Biography
Father Edward Malloy, President of Notre Dame University, is known to his friends as "Monk." Father Malloy replaced Father Ted Hesburgh who transformed Notre Dame from a school known for its football into a first-class academic institution. Father Malloy took it over and has managed to both enhance its academic reputation and get its football team back into national rankings. As a basketball player, he holds his own among the students, and lives in a college dorm and makes himself fully available to the residents. [Biographical information is correct as of the broadcast date noted above.]

"Learning to See Anew — Opening Our Eyes to God's Presence and Power" 
One of the joys of my life has been the opportunity to be together with students in the classroom. One of the tasks that I assign periodically, in the midst of reflection about the full dimensions of Christian commitment, is to ask them what they think a saint is — a person who personifies in his or her life the kind of ongoing, daily commitment to the task of being a disciple of the Lord. You might imagine when I ask them to reflect about the people they knew and to tell me who they would recommend for the recognition that they were due. The most obvious examples that came up in almost all the classes in which I have done this exercise, is a mother, a father, or both parents. These young adolescents were able to say that, on the basis of their ongoing scrutiny, in the context of family life, they have seen in their loving and caring parents an expression of what it means to be a Christian person.

Then I ask them, often after I receive these written testimonies, if they ever had complimented their parents, or thanked them for all that they had done for them up to that point in their life, including providing an opportunity for a university education. And of course, so often they have said, "No, I would be embarrassed to say it." Or, "My parents wouldn't know how to take it." In one sense, that's a very sad reality, for you would like to think, since none of us knows the day or the hour of our death, that they would express what lies close to their hearts. And yet I guess, all of us who have been through that stage in our own experience, can recognize why it comes with difficulty to their lips.

What I think this reminds us of is that the Christian life can, in many ways, be reduced down to simple elements — presence in time of sickness, a willingness to redescribe what it takes to be faithfully involved, in a caring and loving way, in the lives of others. Most young couples, when they marry and decide to have a child, will begin to recognize only theoretically what might be called forth from them as individuals. Yet, as soon as the woman gives birth, they begin to have to re-orient their life, to plan a different kind of schedule for daily existence, to decide how they will divide the responsibilities for getting up in the middle of the night, to tending to a baby who has irregular sleep patterns, or has an immediate demand for responsiveness with regard to food, or tending when it comes to sickness. Each of us who have assumed responsibility for another human being can begin to see in these kinds of situations of everyday experience what it means to be there, to see what is required of us, as loving and caring individuals.

When I see the results of the efforts of parents, I wish that I could grab them and say, "You've done a great job." But they know there are no guarantees. Parents who have been through the various stages of development in their own children, begin to see that it isn't only in infancy that special things will be called forth from them. It is also true that as children begin to prepare for school, and all the social challenges that that will bring, that something deep and perennially important will also be called forth. That they cannot necessarily determine who the friends of their children will be, what kind of dire influence the neighborhood, or the media, or external agents of one kind or another, will have on their own family life. Then of course, all of us know how difficult it is to raise a teenager at any time in human history, maybe no time is more difficult in this regard than our own.

When you are a parent, and have been through all of these stages, have deferred vacations, have perhaps worked at an extra job, when you know how much money is required to buy new braces, to send kids to camp, to make sure that in some cases they have the opportunity for a better education than they might receive otherwise. When all of those are added up, sacrifice and commitment to the other is definitely required. Each of us who ponders what it means to be a parent, and who recognizes the limits on how much control we can have on the life and fortune of another human being, also begin to recognize how true this is of the rest of our experience as well.

There are so many unpredictable factors — sickness, of course, is one of them. We who live in a time in history when so many people live on into their 60's, 70's, 80's and even on into the 90's, begin to recognize the longer our life span, the more we face the possibility of serious and debilitating illness. We can begin to feel as if life is out of control, as if something is happening that is part of the environment or is part of what we ingest for daily nourishment, that will begin to affect us in a negative way. We can read in the newspapers, or see on television, the problems of crime, and drug abuse, and alcohol abuse, the questions of difficulty in sustaining a relationship — not only in marriage, but also in friendship. Just as parents, when their young children grow into maturity, know that there is a time in which they must let go — in which the success of their own endeavor, all of the sacrifice and hard work which they have put into it, will really be tested in terms of the values that have been passed on and the willingness to allow sufficient freedom and independence for the next generation to really be themselves. By pondering these challenges from everyday existence, I think we can see, no matter where we look — whether it's sickness, or the follow-through of the basic responsibilities of our life, or some kind of accident or natural disaster, or systematic things outside of our control like whether our job will be continued or whether we will have sufficient funds from pension plans and social security to provide for ourselves with the inflation rate beyond what we might have available to us from our own resources. As we begin to struggle, we too can say that sometimes life is out of our control.

I think in the context of these basic experiences of everyday life, we can ponder with meaning and helpfulness the Gospel passage of Jesus healing the blind man, found in Luke 18:35-43. We see a person who was not able to have the basic sense mechanisms available in his life, who suffered as a beggar because he was not able to see. He was, in a sense, deprived of some of the basic things that most of us identify with a happy life. He not only couldn't see, but he couldn't take care of what everybody else could provide for themselves. So, he was recognizing his dilemma, but he had no easy answer or solution and all of a sudden, Jesus appears on the scene — the Jesus whom he may have heard about as a loving, caring, healing agent of God's mercy and love. Despite the fact that the other people in that environment were trying to calm him down — in a sense to hide him — from Jesus' attention and care, he yells out seeking solicitation and response from Jesus. Jesus, recognizing his dilemma and, as so often in the Gospels, using the occasion of a healing as an opportunity to teach about more than bodily need, senses that he is a person not only in great need, but a person of deep faith as well. So Jesus begins to offer, as He so often did, words of concrete healing, love and care. So as He enables him to be able to see physically for the first time, perhaps, he also begins to see into the deeper dimensions of reality — into the life of faith.

All of us face, in a sense, our own blindness. Not only do we come up against our own limits as human persons — whether it's money, or physical mobility, or the opportunity to be surrounded by members of our family, and others who are an integral part of our sense of community. In the midst of those kinds of circumstances we begin to reach out, we begin perhaps for the first time to sense that we are dependent and interdependent human creatures. We can step back with the eyes of faith and begin to recognize our need for the Lord. We can begin, perhaps, to appreciate for the first time how Jesus in His call to those in need has established and created a community of loving service.

One of the most dramatic things I ever did in my own life was to travel to Latin America when I was a student myself. I went because I accidentally — at least it seemed that way at the time — heard some other students speaking down the hall about going on a project to Latin America, in this case, to Mexico. They described what they hoped to do — to work with the poor. They described why they wanted to do that — because they felt it was a fulfilling of their Christian commitment. But they had some special obligation to be agents of love and ministry in the lives of those they had not yet met. Fortunately, I was chosen to go on one of these summer projects. I went and it had a transformative experience with me. I was able, in another culture, to be able to see things I may never had noticed if I had stayed in this country and been immersed in familiar people and places. I began to reflect about those terrible questions that all of us face. Why is it that innocent children suffer? Why is it that not everybody is provided with the basic necessities of life? What is it that we can expect from the people around us? Will they understand our plight when we are suffering? Will they be available to us as people who care deeply about us, when we need their ministry? It was really only when I had a chance to go away from my circumstances and environment and begin to immerse myself in a kind of shadow existence where I hoped to do so much for other people and yet discover in the process how much they did for me.

One of my most vivid memories of that trip was visiting an orphanage in a small town in Mexico. These were young children who had been deprived of their own parents, who were living hand to mouth on the street. By going and talking to them, and hearing their stories, and discovering that, in the end, it wasn't so much what those who oversaw the life of the orphanage provided for the children, it was rather in cultivating an environment where they began to see they needed each other. In a sense, it was a parable of what happened to those of us who went as fairly affluent and well-to-do and educated North American students, by going to another place, our eyes were opened. We were able to see things we never would have discovered otherwise. We were trying to do that in a context of Christian commitment and service.

What seems evident to me is that Jesus never attempted to do it alone. He gathered to Himself disciples from various backgrounds. In His teaching, particularly in His use of parables, He tried to get them to have insight and even wisdom about the challenges and demands of everyday existence. He tried to remind them, for example, that in those moments when they aspire to have a position of prominence and leadership, that the only way that they would have first place in the Kingdom of God was when they were prepared to be a servant of the rest. Just as parents, I believe, discover when they have a child, and so many things are called forth from them. Just as a teacher discovers, who often thinks that he or she goes into the classroom as a font of wisdom, that they learn so much from the questions that their students ask and the kind of dilemmas that they bring forth for perusal and reflection. In the same way that anybody entrusted with leadership in society or the church discovers that all of us can grow complacent — we can become accustomed to the standard ways of doing things, and of seeing reality. Jesus the Teacher, Jesus the Healer, Jesus who calls to each of us in a special and loving way, says — as He did to the blind man — "Be healed, see." Of course, we are called, what ever our circumstances, whatever the challenges we might face in the days and months and years ahead, to speak words of gratitude and great joy for the love that Jesus has manifest. We need to be able to struggle to recognize how the loving Lord is present in the people and events of everyday life.

Surely there may be some challenges which are more dramatic than others. There may be some allures and temptations that we especially have to face wholeheartedly. But we, in the midst of our sinfulness, our limitations and weakness, need to establish and re-affirm our relationship with the Jesus who comes to us as healer, as lover, as friend. If we can only allow that sense of commitment to have discovered otherwise. We were trying to do that in a context of Christian commitment and service.

What seems evident to me is that Jesus never attempted to do it alone. He gathered to Himself disciples from various backgrounds. In His teaching, particularly in His use of parables, He tried to get them to have insight and even wisdom about the challenges and demands of everyday existence. He tried to remind them, for example, that in those moments when they aspire to have a position of prominence and leadership, that the only way that they would have first place in the Kingdom of God was when they were prepared to be a servant of the rest. Just as parents, I believe, discover when they have a child, and so many things are called forth from them. Just as a teacher discovers, who often thinks that he or she goes into the classroom as a font of wisdom, that they learn so much from the questions that their students ask and the kind of dilemmas that they bring forth for perusal and reflection. In the same way that anybody entrusted with leadership in society or the church discovers that all of us can grow complacent — we can become accustomed to the standard ways of doing things, and of seeing reality. Jesus the Teacher, Jesus the Healer, Jesus who calls to each of us in a special and loving way, says — as He did to the blind man — "Be healed, see." Of course, we are called, what ever our circumstances, whatever the challenges we might face in the days and months and years ahead, to speak words of gratitude and great joy for the love that Jesus has manifest. We need to be able to struggle to recognize how the loving Lord is present in the people and events of everyday life.

Surely there may be some challenges which are more dramatic than others. There may be some allures and temptations that we especially have to face wholeheartedly. But we, in the midst of our sinfulness, our limitations and weakness, need to establish and re-affirm our relationship with the Jesus who comes to us as healer, as lover, as friend. If we can only allow that sense of commitment to permeate our life, what a wonderful world this can be. Like those children in the orphanage who came, helpless and afraid, but discovered strength in each other, who were able to tend one another when they were sick — older bearing a special responsibility for the younger. In the same way, so many parents who are schooled in Christian values and in a Christian perspective of reality, can help their children discover what it means to be a full disciple of the Lord. May each of us find our way, may we recognize our need not only for each other and our responsibility to each other, but also our need for Jesus who will provide for all of the gifts that make life rich and purposeful.

On the basis of this beautiful scripture passage, and on this reflection about the meaning of our Christian commitment and existence, let me conclude with a brief prayer.

Loving Lord, you came into the presence of the blind man. He knew he was hurting, and stood seemingly without a friend. He called out to you for he recognized his need, and You responded by healing him from his infirmity and blessing and supporting his faith. May You do the same for each of us today, so that we can recognize where we've done all we can and where we need to turn to You. May our greatest sign of gratitude be our willingness to be of service to others. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

Interview with Father Edward Malloy
Interviewed by Dave Hardin

Dave Hardin: Monk, let me start by asking you, what does it matter that Notre Dame is a Christian school? How is that different?

Farther Edward Malloy: Dave, there's no easy answer to that question and I get asked about it quite a bit. I think one of my main tasks as President is to describe the mission of the University. What I would say is that it is not encompassed by any one dimension, but a whole series of things together. We have required courses in philosophy and theology, for example. We work very hard on making them high quality and interesting. We have certain kinds of research projects that we think fit Notre Dame as a Catholic University. We work very hard on promoting the liturgical life of the campus and, from my experience as somebody who lives in a dorm, it's a very worshipful campus — especially for young adults. We also have various projects under a group called the Center for Social Concerns. These are attempts to get students involved in lives of Christian service.

Hardin: What would be some examples of some of these social action projects?

Malloy: Well, they've been involved some in the summer times working in Latin America. Some would go to Appalachia at break time. Others would be involved in what we call the Urban Plunge, which is a kind of 48 hour intense experience with subsequent reflection about what it might lead to in terms of long-range commitment and career goals. We also have tutoring, visiting the elderly and the sick, and other kinds of things which would give our students an exposure to different kinds of people and cultures than their own background.

Hardin: You had a profound experience in Mexico and, later on, in Peru. What can North Americans like us and from a country like ours do to be better neighbors to the Latin Americans?

Malloy: One of the things that happens, I think, to every visitor to Latin America is an experience of utter poverty which is the condition of the vast majority of people in most countries. We want quick fixes. Americans, I think, generally are quite pragmatic and programmatic. We'd like to recommend some way of solving this terrible situation and yet I think we begin, when we go there, to recognize that we cannot impose on another culture or people any kind of simple solution from the outside. We need to cooperate with the given governments and church agencies; we need to respect the differences of culture and perspective; and yet, at the same time, we need to be open, and generous, and supportive of the good things going on.

Hardin: Would you change our aid programs in any way — the way we spend our funds in Latin America?

Malloy: I think the most important thing about aid programs is that we connect them to responsible leadership so we're not filling the pockets of tyrannical regimes or individuals who are simply taking advantage of a bad situation. We need to have oversight, and we need to be very creative in looking for projects that really work.

Hardin: Should we be asking for more elective processes down there — more opposition parties to be allowed to emerge?

Malloy: I think all of us as citizens of this wonderful country know that we have an opportunity, in terms of foreign policy, to put some kinds of appropriate pressure on other governments. One of the things that I think all of us should be pushing is the whole democratization of other places that do not enjoy that particular government regime at this time.

Hardin: You've been working with young people for a long time, Monk. How are they changing?

Malloy: I don't share what sometimes you read in books and the dire predictions you hear on television that our young people are going to the dogs. I find them bright and energetic and quite eager to help. They usually have sets of values and perspectives that they get from their family, from their church, or from their earlier education. It seems to me one of the challenges in a university context is to help them to see the big picture — to open their minds and their hearts that they live in a very diverse world, that we constitute a relatively small percentage of the world's population and that some of the most exciting things going on are in other cultures and continents.

Hardin: So you're seeing young people not just into materialistic values and making as much money as they can, you're seeing something beyond that.

Malloy: They struggle, like we all do, for the importance of relationships, how to make good friends, how to choose a life partner, how to prepare for a decent job with a supportive kind of remuneration; but I think that's just standard, that's part of what it means to be a human being. What I see are young people who are eager to learn and who are quite generous if we can only tap into that perspective of their life.

Hardin: So you're pretty hopeful about this coming generation of ours.

Malloy: I'm very hopeful and I find that they boost my spirits and give me a kind of energy that I'd be lacking if I weren't blessed with the chance to be with them.