We are back in Brooklyn after a nearly a full day in Vermont with the Capuchin brothers who have custody of three parishes: St. Peter in Rutland; St. Dominic in Proctor; and St. Alphonsus in Pittsford.
We left New York yesterday before sunrise driving through mist and worried that the gloom would make a wash of our pilgrimage to the foliage. Happily, our worries were not realized. More vivid colors I have not seen from trees. How excellent, to view for the first time the high rolling hills stippled in every lively hue of yellow and orange over their evergreen foundation. How delightful, to see trees wave their pink leafy tissues, and tall stalks shaking their embers of radiant reds. I thought landscapes like these, the golden, molten greens of slow fireworks, existed only in the perception of a Monet. How naive of me -- after all, Monet could see only as God inspired him to see what was already given. Regarding the few truant clouds overhanging the mountains, wreathing them like smoke, I thought to myself that this is what God's work looked like following the third day.
Hurricane Irene caused more unprecedented natural damage in these parts of Vermont than in my part of New York City. On Thursday the weather was mild enough to make possible an excursion up one of the mountain roads, where construction crews have been working continuously to repair and reinforce bridges and paths. We drove and then walked along a creek whose course had been altered by the surge and the debris of earth, rock, and timber brought crashing down with the current. One of the brothers who used to fish for trout in the streams said it will probably take three to five years for trout to return.
A father and son who attended church at the Capuchin parishes were swept away when they ventured out during the storm. The friars presided at their funeral, which drew to St. Peter over 700 people, including the local dignitaries.
Our hosts served us generously, graciously, and readily. With the majority of our brothers serving in the Greater New York area, Rutland is an outpost seldom seen by them. Maintaining communion with the wider fraternity of the province is challenge for any brother serving here or elsewhere in upper New England. The two friars currently serving these three parishes were most glad to have our company, as you can imagine! We were quick to show our appreciation for them, with several refrains.
It was our joy to visit the churches where our brothers minister and admire the strong and simple architecture of these country parishes. We also passed by a church house in Killington where Catholic vigil Masses are held on Saturday afternoon and a United Church of Christ congregation worships on Sunday! What is Our Lady of the Mountains on Saturday evening becomes Sherburne United Church of Christ on Sunday morning. My heart swelled with ecumenical pride.
The Capuchins have been in this part of Vermont for about five years, and they are continuing to explore how to awaken the living flame of love in the hearts of the faithful. There is much work to be done, and more of it to come: the Diocese of Burlington, which encompasses the entire state of Vermont, has approximately 100 active priests only and nearly as many parishes. As greater labor falls into fewer hands, the body of Christ that is the church in Vermont will have to evolve or wither and atrophy. My prayer for our brothers, and for all who minister in the Church in its many models, is that their work will create a spiritual space for all people in which they can have a real encounter with the living God. In the cool black evening, as the beaming moon watched from on high; and again in the morning in the quiet air of St. Dominic Church, I could sense the Spirit of God coloring my imagination.
No comments:
Post a Comment