Catholic Education And The Grace Of Baptism

In today’s message I want to make a link between a very well known gospel story and the power that every Catholic teacher can access. Catholic education and baptism have a powerful link and once we understand it we can begin to rely increasingly on the grace that can transform each day of our Catholic education journey.

Catholic Education And The Grace Of Baptism

Well hey there everybody. Jonathan Doyle with you as always for The Catholic Teacher Daily Podcast going out to Catholic teachers all over the world. Always remember, you’re not alone. When you have a tough day, remember that there’s somebody having a tough day in a Catholic classroom somewhere in the world. Say a prayer for them because we’re all in this together. One of the most beautiful things about a Catholic school is seeing relationships and friendships grow just amongst staff, among the faculty, as people sort of pull together and really focus on bringing the kingdom of God to life in wherever they are.

Listen, today’s a short message. I want to talk to you about today’s gospel reading. So I’m recording this on a Wednesday and the reading today is that beautiful story about the King who gives his servants these talents, these wages, one gets 10, one gets five, one gets one. You know the story of course. There’s different variations of it in the gospels, but basically it’s that story where this King, this landowner gives people these talents. One gets 10, one gets five, one gets one and it’s the story about what they do with it and of course, you know the one who took that talent and doubled it was rewarded. The one who took those five talents and doubled that was rewarded, but the one who hid that talent was really not in a good place. The King was not having a good day, it didn’t go well and I was reading a commentary on it today.

I wanted to share this basic idea with you that this parable is really about the grace that God gives us and from a Catholic perspective, it’s about the grace that we get a baptism. So at the moment of baptism, when we become part of the people of God, the family of God, the moment of our baptism, there is a grace imparted into our very soul. This parable today is kind of reminding us of that grace that God gives all of us these literal talents. It’s a metaphor in the gospel, but it’s a literal, God gives us all these graces, these talents. I often say on stage that there’ll be teachers who are funny and they kind of think that they’ve just always been funny, but I’m like, no, that’s a grace. You didn’t just happen upon that. That was a gift given to you.

Some of you are really professional and you’re passionate about the discipline of the subject areas you teach. Well, that’s not accidental. That’s a grace. So the journey of the Catholic teacher, two things to think about. One, there’s a grace given to you at baptism and I said today in today’s daily email that you don’t have to go out and submit a requisition form to heaven. You don’t have to go and fill out paperwork for God and say, “Hey God, I’m now teaching and I’m doing this every day and I need your grace. I need some grace, please. Here’s the paperwork.” Because as a Catholic teacher, you got that grace at baptism. It’s there.

The question is whether or not the Holy Spirit gets a chance to elevate it and develop it and grow it. So we want to be thinking about that. So there’s this beautiful grace there for us and then really the next part of this short message is that the grace of baptism is meant to be developed. So as you go through your day teaching, look for ways to develop the skills you’ve already been given. Ask the Holy Spirit to elevate your natural gifts and be very proud of your professional skills. So really what’s going to happen is at the end of our lives, God’s going to ask us what we did with that grace.

So I look at my own life with all its many imperfections and I work pretty hard and I’ve had a chance to travel the world and speak to hundreds of thousands of people. I’d like to think, and I don’t say this with any pride, but I’d like to think at the end of my life that I will stumble over the finish line and go, “You know what? I didn’t leave much out there on the field.” That I showed up every day and tried to encourage people and tried to take the speaking skills, or the podcasting skills, or the writing skills whenever I was given that I tried to use those things and that’s all God asks of me and it’s all that he asks of you. To take these skills and graces and to bless people with them.

So look into your own heart and life now. What are the graces that God’s given you? How is he asking you to develop them in the Catholic education vocation? What’s he asking you today? Which conversation? Which class, where is he asking you to go the extra mile? Who is he asking you to reach out to? Because he’s going to ask us to take this grace and to bless people with it. All right, that’s it from me. Come and find me on Instagram, Jonathan Doyle 47. Twitter @beingcatholic1 . You just type in Being Catholic one, you’ll find me there or just search for Jonathan Doyle. Come and join our Facebook group. It’s called Passionate Catholic Teachers on Facebook.. Just type in Passionate Catholic Teachers, you’ll find us there and of course the website BeingCatholic.com.au .

You look at the going deeper tab, hit that tab because that’s going to give you a three week free trial of the Going Deeper Online Formation Program. It’s an amazing program. Hundreds of Catholic schools all over the world check that out and you can also find out about how to book me to speak or find out about how to get a copy of my book, Tools and Fuels, All right friends, God bless you. I’m going to pray with you. Father God, I thank you for every person listening right now. Wherever they are in their car, jogging, walking the dog, wherever they are listening to this right now that you’re just going to bless them, sustain them, carry them, encourage them. Holy Spirit elevate their gifts, remind them of what they’ve heard in this short message and allow them to be a source of blessing and grace for so many others. In Jesus’ name, amen. Everybody, God bless your friends. This has been The Catholic Teacher Daily Podcast. My name is Jonathan Doyle and I’m going to have another message for you tomorrow.

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One Catholic Teacher exists to inspire, encourage and support Catholic teachers around the world. Each day Jonathan Doyle offers a short dose of formation and encouragement via The Catholic Teacher Daily Podcast. Jonathan is also a global speaker and author on all issues related to Catholic Education.

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