Fathering the Future

Taking responsibility of raising the next generation

06/17/2020

2 Kings 2:1, 6-14 When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, he and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here; the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.” “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you,” Elisha replied. And so the two went on together. Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up and struck the water, which divided, and both crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask for whatever I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of your spirit.” “You have asked something that is not easy,” Elijah replied. “Still, if you see me taken up from you, your wish will be granted; otherwise not.” As they walked on conversing, a flaming chariot and flaming horses came between them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. When Elisha saw it happen he cried out, “My father! my father! Israel’s chariots and drivers!” But when he could no longer see him, Elisha gripped his own garment and tore it in two. Then he picked up Elijah’s mantle that had fallen from him, and went back and stood at the bank of the Jordan.

Most of the lessons we learned in the seminary we sadly forget, going in one ear and out the other. Occasionally, however, something sticks, becoming like the grain of sand in an oyster shell slowly growing into a pearl of great price. One such lesson was a comment a priest made that has come back to my mind again and again. He said that the job of every priest before he dies is to inspire another young man to be a priest and take his place. Most Catholic priests are celibate so this duty is doubly difficulty since it must be one of YOUR sons whom we must inspire to be a priest and take our place. Everyone loves to promote vocations as long as it’s the neighbor’s son whose vocation we promote, not MY son. My son will get married and give me grandchildren. So, our task is more tricky than it sounds.

Msgr. William Galvin, the legendary pastor of Immaculate Conception, “galvanized” many young priests. But these men were already minted as priests when they arrived in Fort Smith. Msgr. Galvin’s job was to polish their priestly halos and put some spit-shine on them. Some needed more spit than others. It’s quite another matter to take the raw material of a young man and fashion a future spiritual father, like a potter works with clay, as it says in Jeremiah 18:1-4. In the twenty-four years I have been a priest I often ask myself if I have inspired a young man to be a priest and take my place. I have certainly been privileged to work with many fine men, like Ben Riley this summer, but that is not quite the same as giving birth to a future, brother-priest. In a sense, that is the pearl of great price of every priest’s life, and maybe my spiritual progeny is still slowly growing in the oyster shell.

In the second book of Kings, we see exactly this kind of spiritual fathering of the next generation between Elijah and Elisha. In 2 Kings 2, Elijah is taken up into heaven in a whirlwind, a fiery chariot. But he doesn’t leave earth until he has fulfilled the task of inspiring another young prophet, Elisha, to take his place. How does Elisha symbolically take over as Elijah’s successor? We read: “Then [Elisha] picked up Elijah’s mantle that had fallen from him, and went back and stood at the bank of the Jordan.” Indeed, Elisha is given a “double portion” of the spirit of Elijah. Whereas Elijah performed eight mighty miracles, Elisha will perform sixteen extraordinary miracles, exactly double. In other words, a priest’s and prophet’s task is not only to inspire someone to take their place – to wear their mantle – but also to be greater than them, to do more mighty deeds than they did.

My friends, how do you define success in life? What are you trying accomplish before you leave this earth? Does success consist of climbing to the top of the company ladder, or maybe if that company is the Church, to become a bishop or pope? Or perhaps your definition includes financial security and early retirement. Or you may even aim for altruistic ends like curing cancer or putting an end to poverty. Those are all admirable achievements, but they all have one fatal flaw: they expire when you expire.

Instead, I would suggest to you that it is not only priests and prophets who must inspire the next generation to take their place. We must all sit at the spindle and get our hands dirty like the potter who slowly fashions the clay. In the past few weeks, I have watched the violent acts of racism and then the scenes of vandalism and violence that ensued in the protests. I couldn’t help but wonder: this is the next generation we are raising to take our place. Racists are not born racists, and violent young men are not born violent young men, just like priests and prophets are not born to be such. Someone has fathered them to take their place when those father-figures pass from this world.

In other words, someone is always fashioning and forming the clay of the next generation to take their place. And if that is not you, then who?

Praised be Jesus Christ!