In this inspiring episode, renowned speaker and educator Jonathan Doyle invites Catholic teachers to embark on a transformative journey of empowering their students to accept and embrace their unique creation in the image of God. Join us as we delve into the pressing issues faced by young people today, such as family breakdown and the influence of social media, which can often leave them with a wounded sense of self.

Discover how Catholic teachers play a vital role in helping students recognize their inherent worth and understand that they are fearfully and wonderfully made by a loving God. Jonathan Doyle, a trusted expert in the field of education, shares practical strategies and profound insights to equip educators with the tools they need to guide students towards a deeper understanding of their divine identity.

In this thought-provoking discussion, we explore the complexities young people encounter in their quest for self-acceptance and self-worth. Uncover the impact of family breakdown and the distorted messages propagated through social media, and learn how Catholic teachers can become beacons of hope, compassion, and truth in the lives of their students.

Through personal anecdotes and real-life examples, Jonathan Doyle illustrates how Catholic educators can foster an environment of love, acceptance, and healing, helping students to realize that they are created perfectly by a God who loves them unconditionally. Discover practical ways to integrate faith-based teachings and authentic encounters with Christ into the classroom, enabling students to encounter their true identity as beloved children of God.

Join us as we embark on a mission to counter the negative influences that shape young minds today. Together, let's empower Catholic students to embrace their divine identity, build resilience, and experience the transformative power of God's love.

Don't miss this empowering episode! Share it with your fellow Catholic teachers and educators, and let's be catalysts of healing and renewal in the lives of our students. Together, we can help them overcome their wounded sense of self, embrace their true identity as cherished children of God, and journey towards a life filled with purpose, joy, and love.

Find out about booking Jonathan to come and speak at your school or event

https://choicez.txfunnel.com/catholic-speaking-enquiry

Book a coaching call with me right now - For Principal's and Leaders in Catholic Education

https://choicez.txfunnel.com/catholic-leaders

Come and join Jonathan for his daily Youtube videos:

https://www.youtube.com/@onecatholicteacher/videos

Find Jonathan on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/jdoylespeaks/

Well, hello there.

My friend, Jonathan Doyle with you once again, welcome to the

Catholic teacher daily podcast.

It is good that you are here.

Please make sure you've subscribed before.

Before.

Before.

I finished today.

Please hit that subscribe button.

It doesn't make a big difference.

It blesses my little heart to see the numbers.

Increasing there'll be links across to the YouTube channel.

I do a video every single day as well.

So, uh, if you like the video versions, you can go and check those out too,

but please make sure you're subscribed.

And there's a link there.

If you want to find out how to book me to come and speak at your school conference

event, diocese, go check that out.

Friends.

I want to share a quick quote with you from George MacDonald,

the very famous writer.

Because I think this can be really useful for young people in your classrooms.

You already listened to this.

He says I would rather be what God chose to make me.

Then the most glorious creature that I could think of.

For to have been thought about born in God's thought and then made by God.

Is the dearest grandest and most precious thing in all thinking.

All right.

So, what are the high points of that?

Firstly.

I mean, I mean, the basis of it is he's basically saying.

I don't want to be anybody else.

I just want to be me because if God has created me.

Then there's just no one else I could be that could possibly be better than this.

What's this got to do with young people.

Well,

I want to give you a couple of insights.

I spent a decade speaking to about 40,000 high school students a year.

And you learn a lot right.

In that process.

And.

What you learn, obviously for many young people, is this

desire to be somebody else.

And I used to do this.

If I had a group of say 200 high school girls, I'd be there often.

Karen would do the sessions with me too.

And maybe they're going well.

You know, Look at the equation in the average girl's mind, which was,

well, I'm not beautiful enough.

I'm not pretty enough.

If I looked, if I just looked like fill in the blank.

Right.

So whoever it is in history, fill in the blank.

If I just looked like this woman, then I would be beautiful and

nice to say to them three words.

And then what.

And then once you say to somebody, look, if you imagine you could look like that

and then what, well, that'd be awesome.

And then, you know what.

I said, what would it give you?

What would you have if you had that?

Well, I'll be really popular.

Okay.

It'd be really pop.

You have tons of followers, lots of influence.

Then what would it give you?

What would you give you?

If you got all that?

And long story short, it's called chunking up.

You would eventually get to the point where they realized that

what they genuinely wanted.

It was love.

Because followers and fame and all that other stuff just eventually gives you.

Love gives you the ultimate love that you set you're seeking.

So that was quite insightful for them to hear that.

Right.

Because they'd be like, well, okay.

I'm actually chasing love.

I'm not necessarily chasing a different body.

I'm chasing what a different body might give me.

So.

The first principle here is.

That helping young people understand that they were created in the image

of God, just the way he wanted them to be as a significant thing.

And I think it's a bit of a mind bender for many of them.

They're like, no, no, I don't look right.

I don't speak.

Right.

And I'm not tall enough.

I'm not short.

And I'm too tall.

You know, if the average young person heady when right.

It's like, if I was toilet, Maybe I'm too tall.

You know, if I was, if I was thinking, what if I'm feeling of I'm too thin?

What if you.

It's just a game that no young person can ultimately win.

Right.

So what does the Christian proposition it's that?

We are made in the Margo day to help each person understand.

You were created exactly how God wanted you to be.

You know, If you think back to the concept of B even before

original sin, you look at the.

The Genesis story of Lucifer, right?

The light bearer.

The star of the sun of the morning.

Lucifer's ultimate sin was to not be what God had created him to be.

He wanted to be something else.

He wanted to be something else.

He wanted the throne.

He wanted to be more than he was.

He wasn't content.

He wasn't at peace.

With what God had created him to be, regardless of how phenomenal that was.

So you can see that this desire in the human heart to be other than what we are.

Is has got a pretty ancient heritage, right?

So.

I keep coming back to this idea.

Then in a Catholic classroom, you can begin to just inculcate this

idea that you are a K as you are.

Now again, there's a, there's another dimension to this, right?

God loves you as you are, but doesn't want you to stay there.

So in terms of moral intellectual development, God obviously

wants to move us along, right.

He wants us to grow into the fullness of our gifting and who we are as persons.

So, yes, God does want us to grow and to have aspiration to grow and change,

but he, he doesn't want that at the expense of our core sense of self.

Right.

So there's a little bit of nuance there that we have to help

young people understand that.

Yes, you can grow.

Yes, you can develop.

Yes, you should seek.

To be come not so much more than what you are, but what we would

say in a, in a Christian lens is to become fully what you already are.

So when I'm doing stuff.

Professional development days.

I talk about a lot about the saints because the saints are

obviously emblematic and there.

Showing us a path.

But the saints ultimately.

Became.

What God fully created them to become.

So a mother Teresa of Calcutta becomes, you know, and even in this

life, no Saint ever gets there.

Right.

It's, it's not until heaven that we are fully restored to the fullness

of who God created us to be.

And even then we'll have our wounds because we'll have the, we'll

have our scars and our wounds the same way that Christ did.

Right.

But there'll be elevated and glorified.

So.

Let us remind each young person that God has created them

just the way he wanted them.

And he S and he also calls them.

So there's a paradox.

We got to hold those two things.

Intention.

But we want to help them get out of this toxic.

My body's not.

Okay.

Now the other dimension of this of course, is the rapid rise in transhumanism.

And all of the other trends related concepts that are around at the moment.

You know, If you look at the roots of that, you will see.

Deep Gnostic implications in that.

The rejection of matter.

And bodiedness embodiment as fundamentally flawed and spirit

as the only thing that matters.

And one of the great geniuses of the Christian proposition

in the early centuries of the church was to insist upon.

To insist upon.

Both the incarnation and the embodiment of Christ, the humanity of Christ,

the embodiment of Christ, the bodies.

Matt, our bodies are significant.

And Christ is, I said, a moment ago, returns with his wounded body.

His scars are glorified, but they're still there.

So I'm hoping this is not too esoteric, but this message is simply

saying that if you look at the great.

Ruptures of our age of our moment in time and where we're heading

and there's especially around human body human sexuality.

All of the.

Divergent.

Streams of thought that are flying around in the ether at the moment.

Let us filter those through George MacDonald's insight here, that what we are

called to do is to love what God created.

To love ourselves as God has created us to be.

And to accept our bodies.

I mean, Pope Benedict was really big on this too.

To accept.

The gift of the creator.

In all its imperfections friends.

I mean, you know, To the great amusement of my children.

I have somewhat less hair.

Then I went Steed.

Let's just leave it at that.

Okay.

Stop judging me.

But it took me a while to go, no, God, what are you doing?

Surely flowing locks would advance your kingdom more.

Then looking like Bruce Willis with Joe Rogan.

But in his good pleasure.

This is.

This is a genetic thing he's done.

And I it's a little detailed, but it's learning to go.

Okay.

God.

I'm not going to resist what I can't, what I can't change.

I'm going to accept that this is how you made me.

I would like to discuss it with you in heaven, but for us for now.

I'm going to thank you for how you've created me.

With all my perfect imperfections.

So summary.

I just think we have something to offer young people here.

I think we have something to offer them in terms of presenting.

The beauty of their creation.

The God knew exactly what he was doing.

You know, just, just tell them that.

Just say, look.

If you think your body's a terrible mistake, then you've got to really come to

terms with the fact that God is clueless.

God was just winging it.

God wasn't winging anything.

You know, the same God that flings galaxies from his fingertips.

Credit each student in your class, just the way he wanted them to be created.

All right.

God bless you.

He does subscribe button go and check out how to book me to speak live my

name is jonathan doyle this has been the catholic teacher daily podcast