Sermon
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Juan R. Garcia
Noah:
Luke: Luke is the only gospel writer to tell us anything about
Jesus between His infancy and His public ministry as a man. In today’s Gospel
we see the multidimensional human side of Jesus, who is learning and preparing
for his life’s calling. “After three days they found him in the temple, sitting
among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” This passage
about Jesus is amazing for two reasons: First off he was 12!! Isn’t that the age
when pre-teens and teens know it all? Secondly, the story tells us something
about the human side of Jesus. After
all, as the Son of God is he not supposed to be omniscient like his Father? Yet
God wanted Jesus to experience everything about being human, and learning from
others was part of that experience. It was how Jesus was supposed to discern
his calling in life. Like most pre-teens he is beginning the life long process
of becoming his own person, separating from his parents, and figuring out for himself
who he is going to be when he grows up. Thus in this passage we see Jesus as
the rebellious and perhaps even insensitive son, but also as someone who is
learning so that he may be about his Father’s work.
This morning the
St. Philips community is here to acknowledge ad express their appreciation to
educators. Jesus was first and foremost an educator and teacher who touched and
influenced the lives of many. This is what many educators have done as well
over the ages. But like Jesus those of us in education do not often see the
immediate results or impact of what we do. I can certainly attest to that both
from the perspective of a student and a professor. For me teaching did not
start out as a calling. It was simply a means to a paycheck until something
better came along. That changed when I was invited by Professor Julian Samora
to join his graduate program at the University of
Notre Dame.
Julian:
Julian was an amazing man, a pioneering scholar focused on
immigration, civil rights, public health and rural poverty. In 1953 he was the
first Mexican American to earn a doctorate in sociology and anthropology in the
But what struck me the most about
this modest and unassuming man, were his sincerity, integrity, and dedication
to us, his students. His teachings brought us new knowledge, but more
importantly they contained lessons about our responsibility to work for change and
reform. Whereas others had told us hat we were not good enough for the academy,
he taught us that we could achieve what ever we wanted. He also told us that we must never forget
from where we came, to be proud of who we were, and to go back to our communities
and use our new found knowledge and skills to serve and help them.
Role Model:
He was he first
teacher who was a Mexican American that I encountered throughout my entire
education. Although teaching and scholarship was not something I thought about
making my life long work, and in fact had been told repeatedly by guidance
counselors and others that I would be better served by learning a trade, it was
Julian’s teaching and mentoring, and his wife Betty’s loving
support, that inspired me to pursue a higher degree. Therefore for me the path
I chose became a calling—one that I have used to continue the legacy that he
bestowed on me.
Imparting lessons:
One of the realities about my profession is that
we do not often see the results or impact of our work with students. But I know
that sometimes our teaching and mentoring have a profound and lasting influence
on young people, many of who have gone on to accomplish amazing and wonderful
things. An example . . .
Eleanor Roosevelt: Her early life experience
and the many tragedies that befell her before the age of 10.
But just as Ms. Souvestre and Eleanor’s other
teachers at Allenswood Academy influence on her did not emerge until many years
after they taught her, and Julian’s profound influence on me and the others
whom he touched did not manifest itself until many years later, I have come to
believe that I, too, can make a difference in the lives of students not by
teaching them facts and dates, but by working to impart to them the lessons of
the past. If they leave my class with a better understanding
of their history and of themselves, then that is reward enough for me.
Luke:
Now to return momentarily to today’s Gospel. In
looking at teaching we should remember that Jesus was first and foremost a teacher.
But in today’s reading he is the pupil and student who went to the
But what strikes me most about this passage is
that although he was the Son of God, he allowed his human side to take center
stage in his education. That is in this passage we do not see the omniscient
Jesus but human Jesus who came to learn from others. This is a lesson that has
been important to me, as I have grown into my role as a Professor. I started
out believing that I knew everything and that I needed to know all the answers
as a professor. Thank goodness that changed over time as I came to realize that
it was not necessary to know all the answers or to always be the sage on the
stage. What I learned was that if Jesus had been a willing learner then I, too,
should set aside my ego and my arrogance and my need to be
omniscient and take the opportunity to continue to grow and learn from others,
including the students I teach.
Therefore, interacting with students in and
outside the classroom continues to influence my growth and development by the
questions they ask. Those questions often lead me to re-examine my own
assumptions and understandings. In fact I sometimes believe that I have learned
more from them than they have from me.
An example of this is when a student came to my
office one day and asked me what happened to Mr. Jones. Up until that point I
thought that the punch line had fully delivered the message. But now it made me
want to respond to her question and find out what happened
to Mr. Jones.
Closing:
And so, in
closing, this is what happened to Mr. Jones. Well he, too, loved to teach and
after his experience that night he acquired a greater sense of humility, coming
to understand that we always have more to learn. So he took a position
at