Thursday Night

Let us bless the living and true Lord God.
To Him we must always attribute all praise, glory, honor, blessed and every good.
A reading from the Constitution of the Friars Minor Capuchin:

The fraternity itself, by means of a common reflection under the direction of the superior, should supervise its use of the social means of communication so that poverty, a life of prayer, fraternal life and work are all protected and the good and activity of all these media serve.

Let them use this media with moderation and mature discrimination; those that are dangerous to faith, morals and religious life should be studiously avoided.

Let the brothers, especially the superiors, take care that accomplishments of greater importance, whether in the fraternities, provinces or the entire Order be made known by appropriate means.


Capuchins enjoy a unique privilege in community that is known as "House Chapter." Distinct from the Provincial Chapter, which is a gathering of all of the brothers in the Province, the House Chapter is a gathering of all the brothers in a particular community. Because of our Guardian's unexpected additional assignment, we had our most recent House Chapter tonight.

I found the reading from The Constitutions to be interesting, especially now as the realm of vocations shifts more and more to the internet. I know that I found the Capuchins through the internet (what I call the "eHarmony of religious life") and more and more candidates seem to be following suit. I think this particular passage underscores a necessity to maintain a safe and respectable distance from the technical and imaginary internet world so as to preserve that really unique spirit of prayer that captivates a lot of Capuchin communities (or, that captures this community at least).

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This afternoon at ministry, I accidentally knocked a case full of my drawing pencils onto the floor on the mezzanine over the gym. Almost all of the kids had left and gone to Teen Life and so there were only three of them left, one boy and two girls. The girls were playing the ever-addicting game mencala (a favorite of mine) and the boy was watching the Teen Life kids play in the gym.

Upon hearing the pencils crashing down onto the floor, the few people on the mezzanine looked over to see the pencils everywhere, but then turned back to their conversation. I stooped down to gather the pencils and suddenly two small black sneakers came into my line of sight and I saw the boy stooping down to gather the pencils.

"Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome, Brother Matthew."

For some reason or another, this meant a lot to me. I can't quite explain why, but it just struck a chord in my heart. That, coupled with the fact that all of my fourth graders did their homework today means that it was a very good day at ministry. I find myself more and more grateful that I am blessed with such a ministry and yet more and more unworthy. Domine, non sum dignus.

Jesus speaks a lot about giving up all that one has in order to follow Him, yet it seems impossible to give up everything because He just refuses to stop giving, loving, caring, being....


Pax tecum.