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*Brien, S. and Hack, J. (2005). Charism in the Catholic school: A workable twenty-first century model. //Journal of Religious Education,// 53(1), 70-84

Brien, S. and Hack, J. (2005) Charism in the Catholic school: A workable twenty-first century model. //Journal of Religious Education//, 53(1), 70-84.
 * __ Charism in the Catholic School: A Workable Twenty-First Century Model  __**


 * Charism in its broadest sense, provides us with a lens through which to view the gospel, in the hope that we will be inspired and compelled to live this call to discipleship. (pg. 70)**

//I believe a school's charism should be visible and perminate all areas of the school community and at the heart of this should be the visible presence of the message of Jesus. Nicole Duyvestyn.//

·  Language to speak; ·  Group which to belong; ·  Way to pray; ·  Work to undertake; · **  **Face of God to see. (pg. 71)**
 * Marachel (as cited in Brien and Hack, 2005) suggests that charism provides a school community with a:**
 * ·  Story to enter;

//I believe this quote provides a framework for establishing, supporting and celebrating the charism within the school. It helps to identify areas of the school that reflect the charism through daily experiences. nicole Duyvestyn.//


 * Just as understanding the message of the gospel requires formation, reflection, discernment and effort, so too, appreciating the charism of a school requires ongoing commitment. Educators need to work with charisms to make them vibrant living realities which give direction and help community members make meaning of their lives. (pg. 71)**

//Charisms allow communities to actively live out their faith and the gospel message and make this come to life in their lives. Nicole Duyvestyn.//


 * Charism can be that element in schools that gives students a “direction to God.” (pg. 73)**

//The charism of the school should provide a path for members of the community to come closer to God in their lives through their involvement with the charism of the school- providing people with a way in or a place to start or deepen there relationship with God and our Catholic story. Nicole Duyvestyn.//


 * Educators are called to build not just “educational” communities, or “just” communities, but dynamic communities of faith which allow young people to move into the future with understanding, conviction and an appreciation of the promise which was made at baptism. In the current situation this task is falling more and more to the laity. (pg.73)**

//With numbers of priests declining the responsibility of developing and building charism in a school community is becoming one that involves the laity of the catholic community and not just administration teams but all stakeholders who are a part of the school. School communities should be visionary and have a sense of the future and this future should be deeply rooted in the baptismal commitment that is made by each memeber of the catholic community. This itself presents a difficulty when so many of our staff members and students are not baptised.Nicole Duyvestyn.//


 * We would propose that in any school environment charism should be explored and developed from four perspectives which broadly cover every aspect of Catholic school life- school administration, the religious dimension, pastoral care and curriculum. (pg.75)**

//I believe these for perspectives provide a framework or starting point to explore the charism in a school and help make sense of what is happening now and what in the future needs to happen.Nicole Duyvestyn.//


 * There needs to be a conscious decision to make charism the cement that holds the school community together. (pg. 80)**

//This conscious decision needs to be embraced by all stakeholders in the school community for a charism to truly come to life. The charism needs to be central to what is done at the school in every area and continually linked back to the gospel and the life and message of Jesus.Nicole Duyvestyn.

//**In the end, charism cannot be narrowed to a definition or a theological perspective. It means daring to live immersed in the particular gift of an ever-creative God. For educational leaders and teachers in Catholic schools that means taking the risk to be swept up in this particular vision of what it means to live the gospel. (pg.83)**

//Embracing a charism should be exciting and challegne our ways of thinking and doing. Daring and risking are words i believe go hand in hand with the word charism. Just as each of the founders of our charisms dared and risks then so too are we challegned to take up this task anbd help make the message of Christ truly alive in our own life and in the lives of those around us and in our school communities.Nicole Duyvestyn.//

**// If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea (http://www.wisdomquotes.com/002073.html) // (pg. 83) **