It is that time of year when students go back to school. Yes, it may look a little different this year. Let us pray for all students, teachers, and staffs that it goes well. In addition, we should remember that all of us are students, our school year is never out of session, and our teacher is out of this world. Of course, I’m talking about that we are always called to be disciples of Jesus.
According to Scott Hahn’s Catholic Bible Dictionary, “A disciple is a student or follower who emulates the example set by a master and seeks to identify with the master’s teachings.” In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus speaks to His disciples about His upcoming passion, essentially tells them they need to think like God does not as human beings do, and that the requirements to be a disciple are they too must take up their crosses and deny themselves. Jesus is a challenging teacher to follow! But we can easily see Jesus is not simply satisfied to pass on facts and bits of knowledge, but also to form us on how to think and act. That is the beauty and blessing of Catholic education! Our schools strive to teach not only the basic subjects, but also to form students in faith, prayer, and virtue—how to think and act.
All of us need to grow and be formed in the likeness of Jesus our master. We can always do this on our own through prayer, spiritual reading, and watching/listening to content like FORMED.org. The parish is also offering much even during this pandemic. Our RCIA (Rite of Catholic Initiation for Adults) began this week, so it is certainly not too late to invite someone to learn more about being Catholic. Now is the time to sign up your children for the School of Religion. We have a Called and Gifted workshop coming here Sept. 12. We also have hopes to help create many small groups to foster faith discussions. And there is always more.
We are never done being disciples of Jesus, not even in Heaven. We will continue to get to know God and to love God more and more. How could we ever take in all of God who is infinite, all-knowing, all-powerful? But it all starts now. So let us get to know Jesus more and more and seek to follow Him in all that we do. School is in session for all of us!