June 24, 2015

By Fr. Bryan Stitt
Diocesan Vocations Director

“It’s a big Church, Bryan.”  Bishop Cunningham said these words to me countless times to explain the complexity and intricacies of the Body of Christ.  This month eight men from the North Country saw the truth of the statement during a pilgrimage for vocations. 

Our pilgrimage took us through Rome, Assisi, Orvieto and Bolsena.  And the “bigness” of the Church was seen in the marvels and wonders of major basilicas, ancient ruins, Eucharistic processions, and an audience with the successor of St. Peter. 

Anyone who has been on pilgrimage in Italy will tell you that there is no place like Rome to experience the timelessness and the universality of the Church—isn’t that why we call it the Eternal City?  So it made sense that during their first couple days in Italy, the young men kept shaking their heads and saying, “I can’t believe I’m here!”  It was literally awesome. 

But truth be told, it wasn’t the wonders that spoke to them most of all.

You remember the passage of Elijah on the mountain top.  The Lord wasn’t in the wind, or the storm, or the earthquake; but He was in the still small voice. 

The still small voice of the Lord was manifest on this pilgrimage in His sons and daughters.  Isn’t it amazing to see who the Lord will put in one’s path when he is trying to follow the Divine will? Here are three of the many examples from the pilgrimage. 

First were the young ladies from New York.  Father Joe Giroux and I knew that Clare Nichols, her mother Kathleen, and her good friend Lauren were going to be in Italy at the same time as we were, but when we stumbled into them in Assisi we learned that Divine Providence makes the best travel agent.  These beautiful young ladies gave our pilgrims an invaluable gift: the witness to faithful joy.  How pleased we were to have them ask questions during lunch of our favorite saints whose tombs and shrines we had just visited, only to be followed up by a request that we join them for Mass up the mountain at St. Francis’ hermitage the next day.  Our men noted that as physically attractive as they were, it was their faith that showed their true beauty.  Men need the beauty of women in their lives.  In our hypersexualized society, people presume that means only one thing.  In fact there are much deeper realities—we can just look to the home of Joseph and Mary for the preeminent example. 

Second were the twin priests from Erie.  I had known the Fathers Campbell from different events across the country and I studied with one of them in seminary, but I never expected to meet up with them in Italy.  They had likewise brought a group to Orvieto and Bolsena to attend the Eucharistic processions in the birthplace of Corpus Christi processions.  (Who would have guessed that the bloodied corporal from A.D. 1263 would be drawing together such great reunions in 2015?) 

The twins showed us the complementarity of the priesthood.  When our group met them Father Joe jumped right into the conversation talking about our respective pilgrimages and his recollection that Ogdensburg was renowned for its number of twin priests.  Father James stayed quiet.  But then when he did speak he dove deep into the profound need for young men to come to the aid of family life by being able to provide the sacraments to the people of God as His future priests.  His impromptu talk was arguably the best “homily” of the pilgrimage. 

Finally there were the boys from St. Gregory’s school.  About twenty of them had just graduated from high school and were backpacking across the Italian countryside—from Florence to Assisi and then from Assisi to Rome.  They were doing so with a lot of energy and a lot of faith.  As they hiked they carried their clothes, water, and food, and their instruments, juggling objects, and at least one unicycle.  But what they did not have with them was any money.  What an adventure!  Every young man needs an adventure.

This truth resonated in the hearts of our pilgrims, and quietly inspired us.  Some of our guys found adventure in hiking up the mountain in Assisi.  Others found it in trying to converse in a foreign tongue.  Still others found it in exploring the Eternal city on their own.  But regardless of how we lived the adventures, without trying to, the young graduates from St. Greg’s inspired us all. 

Bishop Cunningham was right; it is a big Church filled with many complexities and wonders.  But it was the calm and peace that spoke to us on pilgrimage.  It was the saints from ages past and the saints of today that shared so much peace--like the still small voice heard by Elijah on the mountain top, like the “Rebuild My Church” heard by Francis from the cross of San Damiano.

I trust that that peace will lead others to have the courage to follow the call of the Lord.  May it be so.