A QUOTE 

I NEVER FORGOT

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “A Quote I Never Forgot.”

Do you have a quote or a comment that you read somewhere or heard somewhere that you have never forgotten - a quote that impacted your life for life?

I think everyone would answer that question with a “Yes!”

DIG THEM UP

However, I think some quotes or comments have their impact - but we are not aware that they have an impact in our life. Let me repeat that: “I think some quotes or comments have their impact - but we are not that aware that they have an impact.”

Suggestion: dig them up. Do some self research. How? 

A good way: talk to one other person about your life quotes and their life quote.

Next way: do it by yourself - and jot them down.

Hints that help.  Here are a few hints on how to discover these quotes or comments - that impact your life.

Fill in the blank on these statements:

My mom always used to say or always say _______________.

My dad always used to say or always say ________________.

I remember in a sermon a priest once said _____________.

I remember I read in a magazine once ________________.

My favorite Bible text is ____________________________.

A proverb that I go by is ___________________________.

A teacher I once had always said, ___________________.

ONE THAT I REMEMBER

Whenever I come to a feast like today [October 19, 2012] - that of a missionary - like Isaac Jogues and John de Brebeuf and companions, I often thinking about something I read a long, long, long time ago. I think it was in an article in The Brooklyn Tablet, the Catholic newspaper for the Diocese of Brooklyn. 

Life quotes don’t have to be exact - how I remember the quote or comment and how it impacts me is what is key.

The writer of an article - perhaps it was on vocations - said, “Throughout the history of the Catholic Church - lots of men and women left home and went to foreign countries and lands - never to heard from again. 200 or 300 years later - these nameless people are the background to Christian churches in places all around the world.”

That’s the sort of quote or comment.

That has impact on me because that is what I wanted to do with my life. At first it was China - because of stories and pictures of the Church in China I noticed in Maryknoll Magazine as a kid. Then it was someday becoming a missionary in Brazil because I heard a Redemptorist who came into our classroom and told us about his work as a missionary in Brazil and he asked us to think about doing that with our life.

I never got to become a foreign missionary - but as I look back on my life at 72 I ask what everyone who makes it to 72 asks:  Was it worth it? Did I make a difference? Did I add to the world’s betterment or did I make it worse?

I’ve gone back to places where I was stationed and walked down its streets and corridors and nobody said hello or noticed me.

I’m sure parents wonder about their kids - especially if their kids’ lives fell apart - or are living a different life style. Was it worth it? Did I make a difference? What is my legacy?

So that quote from that Brooklyn Tablet helps me - because unlike Isaac Jogues and these Jesuit missionaries I won’t have a name - yet I was there and gave it my  best shot - and who knows what happened  because of me.

I look up to Jesus on the cross and realize: sometimes it looks like all death - but then there is the 3^rd day, and then there is 300 years later. Who knows, something I did or said or showed up for had an impact on someone who had an impact on someone who had an impact on someone.  I know the thing about not worrying about results, but they are nice. I know the saying, “Don’t count the sheep, feed them.”  But it’s nice to count sheep when trying to sleep. Amen.