Gospel reading: Matthew 5.17-19
[Jesus said] ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.’
Reflections
Doctors of the Church, as they are known in the Catholic Church. Teachers of the the Faith, as the Community of St Mary the Virgin in Wantage calls them. These are the saints commemorated for their significant contributions to theology or doctrine, the likes of St Augustine of Hippo and St Teresa of Avila. The hymn used by Wantage employs a metaphor from Matthew 13.52 to describe the content and style of their teaching: ‘from your rich treasure new and old things bringing.’
I am grateful for their teachings and those of many many others. But it is not only the great and the well-known, touching many lives, that are teachers. I have learnt from many others, often leading very hidden lives. Others have even learnt from me. We are all teachers, however humble our circumstances and few we reach.
There is a prerequisite. Jesus said, ‘whoever does them [down to the least of the commandments in the law] and teaches them…’ Doing comes before teaching. Or as the old model of medical teaching had it: ‘see one, do one, teach one.’ Otherwise there is a risk of hypocrisy: ‘do as I say, not as I do.’
Thinking back over my teachers, I learnt just as much, if not more, from their person as their words. Faith can only be taught if it is a lived reality in the life of the teacher, and then it is just as often ‘caught’ as ‘taught’. So maybe doing and teaching are not so distinct after all. Whatever we do is effectively a teaching to whoever sees it, for good or ill. Deeds and words.
-oOo-
Since April 2020, I have been jointly hosting a shared Lectio Divina group on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. These are my reflections only, during the prayer session and as I wrote them up. Please see my separate commentary and leaflet for more information about shared Lectio.
