race Happened
Father Glenn Sudano, C.F.R.
No doubt, all of us have heard the saying, “Life is a journey”; yet, for some, It is more than a journey – it’s an adventure! Today, you and I are privileged to witness a special event – Brother Timothy Marie of Gethsemane profession of vows making him a hermit of the Roman Catholic Church. In some way this day is an end of a long journey, but also a beginning.
Witnessing this solemn rite of the solemn consecration of a hermit, for many, may very well indeed be a “once in a lifetime event” not only for the laity in the pew but the bishop in the sanctuary! Let’s be honest, applications to be a diocesan hermit aren’t flying out of the chancery office! Yest, what we are witnessing today I saw unique event in the life of the Church – a privilege for all of us – bishop, clergy, family members and friends. Really, how many people can boast and say, “My brother or my uncle or my friend is a real live – hermit?”
While the life of Brother Timothy Marie can well be described as an adventure, it can also be described as an extraordinary adventure? Why extraordinary? Well, let me just say that those in the “inner circle” already know – but – for the rest, well, they’ll just have to wait for the book! And while it has yet to be written, believe me, it will no doubt be a real “page turner”! I suspect some librarians just might place it on the shelf next to the famous work “The Confessions of Saint Augustine.”
Unlike Saint Augustine, Brother Timothy’s story doesn’t begin in North Africa but in rural Pennsylvania. The reader must put on some good shoes because he’ll be following Brother Timothy on a circuitous and serpentine journey South to sunny Florida, then to the bustline Big Apple, then over the ocean to Rome, Paris, England, and all the way to India! On second thought, the reader probably should bring two pairs of shoes!
Yet we all know that an adventurous journey is not simply made of interesting places but interesting people. In this book the reader would be introduced to many characters – great sinners and great saints – and others in between. While we’ll be silent about the sinners, let’s introduce the saints. How about, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (now St. Teresa) and the Servant of God Father William Peyton and Father Benedict Groeschel? While some of the characters in the first part of the book may have had invisible horns, those in the second part had bright halos!
Yes, as mentioned, here’s a life which began in a simple living farming town, yet in time would wind its way to Miami, then midtown Manhattan. Yet it would be in the heart of the Big Apple Brother Timothy would discover some worms and in time he would learn the meaning of the maxim: “All that glitters is not gold”. Yet, while the silver thread of his faith polished by the prayers and the piety of youth would indeed tarnish, by God’s grace, it didn’t snap. Despite the distance and the tension and unrest caused by the pull of the world, the silver cord of his Catholic faith would, in the end, be strong enough to pull him back home.
Whether it’s Saint Augustine, Brother Timothy, or ourselves, all of us have a life which is like a book being written. It records both our selfish wanderings and wonderful returns. The popular parable known as “The Prodigal Son”, is not someone’s story – it’s our story. It tells of our ingratitude in the face of God’s obvious blessings, of our love of pleasure by which we lose peace, and the continuous battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. Yet, as we know while we must all battle, the war is indeed won. In baptism we were claimed by Christ, therefore, victory is not surrendering to the enemy, but to our Lord. Sad to say, there is no one here who can boast: “I have never wandered one inch from the law and love of God?”
Yet, the parable teaches us an important truth; namely, there is a difference between pleasure and happiness. In short, when we pursue our own will we experience a fleeting pleasure but left with lasting pain; yet when we seek God’s will – we experience fleeting pain and then left with lasting peace.
No doubt, there are many people who will not understand Brother Timothy’s choice to live the life of solitude and prayer. This is because they confuse “solitude” with “isolation”. The fact is, it is self-seeking which brings isolation, but in the seeking of God, one enters solitude. When one is isolated, one is alone, but in prayerful solitude, one is with God, and indeed, everyone. Those who go out to party at midnight will never comprehend Brother Timothy Marie’s choice to get up at the same hour and pray. Yes, Brother Timothy’s so called “friends” are no doubt asking themselves “What happened?” – “What on earth has happened to Timothy?” Well, one day they will read the book and then they’ll find out what really happened – they will find out that – grace happened!
And what is this “grace” some may ask. Well for a precise theological explanation, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is quite helpful, but if you want an easy to understand explanation, no need to look in a book; we just need to look through a window.
The famous Franciscan scholar and saint, Bonaventure, would tell us that we can know much about God simply by reading what he called the “Book of Creation”. By observing the beauty and order and harmony of the natural world we can see the work of an intelligent and benevolent supernatural Creator. However, due to the sad effects of original sin, passed on to us because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve, we are conceived and born into this world “blind and bent over”; that is, we could no longer easily read this book. This is the reason why smart people like some scientists and physicists say some pretty dumb things about God – or should we say His non-existence.
Now here in Montana the pages and the print in the “book of Creation” are very big and beautiful indeed! Here we can see God’s greatness and grandeur: the majestic mountains, the painted plains and the wide stretches of a star-splashed night sky. The spiritually blind and bent speak about the wonders of creation, but the grace-filled speak of the wonderful Creator. We are told by this scholar saint, that it is God’s grace which enables us to see with the eyes of the soul. Grace is like light which illumines that which is obscure and unknown. Like water which is necessary for life in everything, grace gives life even to those souls which are dry as a desert. Yes, the old Adam, of whom Saint Paul speaks – brought blindness yet the new Adam brings true vision. So, when they ask the question: “What has happened to Timothy”; you answer: Grace has happened!
Like the rain which falls on the fields and the sun which sines upon the crops, so too God’s grace descends and gives life to the soul. Nothing lives without water; nothing grows without warmth; now you see why some people are physically alive yet spiritually dead. Their skin is soft and has golden tan, yet their soul is hard and cold as ice. Friends, the grace offered to each of us is like rain and sunshine – but it is not a thing which can be felt and measured. However, it can be manifested; that is, we can see if Divine grace is at work in human lives. How? As life and beauty and fruitfulness are brought about in the soil by natural elements, supernatural life is brought by fruition in the soul through the gift of grace.
On this wonderful occasion, while we acknowledge and honor a prodigal son, we cannot help but honor his prodigal parents. “Prodigal” as you may already know “lavish” or “wasteful”. Perhaps another appropriate word would be “generous” – or better yet, “sacrificial”. This day of solemn – and sacrificial profession of a hermit is made possible due to the sacrificial profession of marriage; that is the sacrificial lives of Brother Timothy Marie’s parents’ and his grandparents – faith-filled and hardworking immigrants. As we all know from the Book of Creation, an apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree – so too with faith, when it is at work in a person, it is often passed on to the children and grandchildren. Is it a coincidence that Brother Timothy’s paternal grandfather from Ukraine spent time as a hermit living in the woods of Western Pennsylvania? Is it surprising his maternal grandmother from Calabria continually prayed the rosary?
Friends, the story of Divine grace turning lives not only around but also inside out may make the news, but it’s really nothing new. The New Testament presents us with numerous accounts of ordinary people becoming extraordinary saints – most notably Peter and all the apostles who gave their lives professing the Lordship of Christ. Let us not forget the zealous persecutor Saul who turned into the fervent Saint Paul. Following these would be a almost endless procession of men and women utterly transformed by Divine grace. The election of our new pope has reintroduced the world to one such sinner-turned saint; namely, Francis of Assisi. The same young man who wanted to be a knight and was known as the lord of the parties became a servant to the lepers and a model of prayer and penance.
Like our Brother Timothy Marie, Francesco had a particular love for the finer things in life. While Francesco didn’t design jewelry, he did design his wardrobe. Being the son of a cloth merchant and having a flair for the extravagant, he would wear whatever would catch an eye and turn a head. While he never completely lost his faith in God, devotion and the needs of others – especially the poor – took the back seat to worldly pleasures and pursuits. Yet, for both Brother Francis and Brother Timothy, no doubt it was the prayers of a mother which would bring down divine grace upon their sons changing them from men of the world to children of God. How true the saying: “Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”
Yet we can say that graces don’t simply fall from the sky but it also oozes out of the wounds of others. For both Francis and Timothy, it would be an encounter with the crucified Christ in the poor which would ultimately crack the thick concrete dam allowing the life-giving grace of God to flow into their dry and empty and thirsty souls. Saint Francis met Christ in the lepers in Umbria, while Timothy met him in the AIDS hospice in Manhattan. Despite the centuries which separate them, that which binds them together in God’s transforming grace. No wonder it is called “amazing” grace!
So, my brother and sisters, the solemn consecration of a hermit is a singular event indeed. While the month of May is jam-packed with graduations, first communions and weddings – only those who have witnessed Brother Timothy Marie’s profession have really something to Twitter about! Those who made the journey to Helena, Montana should consider themselves in the “inner circle” and be at the top of Brother Timothy’s daily prayer list! Indeed, especially for those of us who are well aware of our need for grace in our lives – le us not forget we have a friend who’s a hermit!
I would like to conclude this simple article with a sincere prayer and a simple poem. I pray that you, Brother Timothy, may be richly blessed by the Lord. On this day when the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady’s Presentation in the Temple, we pray that Our Lady may keep you safe and protected under her mantle. May she who is full of grace obtain the grace so that no longer blind and bent over, you may walk in uprightness and in truth. And may the prayers of your friend in heaven Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity foster a deep knowledge and encounter of the Most Holy Trinity in the hermitage of your soul.
Now a poem which answers the question: “What has happened to Timothy?” What has happened? Grace happened. The man who worked with gold has now appeared to abandon it. Has he forsaken it – or has he found it?
The poem is entitled: Beneath the Mud.
What looks like water from a spring
tastes like burning sand,
And to the eye smooth shiny silk
is burlap to the hand.
From afar, fair lilies cling,
pure white upon the vine;
their beauty beckons – then betrays,
with scent of bitter wine.
And to the wearied trav’ler calls a forest fresh and green;
it’s shaded arms enfolds the ones
no longer to be seen.
And beside each rocky road
there runs a cushioned path of moss
which soothes the feet,
but leads astray those numbered with the loss.
Yet by God’s power, and His alone,
the tempter’s lure is known
with eyes illumined by His grace
it sees the darnel sown.
It was this grace which tore the veil
from young Francesco’s eyes
who saw beneath the rocks and roots
to where the treasure lies.
Beneath the stench and open sores
of lepers and the poor,
he entered in and met his Lord
through this neglected door.
Beyond the bread, he saw the One
Who hung upon the tree,
and in the cup He saw the Blood
poured out on Calvary.
So, friends, let us not be fooled,
and learn from saints of old
that all that glistens is not good
and beneath the mud?
The GOLD!
