Inspiration

Called to Love

By Jerry Sasson, PhD

Inspiration

During my years as a school principal, my zeal sometimes got the best of me. In one instance, upon learning that most of the children in our elementary school had never been on a train, I arranged for an all-school, 18-mile train ride. Students, faculty, staff and volunteer chaperones excitedly boarded the train on a beautiful spring morning. The train slowly pulled out of the Amtrak station--after a two-hour delay.

The initial enthusiasm quickly waned as some students complained that the train wasn't moving fast enough. The rhythmic rocking of the train caused others to grow tired and fall asleep, while chaperones urged them to "please stay awake." A few of the youngsters developed motion sickness and vomited--on each other.

The field trip reached its peak of calamities when a first-grade boy accidentally locked himself in the train's restroom. While a couple of parents began the search for a conductor to unlock the bathroom door, other chaperones tried to calm the frightened and weeping boy with words of reassurance that help was on the way. Naturally, hearing the futile cries of their imprisoned classmate only caused other students to start crying.

In the midst of the chaos, the well-intentioned grandmother of the panic-stricken boy got down on her hands and knees, and began singing a familiar Sunday school hymn through the vent of the bathroom door - "Jesus loves you! This I know, cause the Bible tells me so."

Upon hearing the familiar voice of his grandmother, the boy's sobs diminished to a whimper. Then the grandmother grew quiet and spoke softly through the door vent to her grandson, "John, this is your grandmother. I'm right here outside the door. I won't go away. Everything's going to be alright. Jesus is with you."

Sometimes, like the boy trapped in the train restroom, we find ourselves trapped by a personal panic, chaos or fear in our lives. Yet if we take a moment to thoughtfully listen, we just may hear the reassuring voice of our loving Lord, "Don't panic. Don't be afraid. I'm right here. I won't go away. Everything's going to be alright."

Most often we hear the voice of our Lord, and see his caring presence, in the words and actions of those He has sent to help us - a member of our family (a grandmother), friend, neighbor, a co-worker, maybe even a stranger. For God loves His people through us.

Sooner or later each of us will find ourselves on either side of a locked door. There will be times when we will be locked in, filled with fear and uncertainty. Like the frightened child we will be faced with our own vulnerabilities - illness, depression, loneliness, abuse. Sometimes we'll feel that we're locked out - estranged from a loved one, out of a job, bullied at school.

Then there are sure to be other moments when we're on the other side of the locked door. Like the prayerful grandmother, God is calling us to be the answer, the unlocking-key to another's suffering or despair. In essence, we are stewards for one another, sharing in each other's struggles and holy journey. This is our calling. This is our destiny. This is our Christian vocation.

We can find strength and reassurance in Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19. Before he experienced the courage and wisdom to act on God's call to be His witness and prophet, Jeremiah was locked in by feelings of inadequacy and fear. "I can't speak in your name, Lord," he trembled. "I'm too young, (unworthy, too inexperienced)."

Consider also St. Paul. Before he was ever able to act with great love and inspire us with his call to love (1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13), he was Saul, locked behind the door of hatred, vengefulness and greed.Before he was our resurrected Christ, Jesus was often locked out - abandoned and ridiculed by those he loved, including those from his hometown of Nazareth (see Luke 4:21-30).

Like Jeremiah, God challenges each of us to step up in His name. Again, like Jeremiah, we can come up with lots of excuses for not stepping up. "I can't speak for you, Lord. I'm too young. I'm too old. I'm too busy. I'm not ready, Lord. I'm not strong enough. I'm scared. Not now, Lord, maybe later." We feel inadequate. What we are saying is that we don't trust God to use us according to His plan.

It's moments like this when we should remember how God responded to Jeremiah. "I have made you a fortified city, Jeremiah, a pillar of iron, a wall of brass. They will fight against you, but not prevail over you. Have no fear before them, for I am with you to deliver you." Each of us is ordained to trust in our Lord's faith in us.

Many years have passed since that school train ride, yet I can still remember the reactions of those who watched the ‘kneeling, singing, prayerful' grandmother lovingly reassure her frightened grandson. Some smirked at her innocent prayer of song. Others distanced themselves from her, thinking she was acting weird or strange. Still others resented the grandmother's personal relationship with Jesus and her call for his intervention.

But this grandmother persevered. She was a descendent of the prophet Jeremiah. She lived the kind and patient love that Paul preached. She was the face of Jesus, through the ridicule, mocking and disdain of her ‘hometown'. No locked door was going to prevent this grandmother from being the key to relieving her grandson's suffering. This was her destiny. She was the steward to another's survival. This was her vocation.

We share the same mission, stewardship and vocation as Jesus, Jeremiah, Paul and a loving grandmother. There is no locked door in our lives that cannot be opened as long as we answer God's call to be His loving prophets.

Whenever life's trials have us locked in or locked out by feelings of hopelessness or inadequacy we can do far worse than to heed the loving words of a prayerful prophet and disciple-grandmother, "Don't panic. Don't be afraid. I won't go away. Everything's going to be alright. Cause ‘Jesus loves you.'"

Jerry Sasson was ordained a permanent deacon in the Roman Catholic Church, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, in 2007. A licensed psychologist with a doctorate degree in education, Deacon Jerry dedicated 41 years to children, working as a school administrator, school psychologist, counselor and teacher. He and his wife of 39 years have three children and three grandchildren. "Called to Love" was originally delivered as a Sunday homily.