Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin
As I turned onto Route 1 in the hamlet of Nile on my way to Mt. Irenaeus I was greeted with fields of flowers blooming everywhere. There were phlox, daisies and buttercups and other varieties that I cannot name. There were flowers everywhere in the fields along the road this morning on the Feast of Corpus Christi. As I drove I thought of the verse above taken from St. Matthew’s Gospel. Am I able to take at face value the promise of life and abundance that is all around me. This is what I pondered as I drove along the roads leading to Mt. Irenaeus and to Sunday Mass. I stopped at many places and took pictures. I love the site these wildflowers.
When I arrived at the Mountain I was greeted by a large number of people who had come today to pay tribute and memory to Greg Fabianski who left this life last year in the custody of Sister Death. Greg was a frequent visitor to Mt. Irenaeus and along with his wife had helped sustain welfare of this retreat center. We gathered for this special celebration of Greg’s life and the Feast of Corpus Christi in the Mt. Irenaeus vegetable garden. It was a beautiful morning and I was moved by the presence of all the Friar community and nearly four dozen communicants who had made this very intentional visit to Mt. Irenaeus this morning. We were led today by Fr. Dan Riley, OFM.
Dan’s the Protector of Mt. Irenaeus. He’s also the visionary that brought this special place to life and with the help of laymen like Greg insured that others would be able to come here and be fed. We processed from the vegetable garden to Holy Peace Chapel and stopped along the way to remember Greg and sing a short verse, “Light of Christ..thanks be to God.” It was very touching.
The Feast of Corpus Christi is about being fed and feeding others. Fr. Dan used the metaphor of a bread box to illustrate this quite well. It was a great homily and what followed was a touching tribute to Greg and his legacy of feeding others both at Mt. Irenaeus and elsewhere. Fr. Dan has a hearty laugh which I was able to catch on film today. His laugh which embodies the fountain fullness that St. Bonaventure spoke of is a trademark of life at Mt. Irenaeus.