June 1st was a day of joy at the Colégio Internato dos Carvalhos (CIC) as the students of the stage known as ‘Finalists’ successfully completed another phase of their lives to open the way to a ‘New Way’.
We leave a small chronicle from the Pastoral Council of how the event went, developed through an emotional mass:
“Rivers do not drink their own water; trees do not eat their own fruit; the sun does not shine for itself; and flowers do not spread their fragrance for you. To live for oneself is a rule of nature”. (Pope Francis).
With nostalgia and a tear in the corner of their eye, they prepare for a “New Way” which was blessed at the finalists’ mass, together with their families, teachers and non-teaching staff, so that, on their new path, they may be bold builders of a better world.
The CIC Parents’ Association (APCIC), through the voice of its President, Dr. Susana Marques, wished them a bright new path “(…), full of personal and professional success, that they may fulfil their desires and ambitions, hoping that they will take with them a chest full of knowledge, principles and values that will transform the world into a better place to live and that will allow everyone to have dreams and imagine a future for their lives”.
The teachers, in the person of the course coordinators, through their testimonies, revealed how they have been transformed by the passage of these students through their lives, thanking God for this encounter that was not reduced to “(…) it is not just another year, just another class”.
The students coloured in the word Thank you…, because “we were never alone and we never walked alone. We have always counted on the help of the different collaborators of the Carvalhos boarding school. From the teachers, the Pedagogical Direction to the person in charge of the canteen. All of them were always available to help us with any problem we might have. Therefore, the word “THANK YOU” will never be enough to pay tribute to these men and women who carry out their daily work in this House, without ever belittling the person next to them”.
It was also promised that “(…) Now is the time to build the world whose foundations we have created in this Casa. We will be small seeds, mustard seeds …. We will build bridges, not walls…. We will simply be men and women of affection and gratitude, honouring all that this College has given us in knowing how to do and knowing how to BE.
And that is all that leaves us with the feeling of another mission accomplished in the certainty that “Those who pass through us do not go alone, they do not leave us alone”. They leave a little of themselves, they take a little of us”; but “we run the risk of crying a little, when we let ourselves be captivated…”. – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
