Purpose in the
Time of Coronavirus
(with apologies to
Gabriel
García Márquez)
I
had another post partly finished for this piece on purpose that I was excited
about but then the coronavirus pandemic turned things upside down and I felt it
necessary to start anew from scratch. To say these times are unprecedented is a
bit of an understatement, even with the vast majority of students learning from
home and schools being shut down in most of the U.S. On top of that many
dioceses have suspended the celebration of public Masses, leaving the faithful
to navigate these uncertain times without access to the Eucharist. It is a time
that demands us to consider our purpose as individuals in our own faith lives
and in our professional lives as Catholic educators.
Nietzsche
famously said, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” Perhaps
this is the most succinct expression of purpose – for when we know why we are
here on earth, it orients us through storms of challenge, difficulty and, even,
grief. This speaks to the idea of having a vocation versus having a career. A
vocation calls out to us, it isn’t something we seek out and choose for
ourselves. We are compelled to do the work because it is a cause that drives us
beyond simply making money and achieving success. For me, that vocational call
has always been centered around my believe that Catholic schools, especially
those located in low-income communities, are the best educational environments
to transform lives through faith so students can grow to become leaders both
for the Church and for society in general.
One
of the things my family did last weekend was go to the library and check out
lots of books. We have many books at home already, but it gave us an
opportunity to beef up our reading options in anticipation of the extended time
we will be spending at home in the coming months. One book I checked out was Death
Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. It had been on my reading list
for a while and I am glad that I got it at this time. It is a remarkable book
about humility, simplicity and, yes, purpose. I encourage all of you to read it
yourself, but I want to share one quote that particularly struck me, considering
the challenges and doubt many are feeling in these uncertain times.
The
context is Fr. Joseph speaking to Bishop Latour about the Shrine to Our Lady of
Guadalupe in Mexico City. The time is the mid-1800’s in New Mexico in the early
days of the diocesan settlement. Fr. Joseph comments how especially wonderful
the Shrine is for those without means saying, “Doctrine is well enough for the
wise [Bishop]; but the miracle is something we can hold in our hands and love.”
And Bishop Latour replies,
“Where there is great love there are
always miracles. One might almost say that an apparition is human vision
corrected by divine love. I do not see you as your really are, Joseph; I see
you through my affection for you. The Miracles of the Church seem to me to rest
not so much upon faces or voices or healing power coming suddenly near to us
from afar off, but upon our perceptions being made finer, so that for a moment
our eyes can see and our ears can hear what is there about us always.” (p. 50)
In
times of uncertainty and doubt, which are inevitable aspects of an individual’s
faith journey, it is great to be reminded that miracles surround us every day.
It is often our human eyes, clouded by our broken human nature, which can’t see
the miraculous true beauty and purpose of our lives. May our God of grace and
goodness grant you the strength to see divine love with your human vision and
understand and embrace the purpose for which you were born.
