A Brother, Even When Busy

As Franciscans, we sometimes have to take a break from our work to be a good brother.

It would appear that the vacation is over, and life is back to the status quo that I once knew in college. With the relaxation of this past summer fading into ancient history, and the “orientation” grace period of our postulancy long passed, we’ve been handed a full load of tasks that leave me wondering, once again, “How am I going to fit all that in just 24 hours a day?”

Along with our “normal” daily schedule of prayer three times a day, mass, and meals, our weekly schedule of ministry three days a week, Franciscan class twice, Spanish class once, and two additional trips to the Poor Clares for prayers, everything has been amped up a bit: we’ve been given additional homework assignments for class, a bit of a “I can tell you haven’t been doing your chores” reminder, our ministry sites now expect us to be regular employees, and on top of that, we have the task of finding some free time to meet with a spiritual director. Phew! Talk about a run-on schedule (and sentence!).

As a result, I’ve certainly cut back on a few things to make it all work, for better or for worse: my reading as slipped a bit (though I’m still reading the Bible every day), my room was a little messy this morning before I decided to clean it, my blogging has diminished, and my personal reflection has almost disappeared (that will change tomorrow).

All that being said, it is honestly still a great joy! If I had my choice, I’d rather have too much to do than not enough, and I think most friars would agree. There’s just too much to be done in the world to relax all the time, and I get a real sense of fulfillment from a long days work (we’ll see if I say the same thing when work actually starts cutting into my sleep time…that’s a completely different story). This was true in college when I was swamped with classes, practices, and meetings, and I’m sure it will be true for the rest of my life as a friar. When push comes to shove, our true priorities come out and we learn a lot about ourselves (and sometimes we don’t like what we see, and we reassess our priorities!)

For a lot of friars, there can be a tendency to put work above all things, even brotherhood.  I think the main reason that we have such busy schedules is just that: learning to be a good brother, even when busy. If work was the highest aspiration of Francis, he would have never sent out his brothers two by two because it meant half the work was being done. Certainly our work is important, but I think for our Postulant year, being busy is much more of a test and training of our priorities: even after a long day, how are we going to find time for our brothers? I’m loving the busy schedule, and the wonderful opportunity to be a brother, especially when busy.

 2 Comments

 Posted on October 12, 2011 by

 Fraternity, Postulancy

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An Italian Masterpiece

Why wouldn't you put an apple swan in the middle of a caprese salad?

One of the perks of living in a large formation house is that it’s possible to hire a cook to take over a few meals a week, leaving the friars free to work, travel, or pray up until the time of dinner. Not to mention the fact that at least half of us would not be able to produce edible or satisfying meals for that many people, friars do not work 9-5 jobs: sometimes the guys will come back for dinner and be back to their ministry until late in the night. In a lot of ways a cook is a necessity for a house this large and active.

That being said, we’re still responsible for our own breakfast and lunch everyday, and dinners on the weekend. Generally speaking, our director Ron will take one day and the Postulants are responsible for another, rotating among those confident enough to prepare a whole meal. Tonight, Sergio (whose parents are from Italy) made an Italian meal so good it was worth writing about on the blog.

Though we don’t partition the meals into courses, the meal started with two types of salads: standard house salad, and a caprese salad pictured above, complete with an apple carved into the shape of a swan (why not, right?). The main course was a linguini with marinara sauce and Italian sausage. Though none of this was made from scratch, he did a great job of adding a few spices here and there to make it extraordinary. On the side we had sauteed carrots and broccoli rabi, with a homemade loaf of bread. For dessert, a simple sugar free strawberry Jello with a few slices of strawberries on top. Not only was every dish prepared to perfection, Sergio had a lot of fun experimenting with the garnishes and creating little works of art on the food.

Though I can’t say that I did much more than lend a hand here and there (I handled the Jello all by myself), it was great to be in the kitchen most of the afternoon providing a service to the rest of the community. It can be a great place to talk while you pass the time, and it comes with a great sense of fulfillment when everything is plated and served for the others. Sometimes we’re Mary, other times we’re Martha, and I think it’s a sign of a great community when we can take on either role from time to time.

 1 Comment

 Posted on October 9, 2011 by

 Postulancy

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Celebrating the Life and Death of Francis

Francis was in a state of ecstasy, even in pain on his deathbed!

Like Christmas and Easter for all Christians, the Transitus and Feast of Saint Francis are two holidays that are treated with the greatest reverence by all Franciscans. Around the world, the number of Franciscans in all three types of orders is in the hundreds of thousands (the order I am joining, O.F.M., is somewhere between 12 and 13 thousand, with the Secular Franciscans at about 400,000.) For many, the specifics of the celebration ranges greatly from community to community, but the purpose is the same: commemorate the life and death of our Seraphic father. In this case, our community celebrated with the Capuchin friars, Poor Clare sisters, and two other groups of Franciscan sisters that I unfortunately did not get a chance to meet.

Our celebration began October 3 with the Transitus, or the transition of Francis from this life to the next. In the chapel, the lights were dimmed, and placed in the middle of the floor was a habit surrounded by candles. Structured like the Palm Sunday Gospel in which a number of people took parts, i.e. “Francis” or “Leader,” we recreated the last moments of his life in order to share in his transition. At first, it felt very mournful, and I was overcome by a feeling of sadness and despair over the death of a great saint. What surprised me was how, despite the solemn atmosphere, the ceremony was filled with hope and joy, happiness and celebration. Here’s a section that I found particularly profound:

Narrator: On another occasion, when he felt that his end was not so far away, Francis once more asked his brothers to sing to him the Canticle of the Sun. And this time when they came to the end, Francis added still another verse–the praise of Sister Death.

Francis: Praised be you, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no one living can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin. Blessed be those whom death will find in Your most holy will.

All: Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks, and serve Him with great humility.

Francis lived his life up until his last breath as if he had never gotten over the fact that God loved him. He was always experiencing God in different ways, and like a loyal dog, treated everything like it was the most incredible experience yet. He was not saddened by death, but rather, welcomes it as the long awaited entrance into heaven. Simply beautiful. In recreating his final acts, we shared bread (not mass) and made for each other a sign of peace before concluding in joyful song.

Following the Transitus was the full celebration of the Feast of St. Francis on October 4. Including the blessing of the animals, a commemorative mass, and huge feast, we come together once more as a large Franciscan community to look more broadly on the life of the great saint and celebrate the life of our own communities. It was a wonderful experience, to which we certainly did not forget the feast aspect! After mass, the many communities of Franciscans came together for a spectacular meal and fellowship in the spirit of Francis. All in all, it was a joyful experience and a confirmation of my call to follow Francis’ way to Jesus.

 

 2 Comments

 Posted on October 5, 2011 by

 Formation

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We Met A Cardinal!

Cardinal Seán O'Malley is a Capuchin Franciscan

For all you Braves and Phillies fans out there, all Cardinals are not enemies. In some cases, they’re wonderful men who commit their lives to the service of the Church, responsible for overseeing the spiritual well being of millions of people. In this case, we’re talking about Seán O’Malley, OFM Cap, the Cardinal of Boston.

Cardinal O’Malley was in Wilmington yesterday presiding over the jubilee celebration for Sister Maria Elena Romero, P.C. Cap. Just like in marriage, men and women religious get together to celebrate big anniversaries of their profession of vows (usually 25 and 50), usually renewing them in the process. In this case, Sr. Maria Elena celebrated her 25th anniversary.

Though we got a picture with him, we really didn’t have a chance to speak with him privately. He seemed like a very nice guy, and the parts of his homily that were in English were very well spoken. (I’m not sure if he was being funnier while speaking Spanish or the Spanish speaking crowd was just easier to please, but something was working for him that I couldn’t understand!) All in all, we were very pleased to meet him and very gracious that he could come down from Boston for such a joyous occasion.

(Sorry about the picture! The blinds were actually closed behind us but I guess the sun was just that bright. Unfortunately the sun wasn’t all that warm, and being that it was an outside mass, it was quite chilly in the shade where the “choir” had to stand. I put choir in quotes because of the fact that I was in it, meaning it was not the sort of choir you would expect.)

 3 Comments

 Posted on October 2, 2011 by

 Postulancy, Vows

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Retreat to the Beach

Great guys, great food, and a great view!

Up until only recently, friars were not allowed to spend the night with family or friends outside of the friar community: when visiting home, they were required to sleep at the local rectory and commute to wherever their family lived. This, along with the vow of poverty, made it very difficult for many friars to take much needed vacations or retreats from their ministries.

It was because of this, that the province decided in the 1960s to buy a house in Margate, NJ. Centrally located to a lot of friars back then, this 13 “bedroom” house offered a free and comfortable getaway whenever anyone needed it. (I put “bedroom” in quotes because it was probably designed as a seven bedroom house, but walls were added to trade quality for quantity, and each one is probably about 6×15 ft.) Throughout the summer, and even the off-season, friars fill the house on personal vacations, community retreats, and overnight stays in place of a hotel.

What was great about this trip was that the entire community of Wilmington friars attended it. Though we’ve been living with Fr. Chris, Fr. Todd, Br. Bill, and Fr. John since August, we never really had a chance to formally get to know them. It was a great opportunity to hear their vocation stories, discuss our different experiences in the friars, possible visions we have for the future, and general ideas related to living together. Along with prayer, mass, meals, and a good amount of free time to spend on the deck and beach, it was a refreshing weekend.

Given the free time to just sit by the ocean and think, I think a few things were made a bit clearer in my mind. Over the next few days/weeks, I’d like to post my reflections on a few topics that have grabbed my attention over the past month: Gods role in suffering and why bad things happen to us, the necessity of keeping the sabbath and how difficult it can actually be for a priest/religious brother, and what it means to be a spiritual death valley or dead sea. Though we’re given a lot of time during the day for prayer and reflection, there’s just something about being at the beach and looking out at the wonder of the ocean that is so conducive for epiphanies and revelations. Hopefully I’ll be able to articulate some of the things I realized this weekend in a way that will be helpful to others. I hope you’ll check back in a day or so and see which one I’ve decided to tackle first! Thanks again for reading!

Pictures are up on the shutterfly website!

 2 Comments

 Posted on September 27, 2011 by

 Postulancy, Trips

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Breaking In The Habit

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