What words come to mind when you think of Franciscan spirituality? These are a few of mine:
minority
solidarity
fraternity
humility
simplicity
compassion
patience
service
mercy
forgiveness
frugality
self-emptying
joy
At the urging of Fr. Bill Hugo, the brothers' verbal vapors coalesced into a word cloud of their own in class on Monday. Our group emphasized poverty, simplicity, and detachment. It also focused in on the Eucharist. Brother Bill thought these aspects were notable, as were our highlights of social justice. He also found it noteworthy that we did not emphasis obedience, Jesus Christ, or Mary, as Capuchins of generations past would have done. Historically, Franciscans' spirituality has been Christ-centered and focused on poverty and obedience.
After examining our spiritual keywords and our religious ancestors' values, Brother Bill offered fraternity -- or, to be more inclusive, sister-brotherhood -- as the key that unlocks the spirituality of Francis of Assisi and his descendants. Just look at the official name of our religious community, he said: it is Order of Friars Minor. "Friars Minor" means "little brothers." The very title of our religious community points to the value of relationship. We are not named for our founder, as the Benedictine monastics are (Order of St. Benedict); or for a function, like the Order of Preachers, or Dominicans, are; or for a devotion or virtue, like the Sisters of Mercy or Sisters of St. Joseph are. We are the order of little brothers. We're not "poor minors," as Francis called the group in its earliest days; he made the decisive change to "friars minor" because poverty, as significant as it was in his revolutionary way of life, was only the means to the end of fraternity.
Why fraternity; why sister-brotherhood? Why is relationship the key? For Francis, the metaphor mattered. In a world governed by political, social, and economic hierarchy, Francis found salvation by jumping off the step of the ladder on which fate, the accidents of birth, clan, and class privilege perched him, and landing with the minores, the poorest of the poor, among whom he found the "poor and humble" Jesus Christ, the image of God. Put into radical relationship with the minores, Francis was converted, liberated, and saved. In order to make sense of what God had done to him, and to illuminate the new way he was living, Francis turned to a common image -- sibling relationships -- to make everything comprehensible. The core of his spiritual insight was that men and women were being called by the example of the poor and humble Christ to be family in a different way. Taking down the ladder of hierarchy and laying it on the ground, Francis and his followers transgressed the system of worldly values represented by hierarchy and introduced forgotten egalitarian dimensions of Gospel discipleship -- collaboration, cooperation, compassion, humility, nonviolence, self-emptying -- to the people of their time and place. The metaphor of sister-brotherhood best illustrated these values, which Francis and his companions lived out not only in community, but also in their ministry, their minority, and their witness to God's mercy and justice.
Okay, time to stop for now. I hope to pick up this subject again and show you how Brother Bill unpacked the metaphor of sister-brotherhood.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
About Novitiate
Backtracking to Wednesday the 27th, when two of the novitiate program directors visited us. They politely but firmly disabused us of any illusory impressions we may have received from well-meaning brothers currently in novitiate or recently graduated from that program. We received, straight from the sources themselves, a description of aims, along with some preliminaries about the routine and regulations.
First of all, they gave us a word about the kind of attitude that will make novitiate worthwhile. It is unwise to seek merely to "put up" with the novitiate experience when formation gets to be frustrating. Do not fall for facile promises of a great year, and do not be troubled by intimations of agony, either. Novitiate is a whole new experience, and as a program of formation it is unlike anything that has come before it or will come after it. Come in humility, and come receptively.
The purpose of novitiate is to devote one's time to the cultivation of a prayerful, contemplative nature. It is a time to listen with God. It is a full year to develop and enrich one's contemplative life. It is a time to discover how God is calling you and what it is God speaks to you.
The novitiate is designed to help a brother better understand his divine vocation as a Capuchin contemplative, and the Capuchin's unique manner of being. It is a time to form the mind and heart, to test the spirits. It is an intense initiation into religious life and an opportunity to decide freely for that life.
Under a schedule of prayer, ministry, and both social and personal time, the novices live in community for twelve months. The length of time in this phase of formation is prescribed by the Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church. It is therefore a legal requirement for becoming an officially vowed religious. But it is the spirit of this time obligation that concerns us more directly here. For the structure is given to novices in order to allow them to develop a true interior life and robust spirit of prayer. The year of novitiate is like a retreat to the desert, a time of preparing and proving, such as Jesus undertook; or it is like a cave experience, such as Francis of Assisi had in the early days of his conversion, when he sought to know the will of God for him. In novitiate the brothers hope to come to an honest knowledge of themselves and the authenticity of their call to Capuchin life. A year is probably too short a period of time to complete such a soulful journey.
To guide us on this amazing and sometimes anxious and fearful journey, we have formators who are determined to promote and protect the sanctity of our quiet and prayerful environment. The formation staff is also the advisory staff: each novice will be assigned a formator who will meet regularly with him to check in on how it goes with his soul. They will offer counsel and encouragement as we discern and prepare for our taking of vows. What we share with our formation advisors is shared with all three formators but stays within their confidence. We will also have meetings with spiritual directors, and of course, confessors will be available, to whom we can entrust the most precious things in our hearts. The advisors will not pry, but they will do their best to keep tabs on the novices' well-being.
The directors described the different kinds of "time" in which novices live and move. There is personal time: this is for on-site activities such as rest, exercise, recreation, reading, prayer, hobbies, and unstructured fraternal interaction. This is a gift especially for introverted souls in need of individual time for self-care. There is prayerful time: hours dedicated to spiritual reading, contemplative prayer, and general quiet. This is a period when fraternal interaction and use of media are to be avoided. There is hermitage time: a recent innovation in the Capuchin novitiate, it is an extended length of time, usually an entire afternoon, for prayerful silence. And there is communal recreation: the brothers gather for conversation and conviviality.
Some miscellany:
Novices should expect strong limitations on Internet usage in order to open up their "bandwidth" to receive God and to interact meaningfully with the fraternity. Brothers have access to community computers, but they are not to upload any software or applications to the machines.
Novices need permission from the formation team and their provincial minister to attend weddings and funerals. Travel arrangements are made by the provincial minister and novitiate team. Novices will be given the time they need to attend these events, but no more than this. Generally it will be the minimum time necessary, so as not to interrupt the course of intense discernment away from the world.
Visits from family and friends are permissible beginning late in October. No visits are allowed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter. Novices must consult the formation team about any plans for visitors, and they must always check the schedule. Generally more latitude is given for family visits, and there is less leniency when it comes to visits from friends. As a rule, visits are restricted so that novices can spend more time in deep discernment, listening for and with God.
San Lorenzo Friary is in Santa Ynez, Calif., which is out in the country. The Capuchins have been here since 1924, when settlers of Irish descent donated 28 acres to them. Later on, the same family deeded another 400 acres to a corporation for use by the Province of Our Lady of the Angels.
Santa Ynez is in Santa Barbara County. In the country of Santa Barbara County, there are snakes, spiders, and tarantulas. (Just a warning.) Some brothers may suffer allergies. There is no snow to write home about, but it does occasionally get cold in the winter dawn. Santa Ynez is not hot like Victoria, Kansas, in the summer, but it's often very warm. The novices' home, built California-style, is a campus of several buildings instead of one big house; therefore, we will walk daily to and from the chapel, refectory, dormitories, and laundry building. There are two residence halls; on Wednesday we selected our rooms by lottery. (I live in Marian Hall, St. Anthony Wing, Room 21.) There is an exercise room and a library with spiritual reading.
There is Mass on Sunday at 9 a.m. at San Lorenzo Friary, but groups of novices will attend Mass at parishes throughout Santa Barbara County on a rotating basis.
The novices will perform ministry one day a week. Sites include Catholic Charities of Santa Barbara County; Mission Santa Ynez Parish; University of California-Santa Barbara; a convalescent home; social services for the developmentally disabled; and others.
One of the professed friars prepares lunch and dinner from Monday to Friday. The novices take turns cooking for the fraternity on Saturday and Sunday.
The novices live in fraternity with a few senior friars, who do not exercise any authority over formation but do offer their insights to the formators.
Investiture is Sunday, July 22, at 4:30 p.m. during evening prayer. Now I know exactly when my life takes another decisive turn.
The last thing we were told before the novice directors bid us godspeed: This year is a gift. Regard it as a treasure.
First of all, they gave us a word about the kind of attitude that will make novitiate worthwhile. It is unwise to seek merely to "put up" with the novitiate experience when formation gets to be frustrating. Do not fall for facile promises of a great year, and do not be troubled by intimations of agony, either. Novitiate is a whole new experience, and as a program of formation it is unlike anything that has come before it or will come after it. Come in humility, and come receptively.
The purpose of novitiate is to devote one's time to the cultivation of a prayerful, contemplative nature. It is a time to listen with God. It is a full year to develop and enrich one's contemplative life. It is a time to discover how God is calling you and what it is God speaks to you.
The novitiate is designed to help a brother better understand his divine vocation as a Capuchin contemplative, and the Capuchin's unique manner of being. It is a time to form the mind and heart, to test the spirits. It is an intense initiation into religious life and an opportunity to decide freely for that life.
Under a schedule of prayer, ministry, and both social and personal time, the novices live in community for twelve months. The length of time in this phase of formation is prescribed by the Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church. It is therefore a legal requirement for becoming an officially vowed religious. But it is the spirit of this time obligation that concerns us more directly here. For the structure is given to novices in order to allow them to develop a true interior life and robust spirit of prayer. The year of novitiate is like a retreat to the desert, a time of preparing and proving, such as Jesus undertook; or it is like a cave experience, such as Francis of Assisi had in the early days of his conversion, when he sought to know the will of God for him. In novitiate the brothers hope to come to an honest knowledge of themselves and the authenticity of their call to Capuchin life. A year is probably too short a period of time to complete such a soulful journey.
To guide us on this amazing and sometimes anxious and fearful journey, we have formators who are determined to promote and protect the sanctity of our quiet and prayerful environment. The formation staff is also the advisory staff: each novice will be assigned a formator who will meet regularly with him to check in on how it goes with his soul. They will offer counsel and encouragement as we discern and prepare for our taking of vows. What we share with our formation advisors is shared with all three formators but stays within their confidence. We will also have meetings with spiritual directors, and of course, confessors will be available, to whom we can entrust the most precious things in our hearts. The advisors will not pry, but they will do their best to keep tabs on the novices' well-being.
The directors described the different kinds of "time" in which novices live and move. There is personal time: this is for on-site activities such as rest, exercise, recreation, reading, prayer, hobbies, and unstructured fraternal interaction. This is a gift especially for introverted souls in need of individual time for self-care. There is prayerful time: hours dedicated to spiritual reading, contemplative prayer, and general quiet. This is a period when fraternal interaction and use of media are to be avoided. There is hermitage time: a recent innovation in the Capuchin novitiate, it is an extended length of time, usually an entire afternoon, for prayerful silence. And there is communal recreation: the brothers gather for conversation and conviviality.
Some miscellany:
Novices should expect strong limitations on Internet usage in order to open up their "bandwidth" to receive God and to interact meaningfully with the fraternity. Brothers have access to community computers, but they are not to upload any software or applications to the machines.
Novices need permission from the formation team and their provincial minister to attend weddings and funerals. Travel arrangements are made by the provincial minister and novitiate team. Novices will be given the time they need to attend these events, but no more than this. Generally it will be the minimum time necessary, so as not to interrupt the course of intense discernment away from the world.
Visits from family and friends are permissible beginning late in October. No visits are allowed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter. Novices must consult the formation team about any plans for visitors, and they must always check the schedule. Generally more latitude is given for family visits, and there is less leniency when it comes to visits from friends. As a rule, visits are restricted so that novices can spend more time in deep discernment, listening for and with God.
San Lorenzo Friary is in Santa Ynez, Calif., which is out in the country. The Capuchins have been here since 1924, when settlers of Irish descent donated 28 acres to them. Later on, the same family deeded another 400 acres to a corporation for use by the Province of Our Lady of the Angels.
Santa Ynez is in Santa Barbara County. In the country of Santa Barbara County, there are snakes, spiders, and tarantulas. (Just a warning.) Some brothers may suffer allergies. There is no snow to write home about, but it does occasionally get cold in the winter dawn. Santa Ynez is not hot like Victoria, Kansas, in the summer, but it's often very warm. The novices' home, built California-style, is a campus of several buildings instead of one big house; therefore, we will walk daily to and from the chapel, refectory, dormitories, and laundry building. There are two residence halls; on Wednesday we selected our rooms by lottery. (I live in Marian Hall, St. Anthony Wing, Room 21.) There is an exercise room and a library with spiritual reading.
There is Mass on Sunday at 9 a.m. at San Lorenzo Friary, but groups of novices will attend Mass at parishes throughout Santa Barbara County on a rotating basis.
The novices will perform ministry one day a week. Sites include Catholic Charities of Santa Barbara County; Mission Santa Ynez Parish; University of California-Santa Barbara; a convalescent home; social services for the developmentally disabled; and others.
One of the professed friars prepares lunch and dinner from Monday to Friday. The novices take turns cooking for the fraternity on Saturday and Sunday.
The novices live in fraternity with a few senior friars, who do not exercise any authority over formation but do offer their insights to the formators.
Investiture is Sunday, July 22, at 4:30 p.m. during evening prayer. Now I know exactly when my life takes another decisive turn.
The last thing we were told before the novice directors bid us godspeed: This year is a gift. Regard it as a treasure.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Listless
Been feeling listless most of the day. Some of the seniors at Via Christi had more pep than me today. I am sorry for not being as engaging with them as I could have been, as I ought to have been, as they needed me to be. Took an hours' rest when I came home from the rest home, and I just had dinner, and I still feel sluggish. And a mite cranky.
I am not ill, just low on energy. Maybe it's just the high heat. Or I must have stayed up an hour too late playing games with the brothers and reading about the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act. Or I must be eating too little. Or I must be craving more personal time and less social time.
Sometimes I wish I were not so much of an introvert. You can desire to change, and indeed you can grow into a better person by God's grace, but it is your own person who remains after the changes. You cannot make a zebra change its stripes into spots. To put it more bluntly, a cow don't make ham.
I never suspected that interprovincial postulancy would be so challenging. Exercise is supposed to invigorate the body. Our fundamental exercise, fraternal interaction, leaves me enervated much too often. This soul is working out, but the spiritual muscles are developing oh so slowly.
***
This weekend I hope to do some backtracking on the week: Franciscan spirituality from historian Fr. Bill Hugo's point of view, and a sneak peek into novitiate. This may or may not happen. My cooking crew is on for the midday meal tomorrow, and I have other house chores before group recreation offsite in the evening with the brothers. Sunday is for worship and catching up with the family. In addition, I will be composing, revising, and editing my vocation story, to share first with the fraternity on Monday evening, when my turn comes to tell my tale; and second with my formators, who will vet it and offer criticism as necessary. (This written account of my Capuchin journey will be given to the spiritual director I will be assigned in California.) Finally, I will be gathering some of the brothers Sunday evening to discuss a prayer vigil I feel called to organize in the coming week. Please pardon your correspondent if promised posts fail to publish!
I am not ill, just low on energy. Maybe it's just the high heat. Or I must have stayed up an hour too late playing games with the brothers and reading about the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act. Or I must be eating too little. Or I must be craving more personal time and less social time.
Sometimes I wish I were not so much of an introvert. You can desire to change, and indeed you can grow into a better person by God's grace, but it is your own person who remains after the changes. You cannot make a zebra change its stripes into spots. To put it more bluntly, a cow don't make ham.
I never suspected that interprovincial postulancy would be so challenging. Exercise is supposed to invigorate the body. Our fundamental exercise, fraternal interaction, leaves me enervated much too often. This soul is working out, but the spiritual muscles are developing oh so slowly.
***
This weekend I hope to do some backtracking on the week: Franciscan spirituality from historian Fr. Bill Hugo's point of view, and a sneak peek into novitiate. This may or may not happen. My cooking crew is on for the midday meal tomorrow, and I have other house chores before group recreation offsite in the evening with the brothers. Sunday is for worship and catching up with the family. In addition, I will be composing, revising, and editing my vocation story, to share first with the fraternity on Monday evening, when my turn comes to tell my tale; and second with my formators, who will vet it and offer criticism as necessary. (This written account of my Capuchin journey will be given to the spiritual director I will be assigned in California.) Finally, I will be gathering some of the brothers Sunday evening to discuss a prayer vigil I feel called to organize in the coming week. Please pardon your correspondent if promised posts fail to publish!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Baking in Kansas
Both indoors and outdoors, literally.
First, outdoors: The high temperature in Victoria today will be 112 degrees around 5 p.m. this evening. It is 110 degrees right now -- a new record high. It has been in the high 100s since Saturday across these parts of Kansas. Some people are concerned that the wildfires consuming Colorado will make their way to our state in the northwest and north central regions. I am concerned about Independence Day celebrations, what with fireworks and all. With all those pyrotechnics going off, even in the slighter cool of evening, you have more than enough sparks to start a fire should things go wrong, given all the dry heat, the parched grasses, and the wicked winds.
Second, indoors: I am on the cooking crew this week. Last night was our debut, and our menu was fried pork chops, mashed potatoes, green beans, cornbread, fruit salad, and oatmeal raisin cookies and bars. Diligent readers of the blog will know what I contributed to the feast. Brother Anthony, baker, at your service. This evening the fare will be oven-fried chicken with macaroni and cheese and broccoli. In the dessert department: a vegan fruit cobbler. Our crew will also prepare the midday meal on Saturday; this is the main meal of the day. No spoilers here: tune in this weekend for the menu and your baker's offering.
First, outdoors: The high temperature in Victoria today will be 112 degrees around 5 p.m. this evening. It is 110 degrees right now -- a new record high. It has been in the high 100s since Saturday across these parts of Kansas. Some people are concerned that the wildfires consuming Colorado will make their way to our state in the northwest and north central regions. I am concerned about Independence Day celebrations, what with fireworks and all. With all those pyrotechnics going off, even in the slighter cool of evening, you have more than enough sparks to start a fire should things go wrong, given all the dry heat, the parched grasses, and the wicked winds.
Second, indoors: I am on the cooking crew this week. Last night was our debut, and our menu was fried pork chops, mashed potatoes, green beans, cornbread, fruit salad, and oatmeal raisin cookies and bars. Diligent readers of the blog will know what I contributed to the feast. Brother Anthony, baker, at your service. This evening the fare will be oven-fried chicken with macaroni and cheese and broccoli. In the dessert department: a vegan fruit cobbler. Our crew will also prepare the midday meal on Saturday; this is the main meal of the day. No spoilers here: tune in this weekend for the menu and your baker's offering.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Visits
It is a privilege to be visited this week by Capuchin Fr. Bill Hugo, a historian whose workbook on the primary source documents for the life of Francis of Assisi and the early Franciscan movement has introduced many a brother to historical-critical analysis. A veteran formator, Brother Bill will lead presentations on Franciscan spirituality today and tomorrow. Already he has been holding court, transforming the usual chatter at our dining room tables into a seminar. Socratic dialogue at breakfast? God bless you, Brother Bill, and thank you for joining us.
On Wednesday we are to meet the novitiate formation team. The brothers are coming in from Santa Ynez, Calif., to introduce themselves and talk about preparations for the novitiate year. Until now we have interacted with the novice directors only by e-mail; it will be a relief to see them face to face at last!
This afternoon I will be meeting up with a reader of the blog who is passing through the area today and vacationing this week with his family. The wonders of social networking via digital media.
Brothers and sisters, may all your encounters this week, both your planned visits and spontaneous meetings, be graced.
On Wednesday we are to meet the novitiate formation team. The brothers are coming in from Santa Ynez, Calif., to introduce themselves and talk about preparations for the novitiate year. Until now we have interacted with the novice directors only by e-mail; it will be a relief to see them face to face at last!
This afternoon I will be meeting up with a reader of the blog who is passing through the area today and vacationing this week with his family. The wonders of social networking via digital media.
Brothers and sisters, may all your encounters this week, both your planned visits and spontaneous meetings, be graced.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Powerful Currents
Very hot and very windy yesterday at Wilson Lake. The high temperature was about 105 degrees, and the gusts must have been over 30 miles per hour. The conditions made the water turbulent.
A few of the brothers who left their boat to swim were taken up by powerful currents and carried some distance away into deeper waters before being rescued by their crewmates. A frightening moment for the fraternity.
We cut short our afternoon after this incident, but we would probably have left the lake early anyway because of the extremity of the weather. So we packed up the burgers and brauts and all the food and drink and had our barbecue with the families of Marked Men for Christ at St. Fidelis Friary.
Everyone is safe, and the brothers who struggled against the waters are all right. They are recovering their strength. The fraternity remains intact.
Feeling subdued about the turn of events yesterday. I find myself brought to silence before the power of nature and the Creator who governs the wind and water. Whether we will it or not, we move with God's powerful currents.
Also feeling full of the Holy Spirit, though in a silent way at this hour. This is my hope: to get on with the work of witnessing to the reign of God breaking into and confounding this world and convoking the new heaven and earth. And this is my prayer: I want nothing to divert our brothers from the course they must follow toward the kin(g)dom. Each in his own way must go on becoming someone who prepares the way of God by living The Way. Let us be on our way speedily! Life is too short for anything else.
Brothers, listen to God; hear the Word, and act upon it. Speak as God speaks; do as God does; risk as God risks; and refrain as God refrains. Do not be of the world, but also do not be against the world. Be in the world and be for the world. Love God. Honor all people. Respect creation. Live the faith of Jesus Christ, the faith of Francis of Assisi. Amen.
A few of the brothers who left their boat to swim were taken up by powerful currents and carried some distance away into deeper waters before being rescued by their crewmates. A frightening moment for the fraternity.
We cut short our afternoon after this incident, but we would probably have left the lake early anyway because of the extremity of the weather. So we packed up the burgers and brauts and all the food and drink and had our barbecue with the families of Marked Men for Christ at St. Fidelis Friary.
Everyone is safe, and the brothers who struggled against the waters are all right. They are recovering their strength. The fraternity remains intact.
Feeling subdued about the turn of events yesterday. I find myself brought to silence before the power of nature and the Creator who governs the wind and water. Whether we will it or not, we move with God's powerful currents.
Also feeling full of the Holy Spirit, though in a silent way at this hour. This is my hope: to get on with the work of witnessing to the reign of God breaking into and confounding this world and convoking the new heaven and earth. And this is my prayer: I want nothing to divert our brothers from the course they must follow toward the kin(g)dom. Each in his own way must go on becoming someone who prepares the way of God by living The Way. Let us be on our way speedily! Life is too short for anything else.
Brothers, listen to God; hear the Word, and act upon it. Speak as God speaks; do as God does; risk as God risks; and refrain as God refrains. Do not be of the world, but also do not be against the world. Be in the world and be for the world. Love God. Honor all people. Respect creation. Live the faith of Jesus Christ, the faith of Francis of Assisi. Amen.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Into the Outdoors
Going on an all-afternoon excursion tomorrow to Wilson Lake at Wilson State Park with the brothers. This ought to be a nice change of pace. Until now, I've never lived more than a few miles from an ocean, bay, lake, or river. I have seen none of these since leaving New York on May 27. Although the big blue sky of Kansas has been a wonderful consolation, it is no substitute for the bright blue shimmer of living water. It will be good for the brothers to reconnect with this element. There will be boating, inner tubing, and swimming, and the like. The more athletically inclined among us will try their hand at water skiing! As for me, give me a perch near the lake; sunscreen and insect repellent; and a good book, and I will be content.
We will be recreating with a group of gentlemen who call themselves Marked Men for Christ and operate an ecumenical, nondenominational Christian men's ministry. Thanks to their hospitality, there will be burgers and brauts (in New York we call them sausages) ... and, I hope, something to grill for those of us who are neither alpha males nor insatiable carnivores!
Sunday will be a normal day, with optional morning prayer, Eucharist at the parish of our choice, and personal time until evening prayer and dinner. We have been holding a social in the friary courtyard just after evening prayer and before dinner, and we will continue in that custom. In addition, for this Sunday, we will recite night prayer outdoors instead of in the chapel. It will be an appropriate coda for our weekend in nature. It may also spur us to pray compline more mindfully. In my years of experience worshipping on Boston Common at Ecclesia Ministries, I have found that everything around you sharpens the spirit of prayer and devotion, if you invite it. Yes, not only the birds of the air and the brisk whispers of the trees, but also the visages of chattering passers-by, the roar and rumble of motorists, and even the din of heavy construction. I hope that in the cooling evening, in the presence of God's creation, which never ceases to sing the divine praises in its very depth of being, we too will join our voices more intentionally with our spirits so that we express the holy words of prayer with full consciousness of what we are doing.
We will be recreating with a group of gentlemen who call themselves Marked Men for Christ and operate an ecumenical, nondenominational Christian men's ministry. Thanks to their hospitality, there will be burgers and brauts (in New York we call them sausages) ... and, I hope, something to grill for those of us who are neither alpha males nor insatiable carnivores!
Sunday will be a normal day, with optional morning prayer, Eucharist at the parish of our choice, and personal time until evening prayer and dinner. We have been holding a social in the friary courtyard just after evening prayer and before dinner, and we will continue in that custom. In addition, for this Sunday, we will recite night prayer outdoors instead of in the chapel. It will be an appropriate coda for our weekend in nature. It may also spur us to pray compline more mindfully. In my years of experience worshipping on Boston Common at Ecclesia Ministries, I have found that everything around you sharpens the spirit of prayer and devotion, if you invite it. Yes, not only the birds of the air and the brisk whispers of the trees, but also the visages of chattering passers-by, the roar and rumble of motorists, and even the din of heavy construction. I hope that in the cooling evening, in the presence of God's creation, which never ceases to sing the divine praises in its very depth of being, we too will join our voices more intentionally with our spirits so that we express the holy words of prayer with full consciousness of what we are doing.
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