God’s Athlete
Lest you all think that I spend all my time writing about “controversial” topics, I offer a recent profile of Blessed Fr. Damien de Veuster–a.k.a. Damien of Molokai–that I penned for the devotional monthly The Word Among Us. Blessed Damien will be canonized in Rome on October 11th.
I always enjoy writing, but this piece was a special pleasure. Unlike my wife, who lived for a time in Hawaii, I did not know much about Fr. Damien before I began researching him. His witness to Christ’s love among Hawaiians who had been exiled to the leprosy settlement at Molokai is, of course, well known. I had seen the pictures taken shortly before his death that show him wasted with the physical symptoms of Hansen’s Disease. So I expected that he would come across as some sort of lean ascetic, a St. Simon Stylites of the lava flows.
What really captured me, though, was the raw physicality with which he lived out his vocation. Damien was tremendously strong and vigorous. When he was ministering in Hawaii before his move to Molokai, he would lead parties into the forest to cut timber to build chapels, generally carrying the heaviest logs himself. He spent days on horseback, travelling around the island to celebrate Mass and hear confessions. His decision to volunteer to go to Molokai was of a piece with his entire life, which was always about putting his body in motion for Christ. As someone whose ministerial work focuses on male spirituality, I found Damien’s bold masculinity deeply appealing.
For my money, the best book about Damien is Gavan Daws’ Holy Man. One of the chapters of Daws book is entitled “God’s Athlete,” the source of the title. America magazine has also re-posted a 1994 article on Damien by John Donahue.
While I’m here, let me put in a good word for the publication, the Word Among Us. It is a monthly magazine that contains daily reflections on the scripture readings for Mass and articles on Catholic topics. One of their ministries is an initiative called Partners in Evangelism. Among other things, this ministry provides free copies (in English and Spanish) of the Word Among Us to prisoners. As someone involved in prison ministry, I can attest that there seem to be fewer Catholic resources available in many jails and prisons. So this is a ministry that is doing very good work.
“While I’m here, let me put in a good word for the publication, the Word Among Us.”
I second that. I quite enjoy that publication. They used to give it out for free for Lent and Advent at my old parish in Bedford, NY. Now I get Magnificat which is also nice but unfortunately not free.
I saw a movie about Fr. Damien – Molokai: The Story of Father Damien . The film wasn’t great but good enought to give an idea of the kind of life he led.
I enjoyed the profile. I didn’t know that Fr. Damien was so robust and athletic. His canonization will again focus attention on Hawaii, as did the beatification in 2005 of “Molokai’s Other Saint,” Mother Marianne Cope, who also came a long distance (from Syracuse, NY) to minister to the afflicted on Molokai. Her time on the island partially overlapped that of Fr. Damien.
The caption “God’s Athlete” reminded me of the “Flying Scotsman,” Eric Liddell, already a famous rugby player in Scotland when he refused to run his 100-meter heat in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris because the heat fell on the Sabbath. Liddell later won the gold medal in the 400-meter event. His story as a devoutly Christian athlete is somewhat loosely told in the Academy Award-winning film “Chariots of Fire.”
The film notes at the end that Liddell died in a Japanese internment camp in China in 1945, and that “all Scotland wept.” Liddell’s post-Olympics’ life was perhaps even more interesting than his days as a renowned athlete. He passed up the celebrity the Olympics had brought him, and he returned to China (he had been born there) as a Protestant missionary. He refused to leave when the Japanese invaded. When WWII ended, survivors of the camp spoke glowingly about Liddell’s kindness, courage, and faith. He apparently passed up an opportunity to leave the camp in a prisoner exchange, choosing instead to give his spot to a pregnant woman. (Echoes of Fr. (St.) Maximilian Kolbe at Auschwitz, though Liddell died of natural causes.) I don’t recall the exact words, but Liddell once commented, “Every Christian is a missionary. Everything we do either draws people to Christ or pushes them from Him.” There are several good biographies of Liddell, including one by David McCasland I read a few years ago.
(Sorry, Peter, for going tangential…bad habit. But the topic of “God’s Athletes” in general is seems an intriguing one to me.)
Even more tangentially, with apologies, please allow me to drop in a word about the saint of the day, Therese of Lisieux. In contrast to the delicate statues and paintings of her that for some reason are so popular, this is a young woman who really incarnated her faith, working inside on beautiful days (so others could work outside), putting up with the cold without complaining or even scrunching over for warmth, and my favorite: “walking for a missionary.”
At the risk of being parochial, I might mention a local Vermonter (and former veteran of the Union Army) who went to Molokai, and helped carry on Father Damien’s work for several decades after his death. There is today a chapel in Stowe, decorated with pictures of Dutton’s mission.
Many years ago the chapel was written up in Liturgical Arts (for those who remember that magazine).
Here’s a description:
http://www.theheartofnewengland.com/travel-Kalawao.html