Keeping on the Way

Lectio Divina

Wait eagerly for the LORD,

and keep his way.

Psalm 37:34

Library

Continuing with Crosby, Celibacy, and Miller, Dorothy Day, as before. Got the new issue of National Catholic Reporter.

Log

My folks in New York are all right, despite damage to utilities. They lost electricity but either got it back or employed backup power. Telecommunications are spotty, but they got e-mail messages to me. My family is okay, but there are a lot of people in need right now. Thinking about what I can do from where I am without access to personal wealth or other immediate means to relieve suffering.

Today, the day of recollection, led by the provincial minister of the Province of Saint Conrad, on the theme of Capuchin saints, including the virtues of our officially (and unoffically) recognized saints and the characteristics of a distinctly Capuchin Franciscan holiness. Our conferences included an examination of the Capuchin Constitutions for wisdom concerning our way of holiness. Would have liked to hear about the connection between personal holiness and social holiness, or of the spiritual unity we share with all the churches of Christ, Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox, through the communion of all saints in Christ, whatever their tradition. Maybe a word or two about women saints, too, but the time is short, and this is among the first occasions I have had to reckon with the holy men of the Capuchin tradition and the Rule and Constitutions that charter for us a pathway to salvation.

We have had three days of recollection so far in this novitiate year. Generally I get as much if not more out of the great silences of the days then from the conferences themselves. This is to take nothing away from our presenters, but after all, our first teacher is the Spirit of God, and I have "heard" her "speaking" to me, sounding in the deepest parts of me on these days. What I suppose is that the form of the day is just as important if not more so than the substance of the presentations. It goes to show that our hours can be organized in such a way as to dispose us toward, or distract us from, the presence of God. This God is like a wave of water, is lapping always gently at the edges of our consciousness. Will we keep mounding berms to keep the water of life outside, or will we build canals to let it flow, let it wash over us and into our souls?

Spent my time in between the conferences, Eucharist, and holy hour walking around our spacious grounds, taking some trails I had not walked before. How beautiful, and how fleeting this time in novitiate. It's going to be over so quickly.

Going gently into the evening. Tomorrow, a trip to Oso Flaco Lake, a California state park, for some hiking, picknicking, and gazing at God's created wonders.

Weather

Storms are fleeting. The sun is everlasting.