St. Pope John Paul II wrote "I plead with you--never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid." In today's culture, we are faced with a number of challenges to religious education: secularism, religious indifference, adults who become disengaged in church and do not place their children in religious education programs.
Jared Dees in his book, 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator, said that first, we must be good disciples, following and learning from Christ. We have to have a passion for learning the content of our faith, spend time in prayer, experience the sacraments, strive to live a moral life and participate in our communities of faith.
The second step is to be a better servant, following Jesus' command to love as he loved. We have to recognize our students' needs and strengths. The third step is to become a better leader. We follow Jesus' example by examining our practical skills of leadership: classroom organization, discipline and motivation. Finally, Jesus showed us how to be better teachers. He was multi-dimensional, using words, signs, and wonders to teach others. We use stories, our Faith of the Mountain textbooks, projects, music, lesson plans and class activities. We all should be witnesses to the Gospel. Think about the following:
- Make a list of the reasons why you are teaching.
- What lessons about God would you want your students to hear the most?
- What beliefs do your students struggle with the most?
- What is a spiritual practice that your students could benefit from the most?
- If you could help your students make a change in their lives, what would it be?
- What aspects of the faith are the missing most in their lives?
November's Going Deeper Article
What is your Second Nature? by Dr. Anne Borik
What is your ‘second nature’? For some it might be kindness and hospitality, for others it might be joy, laughter and humor. For Mother Teresa, her ‘second nature’ was love and mercy. She was able to see the face of Christ in every person she met and extend love and mercy to them without even thinking about her own health or safety. For St. Sharbel, his ‘second nature’ was prayer and deep love for God. He was in complete union with God every step and breath of his life!
One’s ‘second nature’ stems from within and is beyond comprehension. As Christians, our ‘second nature’ should be our automatic response in any given situation powered by the Holy Spirit. Each situation might be different, but our response must be consistent in order for it to be considered ‘second nature’.
Let us look deeper at what our ‘second nature’ is by turning to Galatians 5:22, against which there is no law. The Fruit of the Holy Spirit is love. God is Love
(1 John 4:8) and from love all other qualities grow such as joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It is important to realize that in Scripture it says the Fruit of the Spirit, not Fruits. Therefore, we must always respond with love, which is then manifested in the different qualities stated above. My ‘second nature’ response may manifest itself as patience while another person’s ‘second nature’ response may be gentleness, but regardless, we must always respond with love.
Once these seeds are planted, as is the case when we are baptized, it is then our job to grow in the Spirit so that they become ‘second nature’. To grow in the Spirit is to grow in relationship with Jesus, with others and even with our self. A simple way to remember this is the word JOY…
J = JESUS
Love, Joy and Peace come through a strong relationship with Jesus.
O= OTHERS
Patience, Kindness and Goodness are qualities that are strengthened through healthy relationship with others.
Y= YOURSELF
Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control are qualities that are strengthened within oneself.
In conclusion, as Christians, it is important for us to take note of who or what is growing in our lives. How do we respond in a given situation? What is our ‘second nature’? If it is not love, then we must consider re-fertilizing the soil within so that His seeds of joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control grow and overtake any outside weeds that might be strangulating our ability to love!
