Yesterday we concluded our Christmas season with the Baptism of Jesus. This seems very fitting when we think about it because when a baby is born there seems to be very natural stages of preparation, gift-giving, parental commendation, and other celebrations just as we see during Christmas-time in terms of Advent, Magi, Holy Family, Mary, etc. This excitement seems to subside a bit once a baby is baptized, though. Such is the case in the Church after we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. Anyway, as we moved out of Christmas back into Ordinary Time, we were taught a very important lesson in the Gospel on Sunday when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus and says that Jesus is God's beloved Son with whom God is well-pleased (Luke 3: 21-22). Seeing how much Jesus came to relate to us by immersing himself into the Jordan river of our lives, we can be confident that those words apply equally to all of us, too. We are all God's beloved children with whom God is well-pleased. Now that we understand this, I'd like to take this fundamental "lesson in love" a bit further.
Every election cycle, we seem to hear lots of jargon about how many of the problems we face today is a result of God being taken out of schools and replaced with secularism, atheism, rationalism, and many other "-isms." Well, I want you to think for a second about some of the most influential teachers you have ever had at the elementary and high school levels. Did you choose these teachers solely because of the academic lessons they imparted on you or because of their emphasis on how much they talked about God, the Bible, prayer, or any other "religious" things? Or, do you love those teachers because they seemed to care about your development not just as a student but as a person by teaching you life lessons that would ultimately lead to your becoming a better individual, friend, son, daughter, husband, wife, cousin, etc.? I'd venture to say it was the latter. I went to a Catholic school, and I'm extremely grateful for being in an environment that taught me teachings of Jesus, the Bible, and the Church. However, some of the most lasting impacts on me resulted from teachers instilling in me the values of God (faith, hope, and love) not through "churchy" language, but through their actions and examples. I simply connected the dots. You see, we get into trouble when we spend too much time criticizing the public sector for removing God from schools. The truth is that as humans, we are not in control of God. God is ever-present in every situation at all times, and all good things come from God. If you are struggling to believe this, just think of those wonderful teachers and mentors out there who, by their compassion and integrity toward their students, are in essence, telling them that they are indeed "beloved children of God with whom God is well-pleased."
Below is a wonderful twelve minute documentary from last week's New York Times about a Catholic physics teacher in a public school who, amid his own faith doubts, still brings the "lesson of love" of to his students. Enjoy.
Wright's Law
I'd argue that God is more present in that classroom than in many private faith-based schools around.
May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.
No comments:
Post a Comment