It would be a whole lot easier to begin as the new Catholic chaplain at
Connecticut College if my predecessor had been inarticulate, anti-social, uninterested
in the condition of peoples’ souls, and got drunk every other night. Alas! The opposite is the case. Fr.
Larry LaPointe has served here for 33 years with wit, intelligence, deep faith
and wonderful effectiveness. Now,
me! As Hamlet said, “Hyperion to a
satyr”.
Of course, it is grace that saves us. Fortunately, there is a power at work that can use the efforts of the
most unlikely individuals, and as a college chaplain, I’m pretty unlikely.
I’ve been a parish priest in eastern Connecticut for
32 years. For the past 25
years, I’ve been involved in ministry to the growing Spanish-speaking
population of our region. St. Mary Star
of the Sea Church, just down the street in New London, has about 1,000
households, half of which are Spanish-speaking.
I’ve been pastor there for the past 11 years, and I must say, I enjoy
it. I particularly love the way a culture
not my own pulls me out of my artificially small world. Maybe serving today’s Connecticut College community
will do the same thing for me.
Robert Kennedy, S.J., quoted a Japanese educator who said that the purpose
of education is to take a young person and pour steel into his/her spine. (Zen
Spirit, Christian Spirit, p. 55-56). Although I’m no Buddhist, I like that notion.
Catholic learning doesn’t take place
primarily in the head, but lower down. It is learning to live in a certain way
and to walk a certain path toward fullness in a world both beautiful and filled
with illusion. I’m very happy to be on
that journey with all of you in the Catholic Community at Connecticut College this
year.
Fr. Bob Washabaugh
