So That Others Might Live...
By William Carroll

Many years ago a special collection was taken for the many religious men and women who had spent their lives educating the children of the latter half of this century and who were now struggling to make ends meet because they had no retirement income. This request for funds was remarkable in several ways. For a brief moment each member of the congregation reflected on his/her life remembering, in my case, many Sisters and Fathers. These were the teachers of my youth who contributed so much to what I am today. What were they doing now? Were they in the desperate straits being proclaimed from the pulpit? How can I help?

Reaching into my wallet and emptying its contents into the collection basket immediately followed my quiet reflection. I had never been this generous-no matter what the solicitation. But these were the people who helped me and now it was my turn to help them. Later news reports revealed that generosity prevailed in the churches that day for this was the single largest collection in the history of the American Catholic Church.

Benedictine University has been blessed with the presence of the St. Procopius monastic community. These men dedicate their lives so that their students at St. Procopius College, Illinois Benedictine College, and now Benedictine University, might be all they can be. Men like Neuzil, Kholbeck, Procopius, Tomecko, Kolar, Shonka, the Jurica brothers, McGrath, Kucera, et al. worked in the vineyard that was their college. Because of their dedication and self-sacrifice thousands of men and women have partaken in the fruits of a Catholic-Benedictine education.

Unfortunately, the number of monks available to the University has declined in the past few decades. As our monastic faculty aged and eventually retired, there was not the influx of new monks to take their place. Hence the University relied on an emerging laity to replace its aging monastic members.

I have discussed in earlier Voices how the emerging laity is gradually taking over positions formerly held by religious. This is true in parishes as well as in higher education. While this phenomenon is clearly a sign of the Holy Spirit continuing to work in the Church, there are repercussions just now beginning to manifest themselves. Lay people are now called to a higher level of role modeling and mentoring than previously required. Where once our monks were the predominate Catholic-Benedictine presence on campus, lay people are now called to be that presence.

The transition has been gradual. While we trust that the transition will never be complete-that we shall always have monks working at the University-the transition has been costly. Where once we had monks who contributed their services to the University, we have now had to replace them with dedicated and professional lay people whose services can not be contributed. The result: the cost of providing a Catholic-Benedictine education to our students continues to increase.

Benedictine University is indeed fortunate to have its many lay faculty and staff who continue the Catholic-Benedictine mission of the institution. The excellent educational tradition begun by the monks of St. Procopius Abbey in 1887 continues today. Yet, there are storm clouds on the horizon. To continue to realize its mission of transmitting the Catholic-Benedictine educational tradition to its students, the University must continue to provide a state-of-the-art facility, staffed by the best faculty and staff available-we must do this while keeping tuition affordable for our students.

I began this essay by reflecting on the profound results the Church had in its request for Catholics everywhere to support religious men and women in their retirement. As we support our religious patrons and mentors, let us not forget the ministry they have left behind. No longer can we rely solely on the generosity of the monks of St. Procopius Abbey for our support. Rather, we must rely on the generosity of those whom the monks supported with their lives and ministry: the alumni and friends of Benedictine University. The monks committed their lives and resources so that others might live life to the fullest. Can those of us for whom so much has been given be generous in our own way so that others may also live life to the fullest?