Tag: Franciscan

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The Storm

It’s storming now and kind of frightening with all the news from the mid-west of tornadoes. I am scared too but welcome the peaceful sound of the rain, wind and lightning too as it is all produced by the creator of heaven and earth.

Altissimu, onnipotente bon Signore. – Most high, all powerful, all good Lord! — Francis of Assisi.

It’s from the Canticle of the Sun. It is scary but welcome too. I am tired and not just bone weary but tired of chicanery everywhere.  Today one I was told at my work that I  was not to make peace. The person doesn’t know that I work for the King of Kings and my job is to make peace. I welcome the peace of Christ even in the midst of this storm. I am still and know that you are God. I am still and know. I am still. I am here and I am waiting for you. Altissimu, omnipotente bon Signore! Pace.

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Graduation

Tomorrow I graduate from St. Bonaventure University with a Master of Science in Education in Educational Leadership. Two years ago there was no thought about such a reality but in the past 22 months something happened. I have been on “The Good Journey.” In less than two years I have completed 35 graduate hours. I’ve completed 831.5 hours of internships in Special Education, Curriculum, Assistant Principal and been an assistant to a superintendent. My daughter, Dara who graduated in December 2010 from St. Bonaventure University has been an inspiration to me. She graduated from State University College at Fredonia, Summa Cum Laude with a 3.98 gpa a couple of years ago and then graduated from St. Bonaventure with a 4.0 gpa. Through God’s grace and good fortune I too have made that mark. In the process I have been nominated to Pi Lamda Theta and graciously accepted.

On the road to this degree I have met with many wonderful classmates whom I will miss a great deal. I have been blessed to have a great adviser and great professors from whom I have learned. Where does the road lead now? I really don’t know. I do know that I have enjoyed these last almost two years and I am proud to be graduating from St. Bonaventure University tomorrow. Franciscans have played a tremendous role in my educational life. From grade school, high school and now a graduate degree from St. Bonaventure University.

Tomorrow I become an alumni of an institution that I have admired much of my life. I remember looking at the tiled rooftops forty-plus years ago when I sat in study halls at nearby Archbishop Walsh High School. I came to basketball camp here. It was here too that I came on a first date with my wife. We came with our family to enjoy many basketball games. Bonaventure is home to Thomas Merton too. I have reflected often in these past months of how I was studying in the same library that Thomas studied in.   Words cannot express all that is in my heart. This has been an incredibly fulfilling journey. Pax et Bonum!

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Incarnation and Resurrection

Too often incarnation and resurrection are just words and thoughts that are too abstract for most of us to get a handle on. For Franciscans the incarnation is about the primacy of Christ. The universe exists for Christ not Christ existing for the universe. The universe and therefore all creation is for Christ. It’s not for man to defile but to give glory. Those among us who see a dichotomy between man and the universe are those who might see its defilement as desirable. There are some Catholics who got very upset because they saw a picture of someone urinating on Christ. But each and everyday we climb into our car and tool down the road we are urinating on Christ. We are defiling creation and eventually all sin has a price and ours is about to get exacted and at a tremendous cost. Perhaps we will pay with our lives and our civilization.

A conversation with my daughter yesterday let me hear how a sensitive young person sees the future. She thinks it’s too late and perhaps it is, but then again maybe there is hope of a resurrection. I hope that’s the case.

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Sit finis libri, non finis quaerendi

The Latin phrase, “Sit finis libri, non finis quaerendi,” comes from the end of Thomas Merton’s, “Seven Storey Mountain.” Merton’s books and thinking have animated much of my adult life. In a couple of weeks I’ll be officially finished with my studies at St. Bonaventure University but it won’t be the end of my journey. The last nearly two years since I decided to enroll at St. Bonaventure University have slipped by quickly and in that time I have met many interesting people and learned a great deal about educational administration.

One of my goals two years ago was to see if Franciscan principles could be applied to the world of education and in my case public education. The good news is that they can and that they might in fact point a new way forward. If not a new way, then a road less traveled. Our social fabric as a nation has been torn asunder by economic change that has seen the near death of an American middle class, the exploitation of the poor and the disenfranchised in our midst. While there are pockets of wealth and abundance in our country there are also pockets of poverty and disillusionment. Teachers, doctors, and other professionals stand in this gap on behalf of those we serve.

As I close the book at St. Bonaventure University I can’t help but think how I can use this Franciscan education and principles to serve the world around me. I am praying for God’s will and direction and I covet your prayers too. This is a link to my recently completed leadership portfolio at St. Bonaventure University.

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Happy Birthday Fr. Dan

This is about a day late, because it was at Mass this morning that I learned that this is the birthday of a beloved Friar and the protector of Mt. Irenaeus, which has become my second home in the past eleven years. Sixty-eight years ago William Francis Riley was born and raised in Rochester, New York. He often speaks of his public school legacy but eventually he would find his way to St. Bonaventure University and graduate from there and later become Fr. Daniel P. Riley, OFM.  If he hadn’t disclosed his age at Mass today most folks would think they were talking to a man twenty or thirty years younger. He has a vitality that is unmatched and a personality that attracts others easily. I first met him nearly eleven years ago when I began attending Mass at Mt. Irenaeus. I had been away from the active practice of my Catholic faith for nearly thirty years at that point. One Sunday morning in February 2000 I called the Mountain and learned how to get there. My wife and I made that first trip and it’s one that I’ve been making nearly every Sunday since. Dan has been so much a part of that journey. It was his vision to build this off campus retreat center in the hills of Allegany County in Western New York. Mt. Irenaeus is almost thirty miles from the campus of St. Bonaventure University.

From my first visit to the Mountain I felt welcomed and ultimately attracted but it was something Dan said early in my journey’s there that made me realize that I had finally come home. Mt. Irenaeus is home to many people like me who are looking for a place apart a place where solitude and the Gospel are celebrated. Mountain spirituality welcome all who come there and all are transformed by the hospitality that knows no bound. Everyone regardless of spiritual tradition is welcomed and they all know it soon after arriving.  This video embedded here was made a couple of years ago and it pays tribute to this wonderful man who is a brother and father to us all.  Happy Birthday Fr. Dan! We love you.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbCVbCn2Z4c]

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Thoughts on yesterday

Yesterday as I sat in our kitchen reading and listening to Gregorian Chant on Pandora the horrific events that happened in Tucson, AZ began to unfold. First as a tweet from @npr on Twitter  and then eventually to breaking news on Huffington Post to CNN, Fox, MSNBC, CSPAN and all around the world wide web. As I sat there in stunned grief and anguish for people I had never known nor perhaps will ever meet my heart was breaking for our country. I’m not a knee jerk liberal. I’d describe myself as  socially progressive and fiscally conservative. I’m a pro-peace veteran of the United States Navy. I love my country and I’m patriotic too. I even say the pledge to the flag in the morning with the students at the school I work at.

There are some on the left who want to ascribe all of yesterday to vitriol emanating from the right wing and there are those on the right who want to blame the left. I want to blame no one but to examine our conscience as a nation and say where to do we go from here? In the words of Rodney King, “can’t we all just get along.”  We have differences and that is what makes us strong. We need to celebrate those differences but in a way that encourages each other. I’m a Secular Franciscan and I don’t really wear that on my sleeve. In fact I go out of my way to not make statements about my faith. Instead I prefer to live what I believe. Tonight in surfing along the web I came upon a short talk by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM who is one of my favorite authors. Richard like our seraphic father St. Francis issues a clarion call that goes beyond the boundaries of any faith and instead speaks to the heart of the message of Jesus. I hope you enjoy it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swTLo8abh-I]

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Midnight Mass

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This is the way the chapel looked at Holy Peace following this year’s midnight mass. We began the experience in darkness and were escorted from our car by Brother Kevin. A local power failure had blanketed the area in darkness and just like the shepherds 2000 years ago we were greeted by an angel with a torch as the Brits call them. Our escort guided us to the chapel where we joined dozens of others in a candlelight vigil. A few minutes prior to the start of Mass the power was restored and we celebrated the Nativity of Our Lord. It was very Franciscan, lovely and mystical too.

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Mountain Madonna

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After midnight Mass we joined the friars for juice, coffee and freshly made Christmas cookies. I love this picture of Mary and Jesus and I often imagine her holding me or any of us. Protecting us from harm. “Come down we beseech you O Lord and protect us. Let your holy angels guard us and keep us in peace.”  Merry Christmas everyone. 

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Summer thoughts

Today started out rainy and I even made it all the way up to Mt. Irenaeus only to turn around and drive back down the hill.  I wasn’t ready for everyone. I have days like that. Instead I opted for a nap in Cuba, New York and then a drive to St. Bonaventure University where I eventually wound up sitting in the University Chapel enjoying a quiet time.  I learned from my boss that I’m an INFJ and this was one of those introvert moments or maybe days when I needed more introspection than that provided by attendance at the Eucharist.  I’ve been very busy this summer volunteering as a summer school principal intern in partial fulfillment of coursework I am completing at St. Bonaventure University.  On Wednesday of this week I’m scheduled to give a talk modeled after TED to a group of educators at a local teacher’s conference too. I’m a bit hyped by that too. The theme is, “What the world needs now.” I have some ideas but a life of perfection can be daunting as I’m sure you know.  One of the quotes that will form the basis of my talk comes from Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, “sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

It seems appropriate to these days of bewilderment and systemic change. Deepak Chopra has written about the creative impulse and how it is invited by the presence of uncertainty. I know that both Rumi and Chopra are right because I’ve witnessed it myself. Creativity is the fruit of uncertainty and these are uncertain times.  Just last night we found ourselves a couple of miles away from the path of a tornado. I don’t mind telling you that it was frightening. There is a metaphor in the violent storm we witnessed and the events in the world around us and my visit to the Chapel at St. Bonaventure University. I’ve come here before and sat in the quiet of this lovely spot.

Once again I think of the words of Thomas Merton about the road ahead.

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think that I am following
your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Amen.

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My soul proclaims

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. That short sentence is the beginning of the Magnificat and it’s what I was listening to this morning as I drove along the country roads leading from my home in Franklinville, New York to the Franciscan Moutain Retreat in West Clarksville. I’ve written often of Mt. Irenaeus and its my home on Sunday morning. I enjoyed the ride and on the way I prayed the Franciscan Crown Rosary and listened later to John Michael Talbot sing the Magnificat.

I was feeling very grateful this morning as I reflected on the goodness of God and his expression in my life. When I came to live in the Southern Tier a bit over thirty years ago, I was a bit down on my luck and for many years I struggled to move elsewhere. There was a restlessness that brought me some emotional discomfort from time to time. In the past ten years and especially since I’ve been a Franciscan coming to weekly to the Mountain as it’s called,  that drive has been eliminated. Today I was reflecting on the goodness of my creator and the beauty of my surroundings. Even though it was raining this morning I felt the presence of the Lord and thought of his many blessings.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
My spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy,
According to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.