AVAILABILITY

Blessed Jeremiah of Walachia was a Capuchin Franciscan Lay-Brother. He was an infirmarian for about forty years. In his heroic patience, kindness, and joy, he was able to be available to his confreres when they were most in need, due to their illness. He is one of many lay-brother blessed/saints who always thought about the needs of others before they thought about themselves.

Because of the privilege of living a vowed life of chastity and celibacy, our capacity to love God and neighbor intensifies so that we can imitate Christ’s availability towards the needy, especially the sick, the poor, and the sinner. Many times what the lay-brother has to be is a kind and attentive listener. St. Paul says: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same concern for everyone” (Rm 12:15-16). Since God is available to us always in our ordinary lives, we too, as lay-brothers should be available to others with charity.

Christ sanctifies our whole being, existence, and experiences. He approached his first followers who were just ordinary fishermen and invited them to follow Him, and called them to become fishers of men (Lk. 5:10). Two were brothers, James and John. They entered into a deeper brotherhood than the one they had because they heard the call of Jesus. They both were companions of Simon Peter. Their friendship became a witness to their journey because it was guided by the Lord. Christ did not destroy their friendship or brotherhood, but gave it strength with His presence. The Sacred Tradition and the Gospel tell us that John is the Disciple whom Jesus loved. In the Franciscan Capuchin tradition, the vocation of the lay-brother is to enter into an intimate friendship with Christ, in his day to day living. As Pope Benedict XVI said to the youth in Yonkers, New York: “It is not enough to have an occasional relationship with Christ. That is not a friendship. Christ wants His friends to be intimate, faithful and persevering.”

The Transfiguration tells us how Christ brought these three Apostles to Mount Tabor. Christ brought them together to show His glory and Divinity and prepared them for His mission of Dying and Rising from the dead. So, the lay- brother, with the rest of the brothers and friends has an opportunity to witness Christ’s glory at the Eucharistic Adoration and to come to a greater understanding of his mission. As the Beloved Disciple silently fell on his face and was filled with awe (Mt 17:6), so is the lay brother called to as he lives his vocation.

At the Last Supper, John, the Beloved Disciple, reclined his head on the breast of Jesus (Jn. 13:23). Only one who accepts Christ’s friendship and brotherhood with a pure heart, can demonstrate it back to Him. So is the lay- brother called to when he receives Christ’s Body and Blood at daily Mass. He should stay close to Christ, as he encounters the brothers in the friary, and or the poor, sick, and the needy. The lay- brother is called to accompany those who suffer, but just as John did not do it alone, the Lord gave us His Mother, Our Lady, at the foot of the Cross (Jn. 19:23). The lay- brother should realize that Mary is with us. His silent presence witnesses his call to the following of Christ.

The vocation of the religious brother (non-ordained), to which God calls some men, is counter-cultural. The world cannot understand it. It seems that even some within the Church have difficulty accepting this vocation. Just as Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with a very costly perfume, a perfume valued at approximately one years of wages, the religious brother offers his whole being to Jesus: his sexuality with an undivided heart by means of the vow of chastity, his wealth by means of the vow of poverty, and his will by means of the vow of obedience. The profession of these vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, in imitation of Jesus, is a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Rm. 12:1).

On the other hand, with all due respect and reverence, some within the Church, question the religious brother: Why doesn’t he become a priest? He is already celibate and dedicates himself to the things of God, and to top it all off, there is such a need for priests that remaining a lay-brother, almost seems like a waist of time. A lot of people believe that the religious brother is a “frustrated priest”, who is “half way”, who is not able to become a priest because he is not intelligent, or does not have the capacity, etc.

One of the problems of our utilitarian society is that it values people for what they do instead for who they are. The religious brother in a way challenges this mentality because his work is often hidden and ordinary. He is a living reminder that through Baptism we become God’s adopted children and also brothers and sisters of one another. By living in the awareness that our goal is to enter into communion with God and neighbor through love, the religious brother proclaims silently to the whole world that the value of the treasure of who we are is hidden in living this two-fold relationship as faithful as possible. By this means, the religious brother fills the whole world with the fragrance of Jesus who teaches us to call God Our Father (Mt. 6:9) making us brothers and sisters in Christ. Therefore, the real value of our lives should not be considered in what we do but who we are.

Those who do not recognize the value of this vocation, which is free from sacramental ministry and preaching within the liturgy, are not unlike poor Judas, who had his own plans for Mary’s offering, without first considering what Jesus thought about the matter. Notice as well, that Judas had a “supposedly good intention”…he wanted to sell the perfume to give the money to the poor. He did not say that he wanted to spend the money to do evil or something immoral, but on the poor. Although his reasoning seems good, in this case, it is not the best option because it is not the will of God.

To be a priest is a great gift and a special call, not a right that any man has. Jesus said to His apostles: “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you” (Jn. 15: 16). However one should not choose a state of life simply because it fills us with awe and wonder and because there is a need (the needs of the poor, in the context of this Gospel passage). On the other hand, we should offer the best to Him who has chosen us. The best is always to do the will of God. There are times that good things, very good things have to be sacrificed for what is best. Ultimately, it is in doing the will of God that we experience true freedom, and therefore, peace and joy even if it requires sacrifice.

What is most important is what Jesus values authentically and not what other’s think, without first discerning the will of God. The Lord Jesus said that we will always have the poor with us, in other words, we will always have a need for more priests. Even if the ordinary tasks of a religious brother appear to be insignificant before the eyes of some, they can be very valuable before the eyes of God because the Lord sees more than the external appearances… He sees the ardent love that is within the depths of the joyful giver’s heart (2 Cor. 9:7).

- Br. Juanmaría, CFR

(Based on the Conclusion of “Vita Consecrata”- Pope John Paul II)