The Catholic Teacher as a Sacrament of Jesus

Sacraments are "actions," not things.

They are actions of God for God's people.

As Catholic Educators,

each of us is challenged to live in such a way

that he or she becomes a sign of God's grace to all we meet.

In the broadest sense,

a sacrament can be any person, event, or thing

through which God is encountered in a new and deeper way.

Such encounters are special moments

that heighten our awareness of God's grace meeting us everywhere.

Each time a teacher welcomes a student

with a smile and a word of affirmation at the door of the classroom,

he or she is a sign of how Jesus also welcomes and loves them unconditionally.

When our young people are treated with respect and dignity,

they will become more aware of the need to treat others in the same way,

recognizing the God who dwells in each and every person including himself or herself.

So they too become signs of Jesus' love.

The manner in which a teacher affirms--and when necessary, corrects –

those entrusted to his or her care should be

a visible sign of what Jesus would do if he were physically present on earth.

A Catholic Teacher is an outward sign of Jesus

when he or she introduces students

to different forms of personal prayer

as well as to the traditional and formal prayers of our faith.

Jesus prayed the Psalms and other prayers of his day

as well as taking time to talk with his Father from his own heart.

So, too, a teacher should teach others

to feel comfortable speaking to God from their own hearts.

As Catholics we believe that any sacramental experience is an encounter

with God that somehow changes us.

These sacramental experiences often take place in our everyday world.

Our challenge as teachers is to

recognize the sacredness of these ordinary events

and lead others to the same realization in their own encounters.

As I thought about writing this article,

I remembered some key sacramental moments in my own life.

The births of each of our four children most certainly

were sacramental moments for my husband and me.

We celebrate their birthdays,

and rites of passage, such as the loss of a first tooth,

the first day of kindergarten, etc., with ritual and prayer.

In a sense, we try to convey the fact

that God is a part of these events

as well as the events that take place in the church building.

As Catholic Teachers, we are called

to make mundane moments festive in our own lives,

in the lives of those we teach,

in the life of the Church,

and in the life of our communities.

Each and every one of us is invited to be a living sacrament,

a living symbol of God's presence, love, and grace to all we meet.

As teachers, we are called not only to be sacrament,

but to help young people to recognize and realize their own sacramentality as well.

We have to be that visible expression of God's love and care today

so that others may come to know, love, and follow Jesus in an ever deeper way.

Throughout the world, sacraments can and do call the Church into being.

They can challenge us to transform the world.

The invisible God uses visible instruments,

including teachers,

maybe especially teachers,

to become present to all creation.

This is an awesome gift and an awesome responsibility.

It calls us to be people of prayer and reflection

and to live in such a way as to let the fruits of our prayers and reflections show in our actions.

Sacraments are special meeting times with God in Jesus

within the context of the Christian community.

When we teach religion or the religious dimension of our subject,

Jesus is with us in all that we do,

in our preparation,

in our teaching,

in all that we do for and with our young people and their families.

In our heart of hearts, let us be glad for his presence.

By being aware of these little sacraments in our own lives,

we help children and youth to recognize Jesus' presence in the events of their lives too.

We help them to look for and find signs of God in their own actions as well.

What a gift we give them when we help them to see

that they too are often signs of God's presence in the world today.

We know that Jesus is the one great sacrament through

which all other sacraments make sense.

Still, each of us, especially in our role as Catholic Teacher,

is called to be sacrament to the world.

--Adapted from an article by Sue Genereux, "The Catechist as a Sacrament of Jesus." Catechist (January 2000)