Homily for 10 May 2018

10 May 2018

(School Mass)

Around this time of the year, students are ready to be done with school.  You’ve been working hard since September, and it’s time for a break.  Just imagine how the high school seniors must feel...another three weeks and they’ll never have to go to school again, if they don’t want to.

But, you know, when it comes to being a “student” of Jesus, we’re always “in school.”  We don’t get a summer vacation from being a disciple of Jesus.  And that’s because as long as we’re living life and having new experiences, there’s always something for us to learn.  Jesus our Teacher is always trying to open our minds up.

Our challenge, though, is to let him teach us about...everything: life, friendships, nature, heaven, God...everything.  The challenge is to let Jesus be our Teacher.  But sometimes he’s going to say things that we just don’t understand.

Now, in the gospel, we see Jesus being the Teacher.  And, you know, the disciples had no idea what he was talking about.  They were totally confused.  That doesn’t mean they were stupid; it just means they were trying to figure something out—something Jesus was trying to teach them.  But the important thing is that, even though they didn’t understand, they still let Jesus be their Teacher.

That’s a little different than what happened in the Acts of the Apostles, however.  When Saint Paul was preaching...and teaching in the name of Jesus...some people didn’t understand, and so they just stopped listening.  They decided they didn’t want Jesus to be their Teacher.  And so, Jesus couldn’t teach them...anything.  It’s not because they were stupid; it’s because they closed their minds.

So our challenge is to always let Jesus be our Teacher, to keep our minds open to what he has to say—even if we don’t understand what he’s saying.  After all, Jesus is the Lord of Life.  And if we want to really experience life, we want him as our guide and teacher—not just during the school year, but in every day, throughout the whole year.  Jesus, be our Teacher today and always!