How does one define gracious and hospitable? I am quite sure that definition would have to contain the names and faces of our German hosts! I met so many wonderful people while in Europe and - thank goodness for me - all of them spoke English. I could talk about the professors that were the Crossing Over directors who are passionate about church and this experience and the possibilities it opened up for their parishes.
I could name the beautiful women - Annette - who was out hostess for much of the trip. I met her at dinner the first night, coincidentally sitting across from her at the banquet table. Her bright smile and warm manner were very inviting to this newly arrived American! It turned out that this is the woman who invited us to visit her beloved Heidelsheim, showed us her cathedral with its 1000-year old rose bush (rosenstock). Annette took us on a tour of villages that were stunning in their old world charm. And she took us to visit memorials of the war... cathedrals that had beem bombed and still bore the marks of those attacks, checkpoints and remnants of the infamous wall that divided East and West. On our first evening in her hometown she invited the four of us out to dinner. Her family - parents and two sisters - joined us for a lovely, lively evening.
I could talk about the wonderful young man that I shared lunch with at the conference, newly degreed with his Ph.D. and now having received a university appointment. He was passionate about his faith and his work. Speaking entirely in English, of course, he reminded me of any number of young Catholics in this country. He is worried about the state of things in Germany and very angry about the abuse crisis. He is dealing with the same sense of betrayal and struggle to understand his place in all of this that I experienced in so many of lay ministers here during the past decade.
There was the young woman I shared a bus ride with who just received her doctorate after doing her research in the United States on the Catholic school system here. She was newly married and preparing to follow her professor husband to his first assignment. She confided that she admired the women she met in American and wished women in her country had more opportunities to work and put their education and passion to use. She knew she would be encouraged, strongly and subtley, to be a stay-at-home mom.
Another wonderful conversation was had with a pastoral associate that had just moved to Switzerland. He is a de facto parish life coordinator and not sure how one is supposed to operate in that position. But the parishioners are all happy that 'there is a light on in the rectory' again! His new diocese is the only one in the world, he said, that chooses its own bishop and the Vatican simply approves their choice! (And trhey said it couldn't happen.)
There was the man who was explaining to me how children learned English, a requirement from the first grade on and how, when they get old enough to choose the language they want to specialize in, many are now beginning to choose Spanish!
There are lots of stories. I found people to be reserved. The metros were fairly quiet compared the DC metro. I learned to pick out visiting Americans by their posture and stride. When riding the metro by myself in Vienna, the woman next time was so gracious when I asked if I was going in the right direction.
Over and over came the message -so much the same and so different! My gratitude to all my new German friends and acquaintenances.
