October 23, 2009
Taking the Time to Make a Difference
About some saints who made a difference
BY PAUL R. LEINGANG
(Listen to Paul read this column | Weekly podcast)
I can be irritated in traffic when someone else gets ahead of me. I can’t imagine what it was like to live the life of St. Jeanne Jugan.
She founded the Little Sisters of the Poor, but never received credit during her lifetime for what she had accomplished.
Instead, a priest insinuated himself into the story, claiming a leadership role in the establishment of the religious community that now serves the elderly poor throughout the world. She bowed to his grab for power, and devoted her life to prayer and service to others.
The story ultimately came out, but not until long after the death of the woman who has now been canonized a saint.
When Pope Benedict declared St. Jeanne Jugan and four other new saints of the Church, he praised their “luminous example” and said they were people who “did not put themselves at the center, but chose to go against the current and live according to the Gospel.”
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The story of St. Jeanne Jugan is outrageous.
It is unjust. Unfair. But not uncommon, nor confined to the lives of the saints.
In the world of science, Marie Curie coined the word “radioactivity” and overturned the world of physics and chemistry with her discoveries. Ultimately she overcame society’s disregard for the work of a woman and received acknowledgment for her contribution to science and society, but as Albert Einstein purportedly said, she was probably the only person who was not corrupted by the fame that she had won.
St. Damien, the priest who devoted his life to the lepers on Molokai, eventually contracted the disease of those he served. His reward? He was accused of contracting leprosy through sexual immorality. Among the indignities he had to live with was the proscribed manner for his sacramental confession: because of the fear of his disease, Damien had to stand on the shore and shout his confession to a priest offshore in a boat. Admiration and honor were not part of his daily life.
St. Damien was another of the saints canonized with St. Jeanne Jugan. I wonder how many others who lived lives of saintly sacrifice will never receive such official recognition.
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It is a struggle, this notion of service to others without seeking to be appreciated.
It may be often the experience of a parent during the days of a child’s rebellion. It may be the real life of a caregiver during years of service to someone incapable of gratitude. It may be the loss of friendship suffered for the sake of intervention into another’s struggle with addiction. It may be the only way to make a difference in the life of a child, a parent or a friend.
I remember clearly the reaction of a young man the first time he helped serve food at a shelter. “I gave the man a sandwich and he didn’t even thank me.” After reflecting on that experience, the young man became aware of the reality that the call of the Gospels is to service, not to gratitude.
Our calling is not to sit at the right or at the left, but to realize that “whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant” and “whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” (Mark 10)
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Take the time today to reflect on the experiences you have had of being pushed down, or of the times you came in second.
Reflect too on the life and times of those around you, the unhealthy ones to be avoided, those who don’t speak the language of the majority, the ungrateful, the unlovely.
It is a challenge to pray for the pushy while seeking justice for those beneath their feet. To see Jesus not only in the hopeful smile of a hungry child, but also in the wild eyes of an old man in pain. To make a difference for another who is not grateful.
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