Asking the clergy about their inspiration
Where does religious inspiration come from? We asked our clergy to tell us which historical figures encouraged them and help maintain their faith.
Sister Lucy Clynes, treasurer and vocation director, Daughters of Wisdom, Islip:
Pope John XXIII (1881-1963, chosen pope in 1958), because he called the Vatican Council II in 1962, and also called for the renewal of the Catholic Church. He saw the need for the Catholic Church to be more engaged with the world.
He was very appreciative of the scholarship that was being done by Protestant theologians. He acknowledged that there are things we can learn from other theologians and religions. He felt that we as Catholics needed to appreciate all study and incorporate this learning into our spiritual lives.
It was during Vatican Council II that I entered religious life. It was because of his invitation to us all to be engaged with the world and not afraid of it. He asked us all to look at our founders -- in the case of the Daughters of Wisdom, it is blessed Marie-Louise Trichet and St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort -- and what they were about. That helped me to make a decision about becoming a sister.
Rabbi Ira Ebbin, Congregation Ohav Sholom of Merrick:
The founding father of our faith is Abraham, and no one before nor after has more defined the Jewish people and religion. Abraham, who actually is the grandfather to the three major religions in the world, introduced the world to monotheism, as well as the idea that morality cannot be relative but must come from one divine unwavering source.
But Abraham also introduced an even greater idea to the world and to our people.
While Cain asked the question, "Am I my brother's keeper?," Abraham replied with a resounding "Yes." While Noah survived spiritually by separating himself from his evil neighbors and retreating into his ark, Abraham opened up his tent to all with gentleness, kindness and hospitality in order to share the beauty of the faith that he discovered.
Moses may have been our teacher, but it is Abraham who is known as our father for the profound impact he made both on our religion and on all of humanity.
Father Jack Custer, pastor, Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Church, Smithtown; St. Andrew the Apostle Byzantine Catholic Church, Westbury:
Saints Cyril and Methodius, brothers from Thessalonica, enjoyed an excellent classical Greek education and privileged positions in the Byzantine Empire in the 9th century. They gave all that up to become monks and to bring the Gospel to the pagan Slavs in the wilds of Eastern Europe.
They managed to translate a rich and complex theology into the language of the Slavs and, in the process, gave them the alphabet they still use today. They built on the values they found in Slav culture -- a love of beauty and symmetry, a respect for the material world, a strong sense of community and, above all, music -- as the foundations for rooting Christian faith in the people's real lives. In that cultural give-and-take, the Church was enriched.
They struggled against the widening rifts between the Latin West and the Greek East and staunchly defended their distinctive Byzantine identity while remaining loyal to the universal Church. Our Byzantine Catholic Church today is the fruit of their labor. Cyril died in Rome and, when I was a student there in the 1980s, I often used to visit his tomb and other places associated with him and his brother. They're real heroes for me.
Pastor Robert Schoepflin, Abiding Presence Lutheran Church, Fort Salonga:
I'd pick German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Feb. 4, 1906-April 9, 1945), who took a stand against Hitler. An activist against Nazism, he eventually was imprisoned. One month before the end of World War II, he was implicated in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler and was executed.
He was a person of great learning, faith and spirituality, but didn't believe one's spirituality should be this abstract concept that is separate from one's everyday life. His spirituality led to discipleship in every area of his life.
His life teaches us that faith is not merely a matter of belief, but most importantly, a matter of one's whole life. Accepting the grace of God and the forgiveness given to us through Jesus Christ must change not only who I am, but how I live my life at all times, not just when it is convenient.
As people of faith, we must give our lives in service to others. I'm thankful that I don't live under the conditions that Dietrich Bonhoeffer had to live under. I think we all wonder if we could do that. I do think we should ask ourselves each day how we're living our lives and are we putting our faith out there.
