Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee
 

Last Saturday, I made my way to Sheboygan where I was the guest of my friends, Cindy and Stuart Brotz, at a charitable gala for Lakeland College. The entertainment featured community notables from the area who performed with professional dancers in routines that garnered votes in a “Dancing with the Stars” -style program. I was present because one of our archdiocesan pastors was in the competition.
 
Father Matt Widder was a crowd pleaser, claiming that he was overcoming a natural fear of dance performance. His routine was a “Texas Two-Step,” which blended well with his former farm boy persona. I was probably invited to the event either to administer last rites in case of an accident, or to prohibit Hollywood agents from signing Fr. Matt to a lucrative contract.
 
It takes a certain type of courage to perform a dance in public. It’s one thing to dance at a wedding and avoid stepping on your partner’s feet. It’s quite another to have all eyes on you as you attempt to maintain timing and make everything look natural. In Fr. Matt’s case, it was obvious that the crowd already appreciated his willingness to sacrifice personal pride to demonstrate that he will do just about anything (moral and legal, of course) for the community he loves and serves. The charitable organization he chose as the possible recipient of the monetary prize was the St. Vincent de Paul Society of the Sheboygan area. The great work of St. Vincent de Paul seeks to assist those in need, regardless of faith.
 
Fr. Matt indeed did win, and his acceptance speech highlighted the fact that it was a victory due not to him or his blossoming talent, but rather to the whole Sheboygan community who supports one another.
 
I know a little about dance. My sister, Penny, and I were a dance team who performed together in a number of venues. My dance teacher was a former choreographer of ABC television in Chicago, and organized a number of local shows. My sister was like a miniature “Shirley Temple,” and I was the “lug” who tossed her around. Although we both had to do ballet, tap and modern dance in the routines, Penny was the cute “eyes on her performer,” and I was the background. My sister’s kidney infection ended our mini careers after four years; I couldn’t dance with anyone else. Besides, baseball and basketball were calling my name. I did credit dance with the ability to drive in basketball, controlling the body, and in baseball the ability to get the jump I achieved when stealing bases. Sports have taken their toll on the old “bod” – an artificial hip, a partial knee and severely-damaged thigh makes me eligible to play the “Tin Man” if they ever reprise that production. I now limp when I do the Polka or Cha-Cha at family weddings.
 
Challenging ourselves to go outside of our comfort zones, especially for a charitable purpose, helps us to remember the statement posed by St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians: “We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as men. We are fools for Christ … when we are cursed, we bless, when we are persecuted we endure it.”
 
Are we willing to be fools for Christ? Love makes you do crazy things. Love for a wife, husband, family or a congregation will cause you to dance even if you’re bottom heavy or have two left feet. The Lord is our partner leading us in the dance. After all, we are all called to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
 

Note: This blog originally appeared as the May 17, 2016 "Love One Another" email sent to Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki. If you are interested in signing up for these email messages, please click here.