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Homily My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: With great joy and gratitude, I welcome you here to our Catholic Pastoral Center for the annual Spring Professional Day for Teachers. You are not just teachers, you are teachers in the Catholic schools of the Archdiocese. This identification is most important because it labels you. You are collaborators with me in the mission and ministry of the Catholic Church here in Oklahoma. A school is a place of education. The word “education” means to lead on – to help someone attain a goal – to help one discover some truth – to assist one in maturing, in growing up. Education in a Catholic school must therefore lead children to Him Who is our Way, our Truth, our Life. Catholic school education must strive always for the Truth which is Jesus. He is the fundamental Truth from which all other limited truths emanate. To come to know, love and serve Jesus is not an exchange for math and science, for phonics and reading. Rather, by properly coming to know, love and serve Jesus, one begins to recognize the need for the other studies and disciplines. A student begins to realize the relationship that must exist in every area of learning. Thus do our students learn about themselves, about the world in which we live and about the God Who created all this world and everything in it. Without a Christocentric thrust, a school, no matter who sponsors it, cannot be Catholic. It could not be faithful to the mission of Catholic school education unless Jesus and His teachings are incorporated into your daily curriculum. Therefore, you, as teachers and administrators of our schools, are the key. You are the ones who can make a difference between ordinary education and quality education. And remember, Catholic school education, if genuinely Catholic, must be quality education in all subjects and areas because we are commissioned by Jesus to go forth and proclaim the Good News. Dear teachers, co-workers in this ministry of Catholic school education, I am so grateful for your many efforts, your dedication and your faithfulness. I know that you face many difficulties and even obstacles. Therefore, I want to encourage you by directing you to Jesus. You cannot bring your students to Jesus unless you first develop a relationship in faith with Him. Faith is a gift from God. It is not forced on us but freely offered to us by God. When we accept the gift of faith and nurture it through prayer and sacrifice, it grows and blossoms in us. Our relationship with God becomes right. Consequently, we are then able to communicate, to teach and to share as Jesus did – and as He calls us to do. You are guided in your role as teachers and administrators by the official and authentic teachings of the Catholic Church. Do not allow petty indifference or haughty pride lead you astray. In that case, you would be like the Pharisees in today’s Gospel who came forward and began to argue with Jesus. They demanded a sign from heaven to test Him. But Jesus said: “No sign will be given to this generation” and then He left them. He did so because they lacked faith in Him. Do you have faith in Jesus? I hope you do. Otherwise, you will not find fulfillment in the ministry of Catholic school education. I hope and pray that all of us gathered here this morning are truly people of faith. In the first reading from the Scriptures, Saint James gives us some good advice. He said, consider it joy when you encounter various trials. He certainly is talking to teachers, to principals….. and ……to archbishops! “Consider it all joy, brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials. Your faith is being tested. This testing produces perseverance and if you lack wisdom, ask God Who gives generously and ungrudgingly and you will be given it. But always ask in faith, not doubting.” In that same strong spirit of faith, I commend you to the Lord and I urge you to become holy. Thus shall you fulfill the call God has given you. Thus shall you develop a vibrant relationship with Jesus and share this marvelous experience with your students and their families. This is what it means to be a good and faithful teacher or administrator in a Catholic school. God bless you. Most
Reverend Eusebius J. Beltran |