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PDF versionFeelin' Useless at the USCCB Meeting
by Michael Sean Winters on Nov. 17, 2009
There are many things about a USCCB meeting that are, well, strange. Walking into a room where everyone is dressed identically is strange. Seeing an altar with a large crucifix in a hotel ballroom is strange. Seeing Archbishop Timothy Dolan in running shorts and a sweatshirt at lunchtime returning from some exercise is strange. But, for me the strangest thing is to encounter a former schoolmate among the assembled hierarchs.
For two years in the mid-1980s, I was an inmate at Theological College, the national seminary attached to the Catholic University of America. In 2005, one of my former classmates, Joseph Tyson, was named auxiliary bishop of Seattle. Earlier this year, John Barres was ordained bishop of Allentown. I ran into John in the hallways of the Marriott where the USCCB meetings are being held. He looks none the worse for the intervening years, indeed he has scarcely aged. This would be sufficient grounds for intense dislike, except that Bishop Barres is, and was two decades ago, one of the most likable people you could ever want to meet.
Still, it is difficult not to feel like time has passed me by. A couple of years ago, Martin O’Malley, who was an undergrad at Catholic University with me, was elected Governor of Maryland. I said to him at the time, “Here you are, Governor of our state, and I can’t remember to change the oil in my car.” Alas.
On the other hand, both TC
On the other hand, both TC and Bishop Tyson rock in pretty much every way, so they have that going for them. (Though I am biased on both counts, I suppose)
I felt saddened when I saw
I felt saddened when I saw your expression of "inmate" at a seminary. I was in a religous order for about 1 1/2 years, a too short time. I understand, I think, the intent behind your wording, but I also sense a resentment, perhaps even an anger at something of seminary life.
I'm saddened because I think you and I both care deeply about our church. We were not forced to enter a seminary or monastery. While there may have been things we didn't like, while there maybe things we don't like about our Church today, my experience in the monastery (and I can only speak to that since I have no idea what you experienced) was with some very loving men who only wanted to serve others, who believed deeply and sincerely in their call. I chose to be in an order which meant discipline and letting go of my wants. If that was prison or some form of institutionalization, there are a lot worse imprisonments.
I would recommend you read Rilke's "Book of Hours." He reaches into a spiritual soul that would move any monastic, yet he was not. And if your 'inmate' comment was meant as satire in this age of twittering comments, I would suggest looking at the freedom your love of God brings, and then reflect on what it is that you feel is imprisoning you now.
There is also the impression
There is also the impression I get from clergy and laity on all sides of political or theological spectra: the late 20th century was a tumultuous time and catholic universities, CUA especially, and seminaries were often the epicenter of a lot of conflicts of various kinds (students and culture and faculty and clergy and laity and religious all with strong and not always congruent opinions). But I don't really blame them, they were dealing with a revolution. So many of those people were just trying to hang on to the rock of Christ while being battered by sand and storm.
Yet, in our time, even despite the perennial quality of seminarians: they whine at times about their formation programs, I really do believe that the state of US seminaries, and I presume many of the religious houses of formation, are in pretty good shape. I never felt like a prisoner in my old seminary, or my present one. I never really have felt like I need to just "grin and bear it." Even when I have been frustrated or challenged by some of the things that have gone on at the universities with which my seminaries have been partnered, it has never really been a bad experience in retrospect. Even times when I felt offended, it gave me an opportunity to consider why I felt offended and if the offense was worth my reaction. Such times also helped me better separate my opinion from the sure teachings of Mother Church.
I am sorry Mr Winters had a bad time at CUA, I hear tell those particular years were especially full of tension and conflict at times, but all is well now, in my humble opinion. If only I, formed as I am in a time of relative calm, could be able to match the contributions of those men who survived the squall of the past century.
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