Word to the Wise
Wednesday, June 6, 2018 - Wednesday in the 9th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Tim 1:1-3, 6-12 and Mark 12:18-27]I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God. [2 Timothy] Y
Years ago, my first acquaintance with Dominicans came about as a result of our missionary work (at that time) in the small Catholic missions in rural Northwest Louisiana. They would come occasionally to the big parish in my hometown to preach a parish mission or preside at a funeral too large for the little mission church out in the country. My father was attorney for one of the parishes about 10 miles from my hometown and the pastor, Fr. Francis Crowe,OP, would come by the house on occasion. He was a very simple and holy man. My dad used to say "He could see beauty in a mud fence."
"Fast forward" now about eight years later I was a Dominican student brother (our word for seminarian) in Chicago, Fr. Crowe's hometown. He visited the House of Studies where I was and I was able to visit with him. I asked how he persevered out in those rural areas when the Catholics were so few and the communities really did not grow much. He said to me, "You have to remember that you're only going to do a limited amount of good. The important thing is to do that limited amount." His example, which he continued later in Amarillo, TX, for years, comes to mind when I read those words from 2 Timothy, quoted above.
Missionary work requires courage and perseverance. All of us have received that gift that St. Paul refers to - that same Spirit of courage, power and love and self-control, but we sometimes let the fire get very low. Timothy was in danger of letting meager results and the fact of Paul's imprisonment get him down and discouraged. Pope Francis has asked all of us who are baptized to be "missionaries of mercy." We can bring that Spirit of courage, power, love and self-control to others. We will, indeed, have to bear our share of hardship, but the results, no matter how limited, are nothing less than salvation. AMEN