Dear Brothers and Sisters:  

I share with you just a few sections of the homily I gave on the Feast Day of St. John Neumann and on the occasion of the Final Vows of Brian Vaccaro and Royce Thomas on January 5th in Philadelphia, PA.

The Olympic Games, Mexico, 1968. The marathon is the final event on the program. The Olympic stadium is packed and there is excitement as the first athlete, an Ethiopian runner, enters the stadium. The crowd erupts as he crosses the finish line.

Way back in the field is another runner, John Stephen Akwhari of Tanzania. He has been eclipsed by the other runners. After 30 kilometers his head is throbbing, his muscles are aching, and he falls to the ground. He has serious leg injuries and officials want him to retire, but he refuses. With his knee bandaged Akwhari picks himself up and hobbles the remaining 12 kilometers to the finish line. An hour after the winner has finished, Akwhari enters the stadium. All but a few thousand of the crowd have gone home. Akwhari moves around the track at a painstakingly slow pace, until finally he collapses over the finish line.

It is one of the most heroic efforts of Olympic history. Afterward, asked by a reporter why he had not dropped out, Akwhari says, “My country did not send me to start the race. They sent me to finish.”

We gather today to celebrate the final vows of Brian and Royce. Indeed, it truly is a day of great joy as these men profess the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and the vow and oath of perseverance. The days of their initial formation are now over … for those of us who have gone through Redemptorist formation, indeed that is cause for rejoicing.  But today is not a day to celebrate the ending of their formation, but for Brian and Royce it is a day to rejoice as they commit their lives to Jesus Christ the Redeemer and look forward. God has called them to a vocation within the Redemptorist family not just to start something, but also to endure and finish the race … to persevere in the Congregation.

Your life as a religious is not about how you start, it is about how you live, how you persevere and how you finish. There will be days of great joy, like today, when you are certain of the love of your God and experience the fellowship of confreres, family, and friends. There will be days when perhaps you have a bandaged knee, an aching head, and there is no crowd to welcome you. The living of the vows takes place on good days and bad alike. “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith”  (2 Timothy 4:7). Today as you profess the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and the vow and oath of perseverance I encourage you to embrace those vows completely, not only today, but every day for the rest of your lives.

One last story … A hog and a hen sharing the same barnyard heard about a church’s program to feed the hungry. The hog and the hen discussed how they could help. The hen said, “I’ve got it! We’ll provide bacon and eggs for the church to feed the hungry.” The hog thought about the suggestion and said, “There’s one problem with your bacon and eggs solution. For you, it only requires a contribution, but from me, it will mean total commitment!” That’s the cost of true discipleship.

Brian and Royce … congratulations and prayers as you take your final vows as Redemptorists today. I pray you are ready to give everything and even to lay down your lives on the line. It is now time for you to make not just a token contribution but to go all in and give your lives completely over to Jesus Christ the Redeemer … to be totally committed!

In the Spirit of the Redeemer, 

Paul J. Borowski, C.Ss.R.