Yesterday while walking through Six Flags, a friend of mine received that phone call that no one ever wants to get. A dear friend, and former lover of his had passed away...at only 24 years old. A young man who was full of life, love, and ignited a room with his personality. As the day and evening moved along, word began to spread. His friends were naturally shocked, and undoubtedly today the reality of this horrific situation has certainly started to settle in.
Although I personally didn't really know him , I do know the impact his passing has made on my friends. It has made me think a lot about life. I have had extensive experience with death in my life. That experience includes family members, a priest friend who meant the world to me, and strangers I never knew at whose caskets I offered prayers and words of consolation to mourning family members while I was in Seminary. My ministry in the Office of Catholic Cemeteries resulted in my involvement in more burials then I can count. No one's passing however has ever made me really stop and think.
I think that we sometimes forget that we are not invincible. We forget the fragile nature of our lives. We let things get to us, and stress us out, that at the end of the day don't matter. We waste energy being upset about things that perhaps are not as important as we think they are in the moment.
When I was in Seminary I remember offering words of consolation. Words that came from a deep rooted, sincere faith in God and Heaven, and everlasting life. Those sentiments however do not take away the pain of those who mourn their loved one's passing. Those sentiments do not bring back the person that has been lost.
Our lives our short...in the end we have no idea how short. So we need to live everyday to it's fullest. We never know the impact we have on other people, and we never realize the impact other people have on us until it's too late. To my friends who mourn his passing, I offer my condolences, and prayers. I also remind you to carry him always in your heart, and live the lessons you learned from his friendship. To all my readers, and to myself, I can only say that we have no idea how much time we have, so don't waste any of it.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Pilgrims
Bishop Tobin, in his weekly reflection, this week discusses Archbishop Rembert Weakland's Memoirs entitled "A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church". Archbishop Weakland made somewhat of a name for himself when in the height of the Church Sex Scandel his own sexual transgressions with a youngster came to light, as well as the cover up that followed it. His book concludes with, "My story now comes to an end . . . Like all the other tales of human pilgrimage it must end with a fervent prayer for God’s gracious love and mercy on such a flawed but grateful pilgrim"
The quote reminded me of similar words heard spoken only a week ago by Senator Ted Kennedy to the Pope. The text of the letter was made public at the final commendation ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. In the letter he informs the Pontiff that he is dying of Cancer, and informs him of his stance on so many issues. He writes, "I want you to know, your Holiness, that in my 50 years of elected office I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. I’ve worked to welcome the immigrant, to fight discrimination and expand access to health care and education. I’ve opposed the death penalty and fought to end war."
The final paragraphs of his letter admit that although he has not been perfect, his faith has always been his rock, and center. When those words were read I thought they could be the words of any of us who are believers, as none of us have made the journey perfectly. The Archbishop is right, we really are all Pilgrims.
This year I turned 28, and I thought recently about when I was kid, I remember going to New York to celebrate my Brother-In-Law's 30th Birthday. He was quite the man in my eyes. A successful finance worker, with the body of a body builder. He lived in a gorgeous, spacious two bedroom apartment in Hoboken NJ. When you stood on his deck you looked at the Manhattan skyline. He took my sister to the nicest restaurants, wore nice suits, and was all around impressive. At least he impressed me! Then again I was just a kid. I remember thinking, that's what life had in store for all of us, as we got older we would naturally just get better and better.
Who's to say what age we have to be to reach certain marks in our pilgrim journey. Had I remained in the Seminary, this summer would have marked my two year anniversary of being a priest. The day of my class's Ordination to the Sacred Priesthood I attended. I put on my finest suit, and went to the Cathedral to sit and watch them achieve the dream that I had held in my heart and soul my entire life. At the Cathedral I watched with a joyful pride for my classmates and their momentous accomplishment. However in private, I cried. I cried a lot. What road was the right one to turn down for this Pilgrim if that was not the one?
One thing is for certain, life is not easy. For lack of a better word, it frankly sucks. No matter what choices we make we can never please everyone, we are always hurting someone, and when one challenge is overcome, there is another one to immediately follow. When I was in Seminary I thought when times got tough it was God's way of telling me that I was on the wrong track...now I see that is not the case at all, nobody has it easy. There are those people who we think do have it easy, but they face challenges and troubles too, we just will never know them. On the backside of every lovely and beautiful tapestry is hidden the knots, loose strings, and ties that make it up.
So how do we measure the success of our individual pilgrimage? Ted Kennedy's letter to the Pontiff highlighted his accomplishments, no doubt those things contributed to his end of life evaluation. The Archbishop, although he ends his text with words of prayer for mercy, he notes that he is a "grateful" pilgrim, for the many blessings and fortunes he had along the way. Clearly a man who feels there has been success somewhere along the twisted roads he traveled.
What strikes me also is the response that came from Rome. His response came from one of the Holy Father's assistants, in which he said; the pope got your letter, he is sad you are sick, he prays you are consoled, Mary loves you. If I were Ted that response would have been a deep disappointment. When I was a boy, maybe in the fourth grade, I wrote a letter to the Pope. In this letter I boasted of my aspirations to be a priest, shared my pride in my father's life of ministry as a Deacon, and asked him to pray for me. I told him about how I had watch World Youth Day on TV and one day hoped to attend. I later received a letter in return, which came from a Papal Assistant. It infromed me that; the pope got your letter, he's glad you want to be a priest, he prays you remain faithful to your goal of being a priest, Mary loves you.
The response is not much different then that of Ted's. To a fourth grader that response meant the world! I had a letter from the pope. As I got older I eventually came to realize that it was the same generic response everyone gets who sends a letter to the Supreme Pontiff. I certainly understand the reality of the situation, the Pope's concern about greater things, etc etc. However I find it to be ironic, and at 28 years old, I find so often when I turn to the God who I trust and believe so deeply in. . . I am still getting the same flat generic response; I got your prayer, stay strong, Mary loves you.
There comes a point in the Pilgrim journey when we need some kind of a break, where something's gotta give. There comes a point in life when we all begin to wonder when the roadblocks, speed bumps, and stop signs are going to pay off. I guess this is written by the hand of a frustrated pilgrim. However we keep going, despite the weariness. We utilize the rest stops along the way, and then gather it together and keep going. We keep going towards that end that we don't even know. We have our hopes and dreams of what that end will be but we won't find out until we get there.
The quote reminded me of similar words heard spoken only a week ago by Senator Ted Kennedy to the Pope. The text of the letter was made public at the final commendation ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. In the letter he informs the Pontiff that he is dying of Cancer, and informs him of his stance on so many issues. He writes, "I want you to know, your Holiness, that in my 50 years of elected office I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. I’ve worked to welcome the immigrant, to fight discrimination and expand access to health care and education. I’ve opposed the death penalty and fought to end war."
The final paragraphs of his letter admit that although he has not been perfect, his faith has always been his rock, and center. When those words were read I thought they could be the words of any of us who are believers, as none of us have made the journey perfectly. The Archbishop is right, we really are all Pilgrims.
This year I turned 28, and I thought recently about when I was kid, I remember going to New York to celebrate my Brother-In-Law's 30th Birthday. He was quite the man in my eyes. A successful finance worker, with the body of a body builder. He lived in a gorgeous, spacious two bedroom apartment in Hoboken NJ. When you stood on his deck you looked at the Manhattan skyline. He took my sister to the nicest restaurants, wore nice suits, and was all around impressive. At least he impressed me! Then again I was just a kid. I remember thinking, that's what life had in store for all of us, as we got older we would naturally just get better and better.
Who's to say what age we have to be to reach certain marks in our pilgrim journey. Had I remained in the Seminary, this summer would have marked my two year anniversary of being a priest. The day of my class's Ordination to the Sacred Priesthood I attended. I put on my finest suit, and went to the Cathedral to sit and watch them achieve the dream that I had held in my heart and soul my entire life. At the Cathedral I watched with a joyful pride for my classmates and their momentous accomplishment. However in private, I cried. I cried a lot. What road was the right one to turn down for this Pilgrim if that was not the one?
One thing is for certain, life is not easy. For lack of a better word, it frankly sucks. No matter what choices we make we can never please everyone, we are always hurting someone, and when one challenge is overcome, there is another one to immediately follow. When I was in Seminary I thought when times got tough it was God's way of telling me that I was on the wrong track...now I see that is not the case at all, nobody has it easy. There are those people who we think do have it easy, but they face challenges and troubles too, we just will never know them. On the backside of every lovely and beautiful tapestry is hidden the knots, loose strings, and ties that make it up.
So how do we measure the success of our individual pilgrimage? Ted Kennedy's letter to the Pontiff highlighted his accomplishments, no doubt those things contributed to his end of life evaluation. The Archbishop, although he ends his text with words of prayer for mercy, he notes that he is a "grateful" pilgrim, for the many blessings and fortunes he had along the way. Clearly a man who feels there has been success somewhere along the twisted roads he traveled.
What strikes me also is the response that came from Rome. His response came from one of the Holy Father's assistants, in which he said; the pope got your letter, he is sad you are sick, he prays you are consoled, Mary loves you. If I were Ted that response would have been a deep disappointment. When I was a boy, maybe in the fourth grade, I wrote a letter to the Pope. In this letter I boasted of my aspirations to be a priest, shared my pride in my father's life of ministry as a Deacon, and asked him to pray for me. I told him about how I had watch World Youth Day on TV and one day hoped to attend. I later received a letter in return, which came from a Papal Assistant. It infromed me that; the pope got your letter, he's glad you want to be a priest, he prays you remain faithful to your goal of being a priest, Mary loves you.
The response is not much different then that of Ted's. To a fourth grader that response meant the world! I had a letter from the pope. As I got older I eventually came to realize that it was the same generic response everyone gets who sends a letter to the Supreme Pontiff. I certainly understand the reality of the situation, the Pope's concern about greater things, etc etc. However I find it to be ironic, and at 28 years old, I find so often when I turn to the God who I trust and believe so deeply in. . . I am still getting the same flat generic response; I got your prayer, stay strong, Mary loves you.
There comes a point in the Pilgrim journey when we need some kind of a break, where something's gotta give. There comes a point in life when we all begin to wonder when the roadblocks, speed bumps, and stop signs are going to pay off. I guess this is written by the hand of a frustrated pilgrim. However we keep going, despite the weariness. We utilize the rest stops along the way, and then gather it together and keep going. We keep going towards that end that we don't even know. We have our hopes and dreams of what that end will be but we won't find out until we get there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)