Living Monstrance

One of the very first times I went into St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine in Boston, it was a Sunday night Mass at 8pm. This Mass is filled with young people, and the priest is inspiring, with a great love for the Lord and for Scripture.

Well, this time, as I sit in the pew, an older man approaching 70ish comes down the middle aisle a little before Mass starts. He’s carrying a cane over one arm and something like a shopping bag over the other arm. He looks around excitedly, and plops down with a lot of noise in the very front pew, in the very first seat. He turns and sees a young person he knows. With a loud groan he gets up and makes his way over to him to give him a hug. It didn’t take too long to realize that he was deaf and mute.

Well, not only did he stay for the whole Mass amid all the young people, but he stayed for the whole hour of Eucharistic Adoration afterwards. He wrote down things on his pad of paper to some people he knew, to have a conversation, give a hug and a mumbled “thank you”.

It was that night that I first saw George Albert Kowalker Jr. We eventually became friends, and would “talk” often after Mass, sometimes getting the last boot from the priest or seminarian. I would walk him to the Shaw’s supermarket where he would do some shopping and then take a cab home. And his Christmas and Easter cards were always signed, George Albert Kowalker, Jr.

But it was also that first night that I really got it. What do I mean?

At my work at the time, the vice president I was working for was a true businessman. In his late forties, he was a smooth salesman, and a manager who always had people come to him. He had a high six-figure salary. He was very good at managing and delegating – and leaving early at four o’clock when everyone else was working – to be sure he had his free time. He had a wife and family and a nice house. And he also was making new plans to start his own company. In the ways of the world, he had everything: money, visibility, power.

But when I saw George, I suddenly realized:

My boss has nothing.

George has everything.

George couldn’t manage people. He didn’t make a big salary. He didn’t start a company. He didn’t understand all the complicated things of business. His family has either left him or died.

But he was at the front row of the Mass. He was at the front row of Eucharistic Adoration.

He was doing the one thing necessary in life.

And [Martha] had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Lk 10:39-42)

George chose the good portion, and it will never be taken away from him.

George Albert Kowalker, Jr.
May 3, 1933 – January 17, 2009

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