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July 25, 2023My wife is someone who is continually cleaning out our clutter, looking to see what can be thrown out. She never lets our house get too overrun with things that have grown useless with time. So far, I am blessed that I have not been included on that list.
Going through old memorabilia allows me to reconnect to my past, helping me to discover what it is that truly matters in my life. These relics from my personal history remind me of the journey I have taken as a husband, a father, and a faithful follower of Christ these many years.
This year, the Connecticut Catholic Men’s Conference will be taking time to consider a collection of saintly relics, holy reminders and sacred pieces of our past as Catholics. The conference will open with a procession of over 24 saint relics from faithful servants such as St. John Vianney, men who are patrons to the priesthood. This will be an especially meaningful experience for the men attending because the theme for this conference centers on the priesthood and its importance to the Church.
This display was generously loaned to the conference from the impressive collection of relics from the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Waterbury. The relics will remain on the stage during the Conference to help us call to mind those faithful servants who offered their lives as living sacrifices to the cause of Christ, a fitting tribute to those in our own day who have been ordained as shepherds of God’s people here on earth.
One thing that is especially meaningful for me during my times of clutter cleaning is when I come across old photos of family members on my wife’s side. You see, most of my family pictures were lost during a flood in 1972; and so, I have very few pictures of my parents and grandparents. But my wife’s family has collected a great number of photos over the years, stretching back to my wife’s great grandparents and beyond. Looking at these images and the old houses, cars, clothing, furniture, and fixtures in the background, and learning the stories of the people I see, help me to connect to these people I never knew in a way that causes me to love my wife and children with a renewed sense of unity and purpose. I see in their lives, the power and presence of love that has shaped my bride and the children we have brought up in Christ together.
It is the same with these holy relics at the Conference. We may look at them as something unique and mysterious, beautiful and precious. But when we take the time to learn about the lives of these saints, we are drawn more fully into the journey the Church has taken from her earliest beginnings up to the present time. Their stories are joined to ours, and give meaning to the way of Calvary that all of us walk together in faith. Their sacrifice and commitment to Christ are a challenge to those of us who have grown complacent, weary, or indifferent to the yoke of love we have been called to carry. As we bond with the ones who have traveled the road of salvation before us, we see greater purpose in our own journeys as Catholic men.
The pieces of my past that intrigue me most tend to be the things that came from simpler times. I still own vinyl records and cassettes from the decades before digital recordings. I have a collection of toys and games that ran on more modest technology and called me to use my imagination to a greater degree. I cherish old school projects from my children, for they remind me of the wonder of discovery that we all experienced in growing up in a less complicated age, though each generation certainly had its own set of challenges. It’s a bitter-sweet journey of remembering the hopes and dreams – some of which shaped the man I am today, some of which never came to pass, all of which taught me the value of family and faith.
Non-Catholics can often look at our devotion to relics and see in it a superstitious or magical approach to belief. But that is because they miss the point of these sacred treasures. Certainly there have been stories of healing associated with relics. Our altars contain relics as well. They are holy, set apart as something not to be worshipped, but to be appreciated in the glory they bring to God through the lives of the saints. Our faith has grown from the apostolic age to the elaborate and multi-faceted Church of today. But we are reminded that truth is pure, simple, and unchangeable, though our faith has been shaped as we have met the challenges of living in a world that follows the god of this age. The writings of the saints, their deeds, and their strength serve to shape us and remind us of the value of who we are as the Body of Christ.
At the end of the day, I must put my family relics away and go on with life, always remembering that my past has shaped my present, and will drive me into the future. Who I am as a Catholic man has been forged by the past and fueled by my determination to live out the legacy I have inherited from those who have come before. It is a privilege and a responsibility I confess I have sometimes taken for granted. But I am glad I have these objects to remind me of what is truly important and meaningful in my life.
I hope that as you attend this year’s Connecticut Catholic Men’s Conference, that you will take time to reflect on this beautiful display of relics as you pray and fellowship, confess your sins and bow in adoration before the Eucharist, and take the messages of the day into the world as you are sent forth as Catholic men who have been called and commissioned to love the world as saints who will one day leave a legacy upon this world.
May God bless you as you join us for this year’s Conference.
