Come Holy Spirit.
That’s Fr. Hesburgh’s favorite saying. He told us tonight that whenever you are in a bind. When you don’t know whether to go right, left, or straight, just say come holy spirit and then you will get the advice to on which way is the right way to go and the grace to follow that path.
This evening we were lucky enough to have Fr. Hesburgh over for dinner at our dorm. Killarney Point on Tenderfoot Lake is the sight of what is fondly called the “priest summer camp.” It is also Fr. Hesburgh’s favorite summer place to live and he spends the majority of his summers on property.
Our professors were nice enough to set up a dinner for us and he came over, ate, and spoke with us. Laura made wonderful Cincinnati Chili and spaghetti and we had salad and the Katie and her mom made chocolate mousse and angel food cake to eat as well. It was delicious.
I was also lucky enough to be one of the people that went to pick Fr. Hesburgh up at the point. While driving over there with Kate Kirbie and Kate Augustine, I just kept thinking “I am going to pick up Fr. Hesburgh. Is this really my life? Are you sure this isn’t supposed to be someone else’s?” Being up here more and more I am continually astounded by the opportunities and experiences I have been able to have.
We drove out to the point, which was just as beautiful as I remember it being when I went there for mass a couple weeks ago. Fr. Hesburgh has a house out on the point, secluded on a little island right next to shore. There is a little bridge over the water (which is just may 3 or 4 feet across) and his house sits there with a beautiful view of the lake. I can see why he loves being up here so much.
After we were all done at dinner we were able to ask him questions about his life, what he thinks about different things, etc. He told us about all the languages he has studied in his life. The list is very long, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, French, Latin, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese are all the ones I remember him mentioning. Oh and Greek too. He is not fluent in all of them but he said he could probably get by if need be in the countries. His memory was remarkable as he recalled when he had first gone to these countries and needed to learn these languages.
Oh, and he went to Gregorian University in Rome for part of college. That’s for you Catherine Underwood as isn't that where you would always study in their library??? Correct me if I am super off.
Another fun fact. The largest fish he ever caught was a 5 ft marlin in the Pacific. I don’t think there is anything Fr. Hesburgh hasn’t managed to do in his life AND he has been to Antarctica.
One of the most interesting things that he spoke of was his role on the Civil Rights Commission under President Eisenhower. He and five other men were put on this Commission to try to solve the problem of civil rights and equality issues. They traveled all over and collected endless amounts of testimony. Through this they realize what a large problem our country had and how divided we really were. They sent their report with recommendations to the president about what laws needed to be passed in order to try to fix this problem. He made a funny comment about Americans. We are so different and can be so divided but we follow the law. We like our laws and if we don’t like them then we just change them. What they figured is that if they passed laws mandating civil rights that down the line, in future generations, the rights and the opinion of the country would be equal.
Once they got to the point where they were to right the law, they couldn’t find anywhere to do it. The federal judge in Alabama wouldn’t give them anywhere to do it, and the state sure wasn’t going to. Because of this, they came up here to UNDERC and at Killarney Point they sat down, and three southerners and three northerners were able to pass 11 of their 12 resolutions unanimously and the twelfth, which was about desegregating schools, was passed 5 to 1. Father Hesburgh served as the chair of the commission at this time and while they were up here, between the fishing, they wrote out the civil rights act.
Fr. Hesburgh later worked for Nixon in continuing to fight the issue of Civil Rights and equality and was famously fired by the President for disagreeing with his policies. He had a very integral role in putting together the legislation that has changed our country and it was amazing to hear the whole story from him.
He also spoke of how he was able to be the fastest man in the world. After helping out a president (he didn’t mention which one) with something, the president said he owed Fr. Hesburgh a favor. So of course, he asked the president to fly in an SR-71. They go Mach 3.5. That’s about 2500 miles per hour. Also known as super fast. He told us about the first time he flew in an airplane in 1923 when he was very young and how since that moment he was fascinated with flying.
Anyways, I am getting off topic. The President was able to call in a favor and after passing the physical and psychological tests for astronauts and having to memorize all the controls for the back of the plane where he was going to be, they allowed him to fly. For the physical test you have to hold your breath for 2 ½ minutes. He said he had never been able to do that his entire life, but he really wanted to fly, so in order to insure he would pass, he sat, for two and a half hours in his astronaut suit he would have to wear and breathed pure oxygen before the test. By the time the test came, holding your breath for that long was a piece of cake. He was able to fly in the plane, and in 45 minutes went from Sacramento, to Dallas, to Salt Lake City, to Seattle, and back to Sacramento. In 45 minutes. That’s very fast. He says when air force officers come to look at the ROTC students at ND they usually come to visit and he loves telling them that story, as he has flown higher and faster than the majority of the world, besides maybe 10 people. Oh and they were at 92,000 ft. Crazy.
He spoke also of his love of space. He was in the final 3 men when NASA was going to send a civilian man to space, however when they tried to send a civilian woman to space, she was dead 15 minutes later, so he never had the chance. He talked about how when he dies though, he will go to space. When he is in spirit he said, that he will just be able to think of a place and go there.
Then we of course asked what advice he would have for us, and what the most important life lesson he had learned was. He spoke about going through life with an open mind, because then you can always learn more and you are always open to learning more. HE also spoke about always try to help other. If you spend your life trying to help other people, you can’t really go in a bad direction he said. He said he tried to live his life doing that and that it worked out pretty well of him (I’ll say). Live life with an open mind, and live life trying to help other people is basically what the take away message was. As well, he said, when you are in a point in life where you don’t know where to go, just listen to God. Say “Come Holy Spirit” and then listen and follow the advice you are given. You will be given not only the advice in which direction to go, but also the strength to go down that path. Much akin to the saying “If He leads you to it, He will lead you through it.”
At the end of he talk, we were able to take a photo with him and say goodbye. Laura and Libby took him back to the point.
This past year I have been able to have many amazing experiences. I have also been able to meet some very inspirational people. Paul Farmer and Fr. Hesburgh both included. As well as many professors up here who have incredible credentials. I am trying to drink in every moment of it continuously however, I am afraid I am not able to appreciate all these experiences as much as I should.
Every time I meet one of these people, I do realize one thing. They are people, exceptional sure, yet people. They are people with wonderful and unique qualities to do amazing things who were able to capitalize on the opportunities that they were given in life. It’s quite a conflicting thought in my mind. On one hand they are people, and when speaking to them, they seem like a normal person, which inevitably they are. They are as well exceptional and far from normal at all. They were the people with far more guts than anyone else. The guts to make the hard decisions and can find the strength to do hard things. That makes them exceptional.
I only hope that I can try to take advantage of the opportunities I have been given much like they did and I feel like that is much of what I take away from meeting these people. Chances are I will never be well known or make a big impression on the world however, the least I can do is try to help people, work as hard as I can on what I am passionate about, and try not to let an opportunity go untouched or unappreciated.
Claire
