God, Country, Notre Dame: Father Hesburgh, Rest in Peace

Today was a rough day.  I found out from Louis Nix's Instagram account that Father Hesburgh died last night.  For chaperoning the 8th grade dance at my school last night, I was allowed to dress down.  I wasn't planning on wearing Notre Dame stuff today (insert joke here about how I don't have any other clothes), but I had to after learning that news.  Father Hesburgh was a great man.  He was Notre Dame's president for 35 years, he worked for nine presidents and four popes, he worked with Mother Teresa, and he marched with Martin Luther King, Jr.

At 97 years old, this wasn't a shock, but I was really sad about it.  I had work to get done today and I didn't do any of it.  I'm okay with that.  I got to school and started reading stories and watching videos about him.  I showed all of my classes two videos that totaled about 10 minutes about him (he's one of the most historically significant priests in American history and I teach social studies at a Catholic school, it's relevant).

I also thought about my memories of him.  I saw him speak at least twice.  I remember once hearing him speak in a big auditorium and once I got to see him in a smaller group (I think it was for one of my classes).  I probably shook his hand and said hello, but I never had a long conversation with him or anything.  Dennis thinks we took a picture with him at some point.  I don't remember that, but it would have been nine or ten years ago, so it's possible.  I wish I had that picture if it happened.  I can't say that I remember a lot of what I heard Father Hesburgh say, but there is one thing that I do remember.  Somebody asked him what his favorite prayer was.  He said it was just "Come Holy Spirit."  I also think I once got a haircut right after him.  I think it was the end of the spring semester which is close to his birthday (May 25) and he was saying something to the barber about how your 89th birthday means that you're starting the 90th year of your life.  He wasn't in good condition physically (he had lost most of his sight and he couldn't move around too well), but he remained mentally sharp.

The man is a legend at Notre Dame.  It felt like if he lived this long, he wasn't going anywhere.  And now he's gone.  He's without a doubt one of the greatest men that I've ever met.  As I thought about it more during the day today, I became sadder.  I'll admit it, I shed some tears.  But really, it shouldn't be a sad day.  He was called home after living a great life.  We should celebrate all that he accomplished in life.

Just now I had the thought that I feel kind of like how I felt ten years ago when St. John Paul the Great died.  John Paul II was the pope for the first 21 years of my life.  Everything I knew about Catholicism, I learned during his papacy.  I was really sad when he died, but it was his time.  Father Hesburgh made Notre Dame into the university that it is today.  He was advised by other academics to allow women in and get rid of the football team.  He made the right decision in both cases.  I guess what saddens me is that future students won't have the opportunity that I had to hear him tell all his stories in person.

I always have a quote of the week in my classroom.  I use my favorite one from Father Hesburgh the week of his birthday, but now I've moved it up to next week:  "My basic principle is that you don't make decisions because they are easy; you don't make them because they are cheap; you don't make them because they're popular; you make them because they're right."  Here's another good one:  "Notre Dame has football.  Texas has oil.  Neither should apologize."

Thank you Father Hesburgh for making Notre Dame, the country, and the world a better place.  Rest in peace.  Come Holy Spirit.