Doce me, Domine

This is my first blog, and my first blog post. The name of it is Latin for "Teach me, Lord".

"Teach me" are the two words I often want to shout from the pews when I hear a "We have to love one another" or "We have to listen to God" sermon. I'm often tempted to go up to the priest after Mass and say "We gotta love one another? Wow, thanks for the tip!" But usually I just say "Thank you, Fr.", or I might wait around after and ask a question. After all, nobody's perfect, and the man did dedicate his life to serving me and others, even if imperfectly. I wonder how many people thank their priests after Mass, and how often the priests know I'm thanking them for answering the call and living out their vocation, rathter than thanking them for saying "Good morning".

I know the congregation is a diverse group of people, and homilies should be understood by the schoolkids, the grandmas, and the Ph.D s, but I think the homilies should teach, and let people know what the faith has to say to them today. I think they should get to the deeper meaning of readings, and not settle for the superficial (though important) meaning. If it is a "We must love one another" sermon, the full true meaning of love must be communicated - love when you don't get that warm fuzzy sentiment found in greeting cards, love when you know it isn't reciprocated, love when you have to do something difficult. I want the homilist to let God teach me through him in his ministry.

In one homily I remember, the priest made a wonderful contrast. The Gospel recounted the story of Zaccheus, who climbed a tree to get a better look at Jesus. The Red Sox had just won the World Series, and the news had been showing thousands of people, many college kids, flooding Kenmore Square to celebrate. There was this one moron who climbed a tree all of 10 feet tall, (You know, the kind that need stakes to keep them straight), and he was shaking it, probably trying to pull it down. Anyway, the priest made the contrast between Zaccheus, who climbed the tree to see Jesus better in the crowd, and this moron, who climbed the tree to be seen by the crowd. I hope people were listening. I hope it hit them how much of a "look at me" society we've become. This was years before MySpace became popular, before Time declared You to be the Person of the Year.

I also picked the name as an attempt at maintaining humility. In the blogosphere, and in the Catholic blogosphere, the tone can too easily and harmfully shift to arrogance and vitriol. "Teach me, Lord" is a reminder to me that I don't know it all, and that when there is something that bothers me about a Mass or parish event, God is providing me with a learning opportunity. I'm prodded to explore why it bothers me, seek the correct understanding, and think about how I would explain it to others. If anybody reading this notices my failure in humility, your admonitions would be welcome.