I am convinced that pre-K teachers are saints who walk among us.
Many years ago, I was privileged to teach alongside a woman who has worked with children under the age of 5 for at least three decades now. She herself had (and still has) a childlike joy that was infectious, and a maternal heart that had room for everyone -- not just for her “littles” -- but for every person who spent time in that particular school.
One late Spring afternoon, after having visited her classroom with my eighth grade students performing some small act of art-project charity, I commented to the pre-K teacher: “I don’t know how you do this day in and day out. What do you do when they won’t stop crying or being horrible to each other?”
She laughed, of course. “Oh I have my ways,” she said, as she pulls out a cellphone from the desk drawer. It was an old faded-gray Nokia flip-phone, clearly one that she doesn’t use for herself.
“This is my little secret,” she said as she glances around the room to make sure the little ones weren’t watching. Accessing the phone’s voicemail feature, she pushed play and held it up to my ear.
“Hi Justin, sweetie. It’s Mommy,” came the voice. “I just called to say I love you so, so much and I will see you later today, okay? Be a good boy. I am so proud of you.”
The next message: “Hi Maddie. It’s Mom. I wanted to say hello and let you know I love you. If you are sad right now, know that I am thinking of you. I can’t wait to see you!”
Nineteen other “Mom messages” followed, all short-and-sweet – all ready to go at a moment’s notice. Said the pre-K teacher as she took back the phone: “Whenever I am at my wit’s end, I pull out the phone, find the appropriate message for the child who needs to hear it and then I invite them over to my desk: ‘Bobby, guess what? Mommy just called while you were crying near your cubby – Listen!’”
Holding the phone to Bobby’s ear, he would hear the recorded message (one that was orchestrated during back-to-school night in early September), and without fail, stop crying. “Works like a charm every time,” she said. “There’s something about a mother’s voice.”
It’s true. Last year, CNN and other major media outlets published a report from a leading science research group that found that a child who listens to his or her mother’s voice has dramatic and nearly-instant changes in wellbeing. Stress-levels are reduced. Bonding hormones are increased. The mind is soothed and heart-rates are calmed.
Thus, there is power in the voice of love.
Jesus echoes that in today’s brief Gospel that still packs a lot of punch: “My sheep know my voice and they follow me.”
Because we have heard it often whenever sheep-shepherd Scripture readings are proclaimed, most of us know two things about sheep, even if we have never been near a farm: Sheep are not the brightest creature in the Animal Kingdom; furthermore, sheep are often intermingled among other herds as they graze freely in open fields. However, when a particular shepherd feels it is time to move-on or danger is swiftly approaching, he (the shepherd) has a distinct call to reach his particular sheep. All don’t come running; just the ones belonging to the particular flock of the shepherd who cries out for them.
We see where this is going, of course. We, the not-always-so-bright sheep of the One True Shepherd, Jesus Christ, are constantly being called after, especially in moments of danger.
The Good Shepherd cries out: Follow Me. Go and sin no longer. Behold your mother. Forgive seventy times seven times. Love one another. Wash one another’s feet. Lay down your life. You could certainly add other “calls” of the Divine Shepherd.
The question that we must constantly revisit, however, is this: Are we truly listening to His Voice in humble obedience? Are we willing to follow where He leads?
Too often along the journey, we think we know better. We try to do it our own way. Or we begin to let other voices drown out that of Christ’s. Satan works hard to distract and tempt; to pull us away with distortions and lies that can appear at first blush as something good. Sometimes, in fact, the voice of Satan can sound rather tempting to follow, sweet to the ear.
Whatever you do, do not follow. That highway only leads to destruction. Rather, like the apostles in the first reading and the great multitude mentioned in the Book of Revelation, always be prepared to fight back.
Fight back when evil tries to pull you from the Hand of the Father. Fight back when temptation wants to redirect your steps and heart away from Jesus. Fight back when selfishness wants to extinguish the light of charity within.
One of the primary ways we fight back is through listening to the Shepherd’s authentic Voice through that of His Bride, the Church. She, along with Scripture, are the authentic ways we know that we are following Truth, not the lies of Satan.
It is the Church who has been given all authority from the Spirit poured out at Pentecost to direct our minds and hearts. Listen to her. Trust her.
And yes, Satan will try to infiltrate her as well. He has in quite a number of ways throughout the centuries: bad popes; child abuse; wayward priests; careless and lazy Catholics. Two thousand messy years and counting.
And yet, never forget: this is God’s Church. He founded her. And she – and we who cling to her – will never be taken from the Father’s Hand. As Scripture declares: “Upon the rock (of Peter) I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” The Voice of the Church will always guide and protect. The voice of the Church will always reflect the Voice of the Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
Pray in the days ahead for our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. Fast and offer your Communion for our Church, that she is bold enough to stand for Gospel Truth, no matter what persecution may come our way. Pray that we as Church always have the courage to follow Christ to the Cross, rather than the easy road of perdition, sin and hate.
After all, the Church is our loving Mother who – like Our Lady – wants to lead us back to Christ and to the Father through the Spirit. Just like a Mom always does, even via cellphone in a pre-K classroom: “I love you,” she says. “Be good. I’m always here for you.”
Indeed, the voice of Love.