Manila, 20th January 1997
Chiara Lubich answers
(…)
Journalist: My name is Cora Dangallo, from Mother of Life Center Publications. I am also a catechist.
“Could we ask you to give a message, through the ladies and gentlemen here in this room, to Christian educators of our day, above all in this country, focussing on how to form the consciences of young people and children, especially our own, please?
Chiara: Yes. What I would like to say to everyone is this: Jesus said something that was very important “Do not call anyone ‘teacher’”.
What we do in the Movement is to try to live in such a way as to fulfil Jesus’ prayer…, Jesus’ wish when he said “Where two or three are united in my name, I am in their midst”.
We rely to a very great extent on the presence of Christ in our midst, for if he is in our midst he is in each one of us.
So the first thing a catechist should do is to form relationships between him or her and the children, teenagers and young people, which are based on fraternal charity, so that the presence of Jesus can be established. If there is the presence of Jesus in the school, all will be well, because then He will be the teacher, even if I speak as a catechist, even if a child asks a question, even if someone else gives an answer. If Jesus is in our midst, He is in each one of us, and so He is the teacher. In that case it is right to call those who teach, teachers.
