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In the World, Not of the World On a July weekend in 1995 at a Miles Jesu Faith Family Conference in Denver, Colorado i received a special grace from God to join Miles Jesu—first as a vinculum member, then a few months later, a domus member, entering the Chicago Men’s House of Christian Formation. Forty-five years old and single, i had been Catholic for just three years. But after several years of self-centered and dissipated living, i found within myself a strong desire to dedicate myself to God. During that weekend, i received a warm reception into the Miles Jesu family by our Founder, Very Reverend Father Alphonsus Maria Duran. Like so many others who have been blessed by a personal encounter with him, i was embraced and encouraged by him to persevere in Miles Jesu. He reminded me that “God does not want your ability—but your availability.” His words had the direct effect of helping me to see that i should not rely on my own gifts and talents or ideas but to put all my trust in Jesus and His Most Blessed Mother, who know the best way for each of us to go. Many young men and women, attracted to a deeper spiritual life and a desire for holiness, assume, respectively, that they should study for the priesthood or join a religious convent. in my case—a “late vocation”—i was established in a careeras a captain for a major airline, with independence and financial security. But this also meant that i had no family to support or obligations preventing me from leaving all behind to follow our Lord. Instead, Father General asked if i would continue to work as a lay professional—that my vocation was to sanctify and evangelize the workplace, “instilling Catholic ideals and goals in the world to further the Kingdom of Christ.” He understands well the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and, indeed, founded Miles Jesu upon the call of the laity to holiness. Through our own apostolate of work, we are united to Christ by “the offering they make of themselves and their daily activities” (CL, 14). “For their work, prayers, and apostolic endeavors, their ordinary married and family life, their daily labor, their mental and physical relaxation, if carried on in the spirit, and even the hardships of life, if patiently borne – all of these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (LG, 34). An even greater blessing is the means, through my consecration and vows in Miles Jesu, to make an even more perfect offering of my life and work—by the profession of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The formation in Miles Jesu prepares me to accomplish my duties at work, which itself is a kind of “school for the practice of the virtues.” As a captain of large transport jet aircraft, carrying many lives to distant places and working closely each week with a different crew and ground staff, i have many opportunities to evangelize the workplace. In imitation of Our Lord, it is important for me to strive daily to bring to my work the spirit of service to others and conduct myself as an “ambassador of Christ” (2 Cor 5:20). So i make every effort to treat each person with whom i meet or work with the dignity that belongs to them as a child of God. Sometimes this means going against an inclination to “boss” or perhaps react to their indifference towards me. A leader consults and listens to others, giving his staff the credit or the chance to show their professionalism. Since the airline business is a service industry, passengers have a high priority. On my flights, i like to give special attention and care to the elderly and to the families traveling with small children. It is easy to admire, amid the great difficulties many of them must experience in travel, the patient and humble example they often give. It is a joy to show a young, wide-eyed boy or girl the mysteries of a modern jet flight deck—and the parents seem to like it too! I make up my mind always to convey the spirit of optimism. This almost always has a positive effect on others and it helps me to overcome my own negative thinking. It usually brings out the best in others. Also, by performing my own job well, with competence and skill in every detail possible, i may gain the trust of my fellow workers, that they might be open to the Gospel. Many hours in the cockpit are spent at cruise altitude with my copilot and it is not usually as busy as the approach and landing. There i look, without imposing, for the subtle ways to bring them to the truth of Jesus Christ and His Church. Often, this means first listening to the person, asking questions which show genuine interest and respect—in order to gain understanding. You have to reach the person where they are. St. Thomas Aquinas believed that “the greatest service a man can render to another is to lead a man from error to truth.” Finally, i would mention the importance of the apostolate of the media, an important element of inculturation, according to the Church. For the last eight years, i have published a small newsletter, The Sower of Catholic Airline Professionals. I began this as a means of keeping in touch and forming solidarity with the people i have flown with and to connect with others i might never fly with. I have found that many Catholics and non-Catholics i meet do not often realize that our Catholic Faith embraces the whole person and can elevate, through the grace of Jesus Christ, every temporal circumstance. Many do not know what the Church teaches or they often misunderstand her—always to their detriment. The newsletter has been a great tool for evangelizing. “The unity of life of the lay faithful is of the greatest importance; indeed they must be sanctified in everyday and professional and social life. Therefore, to respond to their vocation, the lay faithful must see their daily activities as an occasion to join themselves to God, fulfill his will, serve other people, and lead them to communion with God in Christ” (Christifideles Laici, 17). We cannot forget that, as members of Miles Jesu, our daily prayer and sacramental life are prior to our active life, but intimately connected with it. Our professional and family life, lived in the presence of God, should be the overflow and fruit of our interior life—centered in our love for Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar and with a true devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary—Our Lady of the Epiphany. |