Dear Christ the King Family,
This time of the year is such an exciting one as we begin a new school year and welcome back our students at Christ the King School! In the midst of preparation, I have found myself reminiscing on my own experiences as a student at the start new school years. Certainly, there was a little bit of sadness in the “freedom” of summertime coming to a close, but overall I remember feeling each year so much anticipation and excitement to see my friends more regularly, to be one grade older, and to learn so many new things!
Like our students today, I remember receiving a letter from the school in the mailbox sometime in August that would say who my new teacher would be for the upcoming year. This would spark a flurry of conversation among my friends in the neighborhood and across town in our final weeks of summer break. We’d call each other on the phone to see if we had the same teacher, and we’d compare our teacher assignments: “You have Mrs. Cassell? She’s so nice, my older brother had her for 3rd grade and he said she was awesome!” “Oh, you have Mrs. Glennon? I heard she’s kind of strict…” (Mrs. Cassell was, in fact, incredibly kind and an awesome 3rd grade teacher, so my experience matched the reviews! And I remember hearing that comment from a friend about Mrs. Glennon and feeling a little nervous for 5th grade…but then she turned out to be one of the greatest teachers in my life!) The funny thing was, we’d each have our premonitions about our new teachers based on what we heard from others, but none of that would really matter when we got to experience that new teacher for ourselves and build a relationship over the course of the school year.
In light of today’s Gospel, you can probably connect the dots already with where I am going here! Jesus asks his disciples first, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” and they give Him a flurry of responses. Jesus doesn’t stop there, though, as if His identity like so many things in our world today only depends on how many ‘5-star reviews’ or ‘likes’ He receives from others. Jesus asks more importantly, “But who do you say that I am?” Our Lord isn’t concerned with what we think that others think about Him, so much as who we know Him to be and what we personally think about Him. In other words, Jesus seeks a true and deeply personal relationship with each of us, and none of us can adequately answer that question unless we get to know Him for ourselves. What other people said about my teachers each year paled in comparison to my own experiences with them…sometimes it was helpful and other times not so much. And while hearing what others say about Jesus can certainly be helpful for us in our faith journey, it also pales in comparison to the opportunity to know God and know Jesus Christ on a deeply personal level—and thanks be to God we receive so many opportunities to know Him in our personal prayer, in receiving His Living Word in Scripture, and in His Living Presence in the Sacraments! I pray that it is a blessed school year for each of our students and teachers and that, as you get to know each other throughout the year and grow together, so too may you grow in encountering Jesus Christ and knowing His eternal love for each of us.
In Christ, Our King,
Fr. David
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