There the angel of God appeared to him in the shape of a flame of fire, coming from the middle of a bush. He led his flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Moses was looking after the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, priest of Midian. If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice I know them and they follow me.' The works I do in my Father's name are my witness but you do not believe, because you are no sheep of mine. The Jews gathered round him and said, 'How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.' Jesus replied: 'I have told you, but you do not believe. It was winter, and Jesus was in the Temple walking up and down in the Portico of Solomon. It was the time when the feast of Dedication was being celebrated in Jerusalem. Rhetoric is the final year of school education and the aim of all that has gone before: that, as they leave our schools, pupils can speak well and move and persuade others by their eloquence and truth. Some Jesuit schools use traditional class names (Elements, Rudiments, Grammar, Syntax, Poetry and Rhetoric) from the renaissance curriculum.
This is the Ignatian magis in action – seeking the more. The virtue of being truthful seeks, in contrast, to speak the truth in all its depth, complexity, messiness, and uncertainty. Our contemporary culture seems obsessed with the quick and easy, the instant sound bite there is a temptation to settle for the trite and superficial. Promoting the virtue of truth in our schools is not simply about teaching children not to lie, important though that is, it is about teaching them to seek the deeper truth, the more nuanced expression, the better account of something. It is what allows us to grow as individuals and as a society.
Definition of eloquent design free#
Knowing the truth about some thing or situation or person is what sets you free to see clearly and know surely. As Jesus tells us, “The truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) Education is the search for truth and the eloquent articulation of what we discover. Eloquence must be used in a truthful way – to speak truth about myself and others, about relations between people, about the world, and about God. However, being able to speak well is not much use if what you speak is not worth saying. All of these are important to Jesuit education because they encourage children to express their identity as well as their talents. And yet, no less than in earlier times, young people need to be articulate, to be confident with an extensive vocabulary, to be able to construct a persuasive argument, and to speak with elegance and style.Įloquence is not confined to speaking – it finds expression in writing, music, drama, dance, the creative arts, design, film, digital media, and sport.
We don’t often talk about this virtue today. My ability to speak competently my own language, and the languages of others, is fundamental to my growth and confidence as a social human being. Those first Jesuit educators recognized that lack of vocabulary and linguistic skills are a form of human impoverishment. If you had asked anyone familiar with Jesuit schools and universities in the first two centuries of their existence (the first Jesuit school opened in 1548) what the distinctive characteristic of Jesuit education was, they would have replied eloquence.Įloquence was at the heart of the Jesuit educational mission – to make sure young people had the language to ask questions, express emotions, speak beliefs, talk about matters of faith and hope, debate points of view, and engage in conversation. Understanding the Virtues: Eloquent & Truthful Jesuit schools help their pupils grow by developing an eloquent language which pupils can use to understand and articulate their emotions, beliefs, and questions, encouraged by the example of their teachers to be truthful in the way they represent themselves and speak about the world. Pupils in a Jesuit school are growing to be eloquent and truthful in what they say of themselves, the relations between people, and the world.
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