I really enjoyed First Grade – for exactly one day. Then, I decided: Enough of that! Though my stomach ailment was actually a ruse, my mother bought it for one day (Good!). On day two, she became suspicious (Uh, oh!). On day three, my father went into work late (Oh, no!). Backed into a corner and cowering behind a large chair, he stood over me and barked “YOU ARE GOING TO SCHOOL!” Clearly I had no choice. The battle was lost, but far from it the war. In defeat, I cried out, “I surrender, I surrender!” And I really did surrender – and have ever since. The First Grade dungeon door swung open and there stood Sr. Rita Bernard in the full, black, SSJ regalia of the time. She seemed to me a cross between the Wicked Witch and Dracula. With her steely, reptilian eyes in her “nunish” voice and with the most rigid face this side of a Szondi Test, she said, “Good Morning, Eugene!” (Oooo, I just got a chill.) Then, she glared at my father and said without ever moving her lips, “I’ll take him from here.” Her claws latched into my shoulder blade and tore me away from my father’s grip. Years later my father told me that he felt so sorry for me (Gee whiz, thanks Dad!). Into the lair I went and though a little boy was defeated that day, his spirit was not. I somehow knew already in First Grade that it was all about conformity. Learn the rules. Learn reading. Learn writing. Learn arithmetic. Be a productive member of society. Grow-up, find a job, find a suitable partner, reproduce, and finally, after wrapping it up on the back nine, turn out the lights and call it a day. I wanted none of it! I wanted to be free - to play all day; explore ant hills; play with my Hot Wheels and Tonka Trucks, and tear up and down the block on my Big Wheel! I wanted that freedom then, and I still do! Though not a basketball player, I became good at hoops - and jumping through them. And I was good – a good boy; a good student, and a “good egg” one might say. It was all a rebel ruse, because within lay an insurrectionist awaiting his moment. Little did I know at the time, that my First Grade teacher, Sr. Dracula, was schooling me not in the conformity of simply learning the rules, but in the rebellion that foments when one begins to question why we have rules to begin with! What I didn’t know at the time was that Sister was a rebel, herself – and I was her star pupil! She was schooling me in the Art of Rebellion, which begins with knowing the rules and the reasons for the rules and then, turning them all upside down! I mean what else would lead a young woman to give up family and friends and having her own children in order to wear a full black regalia on a warm day in September in a stuffy basement classroom full of 42 or so, six year old urchins? Sr. Rita was a rebel. She was nurturing the rebel in me and I didn’t even know it at the time. How cool is that? In my school of non-conformity, I learned about Jesus. I learned about His turning everything on its head. I learned about His being accused of insurrection and rebellion. I learned about His rejecting the world and its rules for a Rule far greater. I learned that Jesus was a rebel – and I couldn’t resist His rebel yell. If you listen closely and perceptively, maybe you’ll hear it too. Many years later, as I prepared for my own revolutionary moment of entering the seminary, I received a most beautiful letter in the mail. It was from Sr. Rita Bernard – the Rebel. She was so pleased and happy! She assured me of her prayers as the fight for the Rebel Cause would continue. Yes, I am a rebel at heart – as was Sr. Rita, because Jesus, Himself, is. What about you? Join the Good Fight! Rebel!
In Memoriam – Sister Mary Catherine Walton, SSJ. (aka Sister Rita Bernard)
May 11, 1937-March 10, 2025
Peace!
Fr. Wilson