This semester I’ve started teaching Sunday school at St. Columbkille’s Catholic Church with a few other BC students. This has been a blessing as God has been able to work through me to (hopefully) teach the Catholic faith in a way that is persuasive, joy-filled, memorable, and intelligent for the next generation of followers of Christ.
The use of analogies has been key in proclaiming the truth of the Gospel, as many of these kids need to refer to everyday things and events in order to understand complex theological truths that are not apparent to sense experience (for example, the three states of water to describe the Holy Trinity). A wise man once said that one only knows a subject well if he can explain it successfully to someone who has no background in it, and, though there are some exceptions, this idea is key in properly teaching CCD.
Moreover, preparing lessons for the kids has allowed me to return to the basics of the faith that grounds my life and worldview. I can ponder the metaphysics and nature of grace that St. Augustine, Bañez, and Molina posit during my advanced philosophy course, but if I don’t live to receive grace by knowing and accepting the Sacraments (which I’ve been teaching about for the last month), then ‘I regard it all as rubbish’ (cf. Phil. 3:8).
I recently watched again the timeless film A Man for All Seasons, which depicts the later life and death of the great Saint Thomas More of England. This holy man initially advised his friend Richard Rich, who would become the film’s chief villain and traitor, to become a teacher. When Rich pushed back asking who would know it, worried about the lack of fame and prestige, St. Thomas More said, “You; your pupils; your friends; God. Not a bad public, that.” The center of the universe is where God is since the universe is relative to God Himself, its transcendent Creator and Sustainer. Therefore, the center is in chapels and churches where the Holy Eucharist is, but since humans need instruction to realize this truth and many others about God, ourselves, and the universe, the groundwork for being at-home in the center, is the classroom and the home, where reason orders reality according to objective Truth Himself. The greatest problem of the modern world, promoted aggressively by Sir Francis Bacon, is that it’s become artificially designed to conform to the exterior, subjective passions of men through technological progress brought about by manipulating nature. Instead, the world should be known as a mystical symbol for truth, beauty, and goodness that man sees fully when he subjects his soul and mind to the Truth that has all these traits infinitely and is beyond nature.
I’ve learned that teaching can be frustrating, too, particularly when a kid doesn’t want to listen to what you’re saying or his heart has grown cold towards the wisdom of God. But, as I’ve heard and tried to practice many times in my pro-life ministry, “We do our best, leave to God the rest, and wait in peace.”
Max Montana is a senior studying philosophy and theology. When not writing for The Torch, he enjoys reading more about the Catholic faith and philosophy, serving the unborn and mothers in need, and hanging out with friends. Max is honored to hail from the state with many gators and the bishop of the moon: Florida.
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