From today's second reading: "And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ . . . So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us."
De La Salle (Med. 195.2): "Because you are ambassadors and ministers of Jesus Christ in the work that you do, you must act as representing Jesus Christ. He wants your disciples to see him in you and to receive your instructions as if he were instructing them. They must be convinced that your instructions are the truth of Jesus Christ, who speaks with your mouth, that it is only in his name that you teach, and that he has given you authority over them. They must also be convinced that they are a letter that Jesus Christ dictates to you, which you write each day in their heart, not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, who acts in you and by you through the power of Jesus Christ."
Every one of our graduating seniors over the last ten years has heard the statement that the education they are leaving with is not just for them, but to help those whom they will encounter in the future. In the same way, Lent is not just for us. The prayer, sacrifice, and charity that we engage in is not just to reconcile ourselves with God, but to help us connect our students with God through Christ. When we think about what and how we are teaching this week, can we say that the result of our instruction will be that our students become a letter written by Christ, brought to being through the Spirit acting in us?
Live, Jesus, in our hearts!