very impressed with how well these children are being formed in the Catholic faith.

I was also very pleased to learn that two of our elementary schools were chosen among many applicants to receive the prestigious "Blue Ribbon Award." This award is given for overall excellence in academics as well as all areas of school life. We are very proud of St. Leo the Great School, Lincroft, and St. Paul School, Princeton. These are two school communities that worked very hard, not just to merit the honor of the award, but before the award to become centers of excellence and models for Catholic schools throughout the diocese. St. Ann School, Lawrenceville, is a past recipient of the award. (There will be expanded coverage on St. Leo the Great and St. Paul Schools receiving Blue Ribbon Awards in upcoming issues of The Monitor.)

We are making great progress in education and faith formation throughout the diocese. We have reason to be very proud.

Perhaps the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, put it best when speaking to a group of young people in Lebanon, "You have a special place in my heart and in the whole Church, because the Church is always young! The Church trusts you. She counts on you! Be young in the Church! Be young with the Church! The Church needs your enthusiasm and your creativity! Youth is the time when we aspire to great ideals, when we study and train for our future work. All this is important and it takes time. Seek beauty and strive for goodness!"

Father Freer is diocesan vicar for Catholic education.