Characteristics of Marianist Education
The Tree of Life Mosaic
December 03, 2007
At Central Catholic we endeavor to educate the whole man, body, soul and spirit.
Integral, quality education: the grapes remind us of the wedding feast of Cana, where, at Mary’s instigation, Jesus performed His first miracle, changing water into “the best wine.” We endeavor to give the best educational opportunity in Texas, and encourage our faculty to grow in their ability to make that happen.
Formation in faith with missionary spirit: The fruits of the tree are in various stages of formation. We work, by means of religious instruction in the various classes, and by means of religious experiences such as Mass, reconciliation, Sodality teams and retreats, to help the seeds of faith mature in faculty, parents, students and alumni.
Family Spirit: The Central Catholic “brotherhood” is known across the nation. The multi-colored strands around the mosaic tie the whole composition together. The diverse stones that make up the coherent pattern are all natural in color, and represent our fabled “unity in diversity” that we work toward daily. Mary is our mother and leader in this effort.
Educating for adaptation and change: The tree must respond to its environment if it must grow. So we are constantly attentive to the needs of our modern culture and of our stakeholders and work together to change our methods, not our mission.
Educating for service, justice, peace: The tree does not exist for itself; so also we reach out to a world that needs the grace of Christ to share the Gospel and do good for others, through our Guardian Angel, Sodality and JROTC service projects.
The mosaic was crafted by our Christian brothers and sisters at Madaba, Jordan, one of the oldest Christian towns in the Holy Land.
