Saint Frances Cabrini Parish

Father Kleppner - November 23, 2008

In this month of November, as we think about the meaning of life, death, and thanksgiving, Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, O.S.B. shares a beautiful reflection about Father Louis S. Sedlacko, O.S.B., a monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey, who died Friday, October 10, 2008. The Archabbot’s words are as follows:
In one of our recent community discussions, one of the monks observed that sometimes we do not fully appreciate a member of the community until we hear the story of his life told at his wake service.
Each of us will recall particular aspects of Father Louis’ life and character.
Perhaps there is one aspect of Father Louis’ rich life and character that reveals something special that we can all recall. He was an avid gardener. It may be of interest to know that in Slovak Sedlack means Farmer, a man of the earth. Sedlacko means a small farmer, that is, a gardener. Father Louis loved to watch things grow. He was good at helping things grow. And he loved sharing not only what he grew, but what he was able to make of the things he grew. Tomatoes, of course, onions, radishes, cucumbers, kohlrabi, and so forth. Then his famous V-5 tomato juice, canned beets and other vegetables, plus various jellies made from the fruit and berries he picked on the Ridge. He loved the woods. He know where the wild mushrooms grew and where the deer like to graze.
I know Father Louis appreciated the beauties of nature, especially the beauty of flowers, but as a general rule his policy in gardening was simple: “If you can’t eat it, don’t plant it.” To be able to assure a good harvest, Father Louis was constantly engaged in a battle of wits with deer and various other critters such as groundhogs and rabbits, who wanted to share the delights of eating his vegetables. He had a special way of being upset when he discovered that some critter had found a way through his fence, and had made a meal of one of his vegetables. But invariably he would end telling the story, again, with a special little chuckle. The critter had outwitted him that time, and deserved a little meal. One story I recall involved a bunny that had found its way into the lettuce patch. Father Louis happened to have his shotgun when he spotted the bunny. But instead of shooting it he nudged it with the end of his shotgun, and told it to scram before he changed his mind. Father Louis loved to share what he had been given by the Lord: His talents as a teacher, headmaster, and pastor, the Job’s Tears rosaries that he made, his vegetables — the last, even with animals as long as they were not too greedy.
Sharing food and drink as we know has a powerful meaning. To share food and drink means to enable another to live and to enjoy life. It is so vital in meaning that Jesus made this sharing a criterion of final judgment: “I was hungry, and you gave me to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me to drink.” As we know, the most important sacrament of Catholic faith is the Eucharist in which the Risen Lord gives himself to us sacramentally as our food and drink. Jesus during his lifetime shared himself with others even to death on a cross so that all of us might share his divine life. One could not conceived of a better way to continue his self-giving presence throughout history than by giving himself to us as our bread and wine, thereby sharing his divine life and joy.
Father Louis shared his life with a generous spirit because he was given the gift of sharing in the self-giving life and love of the Lord. A life of generous sharing in the Spirit of Jesus may be the gift of Father Louis’ legacy to us. If we accept the gift of Jesus giving himself to us as our bread and wine, because we thereby share his life, we too must become bread and wine for the life and joy of others. I always had the feeling that Father Louis got a special kind of enjoyment when he brought a basket of those wonderful vine-ripened tomatoes from his garden to share with his confreres. Perhaps we too will discover that the deepest joys in life come in giving ourselves to others with generous love. Jesus seems to be telling us this deep truth about life when he was explaining the meaning of his dying at the Last Supper: “All this I tell you that my joy may be yours, and your joy may be complete” (John 15:11)

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