Fresh out of a Midwestern college, I landed in New York City for a job in finance. Having recently completed the RCIA process, I joined a parish to nurture my nascent Catholic faith. As only the logic of my young twenty-something self could justify, I also signed up to teach CCD. The fact that I knew about two more chapters worth of information than my students didn’t exactly register. Yet, it could be said of me that “zeal for your house has consumed me” (Ps 69:9). I enthusiastically loved the Lord and naively thought there is nothing better for growing in knowledge than teaching it! The supremely elevated nature of the content of catechesis—I now realize—should have caused me to better contemplate the caution, “let not many of you become teachers” (Jas 3:1). Regardless, I pressed on hoping to inspire my students to also serve God with joy.
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