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All the Way from Chicago
  The train ride was 28 hours. They arrived at the Marist Brothers Retreat House in Esopus [North of Highland toward Kingston] at 2 a.m. But that didn't stop this hardy band of students from Chicago's Marist High School from joining us at the hope Center to paint two rooms on the second floor of the Carriage House, do some calking and rearrange our tool and supply room. In all, a total of about 20 students spent two-and-a-half days of their Spring Break with us helping to make a dream come true. What's the connection? How did this great group end up with us? Well, our dear friend and supporter Brother Don Bisson told Dan, a fellow Marist Brother, about us and suggested that we could use some help. Dan called Steve and that was that. Although we appreciated all of their hard work and were amazed by their work ethic, what sticks with us is their warm smiles and commitments to serving others. |
The students who joined us here at Hope on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of the month only hint of the activity that goes on around Hope.
On Thursday of this past week, we hosted the monthly meeting of the Greater Newburgh Ministerial Association. One of those joining us was Julio Medina, founder and executive director of Exodus Transitional Community, one of the most successful prisoner re-entry programs in America. Julio talked about his own faith journey and his call to live out that faith by opening doors to others and break the cycle of recidivism. He spoke about a call to preach the gospel with actions not words.
The call to deliver the gospel message with one's actions was etched on my heart when I was introduced to St. Francis more than a decade ago. In addition to being known for his love of creation, especially the animals, Francis is also known for encouraging his Brothers to "preach the gospel; use words if you must."
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Francis in stained glass. San Damiano, Assisi, Italy
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Those simple words led to a lot of soul searching on my part. I was in seminary at the time and I remember that my initial response was "If that's the the case, what the heck am I doing here?" Well, as it turns out, I was there for the master's degree I needed in order to be ordained. I was there to go to class, read a lot of books, write a lot of papers, and take a lot of exams. But, I was also in seminary to meet Francis, a mostly uneducated man who never went to seminary, was never ordained, and had none of the other bona fides expected of a "real" servant of God. And, I was there to meet Theresa, and St. John of the Cross, and Catherine, and a whole cloud of witnesses whose lives serve as windows through which one can see the Divine.
That was what Jesus was talking about when in John 10:22-30 (next week's gospel reading), he said "The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me." Jesus didn't have to tell anyone who he was; what he did testified to that reality. He preached the gospel, he delivered the Good News by living it, by being it. No wonder he could simply say, "the Father and I are one."
I don't know about you, but I want what Jesus offers. I want that wholeness, the connection to God and all it offers. I believe that we can have that in the here and now. Jesus promised it. Francis and women and men of all generations believed the promise and discovered the truth of God's overwhelming love, a love that calls us to action, that calls folks like Julio, the students from Marist High School and you to live the gospel.
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