March 11, 2014
The doorbell rang at 5:45 in the evening, and the cathedral priests were enjoying dinner at the rectory. At the door was a young man who introduced himself as Bill McCormick, a Jesuit novice on pilgrimage. He had a simple request: could we put him up for the night? I allowed that since we had a spare room and it was ready for a guest, we’d be happy to have him. We then gave him supper and spent a reasonable amount of time trying to discover who he was and what he was doing.
Bill was born in the same neck of the woods as Father Marcos – Brownsville, Texas. He was one of three children; had the schooling of most young people and had gotten a degree from the University of Texas at Austin. It was small world time again since we Paulists are the chaplains at the University of Texas at Austin, and Bill did indeed know two of our brothers.
Where had he come from? Kansas City was the answer to that one. Bill is currently a novice with the Jesuits of the Southern Province. According to the Jesuit Constitution, all Jesuit novices are required to complete a month-long pilgrimage “without money … begging from door to door … to grow accustomed to discomfort in food and lodging,” a lesson in complete trust in God.
During his first day on pilgrimage, Bill had been involved in an accident on the bus in which he was traveling that was taking him from Kansas to Grand Rapids. So, he spent part of his day being checked out at a hospital, checked out fine and was put on a bus that eventually got him to Grand Rapids. He then came to the cathedral and asked if we could put him up for the night.
In the morning while we were having breakfast, he told me that he wanted to earn his keep. So, we set him up with our maintenance team and he wound up widening the paths around the church from the recent snows we’re been having. In the afternoon he went to Monroe Center and tried his hand at begging. He was unsuccessful; didn’t raise a penny. His next goal was to reach St. Ignace, Mich. The Paulists provided him with a ticket.
How’s he doing? I don’t know. He has no telephone, only a few clothes and a great deal of trust in God that eventually he will get to his destination, which includes Washington, D.C., on his way to Mobile, Ala., and home to his novitiate.
Why mention Bill? Because I admire his trust in God. We may not be able to do what Bill McCormick and other Jesuit novices are doing during Lent, but we can learn from this difficult and yet simple activity that trusting in God is more important than all the treasures our daily lives can give us.