Alliance for Catholic Education
I love teaching religion. When I learned I would be teaching religion in a 5th-grade classroom with a majority of non-Catholic students, I wondered what it would be like. My only background within education before ACE was teaching catechesis, and I was used to a certain level of prior knowledge of the Church when teaching children about Christ.
I was quickly surprised, though, that religion is my students’ favorite subject. Even on days that are brimming with chaos, extreme behaviors, and expending every ounce of energy to ensure the students are attentive, religion class has become our haven. The once restless bodies grow still, the tapping and incessant noises cease, and my students are all ears to hear more about this Christ character. Their questions, ranging from “Do you think Jesus likes McDonald's?” to “Is my dad in Heaven?” continually point me closer to Christ.
In my classroom, the students can fill out “Good News Reports,” in which they shout out a peer for doing something kind. On Fridays during our morning meeting, I share the good news of the week, and we applaud the acts of kindness. Students can slip their reports onto my desk when completed. I prefer everything in its place, but the pile of papers on my desk always tells the story of a day full of surprises.
After a particularly hectic day, I came across a "Good News Report" while packing up, gently tucked between worksheets. Rosalie, who spent much of the day in tears due to a complex and challenging home situation, wrote a "Good News Report." It was not for a classmate, not for a friend in another grade, not even for a teacher in the school—but for God. She thanked Him for being with her “for evry thig the good and bad evry day and evry were!”
This act of faith from Rosalie, especially given the context of the trauma she had experienced in her short life, stopped me in my tracks. It reminded me of why Christ, our perfect Teacher, beckons the children to Himself (Matthew 19:14) and instructs us that the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these (Luke 18:16). Rosalie’s little note is more than just a sweet gesture—it is a proclamation of the Gospel. She named a truth that even adults often forget: that God is with us in all things, both the good and the bad, every day and everywhere. Her simple words cut through the noise of life and reveal the kind of faith Jesus encourages, a faith that does not demand proof but rests in presence. Rosalie’s note was one of many moments when my students became the teachers, showing me what true faith looks like.
Today, I encourage you to find God in the good and the bad. Put on Rosalie’s childlike trust, even amid difficulty. For when we choose to see with the eyes of a child, we discover that God is always with us.