Luís

Luís Alberto Rodriguez

We said a final goodbye this Sunday to Luis Alberto Rodriguez, a dear friend, amazing father & husband, and absolute exemplar of Christian fidelity. A former Roman Catholic priest from Argentina, he transitioned to teaching pastoral theology at an Italian university and found the Episcopal Church and it’s Latin American Community after moving to Rome. When I first met him, Luis and his wife & daughter were the principal music ministers for the Spanish-speaking congregation and some of the strongest pillars of that tight-knit parish family. He was the sort of layman that every congregation wishes it could emulate a thousand fold.

Despite undergoing rounds of debilitating chemotherapy, he continued to serve in the church until he no longer could, even being gleefully elected to vestry and posing for the cover photo on our church magazine. He wrote two absolutely compelling narratives about his cancer battle for the church magazine here and the parish newsletter here which Sadly two months later, his cancer returned strongly, and he soon knew that the end was coming soon. As his death approached, he faced the end with stunning grace and deeply inspiring fidelity. I last spoke with him in his final Sunday at St. Paul’s, on April 3^rd, already looking markedly diminished as his body quickly grew frail. In the following weeks, as clergy and friends visited him in the hospital, his demeanor was always warm, being thankful for the life he had lived and ready for what was to come. On April 24^th, the battle was ended.

 

Perhaps it was most fitting that we would memorialize this beloved child of God on the feast of the Trinity. After all, he lived what it means to love the Triune God not only from afar but deeply and up close. He dedicated every day of his life not only to serving and obeying God but to an unshakable intimacy in the love of the undivided Trinity.

If Rublev’s famous icon reminds us that we are forever invited to take our seats at the table, eternally loving and being loved by the Holy Godhead, Luis Alberto Rodriguez showed us how to do it. May we all have the steadfast courage to do the same.

Does God Listen

On the Other Side of the Net?

by Luis Alberto Rodríguez

It is a few days after the operation to remove a malignant tumor from my colon, and everything hurts, but recovery is proceeding well. Today my doctor has told me I can eat some dry toast and tea. I am delighted, because I have not eaten for many days, since before the operation in fact.

Sitting in the bed at 7 am, I am waiting for my wonderful breakfast today. There is half an hour left to go. It's cold outside, and from my window I see a precious green, typical of the Roman countryside. Then I think of God, in his silence, and his mysterious presence.

I remember a priest friend of mine told me one day that when he was little he started playing football in the neighborhood club. His father never told him that he would go to see him play, but when he went out from his home alone with football boots hanging from his neck, he still knew that his father would be there. He had a special way of communicating. His father's presence on the other side of the net gave him security and strength, even more so when he saw him yelling, excited and happy.

This is how I understand God, there on the other side of the net, not intervening in our "football match" of life. However, God encourages us and gives us strength in a mysterious way. Of course, God is not only outside the net or even in as well, because nothing could remain in existence without His support. He is the "subsistent being" to use a difficult phrase. In this way we can say that God is "on that side of the net" and that He is transcending, but also that he is "on this side" and therefore is indwelling.

At some point in the history of Christianity, we thought that God intervened if we allowed him to act through the saints, who were seen as powerful intermediaries. Today we talk a lot about the mystery that surrounds God and we do not seek to give an answer to everything, but rather accept that we are incapable of fully understanding the holy mystery of God.

We will never be able to explain God fully, and there will always be many questions: Why doesn’t God prevent the evil of the world?  Why doesn’t God intervene to punish the corrupt officials that cause death in the world? In the end, many questions will be left with the same answer: “We do not know, but He is there, He guides us, gives us strength, and He encourages us as a Father-Mother does, proud of each one of us.”

They bring me breakfast, and I savor the dry toast dunked in tea as though it were the greatest delight that I have ever eaten. I cry, emotional because my stomach can cope with solid food at last. I call my wife by phone and we cry together about this first breakfast after surgery. The intense cold continues, the wind shakes the trees, God is still, silent, and mysteriously present. I feel my Father’s care. Today I play another day and I believe I can feel his eagerness that the game will go well.

Fortunately I know I have many games left to play - in front of a full stadium! And all with God's mysterious presence.

Luis Alberto Rodriguez

The last time I saw Luís. April 3, 2016