John’s Gospel records Jesus telling the disciples at the Last Supper: “a little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.” Clearly, Jesus was pointing out that the disciples would not see him after he died on Good Friday, but that they (and we) would see him again after the Resurrection. When I left here in 2005, it was a long shot that I would return since I was assuming a normally 4 – 8 year position. Fr. Patrick and I had planned that I would be part of the transition to Fr. Nathan’s leadership, but circumstances suggested that would not happen. Yet, here I am, back after two and a half years just as Fr. Nathan is transitioning into being director!
I had the privilege of serving the Catholic Community from the fall of 2002 until the summer of 2005. It was a watershed time in my life. It was, for example, the first time in my life as a priest that I (an only child with no first cousins) did not have to be concerned about and deeply involved in either of my parents’ declining health in addition to my pastoral duties. (My mother died in December 2001 and my father in June 1999. My father suffered with ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, for almost thirteen years; my mother battled with cancer valiantly for two years.) I know it sounds strange, but it was a new thing for me when I came here for me to be just a priest! It took a bit of adjusting, but I flourished both personally and professionally in those years thanks to Fr. Patrick and the whole CCAS community.
I left in left Stanford to become the pastor/director of St. Thomas More University Parish (the Newman Center) at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Many Dominicans see the U of O as one of the “plum” Newman Centers that we Dominicans staff; I certainly agree with that assessment. Although I was sad to leave, I was comforted knowing that it was the logical next step for me, both personally and as a priest: an affirmation of my competence as a priest, an acknowledgement of my experience as a campus minister and the expressed confidence of my Dominican brothers that I have what it takes to be a good pastor. (It may not surprise you to learn that I was the youngest pastor in our Western Dominican Province and the Archdiocese of Portland.) Although the learning curve was steep that year, it seemed I had settled nicely into my new life as a shepherd of Ducks.
Many, including I myself, were stunned when at the end of my first academic year in Eugene, I was elected the community superior (called the Prior in Dominican parlance) of our large community up the road in Portland. All things being equal, I would have refused election, but all things were most definitely not equal. After an intense discernment process, I came to the conclusion that although leaving Eugene (and temporarily, campus ministry) was certainly not what I wanted, I felt it was what I needed to do for the greater good of my Dominican brothers. I was in tears when I told the students and I choked up when I told the larger community a few days later. It was harder for me to leave the U of O after only one year than it was for me to leave here after three because my personal hopes and desires were in line with the needs of the Western Dominican Province when I left Stanford; when I left Eugene, they were not. Although it was painful, I do not regret that decision because I acted on sound principles.
If I were still at the U of O, I would now be finishing my third year as pastor and would be deeply integrated into that wonderful community’s dreams and plans. Not a time to leave! But as it happened, when Fr. Nathan and I had what turned out to be a seminal conversation last Thanksgiving, I was not in campus ministry and the circumstances that made my being Prior in Portland the best service to my Dominican brothers no longer existed. My “best of all possible worlds” scenario included being back in campus ministry. My even-better-but-highly-improbably scenario was to be back here. When Fr. Nathan presented the idea to the Provincial in early December, the Provincial thought it was such a good idea, he asked me to take the highly irregular step of resigning as Prior in the middle of my term so that I could come back to Stanford immediately. My response to the suggestion was the same as it was back in the spring of 2002 when the then-Provincial offered me the position here: “Let me think about that for a minute. Yes.”
I feel blessed and privileged beyond belief to be here with you and again part of this community. You have been exceptionally warm and gracious in welcoming me back into the fold, making it feel almost like I never left. I am profoundly grateful. (Even Bishop McGrath, when he saw me for the first time, said “Carl, welcome home!”) I am enjoying meeting the students that have arrived since my departure and getting reacquainted with the permanent community and graduate students. I am looking forward to collaborating with Fr. Nathan and the staff in leading this community in its next step.
God’s blessings to me personally and to this community remind me of what St. Paul said to the Ephesians: “Now to God who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Eph. 3:20-21)
Fr. Carl Schlichte, O.P.
|
|
![[Home]](http://catholic.stanford.edu/images/logo/small.gif){kind=logo}
![[catholic@stanford.edu]](http://catholic.stanford.edu/images/footer/catholic.gif)