CHILE, mda. The testimony about Mario Hiriart by Claudio Gelmi, Social Responsibility Director of the Engineering School,(the same school where Mario Hiriart studied and taught, and where many members of Schoenstatt have left a mark of professional commitment from the Covenant of Love) was a pleasant surprise; it was one of the many surprises during 2013.
Amelia Peirone, of the Mario Hiriart Cause, commented: “This testimony gains all its strength and meaning since it clearly places us before an exisiting reality that is lived as a mission and that touches the lives of students by educating them, just as Mario desired. Thanks be to God that he gives us surprises such as this to give impetus to our daily work, and to witness that Mario was rightfully the standard bearer of the ideal of ‘spirituality of the small way of daily life’.”
“Little Mother, you ask me to live day by day as a permanent consecration. That is only possible when there is an effective offering in concrete deeds, small ones, of daily life; in the difficulties borne with true joy; in the daily work that is offered and carried out with maximum perfection; in the continuous offering of life so that our covenant of love is carried out.”
Teaching daily: an expression of my faith
I vividly recall two years ago when a colleague read the words of an ex-professor of our School of Engineering, who, today, is Mario Hiriat Pulido, Servant of God: “…I am interested in dignifying the position of professor…It should be something more than a man who limits himself to presenting his subject matter in the best way possible, and that one is satisfied with this; he should be much more, he should be a friend, a counselor of his students, interested in them personally, leading them not only in the professional aspect; but rather, also morally; the ideal of the professor according to our truly Christian concept should be he, who is able to commune, pray and ask God for his students, and even to make sacrifices and offer them to him for their moral and corporal well -being.” These words touched me deeply, they arrived at precisely the right time, with suitable intensity, and above all, they carried the weight of an answer to a question that had made me restless for a long time: What are the Catholic professors of this university called to be? The answer was at my feet. I no longer had an excuse to turn away and not re-start my work as a teacher, now with the clarity and the dimension that it lacked: the supernatural.
Being a teacher in a Catholic university of excellence had been transformed into an even greater responsibility. I could not remain indifferent before those words. In this way, the conviction of giving my best within and outside of the classroom became a way of expressing my faith. For this, I had to internalize that my role was not only limited inside the classroom; but rather, it included all my daily work. I understood that to aspire to be a better teacher, I should take special care of my technical as well as my spiritual training. Since that moment, there have been many cornerstones, courses, training workshops and spiritual formation of the UC Pastoral. Each one of them has left its mark on me, allowing me to advance in the direction of the words of Professor Hiriart. In the most intimate part of my teaching, I have aspired to live the intellectual charity of this act of love and humility in which, we, the teachers, accompany a student in search of the truth, while communicating, our intense passion for it.
One is not alone on this adventure. Through their valuable examples of this work, many colleagues have contributed and carried it out with affection, with its details, dedication, determined to accomplish profound learning experiences in their students. We share that vision of the importance of the mission and the responsibility of forming people, but not because it is an obligation; but rather, because it our calling, our vocation. A vocation that time will test again and again.
There is a very special time in a teaching career, and it is manifested when we have those fruitful encounters or we receive those spontaneous emails from students who have already continued on into the professional world. This is especially true of those ex-students, who express their joy for having conquered and put this knowledge into practice, for having understood in the day to day professional work, what one tried to transmit during this or that class. Without realizing it, these students nourish my conviction that the task carried out during past semesters has borne fruit. Without them, my pledge to give my best in every class would not carry the same weight.
If the door to my office is open today, it is because it reveals that sincere desire of beginning the extraordinary adventure of learning together, in a University created 125 years ago to serve others.
“We share this vision of the importance of the mission and the responsibility of forming people, not because it is an obligation; but rather, because it is our calling, it is our vocation.”
Spanish/English Translation: Celina M. Garza San Antonio, TX USA
