10/18/24 - Friday Forget-Me-Nots by Jim Silcott

Photo Caption: 3rd Graders Visit the Fire House and Museum.

Dear Our Lady of Peace Family,

I was privileged to attend an “Evening with Cardinal Dolan” last week at St. Charles. He has been the Archbishop of New York since 2009. The evening included dinner, fellowship with a lot of people in the Diocese, and a extended conversation between Cardinal Dolan and a great moderator (Bill Messerly from St. Gabriel Radio). 

Cardinal Dolan has a down-to-earth manner that is easily relatable and also has a great sense of humor. He was asked, for instance, when he was installed in New York whether he would start rooting for the Mets or the Yankees. (He is from St. Louis.) He said that, in this instance, he advocated for “Pro-choice.” 

But his conversational, non-condescending tone belied some sobering thoughts on issues important to Catholics and how we can continue to re-evangelize in this world that is so counter-cultural to many of our core beliefs and values. At 74 years of age, he said that there used to be a “benign” acceptance on the part of American culture that religion, no matter the denomination, was an important part of people’s lives. He observed that all the adults in his life — parents, neighbors, teachers, priests, and sisters — gave him an appreciation and passion for Christ. Now, it seems, the major religious affiliation noted by adults is “none.” It is the young people, many now in our Catholic schools, who are evangelizing adults. This was a very hopeful sign for him. 

His final words were in reaction to the moderator asking what made him so joyful. He quoted St. Mother Teresa who made the word “joy” into an acronym “J.O.Y.” She said that to be joyful you must put Jesus first, others second, and yourself last. He has found that to be a very good recipe for himself and recommended it to us. Of course, putting Jesus first, he said, includes attending Mass every Sunday, praying the rosary regularly, as well as receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I was inspired by his words, and I know that those gathered there were as well. 

Speaking of inspiration, I ran into a student who was behind me in high school at St. Charles with whom I ran track and to whom I used to occasionally give rides home. While I have stated that I was one of the slowest two-miler runners in St. Charles history, Kevin Sullivan was one of the swiftest. He was the Yin of track to my Yang. Seeing him after all these years, my mind went back to how much I was in awe of his grace, determination and pure athleticism when I watched him run — always behind him from an appreciable distance! While I could never, ever aspire to be the runner that he was, he inspired me to find what my own gifts were and to try to achieve them. 

Thank you, Kevin! And thank you, Cardinal Dolan! 

Jim Silcott