Living Monstrance

I had the joy and privilege to teach CCD for a year in my local parish.  I have always loved teaching, and now I was able to teach about the Lord.  It was sixth grade, a great age for teaching, and the kids were special.

Now, it was my first time “officially” teaching people about God, and I had a grandiose vision.  I put a lot of work into preparing for each class.  I regularly meditated in prayer to listen to the Lord, I adapted the text book, put together a plan for the year (OK, it changed each week), had Excel spreadsheets, and printouts from the catechism.  I brought in a friend to witness for one class, I bought some great videos to give the kids a break from my Sunday morning monotone, we covered Scripture regularly, and near the end of the year, we made a visit to the Lord in the tabernacle.  I loved it, and the kids were very special to me and the Lord, and it was a lot of work.

There was one student Kathy who had more questions than anyone else, because, well, she had a lot of questions.  See, I could tell that she didn’t have the easiest life, and I knew she was living with an uncle for now.  She had just entered the CCD program the year before, and she knew nothing about Catholicism.  But her questions were beautiful - she wanted to know God.

Often the questions were followed by more questions.  Often the questions were way out in left field.  But all year I did my best to answer her questions.  I’m thinking, “I know something must be happening.”

Finally, on the last day of class, I asked the students if they wanted to share anything about the year.  Kathy said out loud:

“I didn’t learn anything this year.”

Everyone laughed.  I even half-chuckled on the outside.

But on the inside, my heart dropped like lead.

What?!  After all that?  After all those questions, after all the hard work, and preparation, and money, and time and resources?  Nothing?!

Then, when the laughter quieted, she stopped.

“No, wait.  I learned one thing.  God lives in that box thing in the church.”

You know what?  She learned the one thing I had hoped they all learned.

What did the disciples learn from their whole experience with Jesus?  Was it new doctrine?  Not really - everything Jesus taught was already in the Old Covenant.  Was it a new way of life?  Not particularly - other zealous people of the time were going about preaching and helping others.

There was one thing that the disciples learned from their experience with Jesus: God Himself lived with them.  “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” (Jn 1:14)

Our most important truth is that Jesus lives in the tabernacle.  Let’s never forget our most important gift.  Let’s never forget that God lives in our midst.