It has been and continues to be dry in Cochabamba. It has been many days since we had a light rain. I cannot remember the last time we had a heavy rain. Most of the days now are mostly sunny, with few clouds to be seen. Yesterday morning was the first time in a while that we had a mostly cloudy sky. Profesora Karla tells us this is how the winter season will be this year—cool and very dry. It would be no surprise if there is no rain at all between now and September.
The student friars have come to the end of the semester and are commencing exams, many of which are oral. I believe they will be finished with examinations by the end of next week. They will have a winter recess which will be for about a month. Brother Scott recalls that the friars are away from the end of June to the end of July. So we will see them again, for about two or three weeks, before we depart Bolivia. For the interim, it will be a smaller fraternity, with only the perpetually professed friars remaining: Padre Juan Carlos, Padre Kasper, Padre Raúl, Padre René, and Brother Leo. Oh, and I almost forgot Carmelo, our canine, ahem, companion, and my bête noire. Or, to put it more charitably, the thorn in my flesh, my angel of Satan, to beat me and keep me from being too elated.
We will have a special occasion on Thursday, June 13, the feast of Saint Anthony of Padua, the Franciscan doctor of the Church. That evening, Brother Leo, who has been discerning a vocation to priesthood, will be ordained deacon by one of his fellow Franciscans who is a bishop over in the Archdiocese of La Paz. God willing, in another year or less he will complete his priestly formation and receive another laying on of hands.
While we are talking about fraternal milestones, I would be remiss not to mention the good news from my home province. I am happy to report that one of our brothers, John Koelle, will be ordained to the priesthood this Saturday morning at our church in Yonkers, Sacred Heart. The ordaining bishop is our own Capuchin brother, Wayne Berndt, the bishop of the Diocese of Naha (Okinawa) in Japan. I regret missing this joyous occasion, but at least I was present when Brother John was ordained deacon a year ago in Massachusetts by another Capuchin bishop, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston. Another upcoming occasion I hope not to miss is the perpetual profession of our brother Paul Fesefeldt. The provincial council recently accepted Brother Paul’s request to make solemn vows, on the recommendation of his fellow brothers. I am very happy for both of our brothers and wish them much grace and peace in answering God’s call to loving service of the Church and all peoples as Capuchin lesser brothers. When I contemplate who they are as fellow brothers in Jesus and Francis, and when I regard the commitment they have made, my spirit is far from dry—indeed, it gushes with the wellsprings of the Spirit itself.
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