In a class I was teaching there was a difficult student. After exhausting all means to get through to him I decided to talk to the teacher in charge of
the class. I suggested to her talking to the parents of the boy. However the teacher answered: “It is not going to work. I have already spoken to his mother as his father is out of picture, and the women said to me that she is too scared of her son to talk to him.” He was 15 at that time.
Sisters and Brothers in Christ!
I did feel for the mother but I also felt for the boy. He was horrible to deal with but it wasn’t an excuse for us adults to give up on providing him with integral human training. There is no doubt to me that waiting for such people to go away as soon as possible is condemning them to lack of such personal development. Of course even the best intentions of parents, school, society and the Church can achieve nothing if there is no will of cooperation from the person but it is most crucial to make it clear that such integral human training is always available when the he is ready to take it. Todays’ second reading from the Letter to Hebrews draws for us an image of God that is crucial to our personal human development so that we could become people who love prudently, make responsible decision and work decently. The reading shows us God who trains us. We call God Our Father and the passage from the Bible goes on asking us: “Has there ever been any child whose father did not train him?” Fathers give life but good fathers are responsible for the life they have given and they continue to shape the life of the children according to high standards. We call God Our Father, we acknowledge that he is the origin of our existence, can we expect that he will not be involved in training us according to his standards? The whole chapter 12 of the Letter to Hebrews is called God’s pedagogy. God is very clear on that. He will always provide us with the training that can integrally develop our humanity. Jesus’ death on the cross is a
powerful sign that God is committed to training us, even the most hopeless cases don’t discourage him. God is the best educator as he is committed to educating us all, even the difficult ones. His commitment to training us in the highest standards is clearly visible in the history of salvation. Reading the Bible we find many prophets. Almost every Sunday we hear a reading from a book written by a prophet. Prophets weren’t future tellers, wizards or magicians, they were great educators of the people. They challenge and encouraged the people to become humans fully developed, those who love prudently, make responsible decisions and work decently. Through those prophets God shaped his sons and daughters because God is in heaven but he is very realistic. What do I mean by that? Let me tell you another story. I had another a student. He was in Year 9. His Dad was working in another country. The mother left them. His father got him an apartment, paid all expenses. According to the boy his Dad trusted him and believed that each person has got a great potential for self-development. Well, I was only his teacher but what I observed without hiring a detective was made me thing that his dad was naïve or simple stupid. People like Saint Stanislaus Kostka, Aloysius Gonzaga or Theresa Lisieux don’t happen all the time. I mean the people who are so mature and determined to their development that they need little training. However they still looked for guides and educators as they had great aspirations. I said that God is realistic and it simply means that he isn’t naïve or stupid. He doesn’t leave it up to us to form, to develop ourselves but he is still offering us people and means to become people who love prudently, make responsible decisions and work decently. The role of the Church is to provide such training. It is not always welcome or appreciated but I still remember that most students in the school firmly believed that the father of the boy who paid for his apartment and stuff was the best father ever. They talked of him as the coolest father. My opinion was different. If the boy lived the life of St Stanislaus Kostka I wouldn’t worry but I did worry about his future as he wasn’t developing himself but he was deteriorating in terms of his morals, personality and work. A good parent a good educator will follow the example of God, the best of all fathers and educators. God who is wise in his judgments of us, patient but firm, caring because he is present in our development, supportive but not blind to our shortcomings. Probably there are people who would like God to be like the dad of the student of mine but it is not going to happen. That’s why we do have a big chance to become the people who love prudently, make responsible decisions and who work decently.
the class. I suggested to her talking to the parents of the boy. However the teacher answered: “It is not going to work. I have already spoken to his mother as his father is out of picture, and the women said to me that she is too scared of her son to talk to him.” He was 15 at that time.
Sisters and Brothers in Christ!
I did feel for the mother but I also felt for the boy. He was horrible to deal with but it wasn’t an excuse for us adults to give up on providing him with integral human training. There is no doubt to me that waiting for such people to go away as soon as possible is condemning them to lack of such personal development. Of course even the best intentions of parents, school, society and the Church can achieve nothing if there is no will of cooperation from the person but it is most crucial to make it clear that such integral human training is always available when the he is ready to take it. Todays’ second reading from the Letter to Hebrews draws for us an image of God that is crucial to our personal human development so that we could become people who love prudently, make responsible decision and work decently. The reading shows us God who trains us. We call God Our Father and the passage from the Bible goes on asking us: “Has there ever been any child whose father did not train him?” Fathers give life but good fathers are responsible for the life they have given and they continue to shape the life of the children according to high standards. We call God Our Father, we acknowledge that he is the origin of our existence, can we expect that he will not be involved in training us according to his standards? The whole chapter 12 of the Letter to Hebrews is called God’s pedagogy. God is very clear on that. He will always provide us with the training that can integrally develop our humanity. Jesus’ death on the cross is a
powerful sign that God is committed to training us, even the most hopeless cases don’t discourage him. God is the best educator as he is committed to educating us all, even the difficult ones. His commitment to training us in the highest standards is clearly visible in the history of salvation. Reading the Bible we find many prophets. Almost every Sunday we hear a reading from a book written by a prophet. Prophets weren’t future tellers, wizards or magicians, they were great educators of the people. They challenge and encouraged the people to become humans fully developed, those who love prudently, make responsible decisions and work decently. Through those prophets God shaped his sons and daughters because God is in heaven but he is very realistic. What do I mean by that? Let me tell you another story. I had another a student. He was in Year 9. His Dad was working in another country. The mother left them. His father got him an apartment, paid all expenses. According to the boy his Dad trusted him and believed that each person has got a great potential for self-development. Well, I was only his teacher but what I observed without hiring a detective was made me thing that his dad was naïve or simple stupid. People like Saint Stanislaus Kostka, Aloysius Gonzaga or Theresa Lisieux don’t happen all the time. I mean the people who are so mature and determined to their development that they need little training. However they still looked for guides and educators as they had great aspirations. I said that God is realistic and it simply means that he isn’t naïve or stupid. He doesn’t leave it up to us to form, to develop ourselves but he is still offering us people and means to become people who love prudently, make responsible decisions and work decently. The role of the Church is to provide such training. It is not always welcome or appreciated but I still remember that most students in the school firmly believed that the father of the boy who paid for his apartment and stuff was the best father ever. They talked of him as the coolest father. My opinion was different. If the boy lived the life of St Stanislaus Kostka I wouldn’t worry but I did worry about his future as he wasn’t developing himself but he was deteriorating in terms of his morals, personality and work. A good parent a good educator will follow the example of God, the best of all fathers and educators. God who is wise in his judgments of us, patient but firm, caring because he is present in our development, supportive but not blind to our shortcomings. Probably there are people who would like God to be like the dad of the student of mine but it is not going to happen. That’s why we do have a big chance to become the people who love prudently, make responsible decisions and who work decently.
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