Back to school

Yesterday was not only the first day of September.  It was also the first day back to work for teachers who are preparing for the return of students to the classroom on Tuesday of next week.

Last year, I accepted an invitation to celebrate Mass with the staff of one of the local high schools at the beginning of the first day back to work.  This allowed them to set the tone for their commitment to living faith in the corridors of their school, so much so that they invited me to return yesterday for a 'repeat performance'.

As it turns out, the scripture passages proper to the liturgy for September 1 of this year included the call of Jesus 'Duc in altum ... Put out into deep water ...'  What a wonderful piece of advice for the teachers who had gathered for this moment of prayer!  The reflection I shared with them went something like this:

Last night, I arrived home just in time to see the 10:00pm news.  One of the first items spoke of the death of Wade Belak, a well-known NHL player.  This was not the first, but rather the third report in recent months of Hockey personalities having been discovered dead.  As I listened, I couldn't help thinking that Mr. Belak and other NHL players are the modern-day heroes for many of our young people.

In just a few days' time, students will walk through the doors of this school to begin another academic year.  They will bring with them the dreams and adventures lived over the past couple of months, and they will also bring with them the experience of some of their heroes having met 'unexplained' tragedies.  The task of helping them to understand these realities (if understanding such realities is at all possible), will fall to you, the first people these students will see when they walk through these doors.  Will you accept the responsibility to be examples of faith and hope for them?

In the first reading we heard today, Paul speaks to the Christians at Collosae, telling them 'from the day we heard about you, we do not cease praying for you'.  Students who come through these doors next week will very possibly look to you for words and encouragement such as this.  They need to know that you too pray for them, that you too continue to love them with the love of Christ, that your faith can be strong enough to help them face the trials that today's world puts in their paths.

Today's gospel passage also provides some interesting observations and points of departure for our prayer.  I have always pictured this particular scene, Jesus on the shore of the Sea of Geneseret, as being crowded, literally being pushed into the water because of the crowd that had gathered.  What did this crowd come to hear?  There must have been some report about his wisdom .. perhaps the possibility of a miracle ... to peak their interest.  Students will look to you too for wisdom, for guidance, and perhaps even for miracles.  Certainly, teachers today have a place of great honour in the eyes of the students who will sit before you.  You also have a great responsibility: to share faith with them, to help them to discover the importance of faith in their own lives, to help them to encounter Jesus in their daily lives, and to learn how to live lives of faith.
 
Jesus was so crowded on the beach that day that he had to enlist the help of Simon, one of the fishermen who had recently returned from a night of unfruitful angling.  At times, you too will be called upon to be creative about the ways you enlist the help of those around you in order to speak the good news of faith to today's world.
 
I'm not sure that Simon was too enthused about taking Jesus out into the water, but what's important is that he did it.  There will be days in the coming months when you will be excited to enter these doors, and there will be other days when you will want to be anywhere else BUT here.  What's important though is that you are here, ready to share your gifts, to allow the Lord to use you as instruments of his presence, his mercy, his love.
 
After the teaching was complete, Jesus wanted to reward Simon, so he invited him to put out into the deep and to let down the nets for a catch.  Peter must have thought that Jesus was nuts.  It would have been already about 10:00am, and fishermen would never be caught out on the water in the heat of the sun, much less would they even try to catch fish at a time of the day when most of them would be seeking cooler, deeper water rather than being found anywhere near the surface.  Here again, Peter (Simon's other name), did eventually follow Jesus' advise, and as it turns out, he was richly rewarded for his decision.
 

Will you listen for the voice of Jesus in the early hours of the mornings, especially the ones when you might be tempted to grumble about students who try you?  Will you be able to hear his invitation to put out into the deep, and to let down the nets for a catch?

 

For the sake of the students who will walk through these doors next week, dare to listen for this voice.  Dare to pay attention to its call to be people of faith.  Dare to seek out opportunities to be examples of faith and belief each day as you walk these corridors, as you stand before a classroom of inquiring eyes, as you find yourself in frustrating situations, as you go about forming the minds and hearts of the leaders of tomorrow.