Teaching by the Spirit: A Jubilee Awakening

Reflections from the 72nd Catholic Teachers’ Convention
By Sabella Morris-Olivier

The annual Catholic Teachers’ Convention held on Friday, November 14, 2025 became the Jubilee event that I didn’t even know I needed. It was a day of reflection, spiritual renewal, fellowship and hope.

Its theme, taken from Zechariah 4:6, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts, was, as shared by Chief Celebrant Archbishop Rivas during the opening Mass, appropriately chosen.

It is God’s spirit that empowers us in our vocations as teachers.

When I was 10 years old, God called me to be a teacher. Although my professional and educational career started far away from the classroom, I eventually followed God’s voice in my heart. By His grace, I completed my teaching degree while juggling marriage, a toddler and a SEA student. Today, after teaching at the primary school level for a decade, I continue to grow in my faith through the many challenges of life.

My ministry of evangelisation in the classroom truly started just over three years ago, after completing a Life in the Spirit Seminar. Before this, as expected of any Catholic school teacher, I’d tell students about God during Religious Knowledge instruction. Now, while still growing in the Spirit, I understand something deeper: it is both my calling and responsibility to lead my students to Christ. I want them to understand that life ahead will indeed be challenging, that unseen spiritual battles are real, but God will fight for them but only if they allow Him. I want to affirm in their minds that they can run to the heart of Jesus instead of running to the world.

God invites us to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him. He speaks well of us and He loves us. He is our Father in Heaven, and he sent His Son and His Holy Spirit to be with us always. If children in our schools grow rooted in this truth, then they will flourish in faith and break the familiar cycles that the enemy depends on.

During Friday’s session, Fr Taylor reignited a spark I didn’t expect.

He was a dynamic feature speaker, taking us on a powerful journey of encountering Christ and receiving God’s gifts while navigating challenging times studying at university. He effortlessly explained that although his personal relationships failed and he literally battled high tensions due to ongoing protests, he still carried in his heart an insatiable, burning desire to evangelise and tell others about Christ. What an extraordinary testimony it was.

Indeed, a reminder that no one who encounters Christ remains the same. Fr Taylor encountered the Holy Spirit and obeyed the call to serve Jesus. For me, his story was one of the major highlights of this Jubilee Year of Hope.

Fr Taylor, you renewed my love for teaching, indeed, “the classroom is a place where faith is formed.” God used you to strengthen my desire to continue to teach my students about the Holy Spirit—to lead them not only to open their hearts to speak to Jesus but also how to listen for Him, especially during our First Friday visits to the Blessed Sacrament.

I trust God that every educator who attended the convention heard the same call.

Colleagues in Christ, sometimes it is only in our classroom that little hearts have an opportunity to encounter our Lord.

Like Fr Taylor reminded us, evangelisation is a person, and it is our sacred duty to bring the Holy Spirit and Jesus to all our students.

May we never forget that teaching is more than academics.

It is forming souls.

It is planting seeds.

It is leading hearts to God.

It is an act of hope.