"Not One Can Say No To Her"

Tonight I watched a interview of a priest who had a near death experience talk with Mother Angelica about coming before the Throne of Judgement. What struck me about the interview was not that this was a heroic priest, a zealous priest, a pious priest, or a selfless priest, but an ordinary sinful man who had taken his vocation for granted, was more concerned with the praise of men and his parishoners than his service to God, and who found that excuses for the way he lived his life meant nothing before the Lord at his particular judgment.

The first thing that Fr. Steven (who was ordained in 1973 and who was involved in the head on collision that almost took his life in 1985 on a highway in Kansas) spoke about that was really concerning was the utter disregard and disinterest of many of his priestly confreres in their 'off-time' to concern themselves with anything pertaining to the spiritual life. Keep in mind that this is your normal every day small town parish priest....how many more priests experience the same throughout our country and world?

"The peer pressure is pretty much the same," he said. "We did not go to other priests for spiritual direction. We did not go to other priests for spiritual matters period. One goes to the rectory to see Father so and so, and Father automatically fixes you a drink, you talk about sports, or anything that has nothing to do with what priesthood is all about.

"Consequently," he continues, "one can never go to another priest with a problem, a spiritual problem. It's just not done."

Fr. Steven went on to describe his moral cowardice and lack of devotion prior to the accident. "I've always run from the cross. I've found out since then, if we run from the cross, there is a bigger one waiting for us. I was a coward those twelve years. I had little training in spirituality in the seminary. There was no spirituality involved. I was not prepared for the kind of life, which is a life of sacrifice. Love it (sacrifice), or don't be a priest."

"One believes in one of two ways--with the head, and with the heart. I believed up here (the head). I didn't know anything about this (the heart)." He also went on to talk about his intellectual belief, but not really believing in the spiritual realm. "The angels, the saints, our Lord--they were make believe friends. They were not real."

Something else he described affirmed my experience as well, and that is the power of prayer among all Christians. After he was rushed to the hospital following the accident, "the Assembly of God minister (in our small town) spent the entire night in prayer for me and opened the doors of his own church for people to pray. My own church opened the parishioners opened the doors all night and people were saying rosaries for me. Baptist, Methodist, I was on the Mennonite prayer list. To me, this is where ecumenism really takes hold. God hears everyone's prayers...and that's why I'm here (alive) before you this evening." We are in a war in this life, and we need all the prayer we can get.

Fr. Steven described when the Word spoke to him--literally, he was reading the Gospel (Luke 13:6-9) at Mass and the page illuminated. It was the story of the tenant farmer who goes to inspect his fig tree and does not find any fruit. "For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?" But the vineyard-keeper replied, "let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer, and if it bears fruit next year fine; but if not, cut it down."

"I gave excuses," he said, speaking of being before Jesus at his judgment, "I was talking to TRUTH. When you're talking to truth you can't give excuses." He recalled, however, during that time the Mother of God stepping in and saying to her Son,

Son will you please spare his life and his eternal soul?

Jesus replied:

Mother, he's been a priest for himself for 12 years and not for me. Let him reap the punishment he deserves 

She pressed further:

But son, if we give him special graces and strengths and then sees if he bears fruit; if not, your will be done. 

There was a very short pause

Mother, 

he said

he's yours. 

"Ever since then," he said softly, "I have been hers."

When I was in Detroit, something occurred to me when the arduous reality of the Narrow Way became clearer--"I need help. I can't do this alone. I need Mary's help." I don't know where it had come from. But the past few years my devotion to Our Lady has been slowly growing, trusting her more and shedding like a snake skin those prejudices and things I always held against her (Why do we need Mary, why can't I just go straight to Jesus? Isn't this misguided devotion? Etc) Yet she was Christ's first disciple. She was closer to him than anyone else on earth. She was his mother! Isn't this someone I would want on my side? We are in a spiritual battle in this life. We cannot afford to go it alone.

"We have a mother," Fr Steven explained. "I didn't have any special devotion to her. But since then, she's become everything. At the foot of the cross the Lord looked down and said "Woman behold your son--that's us the church. She takes that very literally and very seriously.

"I experienced the Lord's mercy. But it was his mother who came and interceded for me. One thing I have learned since then is this beautiful truth: with regards to the Trinity--none of them, not one, can say no to her. They cannot. It's impossible. They will not say no to her. Isn't that somebody we want on our side?"

Mother Angelica closed the interview by asking Fr. Steven what he would tell priests today? What have you learned that you would like them to know?

"Be a priest in service of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be a priest of prayer. Once prayer goes, the priesthood goes. We should not be afraid of telling things as they are...things that are going to make us unpopular. But that's part of being his follower. He only promised crosses. But the crosses are bearable because he is there, and his blessed mother is there, to lighten them.

A priest without prayer is dead. A priest without the blessed sacrament is dead. A priest without the blessed mother is dead. I learned my lesson, but it took him breaking my neck, and the threat of eternal damnation, to get my attention.

I would never want to go back to the way I was.

Ever."

Amen.