Never Stop

Never stop learning.

This was one of the last pieces of advice I received in my undergraduate career as a Catechetics and Theology double major at Franciscan University.

You might think that after four intense years of theological study and delving into Scripture and the Catechism and papal documents and Dogmatic Constitutions and...you name it, maybe they'd say something like "Great job! Go teach stuff. You've got all you need."

No.

My professor's parting words to us were read Scripture and the Catechism every day.

Why? Don't I know Scripture and the Catechism? I went to school for it for the last 4 years. And had plenty of Catholic education before that.

But you know something? For as much as I have learned, I am still a student. And that is not just because I'm now getting my Masters in Theology.

I am still a student because I am still learning from the Master and Teacher, my Lord and God Jesus Christ.

How proud (and foolish) would I be to think I know everything there is to know about the infinite God?  Pretty foolish. And dangerously proud.

He is forever. He is infinite. And He is Teacher.

We teach what He taught. No more, and no less.  But how do we ensure that what we teach is still what He taught? By continually going back to the source and learning it anew.

In my first few weeks here, it was hard to find much time to read Scripture or the Catechism between all the registration forms and meetings.  But on the days where I have found the time (which are becoming more frequent now, for which I am grateful), I find myself much more aware of the great gift that is my Faith.  Not only that, but I am reminded of just how little I know, and just how much He wants to show me (and keep showing me).

Guido's portrait of St. Matthew the Evangelist

So far since being here I have been re-reading the Gospel of Matthew.  To return to the first delivery of the Gospel has been truly beautiful. I would say this has been unexpected, but at the same time I can't say I'm surprised by it.  After all, these life-giving words never cease to have power.  But it truly has been remarkable.  This week I have gone through the Sermon on the Mount, and it has been convicting to say the least.  When I read chapter 5 of Matthew's Gospel, it was the second time in about 2 hours that I had come across the Beatitudes that day, and it would be followed by a third time as I turned to my reading from the Catechism, which was about "Our Vocation to Beatitude."  Clearly, God was trying to tell me something.  And from the Beatitudes onward, Jesus gives us a whole new perspective of how we are to live.  For the people of His day this was earth-shattering.  It should be so for us today, too; but we often become so familiar with passages from the Bible that we can breeze over the implications for our lives.  But Jesus is saying here: "I know this is what you think it means to live for God; and some of it's true, some of it isn't, but there is so much more!! Let me show you."

A passage that really stood out to me today was Matthew 7:21-23.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast our demons in your name, and do so many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me you evildoers.'" 

It's not comfortable to put myself in that position. But the Gospel isn't meant to sit comfortably with us. It is a call to conversion.  And here I see clearly another reminder that our God is not a God of checklists.  He doesn't sit there and expect a few specific things from us, check them off, and say "Come on in!" when we reach "the pearly gates."  It goes so much deeper than that. Look at what He says to them: "I never knew you.... I never knew you."  God isn't about checklists.  He desires relationship! He longs for it.  He aches for that relationship with us.  And we can make ourselves feel good about ourselves all day by saying: "Oh, I'm a good person because I did this, that, and the other thing."  But if we can't say that we have a relationship with God, where what we do comes from a loving relationship with Him and leads to that same loving relationship with Him, how much weight do those actions have? Are they driven by love? Or are we just "checking it off the list?"

It's convicting. It's intimidating.  It doesn't sit comfortably.

But, particularly in my role as a catechist, I cannot afford to get comfortable.  Souls are on the line.  And I either know and live my faith out of a relationship with God, or I put on a show and risk facing that judgment where God might just say to me: "Look, you did all those things, but...I never knew you."  Phew! That's scary. But I couldn't be more grateful for that wake-up call, which I would not have had if I didn't take that bit of advice and make the decision today to keep learning.

To my fellow catechists, never stop learning.  Even if you only have 5-10 minutes to spare today, take some of that time to read from the Gospels or from the Catechism. Let what you read sink in a little, and look for a way that you can start living that right now.

Christ the Divine Teacher

We never really stop being students.  We are always disciples of Christ, and to be a disciple is to be a student ("disciple" comes from the Latin word for "student," discipula, discipulae).  We are Christ's students.  And to continue learning from Him is to continue returning to His Word.  May His Word be life for our souls and breath for our spirit that we may not fail Him in this essential task of catechesis.

In His Heart,
the Itinerant Catechist