May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus be with you! As we begin this new school year this quote from the Holy Father seemed particularly appropriate. It is a concrete reminder to us of what is at the heart of all of the catechetical enterprises of the Roman Catholic Church in general and of Christ the King Catholic Church in particular: communion with Jesus Christ. We all have a two-fold role in this catechetical enterprise. First, we are all learners, disciples of the Master, at Whose feet we must sit and learn, that, growing in wisdom and understanding, we may experience and grow in that communion that is His special gift to us. Second, through our actions and our words we continue His saving work of proclaiming the Good News of salvation. We are learners and we, each in our own way, are also teachers. That there is a logical priority to this two-fold aspect is clear. We must learn first if we are subsequently to teach, for we cannot give what we do not have. The first responsibility of a disciple is to learn from the Master. We have a serious and fundamental responsibility to immerse ourselves in the teaching of the Lord Jesus. This requires, among other things, time, effort, self-discipline, humility, and obedience. It is clearly a sacrifice, in the midst of our frequently over-busy lives, to take the time to study, the time to be taught. But it is a sacrifice we are commanded to make, for it is an essential component of our identity as disciples. If we have agreed to live as His disciples, then we have agreed to let Him teach us. This commitment to being taught is particularly crucial for those whose life situations involve graver teaching responsibilities, e.g. parents for their children. It is no small thing to form a child's soul to know and love the Lord Jesus in the power of the Spirit in the heart of His Church. One must take great care to make sure that what is taught is the truth, the truth that sets us free. The crucial aspect of this enterprise is highlighted by St. Paul to St. Timothy: "Take heed to yourself and to your teaching; hold to that, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers." (I Tim.4:16). This requires great humility on our part, especially the humility to admit we do not know it all; that we need to be taught. The Holy Father in his teachings on the Third Millennium has constantly underscored for the entire people of God this need to be taught. This is demonstrated by his constant emphasis on the fact that one of the most crucial ways to prepare for the Great Jubilee is to immerse ourselves in the Truth. He himself is a great source of that truth, with his wondrous encyclicals and other works. The Parish itself, responding to this challenge, continues to make available an excellent array of opportunities for folks to be taught, including: the Parish Bible study, the Third Millennium talks, and the Men's and Women's Retreats, to name but a few. The big question is, do we have the humility to admit our need for good teaching and the wherewithal to then respond and place ourselves in those situations where we will be taught? We neglect this aspect of our relationship with the Lord Jesus at our great peril, so let us take our commitment to be disciples seriously, and place ourselves, every way we can, at the foot of the Master Who longs to teach us His ways. I commend you to the care of the Mother of God and the protection of St. Michael. Fr. Ed