The Holy Spirit and Vocation Discernment

When I was discerning a vocation to the Capuchins I was assigned a friar with whom I met on a monthly basis. This friar acted as spiritual guide for me as I tried to figure out what the Lord was calling me to do. I was still working full-time and traveled from the city centre by bus to meet him. The bus journey was a time for me to think about what I was going to say to him about how things were going. It also gave me a little time and space to move from 'office' mode to 'discernment' mode.

When I arrived he usually had tea made and this was always welcome. We sat down in the friary parlour and talked easily as we drank tea. One day I remember asking him 'What more do I need to do? I mean what do I need to do to help me figure out what I'm supposed to do?' I remember without losing a beat or a breath he said 'you're doing enough, the rest is the work of the Holy Spirit. If you want to do something, move out of the way and let the Spirit do His work!'
On the bus journey back into the city, my head settled on the words 'move out of the way and let the Holy Spirit do His work.'

Over time I came to realise that one of the most important elements of any discernment process involves creating space. When we are discerning God's will in our lives, we are essentially trying to pay attention to a still, small and gentle voice that echoes within a busy and noisy world. To even have a chance at doing this, we need to introduce some silence and stillness into our daily lives. This can be difficult to do - it takes time, practice and patience. However, it is within this space that we experience the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Creating a space in our lives for vocational discernment also takes courage - recall the disciples huddled together in fear before they allowed the Spirit the space necessary to operate and create. One step at a time - one space at a time.

Today I am the Vocation Promotor for the Irish Capuchins and I'm the one often asked this same question - what more do I need to do? This question comes from a well meaning place. We live in a world where we have to be the powerhouse behind getting things done. If we don't put the effort in, then we have only ourselves to blame if things don't work out - right? When it comes to discerning a vocation it's a little different. Of course there are things that we need to do - we need to pray, seek spiritual direction, reach out to others, open our hearts, read certain things and meet certain people. However, behind all of this - driving all of this - is not our power but rather the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. When it comes to vocation discernment - less is very often more!

The Holy Spirit is central to any kind of discernment - we discern things all the time but probably don't use this term. The old phrase is that 'The Holy Spirit is the real Vocation Director' and this is true. The Holy Spirit also works through opportunities, challenges, disappointments and successes. St Bonaventure (The great Franciscan Saint and Doctor of the Church) speaks of this movement of the Spirit as 'desire'. It's not the same desire that we have for pizza or chocolate or whatever - but rather a deep seated longing and yearning for God in our lives. It is in and through this affective action (movement of the heart) that we feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. To feel and to hear this we need to create some time and space to allow ourselves to feel and to hear . If we are caught up in 'doing mode' all the time - we'll miss the good stuff.

As we approach the great feast of Pentecost we are once more presented with the opportunity to reflect on the ways in which we allow the Spirit to work in our lives and the ways in which we prevent the Spirit from working. To aid our reflection we could ask ourselves:

• In what ways do we remain locked behind our own doors of fear? 
• In what ways do we have the courage to open these doors and allow the refreshing presence of the Holy Spirit fill our lives? 
• How can we create a sense of spaciousness in our lives that better allows us to hear and feel the movement of the Holy Spirit? 
• What must decrease so as to allow the movement of the Spirit increase?
• In what ways do I notice my desire for God in my life?
• In what ways do I need to move out of the way of the Holy Spirit to let Him do His work? 

In my own life I often go back to those wise words - you're doing enough, the rest is the work of the Holy Spirit. If you want to do something, move out of the way and let the Spirit do His work!'- and as I do I pray that I have the courage to have a heart open to the possibilities that this brings.

If you would like to find out more about our way of life then email me on capuchinvocation@gmail.com

Peace!

Br Martin OFM Cap.
Vocation Promotor




Come Holy Spirit and fill us with your Love.

Come so that we may have life and bring life.

Come so that the world may be illuminated by Love, Peace and Joy.

Come Spirit of Transformation - so that we may be transformed.

Living Authentically in the Spirit of St Francis

This evening in Dublin, people are gathering in the Capuchin Day Centre for Homeless People to pack 3,000 food parcels. These parcels will be distributed to the poor of Dublin tomorrow morning. People will queue outside the Centre from early in the morning in whatever weather tomorrow may bring. 

The people who will come tomorrow do so to receive practical help; food to tide them over the Christmas period. Many also come to wish Br Kevin and the staff of the Day Centre a happy Christmas and to thank them for all they do over the course of the year. 

I worked as a volunteer in the Capuchin Day Centre before I joined then order and again as a Capuchin student. The 'back packing', as it is known, is one of the highlights of the year. The atmosphere is friendly and festive; a mix of music, mince pies and Christmas jumpers! 

Behind the festivity is the deep rooted desire to help others. This desire is in all human hearts and not alone the property of us Franciscans! However our founder St Francis took this desire to a new level as he ministered to the needs of the poor ( usually lepers) in his time and place. As St Francis was dying he told the Friars 'God has shown me what was mine to do, now let him show you what is yours'. 

We can't be exactly like St Francis and that's not the point anyway. What we can be is authentically ourselves as God calls us to be. I we aim to do this we will discover that when we live authenticity we begin to find within us the desire to reach out to others as St Francis did; in live and without need for anything in return. 

Every bag that is packed tonight is a living put of the gospel call to help those in need. It's very Franciscan, very Capuchin but mostly, it's very human. 

May the Lord give you Peace!

Br Martin OFM Cap. 

Vocation  Promotor for the Irish Capuchin Franciscan Friars. 

Email: capuchinvocation@gmail.com

 

Stop and pray at the tomb of St Francis

Click HERE for LIVE webcam

 Above is a link to a live webcam which allows us to visit the tomb of St Francis in Assisi and spend a moment in prayer at any time. During the day you will see the thousands of pilgrims, many of them young people, who come to visit St Francis' tomb.

In the busyness of the Christmas season it is important for us to take time to stop and pray. Let us join in prayer with our Holy Father St Francis for our needs and the needs of the World: 

Lord, Light the darkness of my heart and give me

a correct faith, certain hope and perfect charity.

Sense and knowledge Lord, that I may carry out your Holy and True command

(St Francis Prayer for Enlightenment)

Pax Br Martin

The Christmas Crib: A Franciscan Story

This time every year in schools, churches, homes, hospitals, hospices and shopping centres the Christmas Crib stands as a tangible reminder to us that God is real and God is with us. Cribs come in all shapes and sizes and often reflect the cultural context they are in. A crib is an important part of Christmas symbolism and a doorway to deeper reflection and prayer.

The formation of the first Christmas crib is attributed to St Francis of Assisi. In 1223, just three years before his death, Francis went to visit the Friars living in the remote mountain village of Greccio. St Bonaventure tells us that in order to excite the people of Greccio to celebrate the birth of the Saviour with all solemnity, Francis brought together all the elements of the stable in Bethlehem into what would become the very first Christmas crib.

Francis used real people, straw and animals to bring the Christmas story to life for the people of Greccio. People came from far and wide to see this spectacle. The night was aglow with candlelight as hymns were sung in praise of the God who is with us.

Francis was very real and very practical.He understood that as human beings we often need to see, hear and even smell something before it can enlighten our minds and ignite our hearts. As Francis
carefully brought the characters of the Christmas scene together, he also skilfully brought the people of Greccio together; uniting them in prayer and praise around a living and breathing expression of God’s connection with the human story. The crib remains a beacon of peace, hope and reconciliation and offers an opportunity for us to reflect upon the deeper message it represents.

(Picture: 'Peace' and St Francis at the first crib at
Greccio. Stained glass windows, St
Francis College Chapel, Rochestown,
Cork)

Capuchin Franciscan Vocation Retreat, 2-3rd December 2017

News of our upcoming Capuchin Franciscan Vocation Retreat in Capuchin Friary Kilkenny on the 2nd and 3rd of December. 

This vocation retreat is open to men aged between 20 and 40 who are considering a vocation to religious life and would like to know more about following St Francis of Assisi as a Capuchin Franciscan Friar. 

For more information or to express an interest, email capuchinvocation@gmail.com

Monk, Priest, Friar, Brother...what's the difference?

We are asked this question a lot and now Brother Richard Hendrick provides a nice reflection on the vocations of Monk, Priest, Friar and Brother.

Over the years, and particularly recently, many people have asked me what the difference is between the terms above... Sometimes it can even cause confusion to those who are discerning a vocation... "You're a brother but you say Mass???" Hopefully the following will help!

Priest: a Priest receives the Sacrament of Holy Orders (instituted by Christ Himself at the Last Supper) by which he is ordained to offer the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist or Mass, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession, and also to minister the Word of God to the people. He takes a Vow of Obedience to his Bishop or Religious Superior if he belongs to an Order, and a promise of Celibacy if he has not already taken the Vow of Chastity. (This is in the Roman Rite... Married diocesan clergy are allowed under certain conditions in the Eastern Rites and in exceptional circumstances in the Western Rite). The Priest is called to be an Alter Christus, another Christ, in that as he steps into the celebration of the Sacraments Christ chooses him to become present through him to the world in those sacred actions.
This is nothing to do with his own personal holiness or worthiness but is a grace conferred at the moment of Ordination when the Bishop lays hands on his head and prays the prayer of consecration.

A monk (from the Greek Monachos root meaning solitary or alone) is a member of a Monastic religious Order such as the Benedictines, Cistercians, or Carthusians to name a few. This is the oldest form of Religious or Consecrated life for Men. It may be lived in a solitary or community form. He takes perpetual vows, sometimes called Solemn Vows, by which he professes the Evangelical Counsels of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience, (often under the form of "conversion of life"), and to this may be added other vows such as Stability, (that vows him to a particular monastery), or even of Silence.
He follows a Rule of Life that establishes the conditions of day to day life enabling the monk to dedicate himself to prayer. He may be ordained as a priest or not. His life is dedicated to Prayer first and then to manual work and study and sometimes works of charity too. The Superior is known as an Abbot or Prior. Traditionally to meet a Monk you go to them! Their spirituality is often based on the scriptural descriptions of the gathering of the first disciples in the Acts of the Apostles...

The Mendicant (begging) Orders of Friars are a development/reform of the monastic orders that took place in the 1200's beginning with St. Francis of Assisi. The Friars also take Solemn and Perpetual Vows of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience and follow a Rule of Life. The Franciscan, Dominican, Carmelite, Servite, Trinitarian and Augustinian Orders (and many others) belong to this group. The Friars are bound to the Order but not to particular communities and travel to preach and to be present to the needs of the people. They find a balance between contemplative and active life with the various groups finding their own level of balance depending on their tradition and the teaching of their founders. Like their Monastic forefathers they may be ordained or not. The important thing is Profession of Vows first and Ordination is seen as a secondary Vocation within the primary Vocation of Friar. The word Friar is an old English word simply meaning brother. They may be referred to as Father if they are ordained but in the Capuchin Franciscan tradition, returning to the primitive tradition of St. Francis and the first Friars, the only official title is Brother and all of the Brothers are equal based on Profession of Vows and not on Ordination. As we Capuchins often say, "All of the Fathers are Brothers, but only some of the Brothers are Fathers!" Got it?

St. Francis also rejected any title that implied power over someone and asked that the superiors would be called Guardians rather than Abbot or Prior.... A reminder that they were servants of the fraternity and were there to guard the "places" of the Friars so that they would be free for the work of prayer and ministry.

Religious Brothers: Brothers such as the Christian Brothers, De La Salle or Presentation Brothers are part of a movement of Religious Congregations of men and women that began in the late 1700's. They are dedicated to specific apostolate such as teaching, nursing, missionary work etc. They may take either simple or temporary vows renewed every few years or perpetual vows taken once, often with promises related to their apostolate. They would be classed as active or missional rather than contemplative in character though often have a very deep spirituality of work. In the male congregations ordination would not be usual though some practice ordination for the sake of the community, ie a brother may be ordained for sacramental ministry to the brothers themselves...

While the above descriptions give clear boundaries to the various institutions it should be understood that on an individual level there can be blurring in the way an individual group or order understand themselves; however the above are the basic major categories of male religious life in the Roman Catholic Church...

Solitude, Stillness and Silence...

How many times have you looked at your phone today? No idea? Me neither. This is most likely because we check and recheck it so often that are no longer aware of how often we do it. It's become a habit maybe even an addiction and we're not alone in this.

Recently I've started thinking a lot about solitude, stillness and silence and how to find these in the midst of all the noise and distraction of modern life. Yes, even Friars are not immune to all of that. Today we are often connected to the point of distraction, disconnection and even isolation. Yet, at our very core we crave something else.

As humans we are on a life-long quest to find meaning and to find ourselves. We search, struggle and succeed in various ways. We form bonds with others, we learn from mistakes and we create so as to make our mark. We do. In all of this doing we can loose sight of our ability to just be; who we are, right now. Being with who we are can be a frightening place at times and a place we don't like to visit too often and so we keep ourselves distracted with work, tv, sports, phones, laptops...the list goes on. None of us are immune. It's a symptom of the modern world and it may also be something that's making us deeply unhappy and even unwell.

I work in a secondary school and a good amount of my time is spent teaching students the benefits of meditation. As we begin, I invite them to begin to allow stillness and silence emerge and often they look at me with a mix of puzzlement and fear. Stillness and silence can be scary and so I assure them that nobody has every been injured or harmed by a meditative stillness or silence! I often go on to explain to them that silence is different from being quiet. When we're told to be quiet we have to stop doing something that we are doing and oftentimes this forcing down of our self-expression sparks an internal noise masked by our external quietness. Of course, removing noise or an obvious distraction is a necessary first step on the road to silence however it's not the entire journey. Silence is different because silence is always present. As we begin to still ourselves and allow the internal and external noise to settle, silence emerges.

Silence and stillness may seem like an unaffordable luxury at times, yet it is quite the opposite. We need it. Our minds need it as do our souls. We need it to allow our mind process all the information we pick up every second of the day. We need it to allow our soul express its inner most longings. We need it because its an essential part of who we are. Silence and stillness are valuable commodities in today's always-switched-on-world. Yes, we need to create space but in order for us to do that, in a sustainable way, we need to recognise our deep longing for them.

Saint Francis of Assisi knew the importance of solitude, stillness and silence. He often took himself off to isolated places high in the hills to find it. Even for St Francis it was often hard to find. Even when he couldn't go to these places, Francis often covered his face with his hands or pulled his hood over his head to create a small place of solitude wherein he could allow silence emerge. He knew what was essential. He knew that silence and stillness in a place of solitude allowed him to refocus and reorientate himself so as to better respond to the needs of the brothers and those he ministered to. And it was in these places of solitude, stillness and silence that he communicate with God on a very deep and personal level. God, like silence is always present. Our job is to create the space necessary to allow His Presence emerge.

Factoring times of solitude, stillness and silence into our daily routine will benefit our well-being, relationships, ability to connect with others at a deeper level, our sleep, blood pressure, stress levels, appetite, world view and so much more. And the amazing thing is, it's already there. All we have to do, is not do...for a while. Try it. You won't be disappointed.

Set the World Alight. An Easter Reflection

The Easter Vigil is without doubt one of the most poignant and symbolic events in the entire liturgical calendar. It has everything really; fire, candles, water, darkness, light. The readings tell us the story of God’s faithfulness throughout the history of salvation. We are invited into this story because it’s our story.  The elements of fire and water contrast each other alongside darkness and light. It is a truly a feast for both our physical and spiritual senses.

The Vigil begins in darkness. The Easter fire, lit and blessed outside, becomes a light that embraces us all as it moves purposefully from candle to candle. It becomes for each of us a personal gift, a torch to light our way in whatever way we need it to. It illuminates, warms and enlightens as one candle lights another, passing on the message of hope that this great night brings.

The incredible thing is that this is happening all over the world! I’d love to see a Google Earth image that showed it, as slowly candle by candle, church by church, town by town, country by country, continent by continent the light of Easter is passed on from person to person. Incredible. That’s the power of the message of the resurrection. It has the power to illumine the entire world but for that to happen it requires us to do three things:

Firstly, it requires us to hold the message of Easter hope as something deeply sacred and valuable.

Secondly, it requires us to receive this message in such a way as to allow it to enflame our hearts, ignite our imaginations and enlighten our minds.

And finally, it requires us to pass the flame on to others; slowly, gently and compassionately so that they may receive it, value it and begin to share it.

This sacred night is a night like no other. By the time we have reached it, we have journeyed together for 40 days; reflecting, praying, trusting and stumbling along the way. We’ve encountered challenges and opportunities, joys and sorrows, compassion and pain and yet we’ve made it to this most sacred of nights.  We’ve made it to the point whereby we’ve been able to gather in safety and peace to receive this torch of hope. The challenge now is to take this torch, this light of hope and peace, and bring it into the darker places we encounter in ourselves and in the world.

Today our world is often a dark and terrifying place. Every news report testifies to this as we hear of more and more violence hatred often manifest through disregard for life, peace and our common home, the Earth. This a dynamic that can get us down. We can feel overwhelmed by it all and powerless in the face of it. This can be a lonely place to be. However, as Christians we are called to be people of hope and children of the resurrection. In truth, we are never really powerless because Christ’s resurrection has shown us that the violence, hatred and death, all too prevalent in the world, will not have the final say. Jesus has passed through all of that and has risen transformed and glorious so that we may have live in the light of hope, peace and joy.

The great spiritual writer and teacher, Ron Rolheiser OMI, remarks that in the Gospel accounts of the resurrection and post resurrection we hear of people either being told to go to Galilee or Jerusalem to meet Jesus. Apart from being geographical locationsGalilee and Jerusalem are also places of deep symbolic value in the Gospels. Galilee was the fertile place and the place of plenty. It was the place of preaching, teaching and miracles, the place where Jesus called his disciples and gathered his followers. Jerusalem on the other hand was the place of ridicule, accusation, condemnation, hatred, violence and death.

In many ways the core message of this night is that wherever we are right now be it a place of plenty or a place of darkness; Christ is there, waiting for us to meet him. Our invitation this Easter is to go, do not be afraid and, if we do, we will meet him there.

Brother Martin

(Easter Vigil Mass, Rochestown Cork, 2017)

God has a name! Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent

4^th Sunday of Advent 

'God has a name!'

Well we’re almost there! The fourth Advent candle has been lit, our crib is up and your preparations are well under way, I’m sure. This week, we’re probably going to make a whole series of ‘O Exclamations…’: O, I forgot to order the turkey; O, I forget to send a card to this person or O, I forgot to invite that person! That’s inevitable as we prepare to celebrate Christmas. However, this week the liturgy of the Church offers us an opportunity to enter into a different set of ‘O exclamations’ or ‘O antiphons’, as they are called. 

Each evening, we Friars gather in our chapel, in front of the Blessed Sacrament, for an hour of meditation and prayer, we pray the Divine Office: the Prayer of the Church. Each evening, included in that prayer is Mary’s great exclamation, the Magnificat…through which Mary proclaims the greatness of God for having chosen her to be the one to bring forth Christ into the World. The God-human dynamic moves to a whole new level in Jesus Christ, to a very personal and intimate level. St Francis, St Clare and St Bonaventure all attest to the fact that it is Jesus to makes all things make sense. It is in, through and with Him whom who all things were created and hold their being that we can come to know God, ourselves, others and all of creation in a new and refreshing way.

An antiphon is said before and after this and in the final days before Christmas these antiphons become a series of ‘O exclamations’ that speak of our wonder, our joy and our anticipation as we count down the days to the great feast of Christmas; the time when we enter into the great Mystery of God becoming human. The last of these, recited on the 23^rd of December is ‘O Emmanuel…you are Our Kind and Saviour…O Come, and save us’ … but save us from what? Well, from ourselves really. What do I mean? Let me explain...

When we celebrate Christmas we are celebrating the fact that God took on human form and dwells with us. In today’s Gospel, we hear the angel reassuring Joseph and giving Joseph the name to call the child that is to be born ‘he is to be called Jesus because he will save people from their sins’. I’m sure we have head this line from scripture many times before however, if we pause for a moment we can begin to realise just how earth shattering that sentence actually is…His name will be Jesus…For the first time, God has given us his name!

When Moses approached the burning bush and said to God ‘the people are asking who you are, what should I tell them? God responded ‘tell them, I am who am’…in other words, my name is unpronounceable to you. You see, when we know somebody’s name…we can call him or her by it whenever we like, in a way, we have a certain control over them. God has given us His name and invites us to call Him by it whenever we like. In other words, he invites us into relationship with him in a way never seen before. In the OT the covenant was the relationship but in the Incarnation, what we celebrate at Christmas, Jesus is the relationship.

Christ comes to us in love to save us from the fear and anxiety caused by thinking that we are on our own and somehow disassociated from God, we are not. God is with us, that’s the Good News! He saves us from ourselves because we, as human beings, become afraid. Bishop Robert Barron in his excellent series on Virtue and Vices says that ‘fear is at the root of all sinfulness’ because when we live out of a place of fear we become bent over by pride, envy, greed and all of the other big vices.

What is God’s message of salvation in all of this? Well maybe we can listen to the angel, the messenger of God who in today’s Gospel, in fact ALL angels in all of scripture, always greet those they encounter with the words … do not be afraid. We can expand this message a little by saying ‘ do not be afraid…I am with you…I know you…I love you and you are mine. Come to me…come follow me…I am the living water…and I have come so that you can have life to its fullest.’

God has a name…it is Emmanuel…God with us. It is Jesus…it is Mercy…It is Wisdom…it is Joy, Peace, Love and much more.  It is a name we know. As St Paul tells us, ‘we have the Spirit within us’ and so we can call on the name of Jesus and not only that but we have been ‘justified in the name of Jesus’ (1Cor6). To be justified means that things are in their right place, that we are in right-relationship and therefore that we are saved in Jesus. Our response, is to live as saved people and to bring this good news to others by virtue of how we live our lives.

The Saviour who is with us has come to lead us from darkness into light, from a place of fear to a place of hope-filled trust. He comes gently, humbly and constantly into a dark corner, of a small town, in a nondescript part of the world, into the care of two refugees who have nothing and nowhere. Paradoxically, it is they, Mary and Joseph, who are dependant upon him.

The crib teaches us the true meaning of humility as the antidote to pride, of true hospitality as the antidote to envy and true giving as the antidote to greed.

This is what Christmas is all about…this is what we are preparing for and this is why the Church cries out these O antiphons this week…O Wisdom, O Lord, O Root of Jesse, O King, O Key of the Nations, O Rising Sun, O Emmanuel.

So maybe this week, as we make our final practical preparations for Christmas, we can also allow some time and space to prepare our hearts, minds and souls to welcome, once more, the Light of the nations, the Hope of all Peoples, The Joy of the World, The Word made Flesh, the one who has a name, and that name is Jesus. Amen.

Brother Martin Bennett OFM Cap.

Vocations Promoter of the Irish Capuchin Franciscans.

Franciscan Prayer Episode 3: St Clare of Assisi and Franciscan Contemplative Practice

Join Brother Martin for the third in our series of podcats recorded life in the chapel of St Francis College Rochestown Cork.

https://soundcloud.com/irishcapuchinpodcasts/franciscan-paryer-3-st-clare-gazing-at-god

Franciscan Prayer Podcast Episode 2: St Francis and the Blessed Virgin Mary

Join Br Martin Bennett OFM Cap  ( Vocation Promoter and Chaplain to St Francis College Rochestown) in the second of our Advent reflections. This week Brother Martin reflects upon St Francis and the Blessed Virgin Mary. We hope you enjoy this podcast.

For more information on the Capuchin way of life, contact Brother Martin at capuchinvocation@gmail.com

https://soundcloud.com/irishcapuchinpodcasts/stfrancisandtheblessedvirginmary2016

Franciscan Prayer Podcast. Episode 1: St Francis and the Franciscan Image of God

Recorded live in the College Chapel of St Francis College Rochestown, Brother Martin  (Vocation Promoter and Chaplain to St Francis College) leads a series of Advent reflections on Franciscan prayer.

In episode 1 we discover a little more about St Francis as well as exploring what Franciscan prayer is and the Franciscan image of God.

Stay tuned to our blog, website and social media for more podcats and further episodes in this series.

We hope you enjoy it

  Listen to Franciscan Prayer- Episode 1: Francis and the Franciscan Image of God by IrishCapuchinPodcasts #np on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.com/irishcapuchinpodcasts/franciscan-prayer-episode-1

Vocation as a call to mercy

The "official" Year of Mercy will soon come to an end. However, rather than seeing it as an end maybe we have the opportunity to see it as a refresher, a reminder and a signpost for a life of mercy.

Over the course of the year, Pope Francis has reminded us time and again of our call to be witnesses and apostles of mercy in the world. He has called us to seek out those who need mercy the most and to be mercy for them. He has called us to look deeply at how we live out our faith; as comfortable catholics observing from a safe distance? or as people enlivened by the Good News of Jesus Christ that seek to be the eyes, ears, hands and feet of mercy to others? He has called on us to use our talents, resources and belief to make a tangible, and merciful, differnce in our world; our common home. And he has called us to remember that it is God's Mercy that we bring, not our own.

If we are to take all this seriously then we need to be people engaged in a process of change that leads us into an ever deepening relationship with God, others, ourselves and all of creation. At first sight this call may seem too difficult for us however it is our call if we are to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

Each of us has the opportunity to respond to this call in our own way. We are not asked to be someone else but rather more fully ourselves. If we are married, we live out our Vocation of Mercy in and through this vocation. If we are single, we bring our Vocation of Mercy with us wherever we go and to whomever we meet. If we are religious or priests, then our call is to live our congregational vocation fully so as to be witnesses to the God whose name IS mercy.

One of the cards I received for my ordination last June had a simple yet striking message written on it, it read 'always be a man of mercy: be kind to people and try to love them as Christ loves them'. I often return to it to get me back on track when I get caught up in the busyness of daily life and ministry. It acts as an anchor point and a harbour for self reflection: A refresher, a signpost and a reminder. 

Every person has the vocation to be a person of mercy and to try to love others as Jesus loves them. To help us navigate this it may be important to ask ourselves how does he love us? How do I love others? What do I need to do to try to align these two expressions of love? In what ways can I be mercy?

It's my hope and prayer that the seeds sewn over this year will bear abundant fruit. Of course, we need to water, nourish and tend to them by our prayer, good intentions and actions. However, we are not alone; we're never alone.

As we approach Advent we can be reassured by the words of the Angel: 'Emmanuel'... God is with us!

Br Martin OFM Cap
Vocations Promoter for the Irish Capuchin Province

'And the Lord gave me brothers...' A warm welcome to our Novices!

Today we welcomed four young men into our Noviciate in Kilkenny. Read all about it here...Capuchin Novices received in Kilkenny

Opening the Door of Mercy: The Capuchin ministry of welcome

The monotony of waiting to collect someone from the airport was broken by whoops of joy as 'Martha and the Gang' (according to the 6 foot florescent banner) arrived home. Long before their arrival that banner, and others like it, had brightened the eyes and widened the smiles of the travellers who walked through the doors. They knew they were home. It may not have been a welcome specifically coloured in and shimmering just for them, however it was a well received welcome none the less.

We all need to be welcomed and we all need to feel like we belong. One of the oldest Capuchin ministries was that of 'Doorkeeper'. The Doorkeeper, most often a Friar not ordained to sacramental ministry, was more than just someone who opened the door. They were the face of welcome and mercy to all who called to the Friary seeking help, consolation and support. Not alone where they the 'face of the Capuchins' to those who called but also, and more importantly, they were the 'face of Christ'. They were holy men and many of our Capuchin Saints and Blesseds were Doorkeepers.

As Capuchin Friars, regardless of whether we are ordained or not, we are called to be Doorkeepers. We are called to be men of welcome, mercy, compassion and consolation. We are called to both open doors for others and also to help hold doors open for those struggling to hold them open by themselves. As Capuchin Franciscan Friars we are called to be ministers of the Lord's welcome; ministers of forgiveness, reconciliation and peace.

Today our society often slams doors shut and refuses a welcome. Not us. Our welcome is an extension of Christ's welcome. It's the welcome of the forgiving father to the prodigal son and the welcome of Christ to the repentant thief. It's expressed as a compassionate and non-judgemental welcome to the lonely, poor, isolated, sick and homeless. It's God's welcome, we merely have the privilege of sharing it.

Br Martin OFM Cap
(Vocation Promoter)