Time Given Freely

Friars know how to take their time when it comes to celebration. It is one of their great gifts. It is a sign of their freedom as children of God, the great Giver.

Today was the ceremony of affiliation for the lay woman who for ten years was the manager of the Capuchin vocation office. We the postulants accompanied two of the brothers from St. Michael Friary to Sacred Heart and St. Clare Friaries in Yonkers to transform the dining room into a banquet hall for about 50 guests. We arrived three full hours before the ceremony started, and of course with so many hands, we did not have three hours' work to do. We went early anyway because we wanted to fraternize with the senior friars who reside in gentle retirement at St. Clare and with the brothers who minister at Sacred Heart. And there were other brothers who came from White Plains, Manhattan, and even Boston to pay their respects to the lady who helped open wide the door opening into their destiny with the Capuchins.

The ceremony itself was a simple enough affair -- hymns, a liturgy of the word, a respectful tribute from the vocation director, an extension of hands for a blessing, and a presentation of the certificate of affiliation and medal of the Province of St. Mary to welcome our honorary Capuchin sister. At forty minutes, the service was the epitome of economy and good liturgical taste.

All the better for the extended blessing of conviviality to follow. The worship done, we adjourned to the dining hall for a meal where company lingered for two and a half hours. No one felt rushed; few of us felt the urge to disperse quickly, not even the friars destined for Boston for Sabbath ministries.

In the generous company of my brothers, I am practicing how to take my time at table. Thus far I am enjoying myself in their company, acknowledging my enjoyment, and learning to value it. In the eyes of God, I hope I am acquitting myself well. It has not always been so easy to give my time so freely for no other reason than to be a family of spiritual brothers and sisters -- merely to be familiar with my intended friends as friends.

There will be time for the giving that empties oneself radically for the sake of the reign of God. Tomorrow I will worship at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in the Lower East Side before visiting the occupation at Wall Street, and I know I will be itching afterward to rush the barricades once more. All in good time; all in God's time; all in a way I cannot yet foretell. But for now it is time for a giving that fills, a giving that builds up trust among my brothers and all who wish us well. This giving does good for us, because it speeds our conversion, and it fortifies us, in compassion, for the great emptying that awaits every religious brother and sister.