A Friar Life: Fr. Joe

This is the sixth and final episode of an ongoing series. For the previous episode, click here.

“Never go to the restroom in the middle of a board meeting.” These words of wisdom, learned the hard way, are the reason that Fr. Joseph Nangle, OFM and I ever lived together. A councilor of the province from 2011 to three weeks ago, Fr. Joe, then 82, excused himself from a meeting about replacing the current director of post-novitiate formation only to find, when he returned, that he had been voted the one for the job.

“Never go to the restroom in the middle of a board meeting” he told us in a tongue-in-cheek way when he moved into our house. “You’ll find yourself with jobs you never wanted.”

And yet, the job he never wanted is the job that he found himself doing. With great enthusiasm no less. At 82. That’s Joe Nangle for you.

A Franciscan Friar since before my parents were born, he’s lived an interesting, unorthodox, inspiration, radical life that never ceases to amaze anyone. A former missionary in Lima, Peru, Joe has spent the last thirty years living in an intentional community of lay and religious men and women in Washington, D.C., working at a parish, organizing demonstrations, giving parish missions, and furthering the mission of peace and justice in our Church. As long as there is injustice in the world, Joe has a job to do.

For many in our province, Joe is a legend. Fifteen years in the missions. In the room when Gustavo Gutierrez coined the term, “A Theology of Liberation.” A welcomed guest of Fidel Castro in initial peace conversations. Notorious priest of Washington, D.C. blessing the white house with ashes on Good Friday for the sins of the country, arrested for protests, leading demonstrations, and constantly acting as a rabble rouser of our province of friars, Fr. Joe is a one-of-a-kind friar.

And because of his apparent weak bladder, I found him as my director for eight months when the current director was called away for special assignment. What a pleasure. For all that I had heard of Joe, for the little bit I had experienced myself, I simply enjoyed his company.

Now 85, he lives with a passion for this life that people half his age don’t exhibit. He lives and breaths the message of Jesus Christ and won’t stop while there is still work to be done building the Kingdom of Heaven. Old age? Don’t tell him. Retirement? No reason for that. No, Joe is a man who lives with passion and there’s nothing that could extinguish that. And who would want to? A man like no other, Joe lives a life that cannot be replicated, and yet everything about what he does is a perfect example of what “A Friar Life” can be. Serving as the conclusion of (the first season) of “A Friar Life,” this video of his life captures yet another example of what it means to be a Franciscan friar in the world today.

For email subscribers, click here to watch the video of Joe’s life.

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 Posted on June 23, 2017 by

 Fraternity, Video

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A Friar Life: Fr. Dan

This is the fifth episode of an ongoing series. For the previous episode, click here.

In any organization, team, or family, there’s always that one person who does such a fantastic job at what they do and gains such popularity that everyone else around them looks good and shares in their fame. For the Franciscans of Holy Name Province, that’s Fr. Dan Horan, OFM. Author of a blog, countless articles, and more than a few books; professor of graduate education and guest lecturer throughout the English-speaking world; popular preacher and engaging priest booked years in advance; and worldwide expert on Thomas Merton and John Duns Scotus, Dan has gotten his name out there a bit since becoming a friar in 2005… Still unsure whether or not he actually sleeps, he told me once, in a typical Dan way, that he doesn’t “spend day and night tirelessly working to get everything done,” he’s just “very efficient at getting things done quickly.”

I’m not ruling out that he’s a vampire though…

Whatever it is and however he’s able to do it, the truth of the matter is that Dan is a brilliant scholar, a hardworking man, and passionate friar that has always been a joy to be around. Despite his tremendously long list of accolades and accomplishments, he is quick with a joke at his own expense, easy to talk with, and a great guy to share a life with. Come August, after I make my solemn profession, I will have the privilege of living in community with him in Chicago and taking one of his courses at the Catholic Theological Union.

For email subscribers, click here to watch the video of Dan’s life.

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 Posted on June 16, 2017 by

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A Friar Life: Br. Angel

This is the fourth episode of an ongoing series. For the previous episode, click here.

When most people think of the essentials of living a Franciscan life there are a few things that come to everyone’s mind: humility, simplicity, fraternity, care for creation, and an intimate prayer life, to name a few. And these are all absolutely right. But having lived this life for almost six years, I can say that there is one often-forgotten aspect that might be most essential of all: joy.

What made St. Francis so inspiring to his early followers, and what has kept this order alive for more than 800 years, is the joy he experienced in life, in prayer, and in his interaction with the world. It’s been said that St. Francis never truly got over the fact that God loved him, that he lived until the moment he died with the unbridled joy of one who has recently fallen in love. Christian life for him was not one of sadness or stoicism, it was a life of profound thanksgiving and constant rejoicing as a result of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sake. While some may not see this in his life of mostly ascetic prayer and fasting, the joy of being a son of the Father was the very reason for everything he did. Even in suffering, there can be laughter and rejoicing because of our eternal destination.

There are few people I know that live with as much optimism and joy as Br. Angel Vazquez, OFM, one of our student friars studying in Chicago. Angel is the type of brother who is always at the center of a loud conversation, always with a smile on his face, and always bringing levity to a tense situation. I had the joy of living with Angel for a year and enjoyed his presence greatly. He lives his emotions on his sleeves and doesn’t hold back, and is a great instigator of friar game nights and outings to keep us a lively bunch. In a world where everything means so much and we’re given so much serious responsibility in people’s lives, it is Angel’s joy that reminds me how essential it is to our charism: we could not do the things we do unless we had the joy of being loved by God. Unless we’re able to step back from time to time and laugh until our stomachs hurt, we’ll never make it in this life.

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 Posted on June 9, 2017 by

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A Friar Life: Fr. Bill

This is the third episode of an ongoing series. For the previous episode, click here.

Fr. Bill McConville is a formidable man. Intellectually, he is a well-read scholar that can speak intelligently on everything from 17th century literature to medieval philosophy to modern world history. Professionally, his resumé is as solid as it gets, having lectured and taught at many distinguished schools before serving as a president of a university. Socially, he speaks with a powerful voice and tremendous confidence, attracting the company and respect of a wide array of people. And of course, physically, he is not exactly the average 70-year old, still training heavily and toning his body to peak condition.

In many ways, as even he would put it himself, he has lived a privileged life. From an early age, he was simply good at things and people wanted to be around him. Success by association.

And yet, no one knows more than him how flawed he truly is and how much he needs Jesus in his life. Despite all appearances of perfection—including what can be considered a fairly healthy ego—what has impressed me most in the last year living with Fr. Bill is not what he can do, it’s his willingness to openly share what he can’t. Of all the friars I’ve lived with over the past six years, I have not met a friar willing to be as vulnerable with the community and share who he truly is. At 70 years old—a lifetime behind him with more accomplishments to shake a stick at—he is a man continuing to battle himself in this life of conversion.

For me, that’s an essential piece of what it means to live A Friar Life. Called to humility before our Lord, there is no room to rest on our laurels and expect to be revered because of what we’ve done: our journey of living as Christ in the world is never complete.

For email subscribers, click here to watch the video.

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 Posted on June 2, 2017 by

 Fraternity, Video

A Friar Life: Br. Fred

This is the first episode of an ongoing series. For the next episode, click here.

Everyone has that one friend who always has an interesting story. No matter what you’re talking about or who you’re with, that friend always seems to have an experience that is so entertaining and over-the-top that you begin to doubt whether any of it is even real.

In my experience discerning with the friars back in 2010, Br. Fred Dilger, OFM was that friend for me. Living with him and the other friars for two months, I heard more stories about his life than I can possibly share.

There’s the story of him wanting to be an actor after high school. Rather than attending a school for the arts, something that his parents thought would be a waste of money, they decided to encourage his dream by dropping him off in New York City and telling him to see if he could make it. He didn’t, realized it wasn’t for him, and saved at least two years of his life.

Or his first interview at a powerful architecture and interior design firm. When asked where he saw himself in five years, his ambition and drive blurted out, “Your office, higher floor.”

That story only gets better when you find out where he actually was in five years. Having extraordinary talent and business savvy, Br. Fred found himself running his own interior design firm with none other than Elton John, a close personal friend, as his first client. Oh, and he also did design work for John Mellencamp, John Reid, John Bon Jovi… and I’m sure other people not named John.

There was the first time he tried to cook for himself in his Manhattan apartment. Unsuccessful, he thought, because the oven was broken, he found out later that it simply had never been plugged in. This was during his fourth year in that apartment.

But nothing beats his call to religious life. Feeling a little unsettled in his work and wanting some time away, he asked his assistant to book him “a nice room at the monastery” near him, “something overlooking water or something.” Even though his assistant told him that, “They don’t do that sort of thing,” he went anyway. Scandalized by the fact that he would have to share a bathroom with a stranger, he decided to leave quietly, stopping for evening prayer on his way out. Within minutes, he felt a tremendous and undeniable call from God and knew his life needed to change. He called one of his sisters that night to tell her that he was selling his business to join the monastery. And he did.

These are just a few of the stories that make Br. Fred, Fred. And they haven’t stopped since he’s entered the friars now a decade later. Of all places one might have expected him to choose as his first assignment, he chose the poorest one with the most manual labor: St. Francis Inn, a place for people to be served a hot meal restaurant-style 365 days a year. Even in the most ordinary of places, Br. Fred continues to find the extraordinary. While this video, the first of a seven-part series, doesn’t come close to capturing all that makes his life a friar life, it offers a piece of who Br. Fred is and what he brings to this life.

For email subscribers, click here to view this video.

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 Posted on May 19, 2017 by

 Discernment, Fraternity, Video

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Breaking In The Habit

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