Walking in the footsteps of Grace!

Walking in the footsteps of Grace!

We have often heard that a young man or woman is walking in the shoes of their father or mother when some attribute within their persona seems to reflect what they’ve inherited.  Or, simply these young people are a reflection of the success one of their parents have achieved through hard work and determination.  Some of the upcoming youth may actually surpass what they have fallen into such as a business, a medical career, or into law practice.  

During the industrial era many children grew into the same labor force their fathers were in as steel workers or auto workers.  Coal miners were also a life of going into the mines and working in the dark (with portable lights) and breathing what would become black lung disease.  These were the past for the most part, and now the future has opened up a technology that does not represent the past world of pick and shovel, or clothing that protects workers from dangerous environments.  Point here is man continues to evolve in the world of advancement to find a better way of making a living.  

As mentioned in previous articles, entering the priesthood or religious life was a choice that many young men and women sought because of the example their parents set before them.  The example that they reached out to exemplify was the Lord Jesus Christ.  “If I can just be like him” they might exclaim.  Many young people ended up as Canonized Saints because the attraction of giving oneself over to vows such as chastity, poverty, and obedience became a desire and not a requirement.  The many religious orders such as Benedictines, Franciscans,  and so many more did require these, but it was a personal choice that came from the heart and prepared an emptying of the human heart to be like Christ.  It wasn’t the acceptance of vows as much as finding Christ in the empty vacuum we call the spirit.  Here we become like God in our quest to reach the poor of the world.  

There is nothing more eloquent than to be in the presence of many priests processing into a cathedral during an ordination, Easter, and an elevation of a new bishop.  During the period of time just prior to John Paul II being elected, we had the privilege of being at the Conclave Mass while visiting Rome.  One hundred and thirteen Cardinals processed in the Mass.  I can testify it was simply a feeling of the holiness that surrounded the Basilica of St. Peters that morning.

In the length of my ministry there have been occasions where the priesthood, and holy orders  itself have been a gift and an honor to be called to what was to be exciting, but fearful as well.  Yet, with each new parish there was a renewed excitement of meeting souls who were in need of evangelization and I knew that God was using me for even just a moment.  That is what each of us should see in our own ministry;  ordained of lay, we are all called to walk in the footsteps of grace.  

The title suggests that grace is more than a theological or ministerial noun that grammatically fits some unknown reality that we all use every day.  But the journey that Jesus pursued left an entity that became himself leaving behind the potential for eternity we will reach if only we believe in the Trinity and most of all have that Trust that comes through the Grace of his passion/death/resurrection of the Cross.

Ralph B. Hathaway