Fighting Irish

The tour guide told the story of the school’s nickname. In the middle of a football game, they were playing scrappy so the other team taunted: “they look like the fighting Irish”. It was a reference to the bar brawl prone Irish immigrants, known for their frequent indiscretions. Rather than being ashamed, the name stuck and the team took pride in the Fight. They embodied the determination, tenacity and scrappiness it implied.  The nickname may have resulted from the football field; however, it was the spirit of the University long before the newspapers caught on.

Arriving back on campus, the first place I went was the Grotto and along the way there are two emblematic plaques that caught my attention. The first was a letter by Fr. Sorin, the University’s founder, to Fr. Moreau, the founder of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. Fr. Sorin remarked not only the goodness of Providence and how they were granted the land when they least expected it but he also proclaimed: “As there is no other school within more than a hundred miles, this college cannot fail to succeed.”  I’m assuming that’s what they call no pressure, eh? He continued to cast his vision by stating, “Before long, it will develop on a large scale.... It will be one of the most powerful means for good in this country.” Though the sun setting on the plaque added to the ambiance it was the heart of the author, which shone through. Here was a man, convicted in faith of the goodness of God and His plans, no matter the opposition and difficulties in bringing the dream to fruition.

The other letter was from “Dr. Tom Dooley who was a Notre Dame student in the 1940s and honorary degree recipient in 1960. He became a Navy doctor in Vietnam, founded the Medical International Cooperation Organization, and spent much time providing medical care to people in Southeast Asia. He wrote a letter to then University President Father Theodore Hesburgh, CSC, in 1960 from Hong Kong, where Dooley was hospitalized for a recurrence of cancer that had attacked his spine.” Dr. Tom Dooley penned the following:  “But when the time comes, like now, then the storm around me does not matter. The winds within do not matter. Nothing human or earthly can touch me. A wilder storm of peace gathers in my heart.” Talk about faith!

It surely is joyous to celebrate the victory of one’s won battles; however, do you hear the battle cry of joy in the midst of the struggle? We are all fighting something. Maybe it’s a fight to be healthy, happy, disciplined, prayerful, virtuous, self-giving, understanding, patient (whose not trying to fight that one) or compassionate. Maybe it’s a fight against addictions or vices. Maybe you are trying to break the cycle of watching porn or being in unhealthy relationships or maybe it’s negative thinking that’s got you down. Maybe you’re fighting the motivation to start making changes. No matter what is your own personal battle; there is something universal in the fact that we’re all fighting something. Are you fighting the good fight? Do you live peace and joy in the midst of the fight? Bl. Pier Giorgio responds, “in prayer the soul rises above life’s sadness” (A Man of the Beatitudes, 132). Let us pray we may imitate PG’s as well as Fr. Sorin and Dr. Dooley’s great trust in Providence and in God, who provides our daily bread. Let us know which fights we are called to walk away from and which fights we are called to fight and persevere in. For it is by persevering that we learn perseverance.

In Notre Dame, Our Mother,

Coop

“If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'…

You’ll be a Man, my son!”

 - “If-” Rudyard Kipling

So, must be someone up above saying,
"Come on, girl! Yeah, you got to get back up!
You got to hold on...
Yeah, you got to hold on..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le-3MIBxQTw

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn676-fLq7I

Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.

I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SKyfGK9brs&feature=kp

Dr. Dooley letter

http://archives.nd.edu/research/texts/dooley.htm

Fr. Sorin’s Letter (scroll half way down to find it under this title) 

From a letter of

THE REVEREND EDWARD SORIN, C.S.C.

Founder of the University of Notre Dame

to the

VERY REVEREND BASIL MOREAU, C.S.C.

Founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross

https://www3.nd.edu/~wcawley/corson/centennial2.htm