(Lifted from the “Gentle Warrior”)
By Rev. James B. Reuter, S.J.
George Willmann did not want his Knights to be ascetical mystics. He did not want them to be monks of the desert. But he did want them to be good husbands, good fathers, good Catholic men. The spirituality that he promoted was extremely simple. As he said to Terry Barcelon, S.J.: “The Ten Commandments…Going to Mass on Sunday.” He wanted the men to be close to God, in a practical way.
George believed that the power of the Knights came from the spirit. He said this many times and in many ways: “There is more to the Knights of Columbus than money and finance.” He communicated this belief not only by what he said, but what he did, and by what he was. He himself was immersed in a thousand different activities. People wondered how he could do it. They wondered why he did not break down. Other priests got burned out.
This happens to the zealous priest. A young Jesuit Priest came to work with Father Willmann just before the war, and during the Japanese Occupation—Ernest P. Hartnett, S.J. As a scholastic in regency, Hartnett was an inspiration to the students. He worked night and day, and the students loved him. But when the war was over, George learned that Father Hartnett was in the United States, at Monroe, in New YorkState. Monroewas the home of the Jesuits in the New YorkProvincefor those who were mentally ill. The friend of George told him: “Ernie has become a recluse. He doesn’t want to be with people. He does not come to meals with the community. In fact, you rarely see him!
George was just as sensitive as Father Hartnett. He really loved the boys with whom he worked. He loved the poor. He was surrounded by squalor, and by abject poverty, and by suffering—just as much as Ernie was. He worked just as hard, and harder. Why did he not break down? Ernie had a tremendous sense of responsibility, but so did George! Whenever he became involved in work with people who needed him, Ernie carried the world on his shoulders—he felt responsible for everything. But so did George!…. What sustained George?
Saint Ignatius Loyola is always misquoted. He had an axiom, which editors print again and again, this way:
“Pray as if everything depended upon God…
But then work as if everything depended upon you”
They print it that way, because that is an attitude, which they can understand. It is a good old pagan philosophy. “Pray as if God were going to help you, but never depend upon God. Do it yourself!”
Ignatius Loyola never said that. He was a soldier, a warrior, a leader of men – but he was also a mystic. What he said was:
“Pray as if everything depended on you
— knowing that of your own strength you can not do it –
But work as if everything depended upon God
— knowing that, if you do your best,
God will take care of the outcome.”
That is the way George worked. He prayed with all his heart, knowing that he could not possibly do it by himself, but then he worked with great good cheer, smiling, confident that God would take care of the outcome.
Some of the Saints are accused of using “God will provide” as an excuse for their lack of planning. George did not do that. He planned carefully. He estimated the odds before he went into battle, as the Gospel says we should do. But once he was engaged in battle, he was the laughing warrior. He was a joy to all the other Knights, because he was sure that God was on their side. “And if God is with you, who can be against you?”
The body of George grew thin with the years, and his bones grew brittle. His eyesight dimmed a little, and sometimes he had trouble hearing. But his spirit stayed strong until the end.
He was strong, with the strength of God.
