Forum Welcome

Thanks for the warm welcome. It is great to see the list of Sion Schools across the world and to hear from many students and staff about their thoughts and dreams about the theme ‘educating for hope’ now and in the future. I look forward to engaging with the catalyst experiences in the lead up to the conference.

I love the contributions of the students. Their sense of hope/esperance is positively inspiring. We are blessed to work with these fine young people who need guidance to ready themselves to face the challenges of life. We aim to give them the hope/esperance and confidence that they can make a difference in their corner of the world.

I am very impressed by what is on offer with this first Catalyst. Special congratulations to Dolene for her excellent reflection on hope - particularly how esperance (rather than espoir) - is a richer and more profound facet of what we call hope in English.

Her introduction also offers us a timely reminder that nuances of meaning within a given language can be glossed over, let alone across different languages. This is one way the Sionian characteristic of dialogue can be immensely helpful. If we don't seem to understand another, we may be misunderstanding what they actually mean - even when we understand the words they have spoken, respectful dialogue and open, careful listening help us to genuinely appreciate the wisdom of the other.

I really look forward to the fruits which will spring from this process of sharing across the Sion world. Together, we can cultivate hope in our schools. :)