Friday of the Second Week of Advent
December 14, 2007
"I the Lord, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go."
- Isaiah 48:17

I often tell people that just because I have been ordained for over a decade, wear a collar and people call me "Father" it does not mean I know what it means to be a priest. Yes, in many ways I know what it means to be a priest but in many more ways I need to learn what the priesthood is all about. The question is: "Am I teachable? Or, do I think I have arrived and there is no further room to learn?"

Remember, there is no finish line! There is no finish line in our learning and growing. We will never cross the line where there is no further room to learn. For all eternity we will grow and yet God will remain a mystery to us. That is how big our God is and that is how much exciting exploring we get to do.

Perhaps the most needed and most difficult learning we require today is in the area of our relationships. Just look at how much brokenness in relating there is around us and how much we need to be taught in the way of the Lord. Think of parents raising their children. As the first and primary teachers of their children, their vocation is to teach their children to love God and follow Christ to heaven. Consider how each child relates differently to God and how much wisdom it takes to lead their children in God's ways. Yes, infinite wisdom from God is needed! Thus, we need to be infinitely teachable.

Are you infinitely teachable? Are you constantly open to learning through prayer, church, others, circumstances etc? Or, have you crossed the finish line, mailed it in, and declared yourself "Finished"? Are you more about telling God, others and life what to do than having an attitude that you have boundless need to learn?

Let us pray to be teachable Christians: "Jesus, you are the Master Teacher. All learning comes from your voice and way of life. Help me to hear your voice and see your way of life in everything that I might imitate you. Make me infinitely teachable and lead me in the way I should go. I believe you will continue to teach me. I know there is no finish line. May the fullness of your wisdom lead me all the days of my life. Thank you, Jesus, for leading me in the way of everlasting. Amen."

We are infinitely blessed!

+ Fr. John