Today as I write this, our campus is reeling from the shock of losing a member of our Jesuit community. In the middle of last night, Fr. Don Driscoll, S.J. had a heart attack and died. He was a beloved priest, a warm and funny man and an outrageous practical joker. Fr. Driscoll taught theology to undergraduate students, served as chaplain in the School of Pharmacy and was in constant demand as a retreat director around the country. Just last weekend he served on a student retreat.
Yet it always struck me that this most incredibly talented man would deliver his Daily Reflections to our office shaking his head, humbly turning his handwritten pages in with great discouragement, usually muttering about how inadequate they were. His reflections were wonderful and warm and touched people around the world. Often, after they were on the web site, he would shake his head in amazement at the e-mails he had received from readers. He seemed almost puzzled about what they saw in his “inadequate” reflections.
What the readers saw in his reflections and heard in Fr. Driscoll’s audio retreat (which will remain on this web site) was a vulnerability, a fearful insecurity he shared with all of us. But despite his fears, his feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness, he gave himself to countless ministries with tireless efforts. He had to go beyond his comfort zone and offered himself wholly and faithfully in service of the Lord.
It seems like a perfect example of what Jesus shows us in today’s reading. He gathers his closest followers around him for the Passover meal. Then, almost in silence, Jesus gives his disciples a powerful example. He gets up from the table, takes off his outer garments, ties a towel around his waist and begins to wash the feet of his friends. Peter, who is so like us, pulls back and resists. He’s not worthy to have his awkward feet washed.
But Jesus gently tells Peter - and us - that we must have our feet washed. Allowing ourselves to be loved, even to the most unlovable part of us, is the way toward the intimate relationship and love Jesus wants to give us. It is the way to our salvation.
Jesus washes our feet and blesses them and sends us out into the word to be his presence to those we see each day. Of course we aren’t worthy of this task, but the paschal mystery calls us to great hope. If we allow Jesus to love, touch and heal us to the core of our being, we can do his work on earth. We still have our awkward feet, our fears and insecurities, but now our feet have been blessed, along with our fears and insecurities. The whole of who we are, feet, failings and all, is being sent by Jesus out into the world with our many flaws to serve others who also fail. As Mother Teresa said, our mission from God is not to be perfect but to be faithful.
We at Creighton are grateful for the life of Don Driscoll, S.J. and his faithful presence among us for 20 years. The Online Ministries would like to offer Fr. Driscoll’s 2006 Good Friday reflection as a remembrance.
Maureen McCann Waldron
The most important part of my life is my family – Jim my husband of 47 years and our two children. Our daughter Katy, a banker here in Omaha, and her husband John, have three wonderful children: Charlotte, Daniel and Elizabeth Grace. Our son Jack and his wife, Ellie, have added to our joy with their sons, Peter and Joseph.
I think family life is an incredible way to find God, even in (or maybe I should say, especially in) the most frustrating or mundane moments.
I am a native of the East Coast after graduating in 1971 from Archbishop John Carroll High School in suburban Philadelphia. I graduated from Creighton University in 1975 with a degree in Journalism and spent most of the next 20 years in corporate public relations in Omaha. I returned to Creighton in the 1990s and completed a master’s degree in Christian Spirituality in 1998.
As our children were growing up, my favorite times were always family dinners at home when the four of us would talk about our days. But now that our kids are gone from home, my husband and I have rediscovered how nice it is to have a quiet dinner together. I also have a special place in my heart for family vacations when the kids were little and four of us were away from home together. It’s a joy to be with my growing family.
Writing a Daily Reflection is always a graced moment, because only with God’s help could I ever write one. I know my own life is hectic, disjointed and imperfect and I know most of us have lives like that. I usually write from that point of view and I always seem to find some sentence, some word in the readings that speaks right to me, in all of my imperfection. I hope that whatever I write is in some way supportive of others.
It’s an incredibly humbling experience to hear from someone who was touched by something I wrote. Whether the note is from someone across campus or across the world, it makes me realize how connected we are all in our longing to grow closer to God.
