"Learning How to become a Father" are reflections on Spiritual Fatherhood. They are not mature reflections on the theme and may be considered more "experiences" and meditations through which we come to Spiritual Fatherhood in the Priesthood. As a seminarian I know that this will be the identity and challenge I am called to take on especially in these last years of priestly formation.
(Spanish Version - 19 October 2013)
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| Fr. Álvaro Corcuera LC |
We have had the privilege of having in the past few days - someone we have simply called «Father Álvaro». It’s been almost a year since we received the sad news of his diagnosis – brain cancer – I imagine he received the news not much earlier than we did. Providentially, at the beginning of the Year of Faith (11 October 2012), he had resigned his commission as General Director due to health issues.
The Year of Faith is going by quickly and soon enough it will come to its terminus. Within this context I would like to offer a few words of thanks for this brother, friend, companion but above all, Father.
My intention is not to do a history lesson about the past years – years which in some ways have been “overcome” – but to remember this Father’s role in the midst of something we could call nothing less than a “nightmare”. I remember very clearly receiving the sad news about our Founder almost five years go. The facts are saddening and I doubt any one wants to return to them. We realized that the beautiful and great tree of the Church had grown a rotten branch and some of us grew to think that nothing from that branch could grow “good fruit…fruit that would last”. Nevertheless, seeing within it the betrayal of a “father”, another Father stood up to take up the reins and – probably without knowing it – become a victim of expiation. Fr. Álvaro.
Legion of Christ Center for Higher Studies – Rome
The Book of Genesis tells that Abraham was a man without a family. His wife was sterile. When God revealed to him that he would have a large family – a family so numerous that only the stars in the night sky and the grains of sand along the shore could compare – the Bible recounts that Abraham did the counterintuitive: “Abraham Believed” (Gen 15:6). In this moment the History of Salvation saw another branch appear. The People of Faith, the People of God took their first baby steps. The Bible speaks of other moments of the paradoxical nature of our faith. The faith of Moses and that of David are telling. Moses, an exiled stutterer went to encounter, Pharaoh - the King of Kings of his time – to redeem his people. David, the young shepherd “pleasing to the sight” (handsome) faced the giant Goliath with five stones. Each of these characters asked the same question “Lord, what are you going to give me?” (See Gen 15, Exodus 3, 1 Sam 17). Each of them, in their own way, asks about the recompense to be had.
The “in the beginning” of the New Testament begins this time with the faith of a woman, that of Mary. “Let it be done to me according to your Word – Fiat” (Luke 1). This was the road through whom we received the Light of the World, Jesus Christ and with him New Life. He revealed – ‘unveiled’ – a whole new panorama of God - a God merciful and loving that “thirsts” to forgive and accompany us so much so that he becomes one among us just as He is with his Father. He said, “Remain in me and I in you” (Jn 15). And those who “remain” with him live-with Him and with a hope, an absolute and indestructible trust. The grace that comes down from God is capable of making of each of us a part of the vine and the branches (Jn 15) of our Lord. There is no doubt that His “Father is the vinedresser” and prunes his vineyard, clearing off the excess – all to make it grow bigger, more healthy and more beautiful - and in this way God can take our littleness and make it Great.
It’s beautiful to speak of the spiritual life and contemplate the greatness of God – what God’s able to do with the little that we are. On the other hand, this same God that forgives (with no limits) and loves, also prunes and cleans us – so much so that his own Son learned to obey “in suffering” (Heb 5:8) - the Cross. The Dark Night through which the Regnum Christi Movement went through was our Cross. These have been, and still are mysterious times. Only God understands and can explain the happenings step-by-step and throughout this purification so as to “give more fruit” there is a communion of Fathers, Brothers, Consecrated Men and Women, and Lay People that believe in God and therefore also in his Church, the Movement and the Legion. But from this multitude one stands out. One that doesn’t pretend to be perfect but desires to be just one among many. One without whom the Legion and the Movement would have been lacking very much. His was to believe firmly that “all things come together for the good of those who love God” especially for those “that have been called according to his plan” (Rom 8:28). We could hypothesize what God’s plan is for Fr. Álvaro.
I don’t really have a judgment. Jesus and his Vicar canonize people – I do not. I don’t have any delusions that he is perfect. I have no doubts that – as all of us do – he feels guilt, shame and failure from the past. Nevertheless, if it wasn’t around many of us would feel that someone were missing in our lives. When this Father said “yes” – whether his children liked it or not – this fiat has been the paradoxical hope, “to hope against all hope”(Rom. 4:18) and because of this hope we are here. Our Lord said that having done what we committed ourselves to do that “we should call ourselves ‘useless servants’” (Luke 17). Though many may call Him “useless” judging him for the worst – I believe that it is not for history nor for anyone to judge a human person – but for God alone.
When “the Word of the Lord was rare in those days and visions were not frequent” (1 Sam 3) there was someone who believed and changed designs that seemed impossible. Today I give a tender and filial thanks on my behalf as friend, brother, and son to Father Álvaro. I know that he returns to the US for chemotherapy treatment. Let’s accompany him. He’s not alone. I know that it’s not probable that he will be present at my Priestly Ordination nevertheless, I would like to invite you, Padre Álvaro, to accompany me for my First Mass. I ask that you accompany me and guide me step-by-step as I ascend the steps of the Altar and that you firmly hold my hand.
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