A world where education is stripped of religious and spiritual meaning quickly becomes a functionalist technocracy where knowledge is place purely at the service of utility and power. In today’s message I want to talk about how the work you do each day has a powerful, transformative and desperately needed impact upon culture.
Transcript
Well, Hey everybody.
Speaker:Jonathan Doyle with you.
Speaker:Once again.
Speaker:Welcome aboard friends to the Catholic teacher daily podcast,
Speaker:new listeners, regular listeners.
Speaker:Thanks for tuning back in hoping and bringing you some encouragement today
Speaker:in this, uh, Unique special vocation.
Speaker:What an incredible thing it is that we lose sight of just to be.
Speaker:The presence.
Speaker:Of Christ in the life of a young person on a daily basis.
Speaker:Not perfect, not getting it right.
Speaker:And every single interaction.
Speaker:But by grace, by faith, by sacrament, by scripture, we slowly grow into the image.
Speaker:Of the one that we seek to serve.
Speaker:And the one whom we seek to inculcate into the lives of young people.
Speaker:That's a good word.
Speaker:Isn't it?
Speaker:To form, to form other Christs in the lives of young people so that the
Speaker:father looks down and sees in his sons and daughters, the image of his son.
Speaker:I just jumped straight into the theology there.
Speaker:Didn't I.
Speaker:And that's good because today we're going to go deep on the
Speaker:theology with today's quote.
Speaker:And remember if you're not getting the daily quote, please come
Speaker:across to one Catholic teacher.com.
Speaker:And there's tons of signup boxes there.
Speaker:So we can get to the daily quote, or you could just email me direct
Speaker:jonathan@onecatholicteacher.com and we'll get you on the list.
Speaker:So today,
Speaker:I went digging.
Speaker:I spent some time as I do when I'm looking for good quotes on the Vatican website.
Speaker:Is like.
Speaker:You know, it's just like the Vatican website.
Speaker:You know, it's like the 1980s called and we'd like their website back.
Speaker:It's just, wow.
Speaker:It's a, it's probably easier to, harder to navigate than Roman backstreets.
Speaker:But anyway,
Speaker:Today, uh, I found a great quote from Pope Benedict the 16th.
Speaker:And, uh, you know, as some of you would be aware, maybe some of you aren't, you.
Speaker:You know, Benedict is, is really a utterly towering theologian.
Speaker:Sitting on my desk here in the studio, I've actually got a copy of his Jesus
Speaker:of Nazareth, which for me has been a little bit like Stephen Hawking's
Speaker:famous book, a brief history of time.
Speaker:I don't know how many of you are familiar with that book?
Speaker:Uh, from Stephen Hawking, but the joke is that it's the greatest book, never
Speaker:read, you know, when it came out.
Speaker:Huge numbers of people bought it.
Speaker:And, uh, kind of didn't get into it and it sort of sat there.
Speaker:So the Pope Benedict books, his book, Jesus of Nazareth is, is different.
Speaker:And her putting it in that same kind of unread category, but it's one of
Speaker:those books that I've, uh, opened and reopened and reopened multiple times.
Speaker:And it's on my list to get all the way through.
Speaker:But it's, you know, as a theologian, he's just extraordinary.
Speaker:The a, it isn't that interesting, just how God gives men and
Speaker:women different vocations.
Speaker:Um, you know, he, uh, you know, he was often criticized for not being, you know,
Speaker:sort of maybe as warm and fuzzy as people might've liked at key times, but, uh,
Speaker:you know, he never wanted to be Pope.
Speaker:I mean, I'm not sure how many Pope's do.
Speaker:He was a professor.
Speaker:He wanted to be left alone to read and study and write.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:In a funny what God does in our lives.
Speaker:I mean, first he gives all of us these incredible gifts.
Speaker:And remember that in God's eyes, your gifts.
Speaker:I know different to Pope Benedict.
Speaker:So it's not as if God goes.
Speaker:You know, some of the Trinity's up there saying, you know, when I look at
Speaker:Ben victim in how good is he seriously?
Speaker:What a theologian.
Speaker:And he's looking at us going.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, they're, they're, they're teaching and it's okay.
Speaker:It's not how it works.
Speaker:It's fascinating that in God's economy, All the gifts that he gives us.
Speaker:I just as precious as, as each others, you know, varying gifts.
Speaker:So always remember that that you're called.
Speaker:You might be called to be a global theologian.
Speaker:I've definitely got listeners who are who've written fantastic books on Catholic
Speaker:educational theology and practice.
Speaker:But it doesn't matter.
Speaker:Because today Pope Benedict is not going to be in your classroom.
Speaker:You know, he's, uh, he's in the papal apartments there.
Speaker:He's retired.
Speaker:He's very old now.
Speaker:So he's not going to be having influence on your students today,
Speaker:except perhaps through this quote.
Speaker:So you're placed in there today.
Speaker:And so, uh, in God's eyes, what you're going to do in your classroom today.
Speaker:Is as important as entity, any of, you know, what Benedict wrote in his theology.
Speaker:Some people find that hard to believe they go.
Speaker:Now it's much more important.
Speaker:You know, he was writing to the global church.
Speaker:I'm just deeply convinced God, doesn't say it that way.
Speaker:And one way I try and argue that is I go, you know, I've got three kids.
Speaker:And, you know, they all have different talents.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And it's not as if I look at one of my kids, who's might be good at X.
Speaker:You know, I'll give you an example.
Speaker:I take one of my daughters surfing every Saturday.
Speaker:And she's getting really good at it.
Speaker:You know, she's physically been strong and, and, uh, she really enjoys it.
Speaker:And then other.
Speaker:Others of my kids, other of my kids.
Speaker:Well, some of my other children.
Speaker:I'm not into it.
Speaker:They just don't have that particular interest or gift.
Speaker:So, but they do other things.
Speaker:So do you think I look at one of them and go, well, that's the most amazing gift.
Speaker:You're great.
Speaker:I love you 10 times more than your brother or sister, because your gift is just
Speaker:much, much more interesting and cool.
Speaker:Of course I don't, you know, all the parents listening know that if
Speaker:you've ever had a child hand, you.
Speaker:You know, crayon drawing.
Speaker:I mean, did you hand it back and say really?
Speaker:That's that's it.
Speaker:That's all you have for me.
Speaker:Is this.
Speaker:Crayon drawing.
Speaker:I mean, seriously, go back.
Speaker:Start again.
Speaker:I want to, I want to see the Sistine chapel ceiling by 5:00 PM.
Speaker:We don't do that.
Speaker:And I think that, uh, you know, scripture tells us, you know, Jesus is talking
Speaker:about, you know, he says, if you've, if you father is wicked, as you are, know
Speaker:how to give your children good gifts, how much more will your heavenly father
Speaker:give the holy spirit to those who ask?
Speaker:So he's in the business of giving gifts.
Speaker:And he's not really in the business of ranking them.
Speaker:He's just in the business of blessing.
Speaker:And he's really excited about the work that you're doing.
Speaker:Anyway.
Speaker:I digress.
Speaker:Huh?
Speaker:Regular listeners.
Speaker:Now I get a bit excited.
Speaker:Sometimes I always come in the studio really early and my caffeine intake is
Speaker:usually a peak velocity around this time.
Speaker:So, let me share this with you.
Speaker:This is from an audience that, um, Pope Benedict gave in, uh,
Speaker:on the 25th of April in 2009.
Speaker:And he was talking to a large collection of.
Speaker:Catholic religious education teachers.
Speaker:So listen to this, I'm going to just flesh this out.
Speaker:He said, The religious dimension of education is in fact intrinsic to culture.
Speaker:It contributes to the overall formation of the person.
Speaker:And makes it possible to transform knowledge into wisdom of life.
Speaker:Your service, dear friends.
Speaker:Fits precisely into this fundamental crossroads.
Speaker:Now, like a lot of Benedict's writing, there's so much depth and he I'm just
Speaker:going to try and spin through it quickly.
Speaker:First line, the religious dimension of education is in fact intrinsic to culture.
Speaker:It's essential to culture it's embedded in culture.
Speaker:If you remove the religious dimension of education.
Speaker:Then education becomes nothing other than a collection of datum.
Speaker:And, you know, facts to be mastered and.
Speaker:Placed at the service of subduing the world and having power over it.
Speaker:And again, that's why we get this very technocratic, functionalist
Speaker:society that we live with.
Speaker:We live in that is high on pleasure and utility, but low on metaphysical,
Speaker:beauty and mystery and wonder.
Speaker:So he's reminding us here that.
Speaker:That imbuing, our teaching and our subjects with a religious
Speaker:dimension of wonder of, or of the awareness of God's gifted gift to us
Speaker:changes culture it's central to it.
Speaker:So I guess at the simplest level, imagine a culture with no
Speaker:metaphysical, um, transcendent, contemplative, Catholic dimension.
Speaker:It's a functionalist culture.
Speaker:It's a culture it's like Marxist scientific materialism.
Speaker:It sees the cosmos is nothing other than a random, uh, arrangement of
Speaker:atoms to be used in whatever way.
Speaker:Maximizes human utility.
Speaker:So we're talking about something different here.
Speaker:He says it contributes to the overall formation of the person
Speaker:that makes it possible to transform knowledge into wisdom of life.
Speaker:So this is basically reminding us that Catholic religious education
Speaker:and by religious education.
Speaker:It can be just as true for mathematics sciences.
Speaker:That we can imbue that religious aspect that what we're doing
Speaker:is we're shaping the person.
Speaker:And we're helping them take knowledge and facts.
Speaker:And transforming those knowledge and facts into a wisdom of life.
Speaker:So a way of seeing reality, a way of seeing people, a way
Speaker:of seeing the physical cosmos.
Speaker:So that, you know, that we that's managing, you know, Catholic scientists
Speaker:who have wisdom Catholic men and women.
Speaker:In medicine and law and politics who see the world, the knowledge
Speaker:that they've gained is formed them into a particular vision of life.
Speaker:So he's reminding us in the end here.
Speaker:He says, dear friends, this fits precisely into this fundamental crossroads.
Speaker:So he's reminding us of this interplay between, uh, education
Speaker:and data and a religious element that then shapes culture.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:Don't you think that's a significant thing to do with your life?
Speaker:I think that's an extraordinary thing to do with your life.
Speaker:So as you go back into the classroom, Uh, today, tomorrow
Speaker:morning, whenever you hearing this.
Speaker:The smallest.
Speaker:Level of spiritual religious instruction and filtering as you teach.
Speaker:You know, if you're teaching science, it's like, isn't it just
Speaker:simply teaching younger children.
Speaker:Isn't it amazing that God's structured the universe this way?
Speaker:Isn't it incredible that he's done this?
Speaker:And giving them this constant filter, you know, those of you teaching or
Speaker:literature or music, you know, my, my son is really enjoying his, his music at
Speaker:school and really likes his music teacher.
Speaker:And he's learning a love for music through that.
Speaker:And, uh, you know, we're doing stuff at home to reinforce that and teaching
Speaker:them about beauty and harmony and music.
Speaker:So there's all these opportunities for you out there.
Speaker:I'm going to wrap up now because.
Speaker:Again, a bit excited and I want to get you out there and get you back into it.
Speaker:So listen, thank you so much for what you're doing.
Speaker:I say it every day, but being encouraged.
Speaker:Be inspired to, uh, to go out there, go deeper into prayer,
Speaker:allow the holy spirit to guide this phenomenal work that you're doing.
Speaker:And, uh, housekeeping.
Speaker:Look, just make sure you've subscribed to the podcast.
Speaker:I'd love it.
Speaker:If you could share this with some people.
Speaker:And, um, yeah, please make sure if you want to subscribe to the daily, just
Speaker:email me, jonathan@jonathandoyle.co.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:You all right?
Speaker:Uh, God bless your friends.
Speaker:It's a joy to do this.
Speaker:Get out there.
Speaker:Allow the holy spirit to just use your powerfully as I'm sure the holy spirit
Speaker:already is my name's Jonathan Doyle.
Speaker:This has been the Catholic teacher daily podcast.
Speaker:And i'll have another message for you tomorrow
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