Homily Teacher’s Day

Once upon a time, a little candle stood in a room filled with other candles, most of them
much larger and much more beautiful than she was. Some of the candles were very ornate
and delicate while some others were rather simple, like herself. Many were colored white,
some were blue, others pink, while some more others, green. This little candle had no idea
why she was in that room because the other candles made her feel rather small and
insignificant.
When the sun set and retired for the day, the room began to get dark and she noticed a
large man walking toward her with a ball of fire on a small stick. She suddenly realized that
the man was going to set her on fire. “No, no!!” she cried. “Don’t burn me, please!” But she
could not be heard and so she just prepared herself for the pain that would surely follow.
And to her surprise, the room was suddenly filled with light. She wondered where it came
from since the man had already extinguished his match stick. And to her delight, she realized
that the light came from herself.
Then the man struck another fire stick and, one by one, lit the other candles in the room.
Each one gave out that same light that she did. And during the next few hours, she noticed
that slowly, her wax began to flow. She became aware that she would soon die. And when
she realized this, she realized why she had been created: “Perhaps, my purpose on earth is to
give out light until I die,” she mused. And that’s exactly what she did.

No matter who we are, our purpose on earth is to give out the light of Christ until we die.
And our deaths is a slow one, a slow sacrificing of ourselves, of forgetting ourselves, so that
Christ may shine more through us.
We began our Eucharistic Celebration with the lighting of a candle, professing the
following:
A candle gives us light, Light represents God. Light is knowledge and goodness. A
good teacher is like a candle that consumes itself to light the way for others. It is a
guiding light towards knowledge, a pointer to the truth. God has called each one of us
to be a light to those around us.
In other words, we are all called to be teachers to one another, to be the light of Christ to
others, and today, we celebrate how our dear formators—our administrators, teachers and
office staff—have played that special role in that part of our lives spent at the Ateneo.
But let us not forget that we are all called to bring Christ’s light to others; we are all called
to be a Christ to others; we are all called to be teachers to one another. And how do we do
this? We learn from how the Lord has taught us.

Jesus himself wanted the little children to come to him that he may bless them and teach
them. Recall how he reprimanded his disciples because they restrained the kids, telling them
to let them come to him for it is to such as these that the Kingdom has been prepared. And in
today’s Gospel, Jesus adds:
I assure you, unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter the
Kingdom of God. Whoever makes himself lowly, becoming like this child, is of greatest
importance in that heavenly reign.”
 Thus, we see that humility, the willingness to learn and to be formed by the Lord
according to his values and his ways, is the very first virtue that is required of a learner.
And when we desire to be formed by the Lord, the Lord will do it if we are humble enough to
allow him to do so.
In today’s first reading, we see that right from the very beginning, the Lord has always
desired to teach and form his people according to his ways and his values. And Isaiah uses
the image of a mother nursing and caring for her young: “As nurslings, you shall be carried
in her arms, and fondled in her lap . . ..”
We too can learn from the experience of our dear Father Ignatius, when almost 500 years
ago, he retreated and prayed in a cave in Manresa and experienced the Lord as a teacher. In
his own words he says, “During that time, God behaved towards him in the same way that a
school master conducts himself with a child: he was teaching him.” Through these words we
see how Ignatius has recognized that his days in Manresa was really about a privileged
relationship with God, a relationship of teacher and learner through which Ignatius learned
more about God and which led to his conversion and transformation into a loving servant of
God. And because he had been personally taught by the Lord himself, he felt responsible to
pass on to others what he has learned. In other words, the way that Ignatius used with other
was inspired by the way that God had dealt with him.
Finally, what better way can we learn to be a teacher than to learn how the Lord has taught
us through our teachers. The American philosopher Sidney Hook once said, “Everyone who
remembers his own education remembers teachers, not methods and techniques. The teacher
is the heart of the educational system.” In other words, when we remember our days spent in
school, we remember our teachers and what they have done, how they have been a Christ to
us, rather than the knowledge and skills that they have taught us. We remember how they
showed:
 Christ’s patience and love especially in those moments that we drove them crazy
because of our lack of discipline or stubbornness;
 The Lord’s kindness and mercy when we are not able to meet deadlines or pass our
requirements;
 How much the Lord desires us to be better, to constantly work for the magis, by
holding up standards of excellence and high expectations;
 Christ’s unrelenting desire that we be saved from our sinful selves through their being
approachable and available to provide counsel - whether it's about their behavior in
class or an interpersonal dispute or a tough challenge that we must face.
 How Christ was devoted to the Father through his devotion to his mission through their
devotion to duty: planning their lessons well and coming to class to deliver them,
constructing and designing assessments and performance tasks and marking them.

Today, we celebrate the candles that have brought the light of Christ in our lives. Candles
that have taken us out of the darkness of ignorance. Candles that have enlightened and made
known to us the values and ways of Christ. We celebrate our school personnel who in their
own unique self-sacrificing and self-forgetting ways have given us the light of Christ. May
we learn from the way they have humbled themselves, so that God may be magnified and
glorified. Let us be the light of Christ to others, the way they have been the light of Christ to
us.
“I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.”
– Lily Tomlin