A great teacher - history

     When I was in elementary school and even high school I hated history.  The memorizing of dates and events seemed meaningless to me.  I saw little value and had no interest.  Even in theology at Saint Francis Seminary church history was boring - not because of the content, but because our professor was a grand old priest (Father Anton Fyer) whose presentation methods were less than enthusiastic.  It took a great deel of effort to immerse yourself into the material and come away excited, and I often failed.

     But as time has gone on I have found myself becoming a part of history [ where were you when? or Do you remember what it was like when? ].  History became much more important to me as I saw myself a part of it.  With history so often repeating itself, I fail to learn my lesson if I neglect the story of history.  This was enhanced in the early 90's when I found a growing interest in the American Civil War.  It was then that I realized how much I had learned and absorbed over the years as history touched my life, and how rich I was to have come to know that history.

     Today the Church honors a saint that I remember hearing about in English literature - Bede, the Venerable.  Bede lived in England between 672 - 735 and was a monk of great learning.  He wrote many books on many subjects, but is best known for his work "The Ecclesiastical History of the English People".  He shared the story of the growth of Christianity from the time of Caesar's armies in Britain to his own time.  He made history, even Church history alive and important.  It was like Paul and Barnabas and the others who went to the Apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem to tell the story of how God was at work through them in the spreading of the message of the Gospel.  This living history lesson opened hearts and minds to a greater work that the Lord had in store for the Church, the work of the Good News shared with the Gentiles.

    I thank God for the desire to learn from the past and to move forward in wisdom and grace.  I thank God for the history of the world (not Mel Brook's version).  I thank God for the ecclesiastical history of the People of God, with its ups and downs, which proves the continued working of the Holy Spirit in our midst.