Sister Rita’s Religion Class Gave Her Thundering Applause!
During Sister Rita’s tenth grade religion class, Samantha asked, “Do you think Jesus was happy to come to earth, becoming a human being, and being the Messiah?” “Why do you ask?” Sister Rita inquired.
Samantha explained: “As I was reading A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, I thought about his famously quoted observation, ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.’This quote seems to fit the lives and times of God’s chosen people at the time of Jesus’ birth.”
She continued, “It seems God is about to enter a world where humans have the passion and the will to become God. While God’s passion is to become a human being to help them have a better life and an eternal future. This alone should made Jesus pause.”
Samantha said, “Would God’s creation be gracious enough to bend even a knee when they contemplate that God’s son has come to save them from creation’s deepest wounds and saving them from their greatest fears. Would they recognize that only the Lord’s son could become human and to come that far simply to save God’s creation?”
“While Dickens noted it could be London too” Samantha concluded, “It seems to better describe our world today.
Sister Rita thanked Samantha for her insights and observations. Then Sister began her response with quotes from Pope Francis’ encyclical Gaudete et Exultate: “Each baptized person has a mission, planned by the father to reflect within a certain moment of history and a certain aspect of the gospel.”
Why? Sister Rita added, “Because through our baptism we come to realize that the word is the message of Jesus: namely, that God, our father, wants us to speak to the world through our lives.”
Sounding excited by her own words, Sister Rita said, “Our unique calling becomes the word that Jesus wants us to speak to the world by our life and calling. This plays out in every relationship we are in, every encounter we have, how we use our gifts, and what we do with our time.”
God’s love does not rely on us and what we do. Rather, Sister said, “God’s offer of friendship does not depend on our significance, but solely on God’s desire for us.”
“This is how we help Jesus, Samantha.” Sister said. Then, she said: “We are his co- creators in building his kingdom. Remember this, once given and spoken, we cannot imprison the word.”
Sister finished saying, “As I said, God does not rely on us and what we do. It’s God’s choice to love us, not ours, even if it means dying in the process. When God chooses to love us, God just does. Always remember, when God offers us friendship, he does not depend on our significance, but solely on his desire for us.”
The class spontaneously applauded Sr. Rita’s response shouting: “God loves Sister Rita the best.” Even Samantha shouted her agreement with Sister’s response!
