“Do you aspire to big things? Start small” is the motto for the 2023/23 school year, which is already being worked on in some schools.
September brings with it the beginning of a new school year in the educational centers of Spain, Mexico and Venezuela. The schools of the Augustinian Recollect International Educational Network EDUCAR have started the school year 2023/24 following the guideline that the Order of Augustinian Recollects proposes for the year 2024 under the motto “Do you aspire to the big things? Start small”.
What does this mean?
In the words of the Prior General, the year 2024 will be for the Order an occasion to deepen and value the small things, the day to day things that affect us directly. We have the feeling that we take them for granted and we think it would be good to go back to them. Pope Francis says that we must change the world with the little things of every day, with generosity, with sharing, listening to others and creating attitudes of brotherhood, because salvation does not come from the powers or from “something majestic”, but “from the little things”, from the simplicity of the things of God. When Jesus proposes the way to salvation, he never speaks of great things, but of small things. For this reason, the motto for the year 2024 is taken from a phrase of St. Augustine, specifically from Sermon 69: “Do you aspire to great things? Begin with the least” (Sermon 69, 1, 2).
What value will be emphasized this year?
This period 2023-2024 we will work on the value of INTERIORITY, of which St. Augustine tells us: “Do not want to disperse outside, enter within yourself, because in the inner man dwells the truth; and if you find that your nature is changeable, transcend yourself”. In this course of small things we have the possibility of remembering (‘go back through the heart’) and updating the richness of the Augustinian charism in the educational centers from the values presented in the PEI. A great challenge and a great opportunity.
How can I apply it in my educational center?
The EDUCAR network team has developed a series of resources for this year, which you can find in this link or in the RESOURCES tab of our web page.
What song has this motto?
“El valor de lo pequeño” is the song that will accompany us during the course. It has been composed by Gaby Ríos, from the Fray Luis de León School in Querétaro (Mexico), and we present it here: