Last week, I wrote that I would write about Fr. Tom McDermott, CSC and appreciate the unique and remarkable person that he was. I have struggled in the attempt – it feels small and incomplete – but I offer the reflection here since the church so desperately needs leaders with Tom’s strengths. Here are five:
1) Tom’s pastoral default was to go to the margins and learn from the poor. He did this everywhere he went, including when he moved to Dhaka in his late fifties to begin his final apostolate. Last year, at the age of 73, on a fundraising trip in New York City, he wrote me that he organized a little “urban plunge” for himself to understand how folks who moved from Bangladesh settled in the New York. He always knew he would find God at the margins.
2) Tom told me on a few occasions that, if he were to write a book, it would be called Spirituality for Extroverts. When I made a silent retreat with him in Dhaka, he made sure that I did not get too much quiet – inviting me to visit the Missionaries of Charity house, to visit with this or that community member or interesting guest. He taught me that if one’s spirituality does not have some aspect of this extroversion, there is something missing.
3) Tom had the virtue of “solertia” in spades – a subset of the cardinal virtue of prudence. It refers to keen perception and quick practical judgment that allow one to navigate unexpected and/or changing circumstances. Tom’s ability to size up a situation and quickly act was truly excellent and he often put it in the service of students trying to learn and serve in East Africa or South Asia.
Humorous example of when he used it in the service of his brothers in Holy Cross: Some years ago, himself in his seventies, Tom volunteered to fly from Dhaka to Chicago with two Holy Cross brothers (themselves an average of 15 years older than Tom) to go home for medical care. Tom navigated Dhaka’s airport with the two aging priests. Mobility was a true challenge, and stairs were not possible for these men. Then, nearly on the plane, the three found themselves on the tarmac staring up at one of those giant and only kinda stable portable staircases leading up to their plane. No elevator. This was not going to happen for the brothers in his care, so Tom talked his way onto the container that carried the in-flight meals to the plane’s galley. He brought his brothers home via stacks of chicken dinners.
4) Tom often wished aloud that, if reincarnation were a thing, he would be blessed to come back as a cultural anthropologist. He delighted in people and could learn from anyone.
5) Tom understood the mystery of the Cross. Last year, I recorded this interview with Tom about the Holy Cross motto – The Cross, Our Only Hope. Do treat yourself to it. It feels right to give him the final word.
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