Retreat musings…

“When I was a child I had a fever…” sings Pink Floyd in “Comfortably Numb” from the 1979 concept album, The Wall. This week I’ve been on a silent retreat in Indiana, during which I celebrated silently my 60th birthday. I couldn’t help reflecting on the strange time of childhood, when everything is received, and for the most part in the present tense: safety; love; companionship; food; and fun. I recall, however, being rather young, and musing about the future, which was a little scary in the early 1970s. I, probably like a lot of boys then, assumed I would be drafted and sent to fight in a war (in my case Vietnam) as most healthy and normal Americans had done in the last century. I can’t remember if it was a prayer or just a hope that I wouldn’t die in Vietnam, but I really wanted to reach the year 2000. I thought this was a reasonable desire, even if I had no idea what it would be like, or where I’d be in the year 2000 (which became the Great Jubilee, and I ended up celebrating it in Rome with Saint John Paul II…). Now, 25 years into the millennium (and another jubilee year!) I’m grateful for the life and vocation Jesus gave me to live out. It seems I still am on the receiving end much of the time, but little by little, I’ve learned the ways of contributing to projects and plans much greater than my own safety, love, companionship, food and fun. I think this is what human maturity is about, and it is a lifelong growth curve you just gotta keep climbing. On my retreat I celebrated Mass most days in a tiny chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, adorned with this 19th century Madonna and Child. I’ve been inspired by their encouraging look, and I look forward to continuing riding that Christian maturity growth curve.