Light the Candle
I invite you to think for a moment of a metaphor. Consider please, that with this metaphor that
each individual person is like a length of cotton string. Since our lives are gift from God, picture God
unrolling the spool turn after turn as you are gifted another day. We recognize that our lives are relatively
fragile; the string can be broken, cut or simply fray with usual wear and tear
so that over time it comes apart.
God does one more thing as He unwinds the string, He
sometimes winds two pieces of string together so that they form a stronger
string. He might allow such a winding
together to happen with multiple strings.
We would find examples in families, in faith communities, in teams, even
in nations. Actually, the vast majority
of strings are twisted with others during their lives.
Sometimes, as with a husband and his wife, God brings
two people together in a common and expected way. Although, even with something as common as
the bride and groom, that coming together is not immediately obvious at
first. My wife Michelle and I are an
example of this. We had both made life decisions
to attend St Norbert College to be close to other long-term significant others. Those long-term relationships both unraveled. Then we found ourselves enrolled in American
Romantics class and assigned to sit next to each other because the professor
actually took attendance. Taking
attendance in college is unusual, but there we were Wendt next to Wagnitz.
Sometimes, the winding together comes from unimagined
places. How can this be? Here’s another example from my family.
I have an older brother, Tom, who was ordained as a
deacon in the Diocese of Belleville Illinois.
Tom and his wife Patti had four children of their own. Along the course of Tom’s ministry, he got to
know a religious sister whose Order based in countries of South America ran orphanages
and schools. They contacted Tom and
Patti to ask a big question. Would they
open their hearts to adopt a little boy from Honduras? They would.
And so, their family and our larger family grew by another little soul. Consider our metaphor and picture Tony’s
string being wound up into a family from another part of the world.
What’s more, to show their gratitude the good sisters
gifted Tom with a deacon stole that they had made. And they shared with Tom that this particular
stole was blessed by Father Stan Rother shortly before he was martyred in
Guatemala on July 28, 1981. Father Stan
was just 46 years old when he was killed.
It was a difficult shock to our family when my brother
Tom passed away from a heart attack at age 48.
I was also shocked by the number of people at the wake, and the
funeral. People spilled out the church
doors, down the steps and out onto the lawn.
To me, he was my brother Tom. I was
amazed at the number of lives that he touched.
I was amazed even more, when in 2009, I was ordained
as a deacon for the Diocese of Green Bay.
Among those in attendance were Tom’s widow, Patti and two of their
daughters. They brought me an amazing
gift – a large bag filled with some of Tom’s vestments. Among them was the stole that Father Rother
had blessed. I wear that stole in
situations where either I or those I am ministering to are being challenged to
live the faith boldly. The picture posted
with this essay is one of me wearing Tom’s stole while preaching to fellow
pilgrims in Ireland.
Just the other night Michelle and I went to see the
movie, American Martyr: The Stanley Rother Story. The film does a great job showing how Father
Stan completely emersed his heart into his ministry. The love he lived for his people is still
palpable; I am not ashamed to say that I watched most of the movie through
tears. It becomes obvious that Father
Stan’s string was fully entwined with his flock in Guatemala. Even though he had been safely smuggled out
of the country when it became known that he was on the government’s death list,
he asked permission from his bishop to return.
“The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger” he wrote.
The movie makes it clear that Fr Stan did not seek
death, but he did not let fear of death prevent him from his ministry. Recognizing that he was killed in hatred of
the faith and his pastoral ministry, the Vatican formally recognized his
martyrdom. On September 23, 2017, Father
Stanley Rother was beatified, becoming the first U.S.-born priest recognized as
a martyr by the Catholic Church.
It would be a good thing to pray today for all the
strings that your string is entwined with, and that your string is a blessing
to them. It would be good to acknowledge
that the best way any of us can be remembered would be for those we leave
behind to go to the church, to light the Easter Candle and sing Easter songs.
“The
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5
His Peace <><
Deacon Dan
Comments
Post a Comment