After 23 years, I finally got to meet Mr. A., a St. Pat's High School teacher legend, in person.
Brandon Angelo was my predecessor as Religion Teacher at St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School in Vallejo, CA, where I taught for 4 years. During that time, I had about 500-600 students formally registered as my students. Some time after I left to finish my dissertation, he then returned to St. Pat's for a bit and then left again. Both of us left St. Pat's to finish grad school. But both of us were grateful for our time there.
There was one thing he said that stuck with me. He talked about how we planted seeds with young minds. I agreed and pondered the awesomeness of teaching teenagers. We then talked about how we still remember our students, and I could see the joy in his eyes as we reminisced about them and even old teacher colleagues like Mr. Lastoski and Mr. Black. One student that particularly brought us great delight was Jonathan Biascan (SPSV Class of 2001).
It is planting seeds as teachers but especially as teachers of the Faith that gave us great joy. What a privilege that God has given us! I've also had the joy of helping students even into their adulthood and their own families in different ways.
As former SPSV Religion teachers, we also got to talk about a variety of other things: the high school, old colleagues like Chuck Ross who was one of my mentors, family and fatherhood, and life.
In that 30 minutes or so that we chatted, I felt alot in common with him. It brought back old memories. I have considered him an ally in the spiritual war against evil since I first heard of him in 1998, as his reputation preceeded him. And my brief time with him only solidified that.
My one regret is that I did not meet him sooner.
As high school teachers, Mr. A. and I have felt really blessed.
When reflecting on the dignity and call of being a teacher, I am reminded of a story about St. Peter meeting 4 people in Heaven. St Peter asked the 4 why he should let them through the Pearly Gates.
The first person said, "Well, I entered the medical profession, saved lives, protected patients' rights, and healed people." St Peter said, "Welcome!"
The second person said, "I was a businesswoman who helped people put food on their table, kept their water running, and helped people get a roof over their heads." St. Peter said, "Welcome!"
The third person said, "I was a talented musician and artist and brought joy to sad people and lifted up their hearts to inspirational things." St. Peter said, "Welcome!"
St. Peter then asked the fourth person, "Have you got anything to say? I've been waiting patiently for an answer." The fourth person stood there and kept thinking and thinking and thinking. After a while, the fourth person eventually said, "I really can't think of anything great. But do you see those 3 people that just spoke? Well, I was their teacher."
POST-SCRIPT (added on 3/25/2023)
How I react whenever I run into a former student that calls me "Mr. Purificacion" or "Mr. P.":
Christ
the Diakonos Shows Us How to Serve (Mk. 10)
Homily
#200
29th
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Oct.
17, 2021
12pm
& 5 pm Masses
by
Deacon Dennis Purificacion
I give thanks to Almighty God for the privilege of preaching
Homily #200 today.Te agredecemos por
Dios todo poderoso.Salamat sa Diyos. Cảm
ơn bạn. Gam sa ham nida.(Doj je) Xie Xie.Thank you.
Please allow me this brief reflection of gratitude.Most of these 200 homilies were written for
St. Catherine’s, and they include 143 baptisms, along with some funerals and
marriages.When reflecting on the top 3 themes
that I tend to talk about, I tend to talk about Mary a lot.Sometimes I think people say, “Oh great, here
comes that deacon talking about Mary all the time, and Fatima again, and how
the Immaculate Heart is tied to what is happening in the world today.”I’ve also talked about the Eucharist and
Sunday Mass, the need to practice a sacramental life like Confession, protecting
innocent human life and marriage, God’s Commandments and the lives of the
saints and mystics.
But perhaps this is fitting to reflect on service and
ministry because of today’s Gospel on Christ the Servant from St. Mark Chapter10.Christ the Deacon shows us how to
serve: First, Christ serves with his words; second, Christ serves with his
actions; and third, Christ serves through his saints.
It is fine and good to meditate on Christ the Priest,
but now we reflect on Christ the Diakonos.After all, in today’s Second Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, it
is written, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with
our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way yet without
sin” (Heb. 4).Jesus the Servant literally
rolls up his sleeves and enters into the everyday life of a slave.
Think about the irony of this!I am supposed to serve God, yet God said that
He came to serve … me … and to die for me?I’m the one who is supposed to serve this great King and wash His feet, yet
he stoops into my world with all its imperfections?He says to me and you today, “I’ve come to
serve… you.”I come to wash your feet.I’ve come to love you.Let me wash your feet.Let me love you, my beloved.Let me, your King, die for you.
Jesus the Servant serves with a merciful love, a
loving-kindness.In today’s Responsorial
Psalm, “Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you,”biblical scholars note that the word “mercy” (chesedin Hebrew) in the Psalms is different.It doesn’t just mean a forgiving mercy but it means a kind “merciful
love”.Mercy is the same as God’s love.God’s diakonos is mercy and love.What an awesome God we serve!He says, “I come not to be served but to
serve…”
Second, Christ the Diakonos shows us how to serve with
his actions, he isn’t just the Servant; He is the Suffering Servant.Christian service means the Cross.We hear proclaimed in the First Reading from
the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, [T]hrough his suffering, my servant shall
justify many, and their guilt he shall bear.” Christ teaches us that this action to serve
come with sacrifice and hardship.In fact,
when you serve according to God’s will, then you’re going to encounter trials
and hardship.It’s like prayer: If you’re
doing your prayer right, then you’re going to be distracted.That’s what the devil wants: To distract us,
to get us to not serve and place our gifts at the service of others.He wants to interrupt us from serving God.But love hurts.Christ the Suffering Servant shows us how to
love all the way to the Cross.
Third, Christ the Deacon shows us how to serve practically
today through his saints.Jesus said, “[W]hoever
wishes to be great among you will be your servant.”I’m reminded here of a popular phrase by John
F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for
your country.”In a sense, we can say
the same of the Church.Ask not what the
Church can do for you, but what you can do for the Church.Yes, it is important to come to church and be
fed with the Word and the Eucharist, but the consciousness or the awareness
here is a type of intentional discipleship.Having been loved by Jesus, then be Jesus to others!We are successful when everyone in the Church
– the evangelized -- become evangelizers.When we come not to be ministered to but to minister.The saints served because they knew in
their hearts that they were loved by God.
Mother Teresa for instance gave a simple smile to others,
even when she didn’t feel God’s presence for many decades.St. Thomas More stood for religious freedom
and conscience protection, even when most of the cowardly bishops of his time
did not speak out against injustice.St.
Thomas More said, “I die the King’s good servant; but God’s first.”Only one bishop, St. John Fisher, spoke out
to protect religious liberty of the Flock.St. Katherine Drexel and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton took care of minority poor
children of color and protected the God-given rights of parents as the first educators
of their children.Parents, not the
state or even the Church, determine what their children learn.St. Oscar Romero and St. Jose Sanchez del Rio
in Latin America who spoke out against government persecution of the Church,
families and the poor when their jobs and income were threatened.Or St. Catherine our patroness cleaned up the
corruption among the clergy and the papacy in her time.And finally, St. Ignatius Loyola served
because he said, “If the saints could serve God, then why can’t I?”Take courage, for you see, God writes
straight with crooked lines.He doesn’t just
call the qualified; he qualifies the called to serve.So do not be afraid to serve.
In summary, there were three points from today’s
Gospel on Christ the Servant:
First, Christ the Deacon shows us how to serve through
his words.“I came not to be served but
to serve…”
Second, Christ the Deacon shows how to serve through
his actions to the Cross.“Through his
suffering, my servant shall justify many…”
Third, Christ the Deacon shows us how to serve through
His saints and martyrs.“Whoever wishes
to be great will be your servant.”
May we too know deep in our hearts how much God loves
us, so we can love and be a servant to others.“For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give
his life as a ransom for many.”
