For the new academic year

Homily – Sunday, the 10^th September 2023

Reading: Psalm 149:1-5

Friends, it is with a heart full of thanks and expectation we welcome the new academic year. May I wish all our children and youngsters who start the new year God’s choicest blessings.

William Butler Yeats said “education is not filling of a pail but it is the lighting of a fire”. It is all about making the best of the opportunity provided, valuing every moment as precious.

It was John F Kennedy who said- every achievement begins with the determination to try. Every new academic year is an invitation to try hard.

It is an invitation to love what you are called to do, enjoy doing it and prepare to be change makers.

The New Academic Year as an Opportunity to Praise God

Hallelujah!
Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing his praise in the congregation of the faithful.

At each new academic year we are called to look back, count our blessings and thank God for the blessings we experience.

We have several hamlets that we know of in the world where there is no access to schools or education

We have places where a teacher comes occasionally and teaches all classes

We have places where youngsters will have to travel miles to reach their schools, sometimes climbing mountains and swimming canals.

We thank the Lord for Accessible Education-

We live in a world where several children do not have access to education

Some are recruited into child labour

Some are recruited as child soldiers

Some are trafficked

Some do not have schools or colleges accessible to them

And for most of us schools are just a stone throw away and we thank the Lord for making education accessible.

We thank the Lord for Free and High Quality education offered including the recruitment and training of teachers that we see around us.

We live in a world where education is politicised in many places and text books are being re-written to suit the political position of those in authority

We live in a world where the quality of education is compromised to a great extend with those in authority not prioritising education.

We many a times fail to value the quality of teaching and teachers offered to us. We take things for granted.

We thank the Lord for the Diversity and Choices available to students. Our children are free to choose the strands of education of their choice at very young ages and are able to decide what direction they would want to choose for their future which is not possible in many other parts.

We thank the Lord for the Cultural richness offered to students and Opportunities provided to each one of them to wholistically blossom in life.

In a world where safety concerns and risk factors are tremendous in several parts of the world and access to good health care systems is a challenge we thank the Lord for the Safety and health care facilities that are in offer for our children

Do we thank the Lord enough.

Take a look around

Children who suffer health challenges- physical, mental, emotional, spiritual- The trauma with which they live

Children who live through poverty

Children who live in contexts of conflict, war

Children who are affected by migration

Children who are victims of abuse

Children who face discrimination based on their country or origin or colour

Children who live through natural calamities and are displaced by climate change

Children who live through family crisis

Do we make our lives an offering of thanksgiving while trying to bring in a ray of hope in these lives?

Gratitude make sense of the past, brings peace and meaning for today and provides a vision for the future.

Let us be thankful people.

The New Academic Year as an Opportunity to Rejoice in the Maker

Let Israel rejoice in his Maker; *
let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

Let them praise his Name in the dance; *
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.

In a world where there are several children who cannot rejoice and remain joyful the important question is

How do we make our lives joyful?

By enjoying what we are doing

By celebrating the gift of life

By rejoicing in friendship and relationship

By staying agile, eating right, working out and sleeping right

By making an impact in the lives of others

      Through Volunteerism

      Through Advocacy

      Through initiatives of peer support

      Through passionately following dreams of community transformation

By doing what we are assigned to do with all our heart

By making our lives useful for others.

The New Academic Year as an Opportunity to trust in God for strength

          The Lord takes pleasure in his people

          Each human being is a miracle with limitless possibilities. It is important to understand the deeper meanings of the phrase- the Lord takes pleasure in his people. The Lord puts lots of trust and hope in each one of us. We are unique. We are made with a purpose. We are each a masterpiece in the hands of God. The Lord takes pleasure in each one of us;

Imagine as a father or mother, grand father or a grand mother you waited for your first child or grand child. Relive that moment. Re-live the joy you had as you beheld that child.

When the Baptist was born remember the question that was in the air

What will this child be?

Remember we are special in the eyes of God.

          The Lord adorns the poor with Victory

          The Lord crowns the humble with victory

          The Lord exalts the downtrodden by lifting them up

                   Victory belongs to the Lord, efforts belong to you!

There could be situations we could feel down, crushed and let down

The promise is simple- The Lord will lift us up in all such situations

In moments when are low in spirit just TRUST in the Lord who can lift your spirit.

Even this shall pass

          The Lord makes the faithful triumph

                   Just remain faithful to your call and all the rest will follow. If you are faithful in what you are called to do- please be assured success will come your way.

Faithfulness is small things leads to faithfulness in great things

Theodore Roosevelt said- it is better to be faithful than being famous.

          The Lord makes them joyful in their beds

          Genuine joy is a blessing of the Lord and cannot be purchased with money

Bags of Gold can never buy the happiness you ae hunting for

          One of the greatest blessing is life is to be able to go to be bed happy each day.

          Free from the cares and concerns of life, totally trusting in the Lord who is able to carry you through.

Conclusion

I tried to bring three words as clues for a successful academic year

Be Thankful

Be Joyful

Be Faithful

Vinod Victor

September 10, 2023