One of the things I have remarked to my own mother, father, and other Catholics, who are part of what I will refer to as the “Bill O’Reilly generation of Catholics,” is how different my experiences were growing up Catholic as compared to theirs.
Growing up in Richmond, Virginia in the 1970’s, I had what I will call a somewhat “watered down” Catholic experience as compared to the generation before – and well – frankly, it has left me feeling somewhat “gypped…” Let me explain.
This is certainly NOT a testament to the Catholic schools in Richmond, for which I am most thankful to have received an excellent education NOR is it some kind of condemnation of my own parents as good Catholic parents! It is simply this: having been born in 1969, I was coming along after the moral and societal tsunami of the 1960’s.
What does that mean? For me, after having read my own family history book, Bill O’Reilly’s book, and Tim Russert’s book – I became aware rather quickly of the fact that many of the really beautiful small things talked about by that generation of Catholics – the really sacred little things were cast aside, or perhaps fell through the cracks as people were being told to “get with the times.”
What kinds of little things? And who cares? Well, a lot of things, and frankly I care. Because I think the “little things” were really reflections of the “big things” – the “BIG IDEAS” that made Catholics, Catholics.
For Instance – here’s something very small (BUT BIG) … my grandfather, Peter Belton, would write “JMJ” atop every piece of paper he touched before writing anything. My dad remarked that EVERY piece of paper laying around the house growing up – even down to a scrap paper torn out of a book with a phone number scribbled on it in my grandfather’s handwriting – would have JMJ above it! Similarly, my dad said, that when he was going to Catholic school, the nuns and Benedictine monks would have them write “Ad maiorem dei gloriam” atop every school assignment they handed to them. In other words, BEFORE YOU EVEN WRITE YOUR OWN NAME, you write “for the greater glory of God.” So why is this small thing such a big deal? Well, in a word, HUMILITY.
I think the subtext of such an exercise (writing JMJ or AMDG) BEFORE your own name – or before anything else — is to admit, and to plainly glorify the fact that THERE IS SOMETHING BIGGER THAN YOU. This practice says by the user, “I am remembering that I am here for the blink of an eye, and that the Glory of God and Christ have been before me, and will come after me. Whatever I am to write (either in this classroom), or as part of my busy day – I am pausing before I begin to honor God, to remind myself that HE IS BIGGER THAN I AM.”
This, to me, explains a lot about why the generation before me and their parents were so traditional and different from my generation and those coming after mine. They had those devoted monks, nuns, and other mentors and parents who INGRAINED in them the importance of humility, using these very types of methods. Through something as simple as the consistent practice of putting what is most important “AT THE TOP” of your heart and your mind, at all times before beginning even the smallest task.
I was deeply moved by this sentiment, and have been so happy to have had the chance to compile and read stories of my family in this book my father and I completed. It has enlightened me about so aspects of how the “faith of my fathers” shaped their lives and made them who they were day to day.
I think the WORST lie of the 60’s (which prevails today politically in my opinion), is this overriding message of: “this is not my father’s oldsmobile.” The message that basically ANYTHING OLD; traditional religion, social issues, history, and traditional personal conduct is “so very yesterday.” This generation of liberals has successfully passed off the idea that – “if it’s old – it’s outdated – ‘throw it out’ – it’s NO LONGER OF USE.” But what if much of what is OLD is Truth? What if much of what is OLD contains WISDOM? “ ‘CHANGE’ is not always just intrinsically good. Is it?”
This example of the old practice of writing JMJ or AMDG symbolically illustrates a worldview, a mindset, a practice and devotion, that keeps SELF in check. It is a symbolic recognition that, WISDOM has come before me. I am standing on the shoulders of something bigger than myself. I honor and recognize that.
In my opinion, the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater. If these sweet and simple, “old fashioned” methods and practices of remembering those truths have been poo-pooed as outdated and discarded, might we be surprised to find that sometimes the truths that came along with those practices have gotten stripped from their rightful place as well? FROM THE TOP?
Erin Belton Lilly is a parishioner at St. Bede’s Catholic Church in Williamsburg, Virginia where she resides with her husband, Michael, and two children, Jordan and Jacob. She attended St. Bridget’s school and parish growing up in Richmond, and was married in downtown historic St. Peter’s Church. Her father, grandfather and uncles attended Benedictine High School, and her grandmother, mother, and aunts attended St. Gertrude’s High School. Erin was married by Father Adrian Harmening, who evidently also quite regularly disciplined her mischievious father and uncles at Benedictine High School many years earlier.
