JESUS, THE GREATEST TEACHER

“He has done all things well.”

“What gracious words fall from his lips.”

Two beautiful compliments the people paid to Jesus.

How we wish people could say the same of us!

Jesus was not merely telling beautiful stories.

He was making people confront themselves and make an option.

He knew what he was saying and he said it with power.

Even the temple policemen, sent to arrest him, returned empty-handed with the explanation: “no one has ever spoken like this.” The options that Jesus placed before the people were all radical. His played for high stakes: nothing less than eternal life or death; and for that he was prepared to die.

He made a difference in people’s lives.

A true teacher makes a difference in the intellectual and moral dimensions of his pupils.

“I will make a difference” is our slogan.

When we have encountered Jesus we want to be different people, people who are solidly founded, inflexibly honest, single-hearted without duplicity in our intent, understanding of our students, yet challenging them to attach themselves to something or someone higher than themselves. The great theologian, Romano Guardini, has said, “To be a follower of Christ does not mean to imitate him literally, but to express him through the medium of one’s life. A Christian is no unnatural reproduction of Christ. The task of the Christian consists of transporting Christ into the stuff of his own daily existence.” The disciple is summoned to extend Jesus’ own compassion, his healing, his doing good, his generosity to all persons, and to live in truth with all people.

Let us focus on our Teacher Jesus.

Nothing about him conformed to what we might call the academism of the day.

He made no special appeal to the intellectuals, nor did he shun them. He was instead an inspired storyteller of life’s experiences. He spoke to the heart of the people in the situation, taking them as they were. Those whose inner lives had faded almost to extinction began rising to new life. Jesus was glad to be with them.

It is likely that 2000 years later, Jesus of Nazareth would be called a “bleeding-heart liberal”, a man without realism, a man without any pity for the victim, a man who dared to defend the victimizer. Such complaints would completely miss the point, for Jesus saw everyone as a victim. But he offered no reward merely for occupying that status, nor did the victims have a claim on privilege (as they often demand today). There was, instead, a way out of the dreadful cycle of being both deceiver and deceived.

He brought not a new system of laws, but a promise of completely new life in which the only law is a condition of inner-donation to God. And it was because Jesus was so open to God that he could speak and act as he did. That was the force and meaning of his openness to sinners, to women, and to children – a spirit of liberation unknown at his time.

True education is liberating. The school is a temple of learning; and learning has liberated more people than all the wars in history.

So, who is Jesus Christ to you? And what is the ultimate purpose of your life?

I don’t want to ask you scroll down and see the answer; I’ll try suggesting an answer.

Who is Jesus Christ to you? Jesus Christ is the sum and substance, the power and content of your life, the significance of your being, the end of your existence.

What is the ultimate purpose of your life? The purpose of your life is that God should take it over completely.

Allow me to shift the scenario. As a young priest I taught in St. Anthony’s School, Market Street, for five years. There were many Hindu and Muslim students. They owned shops in New Market where I would make some purchases sometimes. I noticed to my dismay that when I walked down the isle, the students, if they were there, would dive under the counters fearing that I’d ask for concessions. I assure you I’m not like that at all. Even when I buy items from my brother’s shop I pay in full and on the spot.

Apart from English Language and Physics, I taught Moral Science. The students were honest enough to tell me: “We like what you teach about honesty in our dealings, but our parents tell us the opposite if we want to survive.” You have to cheat otherwise you cannot go forward.

I left St. Anthony’s in ’68-’69.  In 2008-2009 the world began seeing an economic meltdown due to massive greed and cheating. Jesus, our teacher still speaks through the teaching of the Church. The latest encyclical of the Pope Benedict XVI “Caritas in Veritate” carries the indications of the solution to the problem that he foresaw as early as when he was Cardinal Ratzinger. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, issued a statement of appreciation. She said that Pope Benedict’s new encyclical Caritas in Veritate points to the way forward in the current economic crisis. In her nine-page address at the Bavarian Catholic Academy conference on “Political Action based on Christian Responsibility”, Mrs. Merkel, who is Lutheran, said she was particularly impressed by the passage that read: “The primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity.”

She continued, “The central role of the human being, which is continually underlined throughout the encyclical, is the key to all challenges and also to responsible politics.”

Mrs. Merkel criticised the greed and egotism that has led to the present global financial crisis, and underlined the need for values, role models and a “reliable inner compass”.

“For me it is important to try and be guided by the Christian concept of humanity, that is the concept that human beings were made in God’s likeness but have the freedom to act according to their capabilities and inclinations,” the Chancellor said, but immediately stressed that this freedom was not a “limitless” but a “responsible” freedom, a “freedom to participate and to, help others”.

Mrs. Merkel recalled that the social market economy was largely based on Catholic Social Teaching and Protestant social ethics “and was interestingly enough a response to the failures of the first global economic crisis of the 1930s.” She said she was wholly agreed with Pope Benedict’s view that we must develop a global economic responsibility and bring about a decisive change. She called on Christians to be more “militant, but not arrogant” and to insist that there were universal ethical values. “There is no compromise” she declared, “when it comes to the question of whether the dignity of a human being is unalterable or not.” What gracious words! And so true.

Thought you may like this one...

TEACHER

  The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life..

  One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education.  He argued,” What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

  To stress his point, he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie.  Be honest.  What do you make?"

  Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a  second, then began...)

  "Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

  I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 minutes without an iPod, Game Cube or movie rental.

  You want to know what I make? (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table).

  I make kids wonder.

  I make them question.

  I make them apologize and mean it.

  I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

  I teach them to write and then I make them write something worthwhile.  Keyboarding isn’t everything.

  I make them read, read, read.

  I make them show all their work in math.  They use their brain, not the man-made calculator.

  I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

  I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

  Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were born with, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.   (Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

  Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, not knowing that money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention to them because they are ignorant.

  You want to  know what I make?  I MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

  What do you make, Mr. CEO?

  The CEO's jaw dropped, and he went silent.


  THIS IS WORTH SENDING TO EVERY TEACHER, EVERY CEO, EXECUTIVE AND EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW.

  Even to all your personal teachers like mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, coaches and your spiritual leaders/teachers.

  A truly profound answer!!!

  Teaching is ... the profession that makes all other professions possible!

 

PRAYER

(St. Thomas Aquinas 1225 – 1274)

O Creator, past all telling, you have so beautifully set out all parts of the universe; you are the true fount of wisdom and the noble origin of all things.

Be pleased to shed on the darkness of my mind the beam and warmth of your light to dispel my ignorance and sin. Instruct my speech and touch my lips with graciousness. Make me keen to understand, quick to learn, and able to remember; and keep me finely tuned to interpret your word to my brothers and sisters, for you are God for ever and ever. Amen.