Now the Green Blade Riseth

This is Mr. Weber's Easter message to the students of JPII, Monday, April 4, 2010

Matt was a 291 pound, 6’ 6” football player, regarded as one of the top lineman prospects in the country. After being pursued by Florida, Penn State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and many other colleges, he committed to Notre Dame and was set to enter Notre Dame this summer as their highest ranked incoming recruit. This past Friday he was on spring break in Panama City with 40 of his classmates from St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati. Tragically, having drank too much, he leaned over the rail of the fifth floor balcony to talk to someone the next room over, lost his balance and fell. He died instantly.

This isn’t a talk about drinking.

Instead, I ask for your prayers for his classmates at St. Xavier, a Catholic high school very similar to Pope John Paul II. Matt was just 17, due to turn 18 next week. You can only imagine the grief and the sense of loss his friends, classmates and family are experiencing right now. Please pray for them and the entire Xavier school community.

Some of you have undergone tragedy yourselves, experiencing the sudden loss of someone close to you through an accident or an illness. Others of you have endured lesser but still painful things like divorce, or your father or mother leaving the family, or betrayal by a close friend. Inevitably, when we are suffering through these terrible things, we ask ourselves—as no doubt all of Matt’s friend’s are asking—“Why me (or why him)? Why does God allow this to happen? Why not someone else who’s a jerk and has it coming? In fact, why does it seem like good people suffer more often than evil people? Is God paying attention? Does he care? "

To our Christian faith’s credit, we don’t believe there are easy answers to those questions. “God is testing us” or “God has a plan” are far too simplistic—and from the perspective of Matt’s family or others enduring a tragedy, I imagine, almost obscenely perverse, as if God needed their son to be a sacrificial lamb as a teaching tool for others.

What comes much closer to the truth, I believe, is revealed in the season we are celebrating during this Easter season. At the height of Jesus’ suffering on the cross—betrayed by one of the 12 closest to him, denied by his good friend Peter, turned over to Rome on a trumped up charge by his religious leaders, convicted by his own people, who shouted “Crucify him! Crucify him!” and begged Pilate to let a murderer be released instead of him, scoffed at and ridiculed by the Roman guards--now on the cross, with pain searing through his wrists and feet, Jesus’ cried out “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani.?” or “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

The message of the cross, I believe, in response to why God allows suffering, is that God suffers, too. The grief and suffering we feel is real—not something we should pretend is just a matter of perspective. He doesn’t tell us not to feel betrayed or cheated—he himself felt that way. He doesn’t promise us, like some child’s fairy tale, that we’ll “live happily ever after” in a life free from pain. He doesn’t offer some cheap medicine to make it go away. No, Jesus shows us on Good Friday that suffering is inescapable. The pain we feel, the grief, the sense of loss are all legitimate expressions of our human condition.

But he also shows us, through Easter Sunday, that this suffering does not get the final say--that despite the cross, there is also the resurrection, that despite whatever hardship, tragedy, and hatred we endure, that God’s love for us is even more real, deeper and more powerful. From the frozen earth of winter, green blades of grass can rise again. *

I’d like to end with a true story:

It revolves around a small boy of about seven who was stricken with a fatal, ferocious and fast growing cancer. He had been treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering with every sort of therapy known to science. But nothing further could be done. 

Perhaps they could administer one more dose of some experimental drug, but actually there was no real hope of recovery. And the side effects could only complicate the progression of the disease. 

So the family and the doctors gathered in the little boy's room for a final conference concerning his treatment.

They had tried almost everything, what could they possibly think of next? Finally the boy spoke up in a clear, crisp voice, "What I really want to do is to go home and learn how to ride my two wheeler." 

The bicycle had been a Christmas present. It had those little trainer wheels attached. But before the boy had gained enough confidence to remove the trainer wheels the cancer caught up with him and he was sent to the hospital. Learning how to ride a two-wheeler was the last thought the doctors or the parents would have contemplated. It just didn't seem possible. The boy was already physically weakened, why encourage him to do something that clearly would not be possible for very long even if he could succeed.


But the boy insisted and the resistance of the doctors and his parents melted away under the withering assurances of his clear brown eyes. And home they went. 

Not thirty minutes after they had settled in, they were out in the yard, the boy insisting that his father take off the training wheels and let him have a go at it. 

Obediently, but anxiously, his father took out his wrench and removed the training wheels to let him go. To their surprise, after only two false starts and one fall the boy was able to steer the bike, somewhat erratically to be sure. "And now," he said with mounting assurance in his voice, "Now I want to ride it by myself all the way around the block." Before anyone could stop him, he was off, up the street and around the corner out of sight. There were those few minutes of suspense as the parents, brother and little sister, waited for him to appear at the other end of the block, and after what seemed an eternity, there he was, headed for home, a gigantic expression of triumph and satisfaction written on his face.

When the excitement had settled down, the boy retired to his bedroom, and asked if he could be left alone with his little sister. He had his father bring the shiny blue bike into the bedroom. It sat there in the corner, a gleaming symbol of life. Then the boy turned to his little sister and said, "I won't be needing the bicycle anymore. I want you to have it for your birthday. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did." 



From under the shadow of death, and in the midst of life's deepest tragedies, there comes the resurrection of life.

Happy Easter, everyone!

* The title of this blog comes from the song, "Now the Green Blade Riseth". Here's the text:

Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain,
Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

In the grave they laid him, love whom men had slain,
Thinking that never he would wake again.
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green,

Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain.
Quick from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
Thy touch can call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

JPII: Five Years After

Today, April 2, 2010, marks the 5th anniversary of the death of our school’s namesake, Pope John Paul II.

There are now 12 high schools in the United States, with a 13th being built in Huntsville, that are named “Pope John Paul II High School” or “John Paul the Great High School”. I believe it’s a just another hint as to what history will prove: John Paul II was one of the two or three popes of most consequence in the history of our Church.

To celebrate this fifth anniversary, our school invited Mr. George Weigel to speak to our community as part of our “John Paul II Distinguished Lecturer” series. Weigel is best known for his authoritative biography on the life of JPII, entitled “Witness to Hope,” and thus knew him as well as any American. I asked him to speak to us about the legacy of JPII for our current and future church. Accordingly, his talk was entitled “The Ten Enduring Achievements of Pope John Paul II”.

A summary of his talk follows (my gratitude to Board member Diane Huggins for this summary):

1. JPII recast the role of the papacy by returning to the evangelical roots of Peter. He was not a “central administrator” of the Vatican but first and foremost a pastor. This is what led him to make 105 visits to foreign countries, to begin World Youth Day, etc.

2. His influence on the Second Vatican Council, helping it focus on a “Christ centered humanity”. He was instrumental in writing “Gaudium et Spes”, perhaps the most important document of the Council.

3. His central role in the collapse of Communism and the end of the Cold War. He was a pivotal figure in the 1989 revolution, beginning with his support of Solidarity in Poland and ending in the tearing down of the Berlin wall.

4. Correspondingly, his challenge to democracy: Democracy is a means and not an end. It is measured by how well it promotes the common good and supports human dignity, especially the dignity of its most vulnerable members.

5. His focus on ecumenism and unity in truth. He was instrumental in re- invigorating many ecumenical dialogues. His “Ut Unum Sint” encyclical puts the Catholic Church on an irrevocable path toward unity with other Christian faiths.

6. His efforts to strengthen Jewish-Christian relations and to reconvene the dialogue/conversation with the Jewish people for the first time in 1900 years.

7. His teaching that truths lead us to God and that we embrace the truths of the world of science, philosophy and other disciplines.

8. His theology of the human body and its relationship to moral life in response to the sexual revolution. He re-invigorated traditional Catholic moral teaching and gave it a persuasive, innovative foundation.

9. His Catechism of the Catholic Church. He called it a gift to the future of our Church. The very idea that a faith could be codified in an age of relativism was radical in and of itself.

10. His impact on lives throughout the world. How many hundreds of millions of people did his life inspire? His funeral was called by NBC news "the human event of our generation”.

It’s always a dubious enterprise to try and measure the historical “greatness” of someone who died such a short time ago. Still, I suspect we’re on solid ground in predicting that Karole Wojyla was one of the greatest figures of the 20th century, and JPII, one of our greatest popes.

Sainthood is just a matter of time.

Honor and Duty

Editor's note: The following remarks were made by Mr. Weber at the March 28 induction ceremony for NHS at JPII.

A children's tale tells of a land in which a castle of valiant knights protected the people of a forest plagued by dangerous giants. These knights had silver shields created by a magician, and a knight’s shield would shine brighter the more good the knight did in the land. However, if a knight were lazy or cowardly or vain, the knight’s shield would become increasingly cloudy until the knight would be ashamed to bear it. In rare cases in which a knight showed exceptional valor and devotion to duty, a golden star would appear in the center of the shield.

One day dangerous giants gathered together to try to drive the knights from the land. Seeing their preparations, the lord of the castle gathered his knights together to ride out to battle. Young Sir Roland had only recently acquired his shield, and dreamed of distinguishing himself. But the lord of the castle ordered him to stay behind and guard the gate, to prevent anyone from entering the castle until the knights returned.

Sir Roland was very disappointed, but stood at the gate to do his duty. Eventually a lone knight rode up wearily, shield dull. The knight offered to trade places with Sir Roland, and let Sir Roland seek glory while the knight would guard the gate. Sir Roland almost leapt at the chance, but realized he had promised to stay at his post, and so he refused the offer.

In a while, an old woman approached the castle, begging for food. She said she had been near the battle, and that the knights were doing poorly. She mocked the young knight for being afraid to join his companions. Sir Roland gave the woman food, but resisted the temptation to prove to her his bravery by doing something he had committed not to do.

Next, an old man in a long cloak appeared across the moat. The man claimed to be a magician, and to have a magic sword with which Sir Roland could save his friends from destruction if he would leave the gate and join the battle in the forest. Sir Roland was so tempted that he had to move back and raise the drawbridge to cut himself off from the strange man. Suddenly, the “magician” threw off his cloak, and began to grow. He turned into a great giant, and howled at Sir Roland in frustration before turning back to the forest.

Eventually the company of knights rode back, tired but victorious. As they approached the gate they stopped in wonder. There, shining on Sir Roland’s shield, was a golden star. Some knights did not understand how someone who had not fought in battle could earn such honor. But the lord of the castle knew, and explained that some of the hardest battles of all are not against an armed foe. In disciplining himself to do his duty, Sir Roland had fought the hardest battle of the day.
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On behalf of the teachers and staff of JPII, I want to congratulate all of you who have been chosen to become part of JPII’s next National Honor Society. I am not sure there is a greater compliment that your school could give you than to recognize you publicly as people of honor. On behalf of the school, thank you for the example you have been. And parents, they don’t get to be the way they are by accident—thank you for helping them become people of virtue and leaders in our school.

The legend of Sir Roland is interesting, because it reminds us that being honorable isn’t so much about achieving fame or “status” among one’s peers. Sir Roland, a young man, desired to establish himself as a great knight by going to battle and performing heroically. Instead, he was asked by the lord of the castle to stay back and defend the castle, a seemingly demeaning job, which turned out to be both difficult and important.

Being honorable most often is not about being a superstar or a hero. It’s about doing your job, fulfilling your duty, being true to your word in the ordinary, everyday grind of your life.

For students at JPII, it’s about keeping your commitments, being honest in your relationships, doing your homework, being on task in class, leading peers to do the right thing when faced with the temptation to do the wrong thing.

A few moments ago, you took a vow that said you promise to “advance forward the welfare of the school.” This vow reflects an ancient view that understands that a society is only as strong as the virtue of its citizenry. All great civilizations have understood this. In ancient Greece, Athenian youth took a similar vow:

We will never bring disgrace on this our City by an act of dishonesty or cowardice.

We will fight for the ideals and Sacred Things of the City both alone and with many.

We will revere and obey the City’s laws, and will do our best to incite a like reverence and respect in those above us who are prone to annul them or set them at naught.

We will strive increasingly to quicken the public’s sense of civic duty.

Thus in all these ways we will transmit this City, not only not less, but greater and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.

Students of the National Honor Society of JPII, may you leave the city—or in this case—JPII—greater and more beautiful, a better school, than it was transmitted to you. You are clearly on your way to doing that by virtue of your selection to NHS. My charge to you is to continue in that goal until your graduation.

Congratulations again.