Recently, Michael Rubeling of Frederick County was ordained a priest in Baltimore. "Magical," is how a friend described the two-hour mass and priestly ordination. I myself, being a priest and devotee of things ethereal, would call it mystical. And that also describes Father Rubeling's family.
He is the eldest of 10 children raised by my friends Gary and Stephanie Rubeling. They are shining examples of generosity in a time of riven politics, individualism and crass materialism. In these days of the supposed end of the nuclear family, Central Casting could not have come up with them: They're the von Trapps combined with the Brady Bunch. The eldest daughter is a nurse, another is now a camp counselor in Montana, and recently three Rubeling children walked 100 miles from Annapolis to Ocean City to advocate for religious freedom.
I know no family is perfect, yet some shine a light so bright we're drawn to them — to either bask in their glow or learn from their apparent wisdom. We could all gain from adopting the Rubelings' approach to one another and the wider world.
On a pilgrimage mission trip to Tanzania 10 years ago, a group of us were headed to Sunday mass when one of the Rubeling girls went missing. She eventually appeared and said a mother with a child had begged her for help. She responded by giving them her packed lunch and holding the child.
On a pilgrimage in Peru six years ago, serving at Mother Teresa's slums in Lima and journeying to Machu Picchu, Peter Rubeling, who's now entering seminary, lost his camera. I was assiduously trying to help him find it, growing more concerned as time passed, and he was serene through it all, eventually suggesting that "maybe it's God's way of telling me to be in, and experience, the present moment." I need more of that kind of insight and detachment in my own life.
One Rubeling child traveled to Tanzania to serve the poor there in a dispensary. Before he was a priest, Michael traveled with a sibling to serve at Mother Teresa's Home for the Dying in Calcutta. Presently, another Rubeling is in Alaska on a service trip not only to explore Denali mountain and the fjords, but to serve in soup kitchens and shelters there. They're clearly learning as much from these experiences as they're giving of themselves to those they meet; they're overflowing with acceptance for people from all walks of life.
The day after the ordination and first mass of Father Michael Rubeling, the whole family volunteered at a vacation bible school at their parish, welcoming the many diverse folks who came to celebrate, no matter their faith or background. One sibling created the holy card artwork for the ordination, and other siblings played music at the reception — entertaining with gusto. Father Michael's mass vestments were made by his mom in stunning colors.
When I asked a younger Rubeling, Elijah, what he thought of the first mass of his brother he said, innocently, "It was pretty holy." We all laughed.
Such generosity and creativity attracts — or as the Latin maxim has it, bonum diffusm est "good is diffusive of itself."
Rev. John J. Lombardi is pastor of St. Peter Catholic Church in Hancock. His email is jlombardi7@verizon.net.