Fr. Nicks Article for September 14, 2014... Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ “It’s Supposed to Be Hard!” “If it was easy, everybody would do it. It’s supposed to be hard. It’s the ‘hard’ that makes it great!” These are the words of Jimmy Duggan in the movie A League of Their Own, when his star player decides to quit and she says to him, “It just got too hard.” You may remember that I quoted from that movie about two months ago when I wrote about “There’s No Crying in Baseball.” Even then, I knew there was a second article to be written because this movie has so many great lines to reflect on. As soon as I heard Jimmy say, “It’s supposed to hard. It’s the ‘hard’ that makes it great,” I thought of the priesthood. For many years, I have tried telling people what an easy job I have. After all, my job is to point to God and God is everywhere, so I can point anywhere and show you God. Perhaps that is why I use so many quotes in my articles! But this movie made me think that I was telling you the wrong truth. I have heard many parents tell their children that the priestly and religious life is very difficult, and they are often afraid that their children will not be able to live up to its spiritual and physical demands. I have also heard many young men excuse themselves from considering the priesthood because they think it is too difficult for them. They truly want to serve God, but, like all young men, they want everything at once, which means they cannot imagine making a sacrifice of giving up women or money or personal fame. Going to college for eight years, praying, working for nothing, and placing strangers before family and friends seems like a huge sacrifice--and it is! Coming from a close family of eight children with more than a hundred cousins and in-laws, I know the difficulty of finding time for them and feeling like I always give them less than I give my parishioners. Certainly parents must also be willing to make a great sacrifice if their son or daughter goes into the religious life. I have also met many former parishioners--people who openly acknowledge that the prayer groups of St. Aloysius brought them to true faith in God--who have left the Catholic Church in order to serve in other churches where they did not have to sacrifice so much. They are great servants of God, but I also think they took an easier route. No, it is supposed to be hard to follow Jesus. After all, He gave His life for us when we were still sinners. God so loved us, but the world does not always show its love to God. Many times, both deserved and undeserved, people bash the Church, the priests and the sisters for perceived faults and they much less often thank them for making a difficult spiritual sacrifice when the rest of us are so worldly in our thoughts. It is the “hard sacrifice” that makes a great priest or sister, one who gladly gives of him or her self because they love God far more than what they can obtain in this world. They become great when we see their joy in doing everything for the Lord. They become great because they remind us that the world is meant to be saved and loved. Now, that’s not too hard! Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ, Fr. Nick
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 19:04:21 +0000
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