Everyone Has a Story

Glancing down the boulevard of blessings on a 20th anniversary

John 16:12-15 

Jesus said to his disciples: "I have much more to tell you,  but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you."   

          Two years ago, a priest-friend of mine, and my first pastor, Msgr. Gaston Hebert published a book called, “Priests: the Guise and the Guys Behind the Collar.” He sent me a free copy and asked if I would be so kind as to write an on-line review of his book. You know, you don’t become a monsignor without knowing how to lay a good Catholic guilt trip on someone: free book - write a review. The book was a fictional account of the lives of twenty priests, whose lives are all intersected by a wise, loving, holy monsignor. I’ll give you one guess who that was! When you write the story, you can make yourself the hero! After reading the book, I wrote a brief review. Here’s what I said: “Everyone has a story. When you’re a Catholic priest, your story is written and re-written by the lives of all those you meet.” And that’s absolutely true – our parishioners write and re-write the story of each of us priests. Each person here at Mass is like a “pen” that God uses to write the story of my life. You know, as much as the parishioners of Immaculate Conception Church were “Galvinized” during the pastorate of Msgr. William Galvin, you also changed him deeply as a man and as a minister. In other words, the relationship between priest and people is not a one-way street; rather, it is a boulevard of blessings going both ways. I bless you; you bless me. What a privilege to write a few lines in another person’s story! 

          As I celebrate twenty years as a priest, I’d like to share a small sample of how you parishioners have shaped this priest with your faith and love and wisdom. The first people to shape a priest, of course, is his own family. I’ll never forget the night I told my family I wanted to be a priest. I was a junior in high school and after I made the announcement at dinner, my brother said skeptically, “Oh, John, after one year in college, you’ll change your mind.” And I gotta tell ya, at that moment I wanted to be a priest more than ever, just to prove my brother wrong! In the darkest days of my discernment, when I had no desire to be a priest, sibling rivalry saved my vocation! So, thanks, bro. But you see what he did? My brother was writing the story of my life. My brother held the pen. On my ordination day, May 25, 1996, my mom told me sagely, “Son, always wear your collar; it will keep you out of trouble!” Wearing my collar makes it hard to wander into the bars on Garrison Avenue. My mom rewrote the story of my life because I always wear my Roman collar, wherever I go. I haven’t wandered into too many bars. 

          Parishioners here at Immaculate Conception have also re-written my story as a priest, too. This past week Jason Wewers helped me mow the grounds at Trinity Junior High. We kept mowing even though it was late in the evening and it was getting dark. But neither he nor I wanted to be the first to quit, which would be very weak and unmanly. So, we kept mowing, even in the pitch dark, we mowed by moonlight; it was all very romantic. But you see, Jason taught me his work-ethic and make me work harder, too. Jason was writing my story; he was holding the pen. I’ve also learned never to underestimate the wisdom of our parish secretary, Kay Geisbauer. I often quote movie lines and one day I repeated the famous line from Dirty Harry, where Clint Eastwood holds a 44 magnum at a criminal and says coldly: “I know what you’re thinking; did he fire six shots or only five. Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I kind of lost track myself. But being this is a .44 magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do you, punk?” And to my great astonishment, Kay Geisbauer, that mild-mannered church secretary, immediately quoted the criminal’s reply to that question, she said, “I gots to know!” You know your secretary is a keeper when she can quote Dirty Harry movies! Kay was a pen writing a page in the book of my life. 

          Last week I visited the Cub Scouts to speak about their Parvuli Dei badge. The boys were restless and had spring fever, and they were distracted and inattentive when I spoke. Two other adult men spoke but the boys kept on fidgeting and fighting with each other. Finally Emily Higgenbothem spoke, in a soft but serious voice, and the little urchins instantly calmed down, they stood still and gave her their full attention. Emily was the “boy whisperer” that night! Isn’t that a facet of the feminine genius that Pope Francis wants to unleash in the Church? Emily was a pen that has written in the pages of my life, teaching me greater respect and reverence for the role of women. “Everyone has a story. When you’re a Catholic priest, your story is written and re-written by the lives of all those you meet.” 

          In the gospel today, Jesus tells his disciples that they will learn his wisdom little by little, not all at once, as the story of their lives are written, as the history of the Church is written. Our Lord says, “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of Truth, he will guide you to all truth.” Now, let me ask you, how will the Spirit guide the Apostles to all truth? Do you think the Spirit might speak to the Apostles through other people, to refine and deepen their grasp of the faith? Absolutely. The apostles, too, those first priests, also strolled down that boulevard of blessings: they taught the people, and the people taught them. Indeed, it was precisely in the crucible of church councils and the controversy of heresies that a purer and holier faith eventually emerged. You see, even the heretics have written their lines in the annals of Church history. 

          My friends, would you indulge me on this occasion of my twentieth anniversary to offer you a little advice? Well, I’m going to anyway! Would you thank God for all the people who have crossed your path in your life? And don’t leave anyone off your list, not even those who hurt you, or those who betrayed you, or those who stole from you, or those who cheated you, or those who spoke ill of you. Each person you meet is like a “pen” that God uses to write some blessing into the story of your life. You could not be the person you are today without all those in-laws and out-laws, just as the Church could not be who she is today – the beautiful Bride of Christ – without both saints and sinners, holy ones and heretics. You see, the Holy Spirit employs the services of in-laws and out-laws, saints and sinners, older brothers and church secretaries, Cub Scout leaders and grounds keepers, to “lead us into all truth.” 

          “Everyone has a story. When you’re a Catholic priest, your story is written and re-written by all those you meet.” Thank you, for being the authors of my biography. 

          Praised be Jesus Christ!