When I was in the seminary, I thought I had to be very knowledgeable and educated in order to be a good priest. I had many humanistic hopes and aspirations about how I could change and transform the Church. Perhaps that came from our long hours of sitting around trying to talk about how to solve the world and ecclesiastical problems, vainly wanting to prove ourselves as faithful and good priests. As a matter of fact, I was so proud of the degrees that I attained from the seminary that I ignorantly and pitifully loved to sign my name with all of the abbreviations. I was happy when I was asked or assigned to important “roles” at the Diocese and its extended offices. I wanted to be in the know and stand close to the big dogs. I guess I was trying hard to prove myself as a young priest, especially to feel important and needed.
However, there was one event that happened when I was a young priest that changed my life forever. It puts into perspective what people are really in need of me as a priest, instead of what I think I want to be or need to be in order to feel important, accepted, and needed by the institutional and political sides of the house. It humbled me and changed my life because it helped me understand what the People of God are really looking for in their priests, rather than what we think is important for our “career” and lifestyle.
When I was on vacation after a few (first) months of many chaotic and messy situations, I received a private message letting me know that a parishioner had taken a turn for the worse. I do not know about you… but us priests are very scared to go on vacation because this is often the time when bad things happen. As a matter of fact, the times tend to work out and are slow enough for us to do are often the timeframe that many elderly people are dying due to the (extreme) changes in temperatures. Furthermore, deaths and funerals do not always come in one or two, but very often come in a set of three or more!
Sorry for the digression, but let us get back to the story… Anyway, her son, who was also a dear parishioner, let me know that his mom only had a short time left. I let him know that I might not be able to be back on time, so please do not wait for me and try to find a priest who can administer the Last Rites to her. He said that he will call another priest if it comes to the last moment of life and death. Once I landed, I immediately drove to his house from the airport.
I was hoping that I would not be too late. Hence, the first words that came out of his mouth when I arrived at the house were, “Father, Mom waited for you…”
I almost broke down in tears after receiving those words. However, I held myself together so I could administer the Last Rites to her. I absolved her sins, gave her the Apostolic Pardon, anointed her, and gave her Viaticum as food for the journey.
Over and over again, I had the privilege to administer the Last Rites to many dear parishioners as a priest. Each and every one of them touched me deeply because they were great lessons and testimonies of faith. I had seen people coming to awareness (even though their family members said that they were unresponsive) when prayers were said, especially the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be were prayed together. I received so many affirmations of faith that those last sacramental moments were what those people were waiting for. Hence, in the saddest and hardest moment between life and death, even in the midst of many tears and goodbyes, we were never alone because the Lord was with us.
Moments like what I have shared with you strengthened my own faith as a Catholic and made me more committed to the priesthood. At the end of the day, it is never about a career, education, title, role, position, or anything else! The people will not care about any of those… They will care and remember if we are there for them or not. Therefore, I have learned from that moment on that my priesthood is found to be completed in how I care for others as a shepherd and father in the faith.
At the annual Northwest Deanery Confirmation Retreat, hosted by the Midwestern State University Catholic Campus Center, there is a meaningful skit done by the college students to convey the message of generosity and stewardship. It begins with a person who has many gifts but is always anxious about losing them, so this person keeps them close to their heart. However, as the gifts are being held close, fear and anxiety begin to develop. The gifts also get smaller and smaller with time. However, when the person decides to be attentive to others and chooses to share the beautiful gifts in service, those gifts grow exponentially. Without a doubt, the gifts of life, talent, intellect, health, and the like are all given and endowed to us by God, not to be held close to our chest but to be shared with others close and connected to us. If we think about it, everything we have today was not achieved by our own abilities but given by His divine providence and goodness; therefore, they are not for us to keep but are gifts of God given to us to be shared.
St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata taught us that God does not call us to be successful; He calls us to be faithful. As good stewards, we are called to be both faithful and prudent. Our faithfulness invites us to multiply and put into practice the gifts endowed to us by the Almighty. As prudent stewards, we must learn to share and work with others. We cannot use our power and abilities to oppress others, falsehood, and lies to slander and paint a false picture, our intellect and talents to benefit us only, and our plans. We are called to use all these things for the greater glory of God!
So, how do we solve our world problems? I do not have the typical sociological or political answers. Still, I truly believe we can all make personal efforts to cultivate and nurture a culture of real compassion, mercy, generosity, and humanity. Society is not made up of laws and policies; it is bonded and united by the common bond of good men and women who choose to come together for greater goods that are beyond them, their generations, or what they can see or benefit in the now. Society is made up of people who make it what it is through dialogue and respect for one another in the truth, by keeping it human! This humanity is not just something in our own image or our desire to create or justify ourselves, but the inherent knowledge and identity of who we really are, created in the image and likeness of God!
What makes us real human beings and in touch with our humanity is our willingness to be who we are truthfully in the eye of God, living according to what He is asking of us by keeping His commandments, and putting things into practice by being kind men and women of faith, hope, and love in charity. It is not based on manipulation or exclusion, controlling or demeaning attitudes, but on basic, foundational gifts of what truly makes us humans. It is a respectful, responsible, and accountable use of power not to get what we want but to serve, accompany, and protect the God-given dignity of all in and according to His greatest commandment. What makes us human is our personal and intimate desire to be human in everything that we do and say with other human beings, treating them as we would like to be treated, respecting their dignity and value as His children, so that all of us accompany and journey with one another toward God who has created us.