"LET US BEGIN AGAIN..."

by Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R.

Years ago, I heard a wise saying, "The Christian life involves a whole series of new beginnings!" This is so true! We no sooner arrive at one point of our Journey in life than we feel impelled by the Holy Spirit to set out again; to reach our next objective along the way. Saint Paul, that master in teaching about the Christian life, compared it to running a long race...

"...It is not that I have reached it yet, or have already finished my course; but I am racing to grasp the prize if possible, since I have been grasped by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not think of myself as having already reached the finish line. I give no thought to what lies behind but push on to what is ahead. My entire attention is on the finish line as I run toward the prize to which God calls me life on high with Christ Jesus. All of us who are spiritually mature must have this attitude. If you see it another way, God will clarify the difficulty for you. It is important that we continue on our course, no matter what stage we have reached" (Phil. 3:12-16).

What Saint Paul is telling us here is that he never thought that he had done enough, no matter how much he had accomplished. Rather, he was anxious to get on with what yet had to be done. He was ready to begin again, no matter what point of achievement he had reached. What the inimitable Larry Yogi Berra said of playing baseball applies equally well to doing God's work: "It ain't over 'til it's over!"

Our Seraphic Father, Saint Francis, another master teacher of the spiritual life, had the same vision of life. About two years before he died, after years of dedicated love and service to the Lord and His Church, the Lord Himself literally put His seal of approval on that life. He impressed into the flesh of the hands, feet, and side of Saint Francis, the wounds He Himself had endured on the cross at Calvary. Saint Francis was marked with the stigmata!

On returning from Mount Alvernia where this awesome event occurred, to his hometown of Assisi, Saint Francis challenged his friars to still greater effects for Christ: "Brothers'" he said, "let us begin again to do good, for until now we have done only a little." His biographers tell us that despite his extreme infirmity, he began again to serve the poor lepers, which he had done years before at the beginning of his conversion. Despite his illness and inclement weather, he traveled to the Marches of Ancona, where he had carried out his very first preaching mission. Yes, Saint Francis had truly begun again!

Not only do individuals need to return to the vision and vigor of youth, but so too marriages, friendships, and even religious communities. Our desires to live in the style and spirit of the early Capuchins began in 1987 when we moved into an empty parish rectory in a desolate area of the South Bronx. Some time later, after some temporary arrangements, we opened a more permanent house of formation and studies now located in Yonkers, NY. Other new beginnings? The Padre Pio Shelter, parish missions, and the greatest one of all - the birth of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal! More recently, we have made considerable progress locating a third friary.

This past Easter week, our community took another important step in which a new community servant, vicar, and councilors had to be elected. Fr. Benedict Groeschel, had been the community servant from its inception, Faithfully guiding it over the past six years through the difficult challenges that such a new undertaking is bound to encounter. This election marks a new beginning for me personally since I have been elected as the new community servant. I feel confident in accepting this great responsibility due to the support of the brothers elected to assist me, Fr. Robert Stanion as vicar, and Fr. Benedict Groeschel and Fr. Glenn Sudano, as councilors. The journey continues for us all.

The community has been blessed with impressive young men who have come to join our ranks. Since our last issue of Grayfriar News, Br. Peter Giroux and Br. Patrick Linbeck made their first profession of vows. One month later, three postulants were invested as novices. They are: Fr. Anthony John Nichols, a priest from the Fall River diocese, Br. Maximillian Mary Dean, and Br. Fidelis Moscinski.

This summer, Br. Herald Brock, Br. Michael Kmiotek, and Br. Terrence Messer will be making their perpetual profession of vows, another first for our young community. We are also thankful to God for the four postulants who will be received this September.

Finally, we recently dedicated the Saint Anthony Residence, formally a city-owned abandoned building which stood lifeless next to the friary. Fr. Bob Lombardo took on the difficult undertaking and supervised the project - a four year project from start to finish! Fr. Benedict took on a different challenge with equally successful results: the Saint Francis Center. The empty school building can now be used as a place for neighborhood residents, especially women and children. The new gym is where the teens really enjoy themselves. We hope this new facility will assist us in reaching many people with the gospel and the power and beauty of our Catholic faith.

Those who know the friars and the sisters would agree that much has been accomplished in a reasonably short amount of time. It is evident that it is the Lord working through us, our friends, and benefactors which has made this possible. Yet none of us can be so satisfied that we can stop here. Each of us has to start anew. We must yet reach the final goal to which Jesus Christ calls us.

So together we thank God for His goodness and listen to the voice of Saint Francis telling us as he did the first generation of friars: "Let us begin again to do good, for until now we have done only a little."