Bob Reddy, Florida Catholic
With the opening day of the 2026-2027 academic year for the 15 Diocese of Venice Catholic Schools just days away, the faculty and staff are working tirelessly to get ready for an influx or new and returning students.
To help start the new year right, the annual Diocesan Back to School All-Teacher Mass and Assembly took place Aug. 5, 2026, at St. Cecilia Parish and Bishop Verot Catholic High School in Fort Myers. The Mass fell on the feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the first church dedicated to Our Lady in the history of the west.
Bishop Emilio Biosca Agüero, O.F.M. Cap., celebrated the Mass and said this feast day and the gathering should serve as an opportunity for everyone to reconsecrate and rededicate themselves to the care of Our Lady as they begin the new year.
“This Mass with all the teachers and principals is one of the first I have celebrated since I was ordained three weeks ago,” Bishop Emilio said. “I will be going to each of your schools to spend the day there so there is time for you to show me around and for me to learn your history, and what ways in which the diocese can help you all more.”
Bishop Emilio said while serving as a missionary in Cuba he was inspired to learn about the Salesians of St. John Bosco and told the gathered educators that what they can copy from their example “is the zeal and the interest. Then to listen, to find out, and to build something that will work. That is what missionaries do everywhere, and you, as teachers and educators, are called to do the same.”
“St. John Bosco left many practical counsels for educators,” the bishop said. “Here are four of his best-known counsels to teachers, presented with direct quotations and sources:”
- Be present among your students. “The teacher who is seen only in the classroom and nowhere else is a teacher and nothing more; but if he goes into recreation with the boys, he becomes a brother.” Letter from Rome (10 May 1884) St. John Bosco, Letter from Rome, May 10, 1884.
- Win hearts through kindness rather than punishment. “The practice of this system is wholly based on the words of St. Paul: ‘Charity is patient; charity is kind…'” The Preventive System in the Education of the Young (1877) John Bosco
- Make yourself loved before seeking to be obeyed. “Let every educator strive to make himself loved if he wishes to be feared. He will attain this great end if he makes it clear by his words and still more by his deeds that all his care and solicitude are directed solely towards the spiritual and temporal welfare of his pupils.” Regulations for the Houses of the Society of St. Francis de Sales St. John Bosco, Regulations for the Houses of the Society of St. Francis de Sales, Appendix B.
- Give advice and correction with charity. “Spend as much time as you can with your pupils. Try to offer a kind word to them whenever you see the need. This is the great secret of becoming the master of their hearts.” The Preventive System in the Education of the Young John Bosco, The Preventive System in the Education of the Young (1877).
“These four counsels capture the heart of Don Bosco’s educational philosophy: presence among students, loving kindness, earning affection through genuine care, and offering personal, charitable guidance rather than relying on punishment,” Bishop Emilio said.
While growing up, Bishop Emilio was a beneficiary of the Catholic education and recalled how he and his fellow students would know “which teachers believed in God and which ones didn’t. They were just different, because everything seeps through… that relationship with God is seen, because your faith is alive in you, and you are working and alive with the faith. That is transmitted to the students. They see that.”
Following the Mass, Bishop Emilio fielded questions submitted by the teachers with Father John Belmonte, SJ, Diocesan Superintendent of Catholic Education, serving as moderator.
Many of the questions focused on the bishop’s background and his plans for the schools. Admittedly, Bishop Emilio said he is still learning about the diocese, having only been ordained little more than three weeks ago (July 11).
In addition to the Mass and assembly, new teachers went through an orientation meeting where they learned about the various diocesan employment policies and standards.
