On Saturday, October 30, 2010, a teacher asked Pope Benedict, “What does it mean to be a teacher today?” Here is the Holy Father’s response:
“Being an educator means having joy in one’s heart and communicating it to everyone so as to make life good and 
beautiful; it means providing reasons and goals for life’s journey, presenting the beauty of the person of Jesus and making people love Him, His lifestyle, His freedom. … Above all it means holding up the goal of … that ‘extra’ that comes to us from God. This requires personal knowledge of Jesus, a personal, daily and loving contact with Him in prayer, meditation on the Word of God, faithfulness to the Sacraments, the Eucharist, Confession; it means communicating the joy of being part of the Church, of having friends with whom to share, not only the difficulties but also the beauties and surprises of a life of faith.
“You will be good educators if you are able to involve everyone in the good of the young. You cannot be self-sufficient but must make the vital importance of educating the young generations felt at all levels. Without the presence of the family, for example, you risk building on sand; without a collaboration with schools it is not possible to create a profound knowledge of the faith; without the involvement of the those who work in the sector of leisure and communication your patient efforts risk being unproductive and ineffective in daily life.”
Since the Church year is winding down, it might be a good time to ask ourselves, How is our…
- …personal knowledge of Jesus in daily loving contact with Him in prayer?
- …meditation on the Word of God?
- …faithfulness, to the Sacraments, the Eucharist, Confession?
- …joy of being part of the Church?
- …network of friends to share the difficulties, beauties and surprises of a life of faith?
I am extremely grateful for the network of friends I am gaining via this web site–you are part of the “beauties and surprises” that are part of my life of faith.
As Advent approaches, maybe we could choose one of the above areas to work on during the coming liturgical year.
It is so true. As a former Theology teacher you can not be effective let alone reach the goal that the Holy Father has outlined if you are not prayerful and faithful to the Sacraments. There are too many teachers in the Catholic schools who don’t believe the all of the Church’s teachings. How can they possibly be good witnesses to our youth who are thirsting for the truth and in their hearts know that the secular culture does not provide for lasting happiness?