Youth Takes Courage.

The readings this Sunday remind me once again of a time long ago when youth had to face the challenge of growing up. Isaiah sees the glory of God and draws back. Peter sees the power of Christ’s invitation and wants to escape. In both cases they were given a moment of strengthening, the power to trust that the risk they were about to take would be protected by God. Ah Youth!!

When God made young people, he put huge amounts of hormones in them to make them brave, passionate, risk takers. (Without that, I wonder if we’d ever move out of our parent’s home.)

We wonder why we can’t have guarantees in life; why is life such a risk? Because if everything turned out just the way we wanted, love would wither and die. We’d EXPECT success in any effort we make…. that wouldn’t be love. Love has to give itself away. No promise of payback.

Every couple has that moment of risk; (a romantic setting, a ring, “Will you?”, “Yes!!” and later on . . . “Shall we?” . . . “Shall we what?” . . . “Shall we have a baby?”, “Of course! Why do you think I bought the roses?!!”) “Love believes all things, hopes all things.” ! Cor:13

Below you’ll find my “risk moment” in becoming a priest. I’ve written about it before but it still speaks to me. It happened 46 years ago.

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A grain of wheat. What is it but a little package of life? In it is contained all that is needed for a new plant, or tree, or wild flower. But something has to happen for it to become what it was made to be. It has to die. Unless it dies, Jesus says rather plaintively, “It remains just a grain of wheat.” As if to say “what good is that? A seed that won’t die”.

We are like a seed, a package of Christ’s life given to us at baptism.

And like Christ, we must die to ourselves like a seed in the ground. I’d like to share a moment when God made this crystal clear for me in a very personal way.

It was late August of my 26th year. I was renting the up- per half of a house owned by a nice widowed woman. I had been teaching high school the past two years and after much struggle was accepted into the seminary for studies for the priesthood. But now serious second thoughts were occurring as school was a week away. “What were you thinking?” I asked myself. “Do you really want to do this?” I was all knotted up.

To help clear my head I offered my land lady to clean the gutters of leaves on the second floor roof. Climbing out my window onto the roof I had a lovely view of the street and garden just below. Looking down I saw all these little green oak tree sprouts growing just under the gutter. The acorns had rolled off the roof and onto the ground and there they grew.

All but one acorn . . . it had fallen into the gutter and sat for who knows how long. It was big and round and still had its little acorn hat. “What a smart little acorn you are,” I thought. “Staying nice and safe in this gutter. You didn’t die like your little brother and sisters down below.”

So with my thumb I pried the little cap off the acorn to look inside. And there it was, filling the entire acorn with its bright orange body . . . a giant maggot. It had eaten the entire inside of the acorn. No green little oak leaves sprouting up from the ground, this acorn was now home to a giant worm.

I threw the acorn to the ground and not a minute later the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart “. . . but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Unlike that hesitant acorn I came down off that roof and planted myself in the seminary . . . where I had to die about ten times before becoming a priest!! Those little oak trees would be 45 years old by now.

Message to youth, – – – pray about it – – – then do it!

Fr. Tim