Written by Jerome Lim, OCDS
This year’s Teachers’ Day celebration in school, together with the global observance of World Teachers’ Day, stirred something profound within me. As I sat, watching the smiles, receiving words of appreciation, and seeing the joy shared among staff and students, I was quietly moved—not just emotionally, but spiritually. Deep within, something in my heart whispered:
“Look again. This is your mission. This is your vocation.”
I realized once more that my vocation as a teacher is intimately intertwined with my deeper identity—my vocation as a Secular Carmelite.
I serve in a Catholic secondary school in Kuching, where I have been entrusted for years to accompany young souls through the most formative seasons of their lives. I teach Religious Education, prepare students for the Sacrament of Confirmation, and, in some cases, guide them in preparation for Baptism and First Holy Communion. I also teach IGCSE Business Studies, striving always to impart not only knowledge, but values rooted in integrity and compassion.
In addition to my teaching role, I have been called to serve as a Scout Leader, guiding a vibrant group of around 70 Scouts and Air Scouts through their training scheme. It is both my joy and my responsibility to journey with them as they work toward their national awards—shaping character, discipline, and leadership grounded in service and love.
In all of this, I see more than lesson plans or leadership roles— I see souls.
As a Secular Carmelite, I do not view teaching as merely a career. I see it as a sacred calling—a vocation within a vocation. In the spirit of Carmel, where silence, prayer, and hidden faithfulness are treasured, I recognize that the classroom, the campsite, and the chapel have all become places where I live out my profession of the evangelical counsels, offering my daily life to God.
God, in His quiet way, has inspired my teaching to become an act of love and faith—a hidden mission of cultivating hearts for Him.
My classroom, my campsite, and the corridors of my school—they are sacred soil. And in this soil, I am called to plant seeds, to water them, to wait with trust, knowing that growth belongs to God alone.
Each student and each Scout is like a seed entrusted to me by God. They come in many forms—full of questions, quiet, rebellious, gifted, or wounded. Some shine early; others take time. But all of them are sacred, and each carries within a God-given potential to become something uniquely beautiful, contributing to a better world and bringing glory to the Kingdom of God.
And so, like a humble gardener in God’s vineyard, I nurture these seeds. I water them with patience, tend to them with gentle correction, surround them with encouragement, and offer silent prayers for each one. I may not always see the growth, but I trust the One who planted them.
There are days of fatigue, resistance, and discouragement. But it is precisely here that my Carmelite formation teaches me to persevere—to love in silence, to serve without recognition, and to trust that even the smallest act done with love bears eternal fruit.
In fulfilling my evangelical promise, I have come to realize: This is my altar. This is my offering. This is my prayer. And every student I teach, every Scout I guide, is part of my hidden way of building the Kingdom of God.
To my fellow teachers: You too are gardeners. You are sowers of the Word. Whether you teach science, art, languages, or character, you are shaping hearts and minds for a greater purpose. Don’t underestimate the power of your daily dedication. You are part of God’s plan. Your work is sacred. Your mission is noble.
Let our teaching be a witness, Let our service be a song, Let our classrooms be sacred ground, Where young souls are nurtured—for God’s will and for His glory.
