Transformative Teachers

Appreciating those called to the vocation of teaching

09/19/2024

Lk 6:39-42 Jesus told his disciples a parable: "Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,' when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother's eye."

It wasn’t until I got to high school that I learned that not all teachers are created equal. Some teachers I loved a lot while other teachers I loved…um, not a lot. I am 55 years old now and I can still remember some of the lessons they taught us boys at Catholic High School in Little Rock. For example, I will never forget my world history teacher, Mr. Marczuk. He spoke a mile a minute, and it was impossible to take notes and write down everything he said, but he made every class super entertaining.

Whenever he talked about the Danube River in Europe, he would make a fist and say with great authority “The Mighty Danube”! Why? Well, because it practically crosses the entire European continent. Today I make a fist whenever I think of “The Mighty Danube.” But because he talked so fast, he would not notice a small spit wad that was growing larger and larger on the edge of his mouth. One day a student in the front row brought an umbrella to class and opened it, because sometimes the spit wad would fly through the air and hit some poor student.

Another teacher all us students universally admired was Mr. Wells. He taught like Mr. Keating in the movie “Dead Poet’s Society” – very unorthodox (like standing on his desk), but also very effective. One day he told us there is no sense in using deodorant on our armpits to stop sweating. He explained that only causes the sweat to come out on top of your shoulders. I leaned over to a friend and asked, “Is that true?” He shrugged, “I don’t know, dude.”

Another day a bee was buzzing around the classroom and distracting everyone. Mr. Wells scolded us saying, “Stop squealing like little girls! If it comes near you, just stare at the bee and say, ‘If you sting me, you die. If you sting me, you die’” Apparently, if a bee loses its stinger it dies a very short time later. We learned some very memorable lessons in Mr. Wells English class, even if most of it was not about English.

But the best lessons were taught in Fr. Tribou’s sex education class. One day he said, “Boys, French-kissing a girl is like using someone else’s toothbrush.” I felt like, “Ugh, that’s gross.” Now wonder I decided to become a priest! My point is that not all high school teachers are cut from the same cloth. Some teachers touch our lives deeply, and leave a lasting impact. But some rare teachers totally transform our lives forever.

In the gospel today, Jesus also talks about the importance and impact of great teachers. He teaches his own disciples (by the way, disciple means student): “No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.” Of course, Jesus is not mainly talking about studying subjects like math, or chemistry, or calculus, but rather about religion.

I understand that today religion may not seem very important or practical to you, but in the end religion will be the only subject that will matter. Why do you think all these old people are going to church all the time? They have finally figured out that religion is the most important subject to study. Wouldn’t it be great if you figured that out before you get old?

And by the way, do you know who is your real religion teacher here at OCA? It’s not anyone listed on the OCA website, rather, it is Jesus Christ himself, and his classroom is this church. We could say his textbook is the Bible, and his laboratory is this altar, where we witness the greatest experiment on earth: namely, the transformation – or better the transubstantiation – of mere bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ! Let me see you do that in your chemistry lab!

The most important line in today’s gospel is when Jesus says: “No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained every disciple will be like his teacher.” That is, once our education in the faith is complete – and our final exam will be the state of our souls when we die – we will be like Jesus, the Son of God. Get that: we mere mortals will be like God. St. Athanasius said it best back in the 4th century: “The Son of God became a son of man so that sons of men could become sons of God.”

In other words, the real laboratory of Jesus’ religion class is not only this altar where he changes bread and wine into his Body and Blood, but the altar of the world, where he changes you into himself. “When fully trained the disciple will be like his Teacher.” All teachers try to touch our lives and make them better. But only One Teacher can transform our lives forever.

Praised be Jesus Christ!