Friar's Corner

It was hard to believe when I turned the page on my calendar that right there in bold words it read “October”. Even though the summer went too quickly, I do enjoy this time of year. I love the beautiful color of the leaves, the brisk cool weather, and just the beauty of change from one season to the next. Even though it seems so natural for mother nature to change it’s not as easy for us to change. I know that when a new superior comes to the scene if that might be at our workplace, our schools or even at our church community we worry about change. What are they doing? We always did it that way? What’s wrong with the way that it’s been done?

Even though we don’t care for change, it’s good for us. In my religious community we don’t usually stay in a place for very long and it’s always difficult to leave a ministry both for the friar and the faithful that the friar ministers too. Even though it’s difficult, there is a wisdom behind this practice. It’s good for the friar to not be attached to a ministry and for the people to be exposed to different styles of being led to God.

This leads to reflect on how have we changed. We all need to change, it makes us grow especially in our faith journey. Are we still working on our bad habits? Do we have any desire to break away from them? How are our prayers lives coming along? Have they become stagnant? Are we so stubborn in our prayer lives, that we refuse to spice it up a little bit. As Emeril Lagasse, a well known American chef (born and raised in my hometown) says in his program, when he adds spice to his dishes, “BAM!!” We need to “BAM!!” our prayer lives that constantly need change. We need to be open to different prayer models. Are we open to constructive criticism? Even though we might not see are own faults, we need to be open to others who can give us an objective opinion on what needs to be changed in our lives. I know this can be difficult because we tend to be proud even if we are not prideful people, it’s not always easy for someone to tell us our own faults.

So my dear brothers and sisters as we enjoy this beauty of autumn with it arrays of change and color may we always be open to change and to the betterment of ourselves especially when it comes to our spiritual lives. Also as we continue to celebrate Mary in a particular way this month may she intercede for us. O Virgin Mother give us the grace to do the will of your son and if there is anything in our lives that keeps us from completely loving him let us be aware of that and be given the strength to let go and to change from ways that are not holy to a sanctified life. We ask this in your son’s name who lives forever with the Father and his Holy Spirit. Amen.

Love,
Fr. Phil