Lasting Lessons
Sharon Weber, OP,
PhD, ’69
Sister Sharon Weber, OP, PhD, is a longtime Siena
Heights faculty member who currently serves as the
Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Dean
of the College of Arts and Sciences at SHU.
Jesus Is In The Boat
Perhaps the most difficult aspect of this task is
to identify the one most important lesson.
There have been so many. And I am grateful to
my family, teachers, mentors, friends, students
and acquaintances who have taught me so much
over the years. And so I come to this lecture
with a very deep feeling of gratitude to so
many individuals.
However, my reflections continue to lead me
back to an incident that taught me several
lessons, one of which reinforced my father’s
promise that if I kept my mind open I would
learn something new every day. It also taught
me that we can learn deep truths in the most
unexpected ways. However, it is the deep truth
that I learned from a first-grader named Mary
that I continue to endeavor to use as my firm
foundation in life. And so, the story:
I began my teaching career in a first-grade classroom. I was teaching religion one day to 50 6and 7-year olds. Our religion book at that time
was much like a coloring book—with large black
and white pictures of Bible stories and a sentence
or two at the bottom of the page. The story for
this day was of Jesus calming the storm at sea.
The teacher was expected to provide the details.
And I thought I was doing a great job of it. I had
explained how tired Jesus was and so he was able
to sleep through the storm. But I described a
dandy of a storm—slashing rain, howling wind,
flashing lightning, clapping thunder and huge
waves. As I looked around that classroom, I
could tell the class was with me. They could
imagine that storm!
to answer that they are standing to raise their
hands even higher. At a time like this, it seemed
important to call on a student who does not
often volunteer an answer. How could anyone
not have the correct answer for this question?
I called on Mary.
I asked, “Mary, do you think the apostles were
afraid?” She stood and said with firm conviction,
“No, Sister. Jesus was in the boat.”
I do not know how many of her peers would
have given her same response. I do not know
whether or not any of them shared my response.
I do not know whether or not she noticed my
hesitation—a hesitation that was like being
struck dumb in the face of such simple and
profound faith—a hesitation that recognized
my own lack of such a faith. I responded that
she was right—they should have been confident
in Jesus—but instead they awakened him in their
fear. Her confidence was well-placed; he did
calm the storm.
It is possible that Mary’s firm statement of faith
in Jesus and the loving providence of God was
her first lecture. I suspect she does not know it
has been a challenge to me over the 40-some
years that I have carried it with me through both
calm and turbulent waters. I have worked in several different contexts with others to try to live
Gospel values and to infuse those values into our
world. In confronting issues of social injustice
and my complicity in them, I have often needed
to be reminded that Jesus is in the boat. I am so
grateful to Mary for that clear lesson and I hope
to be sure that her first lecture is integral to my
last lecture. u
“In confronting issues of social
injustice and my complicity in them,
I have often needed to be reminded
that Jesus is in the boat.”
— Sister Sharon Weber, OP, PhD, ’69
So, before I told the class about the apostles
waking Jesus with the plea to save them from
perishing, I asked, “Do you think the apostles
were afraid?” Every hand in the room was up.
Stretched before me was that enthusiastic scene
every teacher hopes for—students so eager
2008 Annual President’s Report
11