Reflection on Being Religious

A LOYOLA STUDENT IS BECOMING RELIGIOUS Delivered by Mr. Oroszlany, April 26, 2011

Welcome back. Happy Easter, I hope that you enjoyed your time together with your families. Thank you also to those of you who went to Camden this past Easter weekend. It was wonderful for my wife, Eileen, and I to be with you on Good Friday.

The JSEA’s Grad at Grad document states “(A Jesuit School) graduate will have examined his or her own religious feelings and beliefs with a view to choosing a fundamental orientation toward God and establishing a relationship with a religious tradition and/or community.”

The Lenten and Easter season reminds me that developing a fundamental orientation toward God means developing a relationship with the Lord. To that end, I do not think there is anything more important than understanding God’s love for us and becoming conversational with Him in order to understand what He is calling us to be. As Mr. Lyness noted in an assembly last week, a student is religious when “She/he develops an active relationship with God in his/her daily life.” Approaching our faith in this manner leads not to blind faith, but to a comfort level in our belief system and to a real friendship with our Lord.

Today I would like to think about three prayers with you, discuss how prayers can be conversational with our Lord, and try to understand, what God is calling us to do in our lives.

Many years ago at my home parish, St. Joseph’s of Yorkville, we had an older Jesuit, Fr. Walsh, who spent the summer there and celebrated masses for our community. One Sunday he spoke about the importance of reflecting on the prayers that we recite from memory, because we take a hurried approach to most prayers, he theorized that they tend not to impact us. That Sunday, Fr. Walsh discussed the Our Father in detail and played it out a conversation between himself and the Lord.

Let us imagine the Our Father as a conversation. As an aside here, it certainly is not always easy to imagine the Lord’s responses to our prayerful statements, and is especially difficult to try to speak in His voice, but here we go: Our Father….

Yes Who Art in Heaven….

Yes, that’s right and I hope that everyone on earth will join me here one day. hallowed by thy name Thank you. Remember that you are all called to be saints.

thy kingdom come, thy will be done, ….

I love you unconditionally and humbly, as St. Ignatius has told you. You have nothing to fear if you follow My word. on earth as it is in heaven…..

Yes indeed in both places. You do know that I sent the Holy Spirit to be with you, when My son ascended to be with me. give us this day our daily bread…

I also call on you to help me feed those who are hungry. It will bring great joy to both of us. Remember that Golden Rule when Jesus reminded you to, “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.” and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us...

I really do forgive, but you need to also. Remember that my son told you to forgive, "Not seven times, but seventy times seven.” and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil….

As the bible says, “Come to Me all who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest” ST. IGNATIUS’S PRAYER FOR GENEROSITY Another way to strengthen our orientation toward God is to think about the words of St. Ignatius’ Prayer for Generosity and what they are saying to us. As a community we say St. Ignatius’s Prayer for Generosity daily…..just a few minutes ago in fact. Do we take it for granted? What does it mean to us? How does the Loyola School community respond to this prayer? And so, to begin…..

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous.

Generosity is not just about sharing financial or tangible resources. It can be about encouraging others to do their best or offering your shoulder in times of sadness. It can also be about sharing your time and talents as well. I see this everyday at Loyola from students, faculty, staff and administrators.

Teach me to serve you as you deserve; In Camden, we spoke of God’s love and saw that love in being with those in great need. We, as a community, discover God’s love through all of our service trips throughout the year. to give and not to count the cost, Many people struggle with “not counting the cost,” but it is the most rewarding type of giving. I thought of Mr. Tramontozzi when I contemplated this line. The way he quietly decorates Loyola during Advent, and tucks things away after Christmas, with the help of some elves, is truly inspiring.

to fight and not to heed the wounds, The Knights and Lady Knights come to mind. In all athletic competitions we compete with great valor and our sportsmanship is always commendable. We’ll dive on the loose ball and always help teammates to their feet. Giving all for a cause greater than oneself is a powerful way to get closer to God. to toil and not to seek for rest, I am not sure if you are aware of the hours that our faculty and staff put In during the school year. It is not uncommon for me to receive emails after 11pm or before 7am; and they are usually, in some way, about the well being of you, our students. Devoting so much of their time and energy to the mission of educating young women and men is a way that our faculty is oriented toward God. to labor and not to ask for reward, save that of knowing that I am doing Your will.

Our Christian Service trips epitomize the final line of this wonderful prayer. Whether it’s repairing homes in Appalachia or building them in Belize, our students, faculty and administrators go forward to help others in a way that certainly reflects God’s will.

In closing, I want to share another prayer, which along with the Prayer for Generosity, is one of my favorites. If we simply listen to the words of this prayer, we can see how it is trying to point us towards God’s desires for all of us. It is the Prayer of St. Francis Assisi: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life…..Amen Thank you all for your attention. God bless. Have a terrific day.