One Man Can Make A Difference

News of the death of Fr. Theodore M. Hesburgh, former and well-known president of the University of Notre Dame, who entered eternal life late last night, will make headlines for days, weeks, ahead.  His 35 year tenure made him synonymous with Notre Dame, but his involvements outside the university with Civil Rights in the sixties and world affairs made him a national and global figure of great renown.  He left office as president graciously but remained an icon of inspiration and continued to reach as many as who approached him. He personally answered the letters he received (mine included) and saw all who wished to visit with him.  When his eyesight was failing, he would ask others to read the Gospel for him at Mass, humbling accepting his limitations.  I had the privilege of doing so at a Mass in his office after a Saturday football game.  My debt to him is not the great university he expanded and which gave me a Master's degree in English, but a line from his autobiography, God, Country, Notre Dame.
I was reading it while coming to the end of my second year in Rwanda, feeling a bit despondent as I reviewed those two years and felt I had accomplished nothing. The chapter, One Man Can Make A Difference, turned up one evening when I was feeling most useless.  He reviewed his life to that point and indicated how much one person can make a difference if he continues to chip away, even though it seems like no progress was being gained.   That chapter reversed my whole "poor me" thinking and I found a new vitality that has given me energy and purpose since.  The last two years in Rwanda were very "productive" and so has every year been since then.  Thank you, Fr. Ted, for this insight and for all you have done to inspire so many for so long all over the world.  You were Notre Dame's beloved president, but truly you belonged to the world.  May you now rest in peace at last!
Bro. Rene