How To Be a Vessel of God's Goodness

Most of us prefer to hide or ignore our limitations and define ourselves by what we accomplish. However, every once in a while, someone comes along to remind us that God values us because of who we are, not because of what we do.

For the past three years or so, Patricia Fangman was that person for us at the Mount. The niece of Sr. Esther Fangman, Patricia came to live at Dooley Center as her health began to decline. Patricia had Down syndrome, and in the eyes of the world, she didn’t accomplish great things; her life’s work consisted mainly of doing chores in an elementary school cafeteria and visiting/reading to residents at Atchison Medicalodge.

Patricia didn’t so much gift the world by what she did but by who she was. She had a spark of wit, will, and indomitability that prompted her parents to lead the fight for handicapped persons and families to obtain educational and support services from the public school system. Within a few years, the school system adopted a mainstreaming program that has now benefited generations of handicapped children.

Patricia displayed a strong sense of integrity, being true to her sense of right and wrong, and was faithful in prayer. She was tenderhearted, compassionate, fun loving, and fiercely loyal to family and friends. She demonstrated that dignity and self-confidence does not come from what we accomplish but from being fully ourselves, which includes both our gifts and our limitations.

At Patricia’s funeral the church was packed with people whose lives she had touched—family, former colleagues, Mount sisters, caregivers, and a network of friends from the town and Benedictine College. Three priests concelebrated at her funeral mass. It was a remarkable display of how God’s love flows through us when we allow ourselves to be vessels of God’s goodness, despite or perhaps because of our imperfections.