If God was your child or your student, how would you deal with it?

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 16: JANUARY 16, 2022]

There are two Gospels for today – one is for the general Sunday mass and the other is in celebration of the feast of Santo Niño in the Philippines.

Luke 2:41-52. The finding of the Child Jesus at the temple (Feast of Sto. Niño)

John 2:1-11. Wedding at Cana

If God was your child or your student, how would you deal with it?

In both readings, the role of Mama Mary and St. Joseph as parents of Jesus are clear: to care for Him and for them to be our intercessors towards Him.

In traditional corporate settings, we’re familiar with office politics. Ruthless top-level managers fighting to keep their power and authority over other employees. I’ve heard both horror stories and heartwarming stories – bosses posing as know-it-all and even demeaning subordinates as stupid, and supermentors being lavish with praise and feedback, allowing employees to realize their potential.

At first, when I started teaching (and my age difference compared with my students were not that far off), I felt a bit insecure about the fact that my students could be better than me. I felt that I had to project expertise to demand respect. After a while, I realized that the vocation of teaching and mentorship is to encourage my students to be better than me, and witnessing students fulfill their potential is such a heartwarming feeling.

I thought my self-worth would be reduced if mentees became better than me. I realized that it was more frustrating to see students give up or be apathetic about their personal development.

And maybe this is how Mama Mary and St. Joseph felt. Somehow, they still have some things to teach God, and somehow, God would obey (which is different from blindly complying). If Jesus followed the Fourth Commandment and honored His human parents, why shouldn’t we?

I wonder how Mama Mary and St. Joseph felt – they were blessed the opportunity to raise God. As a child, perhaps it is my duty to realize my potential and make my parents proud. As a teacher, I could somewhat approximate, even if a little bit, how to teach students to be virtuous.

My Lourdesian education told me: be like Christ. But isn’t it a more profound yet more attainable experience to raise others to be like Christ? Maybe they go together.

As we allow others to be like Christ, we too become like Him.