From Heritage to Responsibility

Harry Scherer
Class of 2022

(3/2019) Flannery O’Connor once said, "I write to discover what I know." When beginning to consider my heritage and how it has affected me, I began to immediately relate to this sentiment. Heritage is not a subject upon which I frequently ponder, but it is a worthy topic, especially in the month during which it seems to be discussed the most. While a cradle Catholic, I am not Irish, an apparent blasphemy in the month of March.

Merriam-Webster defines "heritage" as "property that descends to an heir." While respecting the true meaning of the word, I intend to expand the definition of this seemingly nebulous word for the sake of this reflection.

When I consider that which has been passed down to me, the heir, from those who have come before me, I am overwhelmed by the mass of spiritual and material gifts that I have received. With all authenticity, I am who I am because of those who have lived before me. Primarily, my existence relies entirely of the most important Being who has lived before all of us. The Being of Christ, Humility Himself, emerged into this world not in wrath against the generations of sin that preceded Him, but in the ultimate vulnerability of a woman’s womb. He worked for thirty years and died hanging on the wood of a Cross to liberate His people from servitude into freedom. Finally, to remind us that His Love cannot be conquered by even death itself, He rose after three days.

I cannot imagine meditating on my heritage, on that which descends to me, without considering the infinite merits which were won for me and all who will come after me on the Cross. Now, I am able to consider the heritage which is rooted in the foot of the Cross.

About thirteen centuries after this Cross was uprooted, a man was given the articulation to describe the Being of God, an admittedly impossible feat, with the brilliance of some of the greatest scholars the world has ever seen and the with a complementary humility that made all of his works so much richer. At the end of his life, St. Thomas Aquinas said "The end of my labors has come. All that I have written appears to be as so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me." Thirteen years of my primary and secondary education took place at an institution named after this brilliant mind. There was certain formative significance in the fact that all the work of myself and my peers was done under the intercession of this Dumb Ox.

Seven centuries after this great saint died, another one was born in the hills of Albania. She was to live her life in service of the poorest of the poor, a vocation which came straight from the mouth of God. St. Theresa of Calcutta lived her mission in a different way which Thomas Aquinas did, but both vocations were rooted in the Heart of Christ. With a deep love for those whom the society discounted as insignificant and worthless, she brought into this world the gaze of Our Lord’s merciful Love.

Finally, after all of the love which the saints before us have displayed, the heritage which I hope to carry on is a dedication to that which is true, good and beautiful. This dedication has been displayed to me by my friends, teachers, family and, most importantly, my parents. All of these groups and persons, in some way or another, have been able to display to me a mere glimpse of the true purpose in life. I am incredibly grateful for this glimpse, for it a greater sight than many who have come before me have ever seen. These persons, either directly or indirectly, have taken a snapshot of Heaven and displayed it through their eyes, as they see as Christ does; through their mouth, as they speak as Christ would; and through their feet, as they walk as Christ would.

A recognition of these truly beautiful people leads me to reflect on the purpose that I have as a result of knowing them and receiving the "property" which has "descended" to me. It would be irresponsible, and arguably wrong, of me to recognize the gifts which have been given to me and not make a firm resolution to devote every one of them to the spiritual utility of those I encounter.

Would it not be selfish to take the gifts which we receive and use them only for ourselves? If we do believe that it is in "giving that we receive," as St. Francis of Assisi put so beautifully in his prayer, then it is not just an ability, but a responsibility to take all of the gifts we have received and throw them back into the world for the benefit of others. This is not a defense of the utilitarian thought that humans are only good for the social benefit they create with their capital. In fact, my claim is a repudiation of that thought because the assumption comes from the recognition of every human person’s inviolable dignity and human’s responsibility to give as a choice, not a coerced act. This is the heritage we are called to introduce to the next generation across all walks of life.

This is my heritage. It would be disingenuous to even consider any material possessions or national bloodline as a significant part of my heritage without first recognizing the immeasurable positive consequences of knowing the people whom Our Lord has introduced to me over the past eighteen years. It is because of these people that I can even write these words. It is because of them that I can have hope for the future, introduced by faith and buttressed by reason. It is because of them that I can conceive of my purpose, and it is through them that I can even start to act it out.

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