A recent trip to the Midwest to lecture at a bioethics conference took a lot of time as well. Life is beginning to settle a bit though total settling won't come until 1 June.
I will celebrate the 10 AM Mass at Campion on Sunday 21 April, the 50th Annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life. For that reason the homily below makes little reference to the readings or Gospel but focuses on the mystery of religious vocation.
Then, of course, some photos from around Easter. ________________________________
Today, as we do annually on the 4th Sunday of Easter, we
observe the World Day of Prayer for Vocations to the priesthood and religious
life. This is the 50th year for this observance that was instituted by Pope
Paul VI of happy memory. In his letter
reflecting on this observance, Holy Father Francis took the theme, "Vocations as a Sign of Hope Founded in
Faith." He chose this theme because
as he noted, "Hope. . . is a key word in biblical faith, to the extent
that in certain passages, the words faith and hope seem to be
interchangeable."
A sign of hope founded in faith is an accurate description
of following Jesus' call "Come follow me," words Jesus said to the
young man in Mark's Gospel who asked, "Good teacher, what must I do to
inherit eternal life?" When Jesus replied
in part, "You lack one thing . . . go, sell what you have and give to the
poor . . . and come follow me" Mark tells us that the young man was taken
aback. "His countenance fell and he went away sorrowful; for he had great
possessions."
By graduation, the Villanova basketball player had scored
2,408 points and made 1,171 rebounds. After
four years in the pros the salary, the "stuff" and everything that
went with it, was not important. And so,
in 1991, Mary Michelle Pennefather, known as Shelley, walked through the doors
of the Monastery of the Poor Clare Colletines in Alexandria, Virginia where,
now known as Sr. Rose Marie, she remains within the cloister.
Grant Desme announced his retirement in January 2010. At the
time, he was a second round draft pick of the Oakland A's and a prime prospect
who received a six-figure signing bonus.
His call up to the majors was inevitable. His call to religious life was, to some,
incredible. Now known as Frater Matthew,
Grant entered the Norbertine Community in California where he is now in
philosophy. When the story appeared on
the ESPN website, comments appeared quickly.
Some were supportive but many,
too many, were hostile and/or obscene. It
seems that ESPN doesn't monitor its board too closely.
After four games with the New England Revolution pro
soccer team in 2008, Chase Helgenbrinck, a former U.S. National team player who
also played pro soccer in Chile for four years, retired. He entered Mt. St. Mary's Seminary, in
Emmitsburg, MD as a seminarian for the diocese of Peoria, IL. He describes the reaction to the intersection
of sports and religion as "polarizing." He apparently is a master of understatement.
The final vocation story is the oldest. In 1963 Dolores Hart, who had made 10 movies
in five years, including one in which she gave Elvis Presley his first screen
kiss, got out of a car in Bethlehem, CT. The studio that had arranged the driver was
not aware that when she walked through the door of Regina Laudis Benedictine
Abbey she would not emerge for decades. Today, Mother Dolores is prioress of
the monastery. If you want to see her at her stunningly beautiful best, see the
cult classic, "Where the Boys Are."
The most notable things about each of these vocations is not
that each of them gave up a lot of money and fame; that each of them abandoned
what is considered the good life, but that each has admitted in interviews, or
interviews by family members, that it wasn't always easy.
Each of them struggled--and will continue to struggle--with
doubt and uncertainties. A religious
vocation is NOT easy. It doesn't answer all questions or remove all doubts. It is not a life free from stress or a life
overflowing with mystical consolations. The
first several years of settling into one's vocation, the time of figuring it
out, are very difficult. Many don't figure
it out and leave. But, the faith and
hope that caused one to say yes, I will follow you, the faith and hope that
compelled one to "go, sell what you have and give to the poor . . . and
come follow me" deepens one's life in all its dimensions. Ultimately it
frees one to live.
Indeed, freedom from the distractions of money and fame is another
common denominator in the vocation stories of Shelley Pennefather, Dolores
Hart, Grant Desme, and Chase Helgenbrinck.
A religious vocation does not take root in a vacuum. Others are necessary. Others are necessary to pray for vocations. Others are necessary to foster vocations in
many different ways. Parents or grandparents are needed to encourage vocations
early on. The lived example of mature religious is crucial. That lived example is becoming harder to find,
not always because of a decrease in numbers, but because too many religious are
crypto-religious or religious of convenience, emerging from their chrysalis of
adaptation and anonymity only when it suits them.
Most importantly a religious vocation requires that someone
ask without fear of scorn or rejection. "Have
you ever thought of becoming a . . Jesuit, Sister of Mercy, Franciscan brother,
priest?" Fill in the blank as
needed.
As Holy Father Francis notes, accepting Jesus' invitation
means no longer choosing our own path, but immersing our will in the will of
Jesus. That immersion is accomplished
only in the hope and faith that pushes us toward the future and sustains us in
the present. Rooted in the past of their
order, religious are in the present while being pushed and, ideally, pushing
others, toward the future limned for us through Jesus' saving act. And so we can sing with the psalmist,
"The Lord is good:
his kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness,
to all generations."
_______________________________________
It seems that still life photos are exerting an increasing attraction. Three were taken back home in St. Mary's Church in Plymouth, PA on Holy Saturday afternoon. I had taken Ignatius over to check some things out. The light was perfect. The others are from Campion Center. Also home.
The first three are flowers arranged around the altar on Holy Saturday. The white roses seem suspended in space. The effect of the sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows on the lilies was remarkable. It is enhanced by the black and white with strong contrast.
A still life of the thurible and some glassware in the sacristy. Ignatius did a lot of work to straighten out a room that needed straightening out and purging for quite a long time. We have more to do there this coming week but it looks a lot better.
I happened to have the camera when the sun hit the balustrade on the second floor of the rotunda. It only lasted about ten minutes before the sun continued its journey toward evening and the rotunda went into shadow.
And this is the rotunda taken shortly after the shot above. I haven't yet laid on my back to shoot directly up though it is in the plans. However, I'm not doing it in good clothes.
The processional cross hangs in the front of the chapel. The sun was hitting it just right.
Finally, Ignatius of Loyola in bas relief. I've worn a medal of the same image daily since a week after entering the novitiate.
+Fr. Jack, SJ, MD
