I’m A Godfather!

Yesterday evening I witnessed a miracle. Shortly after 6:00pm, at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center in Lawrence, Kansas, the infinite God came to dwell in a tiny little person named Benedict Blase Kemnitz. Just over a year ago I was in this same chapel standing near the altar as I witnessed my two good friends, Matt and Olivia, profess their love in the commitment of the Sacrament of Marriage. Now, I had the honor to stand by them again as they returned to this church brining with them the first fruit of their married love. What an amazing and beautiful sight!

“Benedict Blase, the Christian community welcomes you with great joy. In its name I claim you for Christ our Savior by the sign of his cross. I now trace the cross on your forehead, and invite your parents and godparents to do the same.” I then traced the sign of the cross on the forehead of my new godson. From the earliest moments of our Christian life we find the cross. It is good to keep in mind that it is the sign of the cross that marks us as belonging to Christ. What a powerful seal, yet what a sober reminder of the ultimate meaning of the life of a Christian. If we are faithful, we will share in the victory of Christ, but only through the cross.

I intended for this to be a post that didn’t have anything to do with Matty, but an amazing connection came to my mind. When the rector first told the men from Kansas City about the accident, I asked him if Matty was able to be anointed. The rector indicated that Matty had already been dead for a while when he got to the hospital and so he wasn’t able to anoint. The Sacraments are so important to me as they were to Matty and so this made me sad to hear that he didn’t get to receive the Anointing of the Sick and Viaticum before he died. I of course trusted in God’s mercy, but there was a sense of incompleteness even in this detail.

When I arrived back in Kansas I called Matty’s mom and told her that I had brought everything she asked me to get from Matty’s room for the funeral and she indicated that she would like me to take everything to the funeral home to prepare Matty’s body for burial. The other question she had was a concern over whether or not Matty’s body should be able to be viewed. She hadn’t seen the body yet and wanted me to look and advise her. I told her that for me personally I wanted to see Matty’s body no matter how bad it was. There was such a lack of finality, closure if you will, that came from waking up and being told that Matty was gone and not being able to see him. Despite this desire, I had been with Jared and his family in the hospital when he died and remember that Jared didn’t really look much like Jared any more because of all the trauma. I therefore went to the funeral home expecting the worst, knowing that Matty had been thrown from the car and probably had some very bad injuries.

When I arrived at the funeral home, I explained to the director all the intricacies of how a cassock is worn, which side his sash should go on, and how a Roman collar is supposed to go on, etc. I then asked him if I could see Matty’s body. He told me I could, but that they hadn’t done anything to him yet in the way of makeup and such since they were waiting for his clothes. I decided I still wanted to see him. As I was let into the room I remember feeling a sense of relief as I could see Matty’s body on the table and it still looked like Matty. The funeral director left me alone in the room.

In the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, the priest traces the sign of the cross on the forehead of the person with holy oil. As I began to pray, I did the first thing that came to mind, I reverently traced the sign of the cross on Matty’s forehead. I wish that I could have been a priest and could have been there before he died to anoint him, but I remembered that God is free to work outside the boundaries of the sacraments. I prayed that Matty would be given the grace he needed through my simple gesture, which was the best I could do. As I made the sign of the cross on Matty’s forehead, I began to feel some peace and some of that “closure” I had been seeking.

This incident at the funeral home came to my mind as little Benedict Blase was presented before me last night and I traced the sign of the cross on his forehead. I thought of my own baptism and how God is there for us from the very beginning of our lives. I thought of my Confirmation when Archbishop Strecker again traced the sign of the cross on my forehead with Sacred Chrism. And I thought of Matty. With the sign of the cross we are claimed for Christ in Baptism. With the sign of the cross we are sealed with the Holy Spirit in Confirmation. With the sign of the cross we receive God’s healing and strength in the Anointing of the Sick. Such great mysteries are contained in such a simple sign. It is a constant reminder to us that we who are baptized into Christ are baptized into his death. Yet, it is also a reminder that this cross with which we are sealed is not just any cross; it is the cross of the Lord Jesus. With this cross, death is not the end but the beginning. Through this cross we do not die forever, but triumph eternally. As the liturgy of baptism proclaims…

“This is our faith. This is the faith of the Church. We are proud to profess it, in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Little Benedict’s life in Christ has begun through the baptism of new birth and the sign of the cross. I am so honored to be able to be a part of his life and will do my best to help Matt and Olivia to teach him this wonderful faith of ours. As I was telling someone here at the seminary what great parents of faith Matt and Olivia are, the person responded, “So I guess there’s a good chance the kid will be Catholic.” I replied “There’s a good chance this kid could be pope.” I’d actually kind of like to see that happen because I figure this is my best chance at realizing my dream of becoming papal Master of Ceremonies . In all seriousness, this is my first time to be a godfather and I pray that God will show me how to be a good one. Thank you, Matt and Olivia, for answering God’s call in the vocation of marriage. Thank you for making me a part of your lives. Thank God for the gift of friendship and new life.

St. Benedict, pray for us. St. Blase, pray for us.