Tag: Franciscan

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Grateful

Last night I was walking back to my car from Friedsam Library at St. Bonaventure University and I as I looked into the night I could barely make out the familiar lines of Merton’s Heart. It’s a clearing on the mountainside just south of the campus of St. Bonaventure University. As I looked up and thought of Merton, my life and St. Bonaventure University I was filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude that my life has taken this new turn. Just four months ago I had contemplated retirement and now I’m very much in the thick of academic rigor again. I’m learning a great deal and I’m enjoying the discourse, much of it “online” in our Moodle format for the course in Educational Leadership and School Law.

In retrospect I wish I’d have done this earlier, but where and how that would have been possible I really don’t know. Just Saturday night at the Mt. Irenaeus 25 year celebration I had dinner with Sr. Eleanor and she related how she returned to graduate school at 57. At every turn I’m greeted by people who encourage me. I like my classes to at Franklinville Central School. I’ve been blessed with great students who challenge me at every turn and force me to learn software and programming that I wouldn’t otherwise.

Last night as I walked up the steps and into Friedsam Library at St. Bonaventure I thought again of Tom Merton and how I’m following his footsteps once again. It’s almost mid-night here at home and I’m just finishing my homework seated next to our pellet stove which radiates a good bit of heat. Deo Gratias!

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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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Sunday thoughts

Today I made my weekly trip to Mt. Irenaeus. It was a lovely morning and when I first arrived I met Br. Kevin who is a good friend. He was walking toward the House of Peace and after dropping off some groceries for brunch I accompanied Kevin up the path toward the chapel. As we walked I could see overripe elderberries hanging from their bushes. Kevin and I talked about how he had prepared elderberry preserves last year, but not this year.

Once inside the chapel I spotted many familiar faces. Several present were members of our St. Irenaeus Secular Franciscan fraternity. Others were parents of St. Bonaventure alumni and others were Mountain regulars. Four of those present were students from nearby Houghton College. A Houghton alumni member who currently is on the faculty of Daemen College in Buffalo and me the spouse of a Houghton graduate. Amazingly there were more Houghton students than St. Bonaventure students.

Mass began and our celebrant, Fr. Lou McCormick, OFM led us in the opening song. The readings were very powerful for me today. Especially the second reading from James. A familiar quote of “faith without works,” was part of that reading and that got me paying attention a bit more. Fr. Lou’s homily on the readings and in particular the gospel caused me to see where I’d been in an error lately. I hadn’t been picking up my cross and following Christ. I’d been complaining a bit more than necessary about a situation where I believe I’d been wronged, but complaining no longer seems to work, at least in that situation so I have to pick up my cross and follow. The Serenity Prayer has a line about “wisdom to know the difference,” and today’s readings and homily helped me to see and know that difference.

After brunch and an extended visit with the Houghton students I wandered back up the hill toward the labyrinth and walked it very mindfully. I really tried to stay in the moment and be cognizant of what I was doing. After my contemplative walk I took a nap on one of the benches near the labyrinth. I had a sense of peace as I walked and later drove down from the Mountain. Merton’s prayer was with me as I walked and it continues to be with me at times. “My Lord God I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead…” Yet, I continue to walk the road which much like the labyrinth continues to twist and turn.

Those are my thoughts this day and into the night. I’m looking forward to working with the students again this week. I’m surprised and challenged by their excitement. I’m challenged by the graduate classes I’m involved with at St. Bonaventure too. I cannot imagine a schedule that could be more full. I’m almost overwhelmed at times.

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Holy is His Name

I love this song by John Michael Talbot. In fact as I listened to it Sunday morning on my drive over to Mt. Irenaeus I could not stop crying. The gift of tears is wonderful at times. It is such a lovely song I’m including it for you to listen too. Maybe it’s just what you need right now. I haven’t stopped listening either. I fell asleep listening to it last night on Youtube.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aYecuDlDYM]

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
And my spirit exalts in God my savior
For he has looked with mercy on my lowliness
And my name will be forever exalted.
For the mighty God has done great things for me
An his mercy will reach from age to age

And holy, holy, holy is His name.

He has mercy in every generation
He has revealed His power and His glory
He has cast down the mighty in their arrogance
And has lifted up the meek and the lowly
He has come to help His servant Israel
He remembered His promise to our fathers

And holy, holy, holy is His name.
And holy, holy, holy is His name.

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Starbucks

This summer I’ve been brewing Starbucks nearly every morning in a two-cup coffee maker that we’ve inherited from our daughter who left it here on a vacation a year or so ago. Having a summer off is a luxury for most folks and it was for me this year. I like my coffee black, aromatic and flavorful and Starbucks provides that better than almost any other blend. I must say that Dunkin’ Donuts does have good coffee too, but I’ve not brewed that at home.

I wasn’t always a Starbucks lover. I’m really indebted to my friend Br. Joe Kotula, OFM who got me going. Joe and I have been on some road trips together for ministry events held at least a couple of times at the St. Francis Springs Prayer Center in North Carolina. Traveling over 500 miles one way to get there provided ample time for a number of stops and more often than not Joe chose a place that served Starbucks. It’s funny how associations form in our minds and in my mind every time I see Starbucks I think of Joe and our trips to North Carolina. When I think of Br. Joe it reminds me of the Franciscans and Peace. Brother Joe is synonymous with peace, connectedness, St. Francis and of course Christ. There is a lot wrapped up in my association with Starbucks and its about peace and all good. Pax et Bonum, the motto of Holy Name Province and of Franciscans everywhere.

As I think about it now it’s all very Franciscan, without preaching a word, Br. Joe and the Holy Spirit formed an association for me with peace and all good and every time I brew a cup of Starbucks it’s a call to holiness. It doesn’t get any better than that.

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Finger labyrinth

I remember the first time I ever walked a labyrinth. It was at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, AZ. I remember how calming and centering that was. Since then I’ve had an attraction to labyrinths. A month ago while attending an Evening of Re-Creation at nearby Mt. Irenaeus I snapped a picture of their labyrinth. The picture posted to Facebook invited a conversation which saw me read Daniel Pink’s book, “A Whole New Mind.” It was from Dan Pink’s book that obtained a web link to the Labyrinth Company and now I’m the owner of my own finger labyrinth.

I ordered it last week and it finally arrived in today’s mail. It’s very exciting and restful to know that I now have my labyrinth and that I can use it whenever I might. I took it out of it’s case today and traced the path with my index finger. I had a peculiar sense as I moved my finger around that path. A sense of peace and stability ensued. I’m going to keep trying to use my labyrinth everyday. I want to bring it into my classroom at school but I’m going to wait for an opportune moment.

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Stepping down

In a couple of months I’ll be stepping down as fraternity minister for our St. Irenaeus Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order. I really enjoy being a Secular Franciscan and lately I’ve been a bit more active in wearing my Tau. I’ve been challenged in that regard by my friend Br. Kevin Kriso, OFM. I’ve enjoyed being the minister of our fraternity at times and not enjoyed it at other times. I’m unorthodox and that is one of my strengths, but I sometimes find myself at odds with those around me a bit more tied to orthodoxy than I. I guess living the way I do, by the seat of my pants at times is unsettling to those folks.

One person in particular took issue with my use of Google Apps to facilitate communication amongst our fraternity and more than once in the last few years I’ve thought of how using technology like Moodle we’d be able to form individuals wanting to be Franciscans, but unable either by distance or family requirements to make our meetings. There is precedent for such activities as St. Clare formed Agnes of Prague by writing letters to her.

It was the website of the monastery of Christ in the Desert that reached out to me almost fifteen years ago and brought me slowly back to the church and eventually the Secular Franciscan Order. Being a web developer, a Blackberry user, a tweeter on Twitter and a blogger on WordPress much of this just seems to flow, but there are some folks that this sort of activity is either threatening or frightening to. A couple of years ago while spending time at St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia I noted that Fr. Michael Duffy, OFM was actually sending and receiving text messages in the middle of the dining room there. To some technology use seems un-godly I suppose and to others like me it’s just one more way of carrying a message of hope and reaching out to those around us.

In a couple of months I’ll return to being just another member of the Secular Franciscan Order. I’ve been a minister for three years and a secretary for three years before that. It’s time for a break. My plate is going to be very full this year doing varied tasks including graduate school. Quiet contemplative time continues to grow in my life and it’s something I crave more and more.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven: — Ecclesiastes 3:1

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Lunch

Today I decided to drive over to Mt. Irenaeus to check on some records necessary for an upcoming regional visitation for our Secular Franciscan Fraternity. When I at the Mountain I checked in at the House of Peace with Sr. Beth, a Stella Niagara Franciscan, who was working in the kitchen preparing lunch for she and Fr. Dan Hurley, OFM. She invited me to join them and so I did. I hadn’t gone there expecting lunch. We ate left-overs which at Mt. Irenaeus can be sumptuous. We dined at the table on the screened in porch and Fr. Dan blessed our meal. My eyes misted over as Dan Hurley asked the Lord to bless our meal. I hadn’t come here expecting a blessing or even a meal but that is what I got. After lunch I went and checked our records and decided to walk the labyrinth and spend some quiet time in the chapel. By the time I’d completed the labyrinth, Br. Joe Kotula, OFM had arrived and following some quiet time in the chapel I joined he, Sr. Beth and Fr. Dan Hurley at the house for a short time. Going to the Mountain was just what I needed today.

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Excitement

Yesterday I got news that I’d been accepted into the M.S. in Educational Leadership at St. Bonaventure University. I am beginning a course of study which I hope will prove interesting and provide me with needed professional growth. September 4, 1957 as a four year old boy I entered a Franciscan institution. Now, fifty-two years later I’m doing the same thing. I was excited then and I’m excited now. The most poignant memory I have of 1957 is riding the bus to that school. In the ensuing nine years I became a graduate of St. Piux X School in Delevan, New York and was formed and informed by the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany. Little did I know what a profound effect they had on my life.

Much has changed in the past fifty years but the values that have formed my life came from my parents and those tireless Allegany Franciscan Sisters. It was they who taught me to read and what a gift that has been to a curious fellow like me. it was those sisters and later Franciscan friars at Archbishop Walsh in Olean who would animate my life in ways that I never imagined. I remember sitting in study hall as a high school freshman looking west at the tiled roofs of the campus of St. Bonaventure University. I remember following the St. Bonaventure basketball team. Bob Lanier, Bill Kalbaugh, Paul Hoffman, Matt Gantt and Greg Gary stirred my young imagination. I attended only one game at the Reilly Center in 1967 but, I often followed their exploits on my AM radio. I watched the “Big Cat” and his mates subdue the Purdue Boilermakers on television with my Dad and brother.

Much of my life has centered around St. Bonaventure and now I’m a student. I’m enrolled in a program that will see me attending classes at St. Bonaventure’s Buffalo center at Hilbert College and taking much of the course of study on-line. I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m excited nonetheless.

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A whole new paradigm

Wednesday night found my wife and I on our way to Mt. Irenaeus for an Evening of Re-Creation. Diane doesn’t usually accompany me and so having her along was special for a number of reason. We were a bit late getting there in time for the Mass that began Wednesday’s evening. As we walked from the parking lot near Holy Peace Chapel we passed by the labyrinth. I pulled my Blackberry out, snapped a picture and shared it on Facebook with my friends. We enjoyed our evening very much. When I returned home and logged into Facebook I could see that two of my friends had commented on the picture of the labyrinth. One expressed delight and the other mentioned that Daniel Pink mentions labyrinths in his book, “A Whole New Mind.” I respect both of my friends a great deal and so a conversation is begun about the labyrinth and Dan Pink.

I did some googling and became interested in purchasing “A Whole New Mind.” At work the next day another of my friends had seen the picture and discussion too and she volunteers some insights which further pique my interest in both labyrinths and Pink’s book. Rick offered to bring the book to work the next day, but when I get home on Thursday, curiosity gets the best of me and I decided to purchase the book from iTunes and so that’s what happens. I began listening to the book immediately and in short it’s been great to listen to. In fact much of my experience with the collaborative nature of this story is very right brained. I’m amazed too that my own experience at Mt. Irenaeus and my spiritual journey have left me advantaged once again. In the past almost ten years I’ve become increasingly aware that I’m a contemplative and a mystic, so Dan Pink’s book resonated very much with what I’ve experienced at the Mountain and elsewhere.

The very first labyrinth I ever experienced was at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, AZ.  A year or so later the friars built the labyrinth at Mt. Irenaeus. In that time I’ve found myself walking both of them at different times and each time I found the experience grounding. Pink’s primary premise is that success today comes from a right brained paradigm. Labyrinths promote or facilitate right brained thinking which may hold the keys to success in today’s marketplace and society.

I highly recommend “A Whole New Mind,” it’s a very interesting book with  great insights.  Pink’s book has led me to topics like Laughter Yoga and more reading on labyrinths and how they are being used in hospitals and schools. Here is a great link to a virtual labyrinth at Grace Cathedral.  I’ve lalso learned of Martin Seligman’s Authentic Happiness site.

How did all of this happen? It was a smartphone photo sent to Facebook which invited a collaborative response or responses. These technologies didn’t exist five or ten years ago and like Dan Pink’s book they make possible changes in the way we work and learn. Maybe we should change schools and teaching in general to a more right brained paradigm.