A QUOTE
I NEVER FORGOT
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 3rd 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.
