Tag: St. Bonaventure University

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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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Francis Week

This week I actually attended more liturgical services at St. Bonaventure University than at any other time in my life. Since I’m now a graduate student there that is probably not too surprising, but it was a personal first. Last week I attended Sunday Mass and again this evening I joined the university community for a lovely Eucharist in the university chapel. When I first moved to the area in 1979 I used to come and sit in this chapel. I always liked it’s architecture and the peace that surrounded it. Tonight during the service I could hear a flock of geese as they were honking their way overhead. That seemed quite Franciscan as tonight we were marking the Feast of St. Francis. Last night I joined the university and local community along with Friars, Sister and Seculars as we marked the Transitus of St. Francis and renewed our commitment to follow the Gospel way of life in the manner of our seraphic father St. Francis. I felt honored and humbled to be in the presence of so many holy men and women. I’m grateful to be a Franciscan. I’m definitely one of the lesser brothers of the Secular Franciscan Order, but I am nonetheless a brother and follower of our Christ and St. Francis. Pace e Bene!

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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.

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Chilly

Tonight is feeling a bit more like fall. It’s down in the high forties. It’s almost midnight as I sit here blogging about my day. Although it’s a bit cool, I’m at peace in this hermitage I enjoy in our home. There is nothing like silence and solitude and I experience much of that each day. I enjoy my time at work and socializing with many friends, but I enjoy my time alone. Though I have a 26″ LCD monitor I cannot remember the last time I used it. It’s been at least a month. What began as a Lenten activity almost ten years ago has become a way of life. A life that includes less and less of what is commonly called the news. A life that includes less and less of what might be called entertainment. When I do watch television, it is only for a brief period and usually without sound. Sporting events without commentary are almost like going to games at the stadium. I do enjoy reading Huffington a bit on the internet, but even my consumption of Huffington is way down. I find all the bickering debilitating and the less I have of it in my life, the happier I am.

This fall I’m in graduate school at St. Bonaventure University, teaching a couple of classes in our school system, working as the technology director and working at my small business. I even found time to exercise on the elliptical a couple of times this week. Soon I’ll be sleeping and then another day will present itself. Actually the new day has begun already and I’m almost ready to sleep. I love the quiet and stillness here on the edge of the woods.

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Growth

Summer is a time of growth and my summer has certainly been that this year for me.  This spring or at least early June didn’t start out that way. I thought it was the end and that I’d be leaving and going elsewhere to begin a retirement and whatever that may have held. I even had a verse picked out which I liked and it was from the Second chapter of Paul’s letter to Timothy.

the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith

This summer I discovered that there were other plans in store for me and one of them was to get a much needed break, a respite from my work of the past ten years. I spent much of the early part of this summer actually sleeping in and enjoying getting up at 7 or 8 and having a fresh cup of brewed Starbucks. A post card from St. Bonaventure University, a thought from my higher power, encouragement from friends and family and I’m back in the fray but with a slightly different direction.

This morning it’s a bit chilly. I think it’s 45 F outside. It feels like autumn, but it’s not autumn in my life any more. My life has a sense of spring in it, a sense of redemption and metanoia. I’ve thought often of Thomas Merton’s prayer, “My Lord God I have no idea where I am going, I do not see the road ahead of me, ..”. I’m not sure where it will end but I know that the power that animates and directs me is moving me forward. My friend David offered a word of encouragement yesterday as we met in the school parking lot. All around me people have encouraged my re-directed path. Yesterday, I thought a lot of my Dad and how much I missed him. Dad’s been gone 36 years, but yesterday his spirit was with me. This summer has been a pivotal time in my life, a new direction has been taken and I’m not really the author of it, I’m just responding to the direction and sometimes with a bit of hesitancy but I’m moving forward.

If anything this spring and summer I’ve had a sense of Psalm 23. Time after time I’ve been led beside still waters and each time I remember the verse, “He leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul.” My soul has been restored and I’m moving forward. Thank you to all who have prayed for me as it must be your prayers and thoughts that have sparked this transformation. I am not the author of these changes. I am reminded of another favorite prayer and one that hangs near the coat rack at Mt. Irenaeus.

It is not you that shapes God
it is God that shapes you.
If you are the work of God
await the hand of the artist
who does all things in due season.
Offer Him your heart,
soft and tractable,
and keep the form
in which the artist has fashioned you.
Let your clay be moist,
lest you grow hard
and lose the imprint of his fingers.

– St. Irenaeus

I have not lost the imprint of his fingers.

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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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Dan Riley, OFM

I’ve seen this video a few months ago, but tonight I came to it off a Twitter feed from St. Bonaventure University. I first met Dan Riley in the winter of 2000. I came to Mt. Irenaeus in search of I don’t know what. I had been leading a Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle and I was looking for something more. Coming to Mt. Irenaeus was a stretch as I’d been away from the active practice of my faith for almost thirty years at that point. I’d become disillusioned with the a church that didn’t seem to live up to its mission, at least in my own eyes. I’d read Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen and was an occasional visitor to Abbey of the Genesee, but I was not a regular communicant until that Sunday in February 2000. I don’t know if Dan was the celebrant that first Sunday, but I met him very soon after coming to Mt. Irenaeus and I distinctly remember that it was a homily by Dan on Holy Thursday night of 2000 that brought me back home. His manner bespeaks a man who is the epitome of what it is to be a Franciscan. Fr. Dan taught me how to be holy by being wholly myself.

This video pays tribute to Dan and the sharing of these students demonstrates that Dan’s ministry transcends generations. Recently he was honored by St. Bonaventure University with the Gaudete Award. It’s the highest award given by St. Bonaventure University. I saw him on campus on Thursday and he was as warm as ever.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbCVbCn2Z4c]

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Regina Fratrum Minorum

Regina Fratrum Minorum is what is written on the lintel above the entry into this small side chapel which is adjacent to the University chapel at St. Bonaventure University. Translated literally I think it means, “Queen of the Friars Minor.” Mary held a very special place in St. Francis of Assisi’s heart and it’s depicted in this mural behind the altar in this small chapel. I used to come here and sit when I first moved to the area in 1979. I loved the quiet and peace and I always felt very secure in this chapel. Today when I was on campus at St. Bonaventure University waiting for the staff of Graduate Admissions to return from lunch I walked into the University Chapel and then here.

Today was a homecoming and an epiphany for me. Yesterday, I formally applied for admission to the University and today I met with the head of the department I will be a student in. I wanted to stop by admissions too and make sure that I was covering all the bases. With some extra time following a great lunch at Cafe La Verna I stopped by this chapel and sat where I sat so many years ago and thought how much my life had changed and how grateful I am for the direction it took and continues to take. I thought too of the Franciscan influence in my life and how these men and women in brown had so deeply influenced my life. I began my formal education at St. Pius X School in Delevan, New York in 1957. Fifty-two years later I’m in the process of application at St. Bonaventure University. How much my life has been formed by Franciscans.

Today, as I walked about the campus I discovered that I knew many people.  I met Dr. Gibbs who will be in charge of my education here. At Graduate Admissions I met Tina Dewe,  a woman whom I still owe an airplane ride. I talked to  Br. Ed Coughlan and Fr. Dan Riley.  In fact Dan Riley has more to do with me being at St. Bonaventure other than my wife and daughter than probably anyone else I know.  It was a homily on Holy Thursday night nearly ten years ago delivered by Dan that brought me home to my roots. Although the experience of a student is new, the surroundings are old and familiar. I did get to sit in St. Joseph’s Oratory for the first time in my life. I’ve passed it many times throughout the years and been intrigued but never had a chance to venture in until today.  St. Bonaventure has always held a special place in my heart. I remember sitting in study hall at Archbishop Walsh high school and looking south at the orange tile rooftops. It was here that I attended basketball camp in the summer of 1970. It was here that my wife and I came on our first date almost twenty-eight years ago. Here it was that our son Devin began to play organized basketball in  Butler Gymnasium.  Here we’ve come hundreds of times to watch the Bonnies basketball teams.  Now,  my daugher and I are students.   I stopped by the bookstore to pick up a t-shirt that says St. Bonaventure University.  I look a bit more official.

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Going home

Today I applied to St. Bonaventure University Graduate School. Though I’ve never been a Bona student before, I’ve been connected to St. Bonaventure and Franciscans most of my life. Last night I attended an informational session about graduate programs at St. Bonaventure at Hilbert College, another nearby Franciscan college. I spoke with a representative of the University who happened like me to have connections to both the University at Buffalo and State University College at Fredonia. How does a guy who almost retired a month ago apply to a graduate program in educational leadership? Daily, my thoughts are of what God’s will is and most of the time I marvel at the direction my life takes. I’m reminded of Thomas Merton’s quote 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. –Thomas Merton

It’s only a step on the journey and God only knows where it will lead, but today I’ve done something very Franciscan, I’ve followed my heart.

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Abbey at sunset


Today began as I made my way to Mt. Irenaeus for Mass this morning. When I arrived there were a couple dozen young men there for a St. Bonaventure University men’s overnight. Men’s overnight’s are a part of the Friars outreach to the St. Bonaventure University Campus. It was great to see so many young men gathered and sharing in the chapel. Usually women outnumber men at Mass even at the Mountain which is home to five Franciscan Friars, but today was one of those exceptions when there were only a smattering of women and nearly three dozen men and many of them were University freshmen.

A handful of young ladies from nearby Houghton College arrived soon after the liturgy had started and I could tell that they were amazed and perhaps amused by the presence of all these Bonaventure men.  The theme of the overnight was “Wildmen, Warriors and Kings.”  It was great to see how these young guys connected with each other and with the Friars. Following Mass and a walk down to House of Peace for brunch I found myself soaking up the presence of Brother Sun whom we haven’t seen much of lately and enjoying the warmth he provided as the mercury moved above freezing. I decided to take a leisurely drive along Route 86 through the towns of Hornell, Arkport, and Dansville on my way to Abbey of the Genesee.

I arrived at the Abbey in time for Vespers. On Sunday’s vespers always includes a time of Eucharistic Adoration and I love the combination of the two. Two Sundays in a row I’ve been able to part take in adoration. Last Sunday at prior to our Secular Franciscan meeting and today at Abbey of the Genesee. After Vespers I stayed on in the chapel to soak up the silence. On leaving the chapel I stopped in the store to pick up a couple of Monks Brownies which are one of my favorite snacks and on my way to the car I took this photo of the Abbey Chapel silhouetted against the setting sun.  I thought often today of the words of Thomas Merton as he described solitude.

The more I am in it, the more I love it. One day it will possess me entirely and no man will ever see me again. ~Thomas Merton