REFLECTION:

Since I started here at Sacred Heart Church and Maryknoll School, there is one question I have probably annoyed a lot of people with: “Why Maryknoll?” Why did you choose Maryknoll? Why do you teach here? Why did your family send your children here? Why have some of you stayed here for 10, 20, even 30 years?

And some of you are probably thinking, “Father, I don't know. I just work here. Please stop asking me questions.”

But this question came up again recently when I met with the owners of a company that will be helping us market the school. We were talking about how we tell the story of Maryknoll. We can advertise our academics, athletics, programs, facilities, college acceptances, and everything else. But eventually, we have to answer the question: Why Maryknoll?

And today's readings made me realize that this isn't just a marketing question. It's actually a spiritual question. Saint Paul says that the Lord “will manifest the motives of our hearts.”

In other words, God doesn't just look at what we're doing. God looks at why we're doing it. And that's a dangerous question!

Why do you teach? Some days the answer might be, “Because I love forming young people.” Other days, especially after a difficult class, it might be, “Because I need a paycheck and I already signed the contract.” Why do you serve in ministry? Why do you coach? Why do you work here? Why do you come to Mass? And I have to ask myself too: Why did I want to become a priest? Because I can assure you, it wasn't because I dreamed of answering emails and sitting through meetings!

But that's the danger of life. We can become so busy doing the what that we slowly forget the why.

That's what I see happening in today's Gospel. People come to Jesus asking why his disciples aren't fasting like everybody else. They're comparing. We're fasting. They're eating. We're doing this. They're not. And Jesus basically brings them back to the reason behind it all. Fasting was never supposed to be about proving who was more religious. It was supposed to bring people closer to God.

Sometimes we can do all the right things and still forget why we're doing them. A teacher can keep teaching and forget why they became a teacher. A priest can celebrate Mass, preach, attend meetings, answer emails, and forget why he became a priest. A parish can become so focused on maintaining buildings, schedules, ministries, and programs that it forgets why the Church exists. And a school can become so focused on enrollment, budgets, athletics, test scores, accreditation, and everything else that we forget why Maryknoll exists.

So maybe “Why Maryknoll?” isn't just a question for a marketing company. It's a question for all of us.

Because our answer can't simply be, “Well, we've been here for almost 100 years.” The deeper question is: Why should we be here for the next 100? And I think part of that answer takes us back to the Maryknoll Sisters and the mission handed down to us: to make God's love visible.

Maybe today we need to ask ourselves: Why do I teach? Why do I serve? Why do I lead? Why do I do what I do? And most importantly: Is the reason I started still the reason I continue?



Because sometimes before asking, “What are we going to do next?” we need to remember why we started in the first place. And when we rediscover the why, perhaps the what becomes a little clearer.