Filling Big Shoes

Thanking God for the gift of Immaculate Conception School

01/28/2023

Dt 18:15-20 Moses spoke to all the people, saying: "A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kin; to him you shall listen. This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God, nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.' And the LORD said to me, 'This was well said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him. Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it. But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.'"

One goal all of good leaders is being “laser focused” on their succession plan. Have you ever heard of a succession plan? That means that not only do good leaders want their organization to flourish while they are at the helm, they want it to grow even after they are long gone. When I was in college I was also studying in the seminary. When I came home for the summer, Msgr. George Tribou, our high school principal, would invite me to dinner. I was just a clueless, and very hungry, college kid happy to get a free steak dinner.

But I believe Msgr. Tribou was also working on his “succession plan.” He was worried about who would take over as the principal of Catholic High after he was gone. But his shoes were about twenty sizes bigger then my little feet, so I did not become principal. Fortunately, now a more qualified principal runs my alma mater. Like all great leaders, Msgr. Tribou was actively working on his succession plan, and asking himself: who will slip into my shoes as principal some day?

In the first reading today from Deuteronomy, we hear how Moses is also talking about his “succession plan.” We read: “Moses spoke to all the people, saying, ‘A prophet like me will the Lord, your God raise up for you from among your own kin; to him you shall listen.” Imagine how heart-breaking and how bewildering that must have sounded to those Israelites whom Moses guided through the wilderness for 40 years and brought to the very border of the Promised Land.

Who could possibly succeed Moses, the meekest man on earth? That is undoubtedly how some I.C. parishioners must have felt too: who could possibly take Msgr. Galvin’s place after he’s gone? Who could come after Msgr. John O’Donnell stood and preached in this pulpit? Talk about over-sized shoes to fill! But then God sent Joshua to lead God’s people into the Promised Land, something Moses could not do. In other words, it is not just great leaders who worry about their succession plan; so does God, who never fails to provide prophets and priests to lead his people.

Today we happily launch into Catholic Schools Week. How blessed we are with our Immaculate Conception Elementary School built back in 1930 (in the middle of the Depression). That means we are only six years away from our 100th anniversary. And we are still going stronger than ever. You know, of course, how we have high academic achievement. We learn and live Christian values like love of neighbor, and especially the poor, the unborn, and immigrants (like me!) Our students thrive in sports and sportsmanship: how to be humble winners and not sore losers.

But like Moses, Msgr. Tribou, Msgr. Galvin, and Msgr. O’Donnell, we school leaders are also looking at our “succession plan” in the smiling faces of our students. What do I mean? Well, we want them to think about being future teachers and principal and pastor someday, of I.C. And if you go into seminary, I will even take you out for a free steak dinner!

I love that song by Brooks and Dunn called, “Only in America” which, if you listen carefully, is a song also about a succession plan. It begins: “Sun comin’ up over New York City / School bus driver in a traffic jam / Starin’ at the faces in her rearview mirror / Lookin’ at the promise of the promised land. / One kid dreams of fame and fortune / One kid helps pay the rent / One could end up goin’ to prison / One just might be president.” Boys and girls, that is what we wonder when we look at you in class every day. We pray every day that you will be president, and not end up in prison!

By the way, did you hear that one of our I.C. graduates, Madison Marsh, was just chosen as Miss America 2024? What a great honor for her, for her family, and for this whole community, not to mention, I.C. School! In case you don’t know, after Madison graduated from I.C. she attended Trinity, then Southside, and then she was appointed to the Air Force Academy. Today, she studies at the Kennedy School at Harvard University. I believe Madison could be part of anyone’s succession plan. Why? Well, because there are no shoes too big for Madison’s feet, not even the shoes of the president of the United States. And that is what we want every student at I.C. School to believe, too: your feet are big enough to fill any size shoe.

Could I just recognize all our I.C. students here today and ask you to please stand? And would all our students who have graduated from I.C. please stand too? And if Miss America is here at Mass, would you please stand, Madison? A big round of applause for the “promise of the promised land”! Boys and girls, let me give you a little advice from a guy who missed it when it happened to me.

Besides all the wonderful things you want to be when you grow up, there are adults who are looking at you, sometimes through the rearview mirror of a school bus, and hope you will be part of their succession plan. And God may also be calling you to be part of his succession plan for his Church to be a prophet or a priest to serve his people. Just keep that thought in your back pocket and take it out and think about it every now and then. Oh, and by the way, there is no such thing as a “free steak dinner.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!