All College Liturgy 2015 - Father Mark

ALL COLLEGE LITURGY FALL 2015 Presentation by Father Mark Reid

September 24, 2015 - Athletic Convocation and Wellness Center

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REMARKS OF FATHER MARK REID

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irst of all, thank you President Foley, thank you Sisters. It’s always an honor to be here.

In 1993, the musical group, 10,000 Maniacs, did one of those unplugged sessions on MTV back when MTV stood for Music Television. They were recorded acoustically using just a few microphones.

After their MTV Unplugged session, 10,000 Maniacs put out an album and it is truly timeless. It’s simply called 10,000 Maniacs Unplugged and I’ve never tired of listening to it. The songs are powerful and meaningful.

And the eighth track on that album is entitled, Gold Rush Brides. It is a song about the women who went west during the gold rush.

These were courageous women, much like these religious women sitting with us here now. The Sisters of Mercy headed here and formed the College where you’re sitting right now. But Gold Rush Brides is about women who continued on and went to the west coast with their husbands and fathers, and families often — against their own wishes. Many of them were pregnant when they started. I think one in five experienced pregnancy during the trip, which took months over trails that weren’t even roads yet. And this song—Gold Rush Brides—is just a powerful recognition of everything that was going on at that time during that rush west to find gold.

The story was told through the eyes of the women, as reflected in the letters mailed home to their families.

And their sisters would moan when they read the letters.

One of the lyrics is, “they would moan as they would read accounts of madness, child birth, loneliness, and grief.”

There was also some joy in the journey. The song talks too about the beautiful landscape, the amazing untouched country, and beautiful mid-western skies. But then it also would refocus on the women’s experience.

On Thursday, September 24th an All-College Liturgy commemorated the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy—a highlight of Mercy Week 2015. The Mass, held in the Athletic Convocation and Wellness Center, was celebrated by Rev. Mark R. Reid, Pastor of Queen of Archangels Church, Clarence, PA. Father Mark’s Homily contributes to the campus-wide exploration of Voice for the 2015-2016 academic year. It is reprinted here in its entirety.

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And the chorus asks, “Who were these Gold Rush Brides? Does anybody know? Do their works survive? Their yellow fever lives, in the pages that they wrote.” And what makes the song in this live MTV version particularly moving is that Natalie Merchant, the lead singer, actually reads quotes from a letter from one of the women who went west. I did some research and found that it’s from a book called, Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey, by Lillian Schlissel. And she was one of the first ones, if not the only one, who has written the story of that journey from just the women’s perspective and contrasted it to the stories of the men’s experience.

And the quote that Natalie read was, “while the young folks were having their good times, some of the mothers were giving birth to their babies. Three babies were born in our company that summer. My cousin, Emily, gave birth to a son in Utah, 40 miles north of the Great Salt Lake one morning. But the next morning she traveled on ‘till noon. One stop was made and another child was born—this time to Susan Mollmeyer. And we gave the baby the name, Alice Nevada.”

And Natalie went on in interviews after that performance to say that it was quotes like this, these voices resonating across time, that made her write the song. She heard these voices, especially that quote about child birth — one of the most difficult things to undergo out in that frontier territory.

It’s stunningly difficult. Many children were lost in child-birth, but in those letters it is mentioned merely as a passing thing — just another everyday struggle.

And Natalie said she wrote the song because she would see quotes

like this and then would see in the same diary, no mention of the child for three or four months.

And then there will be just a one line quote in a later diary entry, saying that the child had died.

And then the diary just moved.

And she was moved so much by these voices coming at her from the past that she wrote this song— words that resonated across time: simple, every day, heartfelt, real experiences recorded in these women’s diaries, many of which exist still.

Recorded in the simplicity and decorum of the day that made these women’s often courageous and often miserable journeys so powerful, the words, the simple honesty with which they wrote, let their voices resonate across time for nearly two centuries now.

And what’s amazing is that these voices speaking about everyday existence, and of seemingly trivial matters resonated so much that a hundred and fifty years afterwards an author said, “I need to give these voices another listen. And I need to present these voices to the world again.”

And then a prominent musician, about a decade later, read the book and heard those voices and said, “Wow! They’re so true, they’re so meaningful, and they resonate with me.” And so Natalie Merchant penned a powerful song and recorded it. And then those same voices speaking through that song spoke to a priest. And the priest bought the book because of it. I’m actually reading it now.

And then that priest came and told you about those voices in a homily in 2015. It’s amazing that when you speak with a voice that is reasonable, that is powerful, that is meaningful. . . then it’s real.

It will resonate. It will resonate

beyond just your community. It will resonate across time.

Everyone has a voice. These women wouldn’t have thought they were writing for people in the centuries to come. Most of them were writing a diary so that they could send it back for the next group of families coming across.

It would let them know where to stop, where the best grass was for the horses, and who to buy necessities from. They weren’t thinking about leaving a legacy. They were just recording their lives in as real and as meaningful and as honest a way as they could. But you see, that’s the type of voice that tends to resonate.

Certainly, you know, everyone has a voice. Just ask any parent whose child wants cookies before supper.

Very often that child will use her voice to express, in no uncertain terms, a desire, . . . and her distress at having that desire thwarted.

Parents will tell you that kids certainly have a voice.

But honest, real voices, rooted in the world in which they live, speaking an experience of truth, resonate. They gather people.

They sometimes rally people. They sometimes mend divisions. They spawn tears. They inspire others.

They promote camaraderie and friendship. They echo well beyond their time. The voices of the courageous women of the western journey attest to this. And isn’t this the theme for our coming year here: Voice.

We all have a voice. And your voice has grown and developed over the years. Many of us were once shouting out a voice when we were asking for the cookie before the meal. But if that’s the voice you’re still using now, you

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probably got into college by lying on your application. So, what do we want our voices to be?

Our voices change and grow with us. And if we want our voice to be meaningful, and not just more noise in a world already filled with noise, we need to make sure that it does grow—that it is informed, that it is moral and reasonable, and that it speaks with love and compassion.

And as Christians, of course, we see it as reflecting the love and compassion of God. How do we do that? Well, there are the usual ‘common sense’ ways. I’m not going to go into detail here.

But you don’t need to be religious to understand these. We learn. We learn about ourselves. We learn about the world. You give your voice deep-rooted, broad knowledge from which to speak. This is something that education does. This is one of the reasons why you’re here. There’s nothing worse than someone going into a profession, and then when

they speak their voice, however they do it, in words or actions, they seem ignorant of what they are doing. So, the first thing we do to have a voice that grows is to learn, and never stop learning.

Second, I think we need to ask questions of ourselves, of our peers, of the philosophies of the day, of the authorities in our lives. Don’t take things for granted. In a compassionate way, question. It is in this way that your voice won’t end up being overly simplistic or unintentionally ignorant.

Because when you question, you get answers.

And then third, I think we need to think critically. If you’ve heard me preach before, I always talk about critical thinking, especially on a college campus. Try to see other points of view. See from other perspectives and cultural viewpoints.

When you’re in an argument with someone, take some time and argue from their perspective against yourself. Put together facts for

yourself and let your voice reflect a knowledgeable, well-reasoned, compassionate view of the world.

And all of this - all of this! - will help your voices resonate in the world.

Everything you say, in word or action, will resonate more because it will be more meaningful to those around you.

But all of those things are just educational bullet points. As Christians, because of course we’re gathering in a Christian service, a Catholic mass—I would contend that we’re challenged to be something more. I would contend that we must become more childlike. That is the lesson of today’s Gospel.

Reading the Gospel today, there’s one thing that we can do that can make our voice more powerful and more meaningful. Let’s be childlike. No, not childlike in asking for the cookies before dinner, but childlike in our experience of the world. Jesus says in the gospel today that God reveals deeper truths, reveals himself to the

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childlike. Why? Does he not reveal himself to adults? Do you reach a certain age and God says, “not worth it anymore”? No, He’s unfurling Himself in the world all the time, in so many ways.

Why are the ones that seem to receive it, the children? Why is Jesus recognizing that they are the ones most able to receive Him? I think it’s pretty simple. Children feel their limitations. Children look around and, when they get a chance to improve - to hop on that bike for the first time, or shoot at the basketball hoop - when they can physically do it, they want to try. They knew they were limited, and rose to meet the new challenge.

Adults tend to not see their own limitations. We just don’t. Children know they are limited. Children ask for help. “Mom, Dad, can you help me with this?” “This broke, can you fix it?” Adults will wander around within the box store for 45-minutes and refuse to ask someone where to find something. Children know that there is always more to learn and are amazed by the beauty and creativity around them. As children we can look at a bug and be captivated for three days. And then we grow up and we see the same bug and we don’t even think twice. Has the bug become less amazing? — moving parts, the incredible image of it, this creation that somehow survived?

It’s still just amazing as it was when we were kids. The difference is that as adults we choose to not be amazed anymore. We unconsciously say, “I’ve seen that so many times now, and I choose to not be amazed.”

Furthermore, for children, if there’s a wrapped gift in a room, it will be opened if one isn’t careful. Children explore. Children will ask you if they can bring the next toy out, if they

can open the toy-box, if they can go outside. They want to explore. Adults tend to sit on the couch and say, “Well, what do I want to do tonight,” and often decide on nothing.

Lastly, children, most especially, tend to be open to the spiritual movements that adults don’t care to see anymore.

When my niece was little, maybe eight or 10, she had a moose walk through her yard on her birthday.

And for years, all we heard was that God sent her a moose for her birthday. And you know, as adults we write it off. We say it was coincidence.

But you know what? If we believe in the Creator, if we believe that creation is guided by God’s hand, then He had a great deal to do with her experience with that moose. Far more truth is in her statement that God sent the moose, than in our adult response to it as coincidence.

So, why can a child see it and an adult can’t? Because children are open to the spiritual, in ways that adults often are not. Adults can often become so obsessed with their life, their job, and their struggles that they are like a person whose girlfriend or boyfriend has just broken up with them. We’ve all had that happen. You know that pain, that loss. And so you walk two miles to your house and you don’t even realize you’ve walked it. And if at the walks end, you try and talk about what you just walked through, your voice is going to resonate with no one. You didn’t see it!

But that’s how most of us end up walking through life if we’re not careful, if we’re not childlike. When we challenge ourselves to see the world as a child again, with a sense of wonder and a sense of exploration, recognizing joy and goodness and beauty; we open our attention

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up again to the whole world of spirit around us. And in this experience we can develop a whole new sensitivity, a whole new depth, and a whole new level of meaning in our voice. It can add passion, wonder, inspiration and spirit to our voice when often the rest of our lives does not. It adds God to our voice.

And that’s why I think it is so profoundly important to heed God’s words - heed Jesus’ words in the Gospel today - and truly ask if we can be childlike. Not childish, . . . but childlike. In his book entitled, The Shattered Lantern, Rediscovering the Felt Presence of God, Father Ronald Rolheiser - who also gave the ‘distracted walk’ image I used a minute ago - begins by stating that our society has become much more narcissistic, pragmatic, and restless.

We have become increasingly selfinvolved, . . . narcissistic. We increasingly see all of the things around us as morally good if they do something for us, . . . pragmatic. And we have filled our lives with so much busy time that even if we plan time to rest, then rest becomes a list of restful things “to do.” You know how it is, . . . “On my day off I’m going to go here and there, and then go there, and then go here.” That’s a restful day in the modern world, as long as the ‘things’ we do are enjoyable. We have become profoundly and disturbingly restless.

Most people now can’t even turn off their phones without feeling anxiety.

And so these three - narcissism, pragmatism, and restlessness - are present in everyone to some degree, but especially in adults.

Can we be childlike?

It’s when we reopen our childlike eyes to the world that we turn back out from ourselves to combat narcissism. It is then that we see not just the science of the world, but

also the spirit in our fight against pragmatism. And it is then that we find that our everyday lives, and our experience of them, are more powerful and real than the thousands of things we thought we wanted to do that day, and that made us constantly restless for more input. And most importantly, when we see the whole world, not just the surface, not just the science, not just what it can do for us, we can step into the world with action and improve it with a voice that is more rooted in reality . . . the whole reality, including especially the spiritual reality of creation.

Just look at any piece of Native American art and tell me that spirituality isn’t part of our creation. It is when we embrace that reality, when we put our voice in it, our voice through it, and our voice for it—that the world becomes more meaningful, powerful, and moving because our spirit is engaged.

Our time in college is such a great opportunity to enhance our voices.

As we engage this new academic year, enhance yours. Let each of us stand up and stand out as people of faith, speaking our minds and hearts in the world. That is an obligation. Let us also remember that we have to find our voices every day. Our voice needs to be examined, informed, reflected upon, questioned, refined, and grown in healthy, virtuous, and spiritual ways. But let us especially remember that we do bear the title Children of God, and thus we are called to embrace it in its fullness. Let us embrace our childhood in Christ and, with childlike minds and hearts, do all of the above — so that we may not just voice more noise into the world, but rather speak with a voice that will resonate with others, and build bridges, and heal wounds, and spur tears, and that will speak God’s love into this world that so desperately need to hear it.