Tag: contemplative

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New day

Later tonight we’ll officially ring in the new year, but each day is really new and each minute for that matter no one has ever experienced before because the future and the past are just illusions.  The only time is now and it is the only time that ever matters. What I’m doing this minute writing my thoughts are a reflection of my experience and my hope for the future which is a breath from now. New Years is then just an illusion, an artifice by which we demarcate time.  Earlier this week I came upon a quote attributed to the Buddha.

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.–Buddha

We create such distinction in time too. The only time that matters is now. A friend of mine once asked me if I could talk to the higher power what time would it be. I thought and thought and finally my friend said, “he’d say it was now.”  The wisdom of that thinking makes more sense now. It is always now. It is never not now. I have fond memories of past events but I can’t go back to them nor can I go forward to the future until it happens.  My thoughts shape the present and the future. I’ve thought about this a great deal lately. I don’t pay much attention to the news as their thoughts are always anxious. Removing their input has removed a great deal of anxiety from my life. I don’t listen to the weather forecast as that is really only an educated guess of the future. I look outside to see what I should wear and consult the thermometer to see how many layers of clothing I need.  I live more or less contemplatively.  Happy new day to you and may all of your new days be happy and filled with growth and abundance. Peace be with you and all you love.

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Fourth Sunday

Today was the Fourth Sunday in Advent. Gosh, The other three Sundays have breezed by. The sun was out today on my trip to Mt. Irenaeus and though it was a chilly 20 degrees Fahrenheit it made for an enjoyable day. Christmas is only five days distant and when I got to the Mountain I climbed out of my car with my bag of groceries. Almost immediately I was surrounded by a small flock of chickadees who welcomed me home. Coming to Mt. Irenaeus always seems like home especially if I’ve been away a week or two. Today, once again the chickadees lit in my hand and I’ve embedded a video that I took with my Flip Camera. I feel so blessed to have these little fellows land in my hand. It’s very inviting and true to the Mountain’s mission they have a way of making all things new in Jesus Christ.

Fr. Lou McCormick, OFM today’s celebrant, asked me to read the Second Reading today and I also got to bring up the gifts along with fellow Secular Franciscan, John Dutcher. Today’s attendance was small due to the end of the semester at St. Bonaventure University, but these smaller gatherings are always a bit more intimate and that is very enjoyable for me. After brunch was complete I drove down to Olean, New York for a bit of shopping and then stopped by St. Elizabeth Motherhouse, the home of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany. They have a lovely creche that I like to visit during the holidays. I also spent sometime in their chapel. I arrived in time for Eucharistic adoration. Thank you very much to the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany who were my teachers from Kindergarten through some of high school.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWaZ7dfmgNg]

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The Feast of St. Nicholas

Today, like most Sundays I got in my car for the forty minute drive to Mt. Irenaeus. Going to the Mountain as we call it is a Sunday ritual for me. The sun was shining adding a bit of luster to a fresh coating of snow we received overnight. Along the way I stopped at Giant Food Mart in Cuba, New York for orange juice and eggs. A morning at the Mountain is topped off with brunch for all following Eucharist in Holy Peace Chapel.

Today as I drove up the country roads that lead to Mt. Irenaeus I thought of my friend Paul Kelly who had recently died. I thought too of a couple of papers that are due for the graduate classes at St. Bonaventure University in which I am enrolled this semester. Being a perfectionist is not easy. I always want to do my best and there is always some anxiety as the final week dawns. When I arrived at the retreat center, I parked my car and greeted several students from nearby Houghton College. As I walked toward the House of Peace I was surrounded by little chickadees who flew about my head and slight above it. I thought of Paul and the Holy Spirit and how these little fellows seemed to be signaling that Paul was in good hands. After dropping off the food and then resuming my walk to the chapel I was again surrounded by this small flock of birds who seemed intent on accompanying me to Mass today.

I fetched my Blackberry to take a picture of these little birds who were so close to me in the bushes that lined the trail. One of them lit in my outstretched hand and with my free hand I was able to take a picture of my little feathered friend. At once I my eyes filled with tears and I thought of our seraphic father St. Francis. I was truly blessed today as I made my way up the path to the Eucharist. What a great blessing to hold one of these little creatures in my hand.

Today’s readings were special too. I loved the second reading from St. Paul and the one line that reads, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it.” This was reassurance in God’s word that my paper and those of many more students would be completed. I’m sure that reading means something different to everyone, but to me today it was a great reminder that my life is ordered by a power greater than me.  The gospel too is one that I love and each year it’s proclamation is special.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,
when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea,
and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee,
and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region
of Ituraea and Trachonitis,
and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,
during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,
the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.
John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan,
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:
A voice of one crying out in the desert:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” — Luke 3:1-6

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Language of the heart

Today was a great day. It was a mix of many emotions as we celebrated the life of a good friend and bid him goodbye too. A few days ago Sister Death came to take my friend Paul to his eternal reward. Today we gathered first at the funeral home, later in St. Joseph’s Maronite Catholic Church in Olean, then St. Bonaventure Cemetery and finally a nice luncheon at EB’s Restaraunt in the village of Allegany. I loved Paul. He was a friend, a mentor, and a champion rolled into one.

Today as the bag piper played and we carried his coffin into St. Joe’s and emotion surfaced I thought of my friend and his life that touched so many of us. I met him almost thirty years ago on a street corner in Olean. What happened to the last thirty years. Time is fleeting. In that span I got to know him well and we shared many good times and great insights. A few years ago Paul and his wife Doris joined St. Joseph’s after the Diocese of Buffalo closed their home parish of St. John the Baptist in Vandalia, NY.

I’d never been to a Maronite Catholic Mass until today. I loved listening to Fr. Joseph Akiki as he blessed Paul and us with incense and his words. There were many memorable moments in the service but one of them was the consecration when Fr. Joseph intoned what sounded like Aramaic, the language of Jesus as he blessed the bread and wine. I spoke with him in EB’s Restaraunt later and asked him about the blessing and he assured me it was in Aramaic or more correctly Syriac which he said was the language of Christ. I felt a strong presence of Christ in that church today as we said farewell to our friend Paul and heard the lovely Syriac words from Fr. Joe.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7un_acmxVD8]

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Healer of my soul

I love the lyrics of this song. So peaceful and reassuring are the words of John Michael Talbot. A couple of days ago our friend Paul Kelly passed from this life to the next. Death need not be what we have made it and as a Franciscan I am comforted by St. Francis’ own welcome of Sister Death as he called her. Death is after all a part of life and without it we could not go on. We will all miss Paul with his wit and wisdom which he shared with us all. Today I took a drive along the Allegany River as it winds its way along Interstate 86 in New York’s southern tier. The gray mists that shrouded the mountain tops to the south provided an ethereal backdrop and in the silence I looked up those valleys along the south bank of the river. Traveling through the towns of Allegany, Vandalia, Limestone and then south to Bradford, PA I thought of my friend Paul and our many trips along this same route.

More than anything else today I felt grateful. The excitement of Thanksgiving and the reunion with family along with Paul’s death provided peak moments. Today there was peace and memories. I love this song and its lyrics. I hope you enjoy it too.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amEntTOmwMA]

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Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who reads this blog. Later today our family will begin to arrive at our home and we’ll once more be re-united with those we hold close to our hearts. My mother, 83 years young will be here along with Diane’s Mom and Dad. Our children will be here and also my brothers and sisters in law and a couple of cute little girls who are the new generation of grand-children in the family. God has been good to us and to me in particular. I’m planning on driving to Mt. Irenaeus for Mass later this morning. The friars celebrate Eucharist at 11 AM. It’s very quiet as I sit here this morning in the dawn’s early light. It’s overcast today, but I know that somewhere the sun in shining. I’m brewing a pot of coffee and enjoying the smell of it perking.

I’m thankful for this year. There is renewed purpose in my life. I’m teaching again and attending graduate school at St. Bonaventure University. I’m learning anew and being challenged by my classmates and professor. Five months has made a big difference in my life. A retreat at Mt. Irenaeus, taking inventory and sharing with my friend led to a renewed spirit. “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect,” from Romans 12:2. I think of how much the scriptures inform and transform my life.

My friend, Paul is being greeted by Sister Death and I’ve had the privilege of being with him and his family as he leaves this life bound for the next. Paul has been sick for a couple of months. He’s 87 and he broke his hip in late September. It’s been a tough couple of months for he and his family but he’s at peace and so are they. Sure there is grief, but amidst the grief there is much happiness for a life well lived. I’ve know Paul for 30 years and in that time we’ve grown very close. He’s been a rock in my life and as he grew older and his eyes dimmed many of us helped him get to where he needed to be. He lives almost ten miles from nowhere in hamlet that is almost forgotten. We help ourselves most when we help others and our concern for Paul and his needs have drawn us closer together. The night he fell he was surrounded by brothers, most of them half his age. It has been something to witness this tremendous outpouring of love. One of Paul’s favorite poems became one of my favorites and whenever I think of him I think of it. It’s a story of our lives and it’s a story of redemption too and all of us who knew Paul have been redeemed.

I FLED Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
‘All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.’

You can read the whole poem here. We will all miss Paul, but I for one am very thankful that our paths crossed and for thirty years we were friends and that he shared so much of his life and insight with me and with us.

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Intercollegiate Weekend

I made my way along the roads today to Mt. Irenaeus. It’s been a couple of Sunday since my last visit. Last week I was a bit under the weather with a touch of what the doctor said was pneumonia. Glad to have that behind me as I drive along this morning. The weather is an inviting fifty degrees and headed even warmer.

The leaves have all fallen from the trees and the woods are ready for winter. We’ve even had a couple of snow storms. Driving through Cuba, and then the back road to “Fightin’ Corners” and then a right turn down Route 275 to the hamlet of Nile. Then a right turn and a stop at Times Square and another right turn onto Allegany County Route 1. It’s only about four miles now to the Mountain as we call it. It’s been almost ten years since I first came here. What a journey. A journey of faith and growth. A left turn onto Hydetown Road from the paved surface and then almost two miles until I arrive. After making my way into the House of Peace with my offering of eggs, orange juice and coffee cake I spy the tell tale signs of students, a back pack or two and some books.

I stow my goods and then up the path to the chapel. The woods are lovely today and we’re enjoying an extended Indian Summer. My steps are light along the trail as I make my way to the chapel. Once inside I spot Josiah and the students from Houghton, joining them are students from Alfred State, and St. Bonaventure. I can see Michael from SBU. He’s a new face this year, a transfer and he loves the mountain. This is the intercollegiate weekend and there are lots of young faces, a professor from Houghton College, a few friars, a few seculars and a sprinkling of other visitors. I sit next to my friend Duane Karl, a regular hear at the Mountain. It’s good to be home after a couple of weeks away. Fr. Lou McCormick, OFM is our celebrant. We introduce ourselves as is customary at the Mountain. I’m no longer just a secular Franciscan from nearby Franklinville. I’m also a graduate student at St. Bonaventure University. I’m happy about my expanded role. This has been a wonderful fall and I have much to be grateful for. I brought my new Flip Camera and I’ve recorded some of my journey here today and some of the sights and sounds of Mt. Irenaeus. I hope that you enjoy them. Next week I’ll be out of town, but I’ll be back for Thanksgiving. I can’t stay away long. It’s the air that fills my lungs. It’s home!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgzoXdfx_eg]

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25th Anniversary

Yesterday, I drove over to Mt. Irenaeus for the celebration of the Mountain’s 25th Anniversary. I’ve been a part of the last ten of those years and also as Minister of the St. Irenaeus Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order I was to be part of a ceremony marking the profession of two of our candidates. Originally all of the festivities were to occur outside and under some tents on the retreat centers spacious grounds. Mother nature had other plans as snow began falling Thursday night and by midday on Saturday there was 7 inches on the ground at Mt. Irenaeus.

Outside activities were not to be yesterday. So, everything moved inside. By the time the Cyprian Consiglio concert with John Pennington began about 4 pm there were almost 200 people crowded into the House of Peace. I’ve never seen so many people in the house and was amazed that the structure sustained it. I have heard Cyprian and John before and there music is great. Cyprian had much to say about St. Francis and one of the songs he and John performed really touched my heart and those who were at the concert yesterday. St. Francis of Assisi’s “Praises of God” are said to be influenced by the 99 beautiful names of God that he learned from his encounter with the Sultan.

Bismilah, Bismilah. ArRahman, ArRahim, bismilah

That translates, “In the name of God, the Compassionate and Merciful.” We were blessed by Cyprian’s music and ministry. Mass followed the concert and then the profession of two of our newest Secular Franciscans. It was a great day.

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Abbey

Yesterday, I spent part of the day driving to Abbey of the Geneseee. It’s one of my favorite haunts and I hadn’t been there in at least a month. Since today was a holiday there were a few more people than are normally there on a Monday. The store was busy and now the monks have a cashier who is there to take the money or in my case credit card. I picked up four Monks Brownies for friends. That all came after I spent perhaps 45 minutes in the chapel sitting quietly in the presence of the Holy Spirit. I love to come to that chapel and just sit and sometimes to nap a bit as I did today. I don’t go there to nap, but when I’m rested as I am in the presence of God it just comes naturally. I love the quiet and the mystical presence of the Eucharist in that spot. I know that God is everywhere but he seems more present there for some reason and I enjoy visiting him there. I usually sit as I did today just quietly listening for the still small voice. I think it was Herman Melville who said, “silence is the only voice of God.” I wholeheartedly agree.

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In the woods..

Today I went to Mass at Mt. Irenaeus and it was a lovely day to be sure. Blue skies with temperatures hovering around 65F at 11:00am when Mass started. The chapel was full of young men from St. Bonaventure University. The celebrant today was, Fr. Dan Riley, OFM. There were a number of young folks and a theology professor and his family from nearby Houghton College too. Several Secular Franciscans were there and then some other visitors. Fr. Dan’s homily challenged us all to lead but at the same time to keep our ego out of it and instead to follow what Christ said in today’s Gospel, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

I liked that verse and the theme of Dan’s homily because it seemed to resonate with what I’ve been reading in the Educational Leadership course I’ve been taking at St. Bonaventure University this semester. Leaders who aren’t servants aren’t usually very effective leaders or their power is only contained in their ability to force or control what a person does. Real leadership that really changes people and paradigms comes from servant leadership like that practiced by Jesus in the Gospel.

After Mass and Brunch I took a walk up to the top of the land at Mt. Irenaeus. I was going to walk the labyrinth, but since there already some people doing that I thought I’d walk up to Naomi’s knoll, from there I walked along the “Hope” trail until it intersected the “Peace” trail. Eventually my walk led me to one of my favorite places at Mt. Irenaeus and that is La Posada. La Posada is the most primitive hermitage at Mt. Irenaeus and it’s about a ten minute walk from nearly all the other buildings. I like to visit there. It’s like visiting God’s own house. I went inside, read the reflection book which contains the thoughts of the dozens of people who have written reflections of their stay at Mt. Irenaeus. Then I sat in a soft chair near the center of the cabin and in no time I was asleep. I slept in this place for almost forty minutes. It must have been what I needed. I’ll be back to La Posada but I carry her in my heart wherever I go.

La Posada is symbolic of the place where Jesus was born. It seems fitting that this small hermitage named for the birthplace of Christ would be one of my favorite haunts.