It is the privilege of teachers of religious education to foster a bond of togetherness (communio) among their young scholars by encouraging them freely to voice their ideas, ideals and ambitions. This will encourage them to help each other in the rough and tumble of their common humanity and fallibility. In the calmness and unbroken regularity of a liturgical ritual that comes down from the apostles, they will be nourished and sustained by the holy Eucharist (Do this in memory of Me) and graced by the simplicity and beauty of their devotion to Mary, the Mother of God (All generations will call me blessed. Luke 1.48) Their moral imagination will be strengthened through a wide range of truths that become truly alive in story (biblical and secular) and also in music, painting, sculpture, peace, prayer. Good music lifts the spirit into realms of transcendence where wonder and worship uncover deep inner feelings of joy, forgiveness, peace, prayer. Their growth in self-discipline will lead to gratitude for the gift of live itself and for all that God has made leading them, as they grow older, to become aware of local and global environmental issues. Through goodness itself, which is the very fullness of life, they will become as steadfast as 'trees, planted by running steams with deep roots and leaves that never wither. (cf psalm I) May our young people, in the words of St Thomas Aquinas (13th century) 'Love those whose opinions we share, and those whose opinions we reject, for both have made the effort to discover the truth, and in so doing, have assisted us.'