Franciscan at Home

Remember Your Death

I have a pretty realistic looking human skull on my desk, positioned to face my high school students. It’s constantly “looking” at them. I acquired the skull years ago from an old classroom closet and placed it on my desk. Students immediately started to notice the skull and asked, “Mr. Bitting, why do you have a skull on your desk?” I responded with Sirach 7:36, “In whatever you do, remember your last days, and you will never sin.” I also tell them about the Latin phrase memento mori (remember your death) and show them images of saints depicted with skulls on their desks as a reminder of death and motivation to avoid sin. Even students who are not in my class stop by to ask me about it.

One feature that I like is the removable top portion of the skull. I placed a sticky note with ‘Sirach 7:36’ on the inside of the skull top so I could remove the top and show the verse to inquiring students. The skull has the accurate dimensions of an adult human skull but was bleached and had markings on it from previous teachers. The unnatural color bothered one student in particular, who I’ll call Alex.

Prior to having Alex in my class for his junior year, I had been warned about him. He had spent most of his freshman and sophomore years trying to shock as many students and faculty as possible with his love of heavy metal, violence, satanic images, and affinity for atheism. Our Lord brought Alex to the front of my mind often, and each time I would intentionally pray for him. Shortly after Alex became one of my students, I found out that he had a hobby of creating masks, the kind one typically sees in horror movies or worn by heavy metal bands. One day Alex asked me if he could paint the skull. I said yes but under two conditions: 1) I wanted it to look as realistic as possible, as if it had just been exhumed, not scary like a Halloween decoration and 2) he had to paint the verse Sirach 7:36 on the inside of the skull top. He agreed and took the skull home over Christmas break. When we returned from break in January, he brought me the skull. It looked amazing! Even more students now noticed the skull and asked about it, giving me the opportunity to catechize them about death, sin, and our hope of resurrection in Christ. I praised Alex for the good use of his talents and drew positive attention to him, as I told others that he did the painting, including the Scripture verse. He was proud of his work and seemed to appreciate the compliments he received from other students, even more than the typical shock he normally evoked from them.

On March 25th, Pope Francis released Christus Vivit, “Christ is alive!” This post-synodal exhortation is addressed both to young people (16 to 30 year-olds) and the entire Church. Rich with inspirational quotes and practical suggestions, the document contains many insights about youth, for youth, and for those who minister to youth, while raising many important questions that need to be addressed.

About Youth
A young person stands on two feet as adults do, but unlike adults, whose feet are parallel, he always has one foot forward, ready to set out, to spring ahead. Always racing onward. (140)

Pope Francis begins the document by highlighting young people in the Bible as well as in Church history, figures such as Joseph (son of Jacob), Ruth, and David to St. Sebastian, St. Francis of Assisi and St.

Thérèse of Liseiux. Young people have always played an important role in salvation history. Particular attention is given to Mary, who as a young woman said “yes” to Gabriel, and to Jesus himself: “It is important to recognize that Jesus was a young person. He gave his life when he was, in today’s terms, a young adult” (23).

“Youth is more than simply a period of time; it is a state of mind” (34). This is why the Church, over two thousand years old, can be considered “young”—and needs the help of young people to keep her that way. Francis compares the shallow and superficial ways culture can manipulate youth to the true happiness that only Christ can offer. “Dear young friends, do not let them exploit your youth to promote a shallow life that confuses beauty with appearances” (183). Young people are in danger of being isolated and exploited which makes relationships with older people a great benefit. The young generation needs older generations, and the older generations need them. “When young and old alike are open to the Holy Spirit, they make a wonderful combination” (192).

Annual St.

Head buried in her screen, she was more concerned with live-tweeting the event than listening to the speaker. She was so busy scrolling through social media, she didn’t realize she had walked past a friend she hadn’t seen in years.

On September 23, 2017, the Catholic Church celebrated the beatification of a farm boy from Oklahoma. Thirty-two years earlier, in a small town in Guatemala, “Padre Apla’s” was martyred in his rectory in the middle of the night.

Stanley Rother was born in 1935 in Okarche, Oklahoma. His bucolic family was very faithful and prayed a Rosary every night after dinner, kneeling at the table. Unbeknownst to his family, Stanley contemplated a call to the priesthood while he rode the tractor in the field. In 1953, he went to seminary in San Antonio. There he worked in the seminary’s bindery and built a shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Feeling more at ease working outside than in the classroom, he struggled with the academics in seminary and wrote in his journal, “Am thinking about another vocation,” later adding that his director, “set me straight on another vocation.”[1]
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After returning to Oklahoma City, Stanley met with the director of vocations and with his bishop. Nothing is recorded of that meeting except a single mention in Rother’s journal: “Saw Bishop and he will send me on next fall.”[3] Whatever happened, Stanley convinced the bishop of his calling and was admitted to another seminary. He was ordained a priest in 1963. Five years later, he was sent to the diocesan mission in Guatemala and flourished as a pastor, learning to speak Tz’utujil (the local language) and even aiding in the translation of the New Testament into that language.

God knew what he was doing with this Oklahoma farm boy. Having learned about crops, irrigation, and proper planting practices on his family farm, Stanley put his knowledge to use by helping the Tz’utujil people better their farming techniques. He knew the value of hard work and was frequently seen eating and working alongside his parishioners. Decades before Pope Francis called for priests to “smell like their sheep,” Fr. Rother was working side by side with the men and women God gave him to shepherd.

As a confirmation facilitator, it feels like a “rescue mission” trying to re-ignite faith, hope, and charity in souls that are growing cold and are in need of conversion. The young people I serve do not always benefit from the witness of fervent or healthy families. Parents sometimes value their child’s résumé over their religious formation. Many things, like sports, compete with time for God on the weekend. The result is an attitude that religious formation is more of a burden than a blessing. I often assume that those who come to be catechized do not want to be there.

I’m trying to learn how to depend on the Holy Spirit and be attentive to the diverse needs of those being catechized without being disheartened or overwhelmed. Somehow the catechesis I provide must be a means for a young person to discover Jesus and come to follow Him, perhaps for the first time. Last year as I served a group of thirty students, composed of both public and Catholic school students, it was intimidating to say the least. We began the year with Alpha, a program based on video presentations and small group discussion. For the first few months, I came to know only a fraction of the confirmation students, those who were assigned to my table. I wondered how I could establish a relationship of trust and openness with the other students.

The Instrumentum laboris describes the scope of the upcoming Synod on Youth, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment with these words: “just as our Lord Jesus Christ walked alongside the disciples of Emmaus, the Church is also urged to accompany all young people, without exception, towards the joy of love” (no. 1). The theme of accompaniment weaves through the document like a melody on which all other harmonies are based. In fact, accompaniment is explained as a non-negotiable within youth ministry. “The accompaniment of younger generations is not an optional element in the task of educating and evangelizing young people, but an ecclesial duty and a right of every young person” (no. 85).

This concept is not new in the life of the Church. In 1976, the United States’ Bishops published A Vision of Youth Ministry, which proposed the story of Emmaus as the guiding image for how ministry to youth should be carried out: through the process of listening and accompaniment. These two principles go hand in hand.

Intentional listening is an essential part of accompaniment, and one that we in the Church must strive to increase in our work with young people. Though Jesus knew the answers to the questions the two disciples were asking, he engaged them in a dialogue about what had just occurred in Jerusalem and listened as they shared their stories. Only when they were finished did he open up the Scriptures to give them a fuller understanding.

There is a scene in the film Good Will Hunting where Sean (Robin Williams) and Will (Matt Damon) share a pivotal conversation on a bench overlooking a swan-filled lake. The week before, Will quickly and incisively interprets a painting that Sean had created and hung in his office.

Blessed Pope Paul VI boldly affirmed that, “Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize.”[1] If evangelization is in fact the Church’s deepest identity, it logically follows that every Catholic institution must consciously proclaim the Good News to all people and facilitate both their initial encounter and deepening relationship with the Lord Jesus. The content of this Good News is found in the kerygma, the Greek term meaning “initial proclamation.” God the Father revealed himself perfectly in the Person of his Son Jesus Christ, true God and true man, who then suffered and died to atone for all the sins of mankind, rose from the dead, and now lives forever to draw all people to the Father in himself, by the saving grace and power of the Holy Spirit. Intimate communion with the Lord Jesus is thus the Church’s primary goal. When we set out to bring this saving message to teenagers, we quickly discover no shortage of obstacles. They constitute an enormously diverse and complex demographic, particularly when it comes to their spiritual, emotional, and intellectual circumstances. They are constantly faced with challenges, some more threatening to their souls than others. Many teens today have lost or have never even possessed an awareness of the dignity, value, and eternal significance of their lives. Many of them have no appreciation for their relationship with God, who loves them into being, or have no conscious relationship with God whatsoever. Though many teens can sense this inner lack, they are oftentimes unaware that God seeks to bring healing to them. We must first help awaken in them a willingness to try a different path than the one they and their peers have been walking, and then nurture a desire in them for the guidance Christ offers. Referencing Evangelii Nuntiandi, the Congregation for the Clergy’s General Directory for Catechesis describes evangelization as, “the carrying forth of the Good News to every sector of the human race so that by its strength it may enter into the hearts of men and renew the human race.”[2] What this means is that the Gospel is intrinsically powerful and effective! We do not add any power whatsoever to the work of the Holy Spirit. What he offers through evangelization must be taken in, like a seed, in order that he may further nourish and grow his grace in the soul. Put another way, his is the true healing balm, the antidote, the cure, the elixir of eternal life. But before we can begin to decide upon a course of action for the effective offering of this healing message to our teens, we must first carefully and prayerfully consider some of the specific challenges they face in our current cultural milieu.

"Behold, the Lamb of God!" Following Christ's baptism, the Gospel of John recounts how John the Baptist recognizes Jesus walking by and proclaims, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" Two of the Baptist's disciples, including Andrew, immediately follow Jesus and ask him, "Where are you staying?" to which the Lord replies, "Come and see." And "so they went … and stayed with him that day" (Jn 1:35-39). The passage beautifully illustrates the "dynamism of vocation" and the process of discernment among the first disciples of Jesus. Specifically it offers a paradigm for the manner by which Christ invites men to share in the grace of priestly ministry. Through the instrumentality of "prophetic witnesses," the Risen Jesus-who "continues working even now" (cf. Jn 5:17)-attracts new generations of "workers" into the harvest (Lk 10:2) and extends his gracious invitation to follow him into the "fields." In our own day, the Risen Christ continues to call men after his own heart to proclaim the Gospel and to feed, heal, and sanctify his people by the sacraments. So it should not be surprising that in each emerging generation there are those whose hearts are stirred by the invitation. Catechists and religion teachers, who are privileged to encounter and to instruct youth, should expect to see, and will invariably notice, particular young people who exhibit signs of being called. They will also see qualities, whether obvious or more intangible, that beg to be recognized for the sake of the one called and for the good of the Church. For many young men today, a catechist may, by God's design, play the role of John the Baptist in pointing out to them the Lamb of God and in awakening within them the gift of faith. The Experience of Being Called What is the experience of a man "being called" to follow Jesus as a priest? Well, there are as many differences in experience as there are "unique" souls. St. John of the Cross says, "God leads each one along different paths so that hardly one spirit will be found like another in even half its method of procedure." (Incidentally, our awareness of each soul's uniqueness and God's manner of communicating to it should instill in us a certain awe and respect toward those we assist and encourage, whether we do so as priest, religious, or catechist.) Notwithstanding the uniqueness of each man's experience, what is true for each man's experience is his growing fascination with the person of Jesus Christ and a heightened sense of Christ's particular love for him. This sense of particularity in the awareness of Christ's love can arise very early in one called to priesthood. I remember distinctively my summer Bible school classes at age 5 and listening attentively to the many stories of the Old Testament-the call of Abraham, the call of Samuel, the courage of David and Esther-that stirred my young imagination. The living Person of Jesus and his offer of friendship in the Gospel was made present to me through the joyful storytelling of my first grade teacher, Sr. Pat Hogan, O.P. of the Sparkill Dominicans, as well as through the witness of my parents' prayer at their weekly Charismatic Renewal meetings in my local parish, St. Gregory Barbarigo in Garnerville, NY. This saying is true: "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses." Confirmed by the example of those whom I revered-my parents, my teachers, parish priests and religious, and devout parishioners-I very quickly made their enthusiasm toward Jesus my own and I soon moved from an observer to a worshipper. Fascination with the goodness and beauty of Jesus beckons the one called to seek deeper intimacy with Jesus in prayer and often corresponds with a growing interest in the Eucharistic Presence and the sacramental life of the Church. Just as Andrew and the other disciple are moved to inquire of Jesus, "Where are you staying?" so, too, the one called to priesthood glimpses his deepest truth reflected in the Lamb of God and hungers to better know him. The call narratives in the Scriptures (especially in the Gospels) resonate within, appealing for a personal response to the solicitous love of Jesus the Good Shepherd. At the core of discerning a vocation lies the fundamental questions: How is God calling me to give of myself for love of God and love of others? How is Jesus calling me to reveal his heart to the world? For the future priest, Christ's invitation to "come and see" appeals to his freedom and dilates his heart, impelled as he is by the example of Christ's boundless love, to likewise minister for the sake of the Gospel and to become an "ambassador for Christ" (cf. 2 Cor 5:20).