Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee
 

I think it was P.T. Barnum who said that there is a sucker born every minute. I believe that I was one of them who was born in that minute. As a boy, I was fascinated by television advertisements for the toys that were included in cereal boxes. One that especially caught my attention was a mini plastic rocket. I watched the ads showing the rocket take off and heard the great blast created by that rocket. I would plead with my mother to buy the cereal, and then I could not wait to open the box and retrieve that rocket. Excitedly I put the rocket on the launch pad, and after I ignited the rocket it traveled for no more than two feet. There was no noise, no explosion, and after two or three tries the plastic rocket was dysfunctional. The power of advertising had achieved its purpose. It enticed a young boy to convince his parent to buy a product that he had little interest in, apart from his fascination with a toy that was worth pennies, and worthless after a couple of tries.

In high school a couple of buddies and I traveled to Chicago and went to what was then a famed amusement park called Riverview Park. Walking the midway, we came across the sideshow that advertised a “human phenomenon.” After paying our fee, we entered and saw a bearded lady, a tattooed man, and a physically deformed individual occupying the niches for viewing. Once we were in, the barker then offered, for an additional fee of course, to present an experience that would be unforgettable beyond imagination. We could not wait to get our wallets out to pay the fee. We entered a darkened room where just a single light was focused on a man cloaked in a raincoat on the stage. Our imaginations went wild. What type of monster would we be viewing? Slowly the man took center-stage, and like author Horace Greeley’s famous quote, “Go West, young man,” the man in the raincoat said, “Well, ladies and gentlemen I will go west and east at the same time.” Then, pointing to his feet he turned his feet completely around and walked with his body in one direction, and his feet in the opposite direction. Even though we were not anatomy experts, we realized that he was double jointed. When the barker had said that we would experience something very unforgettable, he was right! We never forgot how naive and gullible we were.

To this day advertising still pulls me, thinking that I am receiving something better than what I should really expect. The pictures at restaurants and fast-food spots often never look like what is actually served. Presentation can be everything. Recently I purchased some “breaded shrimp.” The shrimp pictured on the outside of the box looked scrumptious, but I found out after the preparation that shrimp had little to do with the breading. One had to search for the shrimp, which was rarely found. The ad succeeded. It captured its prey, and I ate breading and imagined the shrimp.

Unlike advertising for products, the cross is not exactly an attractive symbol to the faithful follower. Yet our Lord tells us that if we follow him, we must take up the cross. The Lord never sugar coated the message to His followers, or made promises that he did not keep. “Unless you eat of my flesh and drink my blood you shall not have life. If anyone would lead a little one into sin better for that man if a millstone were tied around his neck and tossed into the sea.” Love is sacrificial which means that we must suffer for love. It is not easy but there is no greater power in the world than love, and we demonstrate our love for God when we LOVE ONE ANOTHER.     

Note: This blog originally appeared as the July 13, 2021 "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.