Let Me Try It a Different Way

Editor: Fr. Ted Brown, M.S. spoke to a large gathering of La Salette Associates from around New England on October 5, 2013.

It’s good to be back in Attleboro, MA, in my La Salette home and be with you today. The Retreat Center was my first assignment as a priest.

This a great time to be among the laity because Pope Francis sees the desirability of a fully engaged laity. He is inviting us to “be Church” and be actively involved as members of it.

As a La Salette Missionary speaking to La Salette Associates, I see four aspects of the La Salette Apparition that are important

• • Hospitality: “Come near, my children.” We are to welcome people as they are, not as we would have them be.
  • Prayer: “Do you pray well, my children?” This calls us not only to reflect on our own personal prayer life but also to support and even demand good liturgies in our parishes.
  • Reconciliation: Mary speaks about it when she invites her people to be converted. She promises: “If they are converted… the potatoes will be self-sown in the fields.”
  • Adaptability: Her quite poignant words, that perhaps we tend to skip over are in response to the two children’s difficulty in understanding her formal French. Mary adapts instantly to the new situation. She responds by saying: “Let me try it a different way.” She quickly begins to speak in their own familiar dialect. She shows a loving flexibility, a sincere concern for the two fledgling witnesses. 

I have had several situations with my college students when I asked them a question and initially received a blank look. Like Mary, I then “tried it a different way” and thankfully they understood much better. Each of us needs to be acutely aware of similar situations and not be afraid to approach the situation in a different and more understandable way.

Similarly, St. Francis of Assisi once said: “Always preach the gospel; and if necessary, use words.” In short, he was saying that there are more ways of preaching the gospel than merely using words. Our example can speak volumes.

The Challenges of Making the Message Known

As La Salettes, we must use words, social media, printed materials, and so on and to get the La Salette message out there, a message of prayer and healing. We must continue to do this constantly and creatively, “saying it in many different ways. So many people are hurting, and are anxious for a words of hospitality, an invitation to be reconciled, and for someone to respond to their needs, here and now.

One of my students who was quite proud to be at our university suddenly discovered that he had to transfer to a college closer to home. I tried to explain to him that this is not merely an end; it is also a new beginning, a new opportunity to appreciate what God has in store for him. God can sew seeds of new life in what first seems to be death to us.

I personally think that the resurrection of Jesus is the exclamation point to what God feels about death. It can be overcome and eventually give life, something new, something surprising. In the scriptures we learn that when the people of God, once prisoners in Egypt, were led out of slavery to freedom. From the death and resurrection of Jesus comes new life.

From His Resurrection, We Find Our Hope

St. Paul said that if we don’t accept that central belief, we have no hope. “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching; empty, too, your faith”(1 Cor 15:13-14).

Mary invites us to turn back to her Son, the source of our unending hope. Can we adapt ourselves so that the message of hope and healing and mercy can become deeply rooted in our hearts and give us the strength to proclaim the good “good news” that Mary and her Son provide?

We often take our college students out late on Saturday evenings to the poorest areas of New York City with our supplies. We ask them to find the street homeless and give them food, clothing, blankets… and especially give them some hope. Often these homeless people see the presence of our students as a miracle from God! As Mary said: Jesus explains the events in reference to their own brokenness (“were not our hearts burning within us”). Then they celebrate with a meal during which they recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread. They finally understand what happened.

It’s so important for us to notice when others don’t seem to understand. We need to be patient, explain it a different way, by our words or by our actions. Pope Francis tells the youth to find new ways to spread the word of God to every corner of the world.

Two weeks after my ordination, I led a weekend Emmaus retreat. During the weekend, we explored together the meaning of that famous Emmaus event. Two disciples had left Jerusalem in fear and talked about what had happened as they walked toward Emmaus. Suddenly a stranger (Jesus) comes along. He explains the events in reference to their own brokenness (“were not our hearts burning within us”). Then they conclude the day with a meal during which they finally recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

They finally understand what happened. Through Jesus’ words he lessened their hurt and upset and gave them hope by explaining the recent events that happened in Jerusalem “in a different way.” He walked those seven miles with them in their pain and lifted their hearts once again.

I urge you as fellow sons and daughters of La Salette to take the time to sit with people, find a new way to translate the La Salette message into the lives and culture of people today. Then they will be able to understand the gift of the La Salette message and finally incarnate that message by becoming reconciled with God, themselves or with another. And always be ready to explain it, if necessary, “in a different way.”