In a celebration of Catholic identity and shared mission, Christ the Teacher Catholic Schools have embraced their 2025-2026 Faith Focus: Many and One. This theme, rooted in the profound unity of the Most Holy Trinity, calls students, staff, and families across the division’s schools to walk together as diverse members of one human family, fostering cooperation, collaboration, and reconciliation as well as hope and the light of Christ amid a divided world.
This year’s theme builds on three previous themes – Walking Together, Sharing the Journey, and Lighting the Way – creating opportunities for interconnectedness in many contexts including the continued journey with our Indigenous brothers and sisters toward Truth and Reconciliation. At the same time, Many and One reminds us of our deep bond as the Body of Christ, where diversity strengthens unity, just as Jesus prayed: “That they may all be one… so that they may be one, as we are one.” (John 17:21-22)
At the heart of the theme lie two key Scripture passages. In John 17:20-23, Jesus intercedes for believers’ unity, drawing humanity into the perfect and intimate communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus’ prayer emphasizes his mission to unite all people in divine love. Complementing this is 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, where St. Paul uses the metaphor of the human body: “The body is one and has many members… If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together.” (1 Cor 12:12, 26) The Catechism echoes this: “In the building up of Christ’s Body there is engaged a diversity of members and functions… The unity of the Mystical Body triumphs over all human divisions.” As the Church teaches, differences serve unity and mission – hierarchy and laity, diverse gifts from one Spirit – empowering all to share in Christ’s mission as priest, prophet, and king.
In an era of polarization where our world is divided on so many fronts, the theme Many and One celebrates differences and embraces unity, not necessarily uniformity. The theme declares, “Many diverse people, one human family,” urging accompaniment, faith-building, and tangible acts of Christ’s love.
The theme seamlessly extends prior focuses:
- Many and One Walking Together: Many paths converge on the heavenly kingdom, but we share the same mission as we walk together and journey toward that final destination.
- Many and One Sharing the Journey: A variety of journeys and many varied experiences fuel that singular mission to make disciples of all nations and bring people into communion with God – “…that they may be one, as we are one.”
- Many and One Lighting the Way: Many flames from one Light – the Light of Christ guiding us on our mission and lighting the way for others. On this year’s poster, rays from the CTTCS logo which depicts Jesus with children, symbolize this continuity.
The theme’s poster, a collaborative effort, features a striking central image: diverse hands holding blocks spelling MANY and ONE. These hands evoke St. Teresa of Avila’s words: “Christ has no body now but yours… Yours are the hands with which He blesses all the world.” They symbolize believers as signs of God’s grace who continue Christ’s mission, valuing each member through love. Surrounding the image, the CTTCS logo crowns the top, with school logos encircling the edges: Many schools, one division. A custom prayer invokes unity, celebrates diversity, seeks peace and humility, and pleads for guidance as “signs of unity in a divided world.”
Throughout the year, songs used for religious celebrations support the theme’s message. A couple of examples include Steve Angrisano’s song, Many and One, and Nancy Bodsworth’s song, We Are Many, We Are One. Angrisano’s song proclaims: “We are many, yet we are one, we are separate yet bound in His love… together we are all His hands and His feet, bringing mercy and peace to this world…” Bodsworth’s song emphasizes: “…coming together, one body in Christ, we are many, we are one… When we act, we strive to be Christ’s hands and feet… There will be peace and joy, it has begun, we are many, we are one!”
Christ the Teacher invites all to embody this theme daily – recognizing that we are diverse in gifts but united in dignity, fostering empathy and compassion, encouraging love without exception, and inspiring service with humility and grace. As the Catechism affirms, the Holy Spirit is the “soul” of the Mystical Body, source of “unity in diversity,” and so we pray that the Holy Spirit breathes into us the peace that unites.
Many and One is more than a theme – it’s a mandate from Christ as given to us in his prayer the night before he died. He speaks about what was ultimately important to him – that his disciples would be one, as he is one with the Father. Archbishop Donald Bolen, in his homily at our opening Mass in August, told us that we must not lose sight of the tension between the many and the one. We must not forget the one and we must not lose sight of the need for unity. Mike Patin, our keynote speaker that same day said, “There are many flavours of ice cream, but different flavours can all be in the same freezer.” We pray that diverse voices will unite to proclaim that unity triumphs, hope endures, and Christ’s light will guide us all home.
