Reflections - Friars in Postulancy
St. Michael Friary - Their Vocation Journey
DANIEL COMERFORD, O.F.M., CAP.
Dan comes to us from North Providence, Rhode Island and is 22 years old and has completed his third year at Rhode Island College. He has been working at North Providence Public Library for the past seven years. Below are Dan's thoughts since his acceptance into the Capuchin Franciscan Postulancy Program...
It has been nine months now since my first encounter with the Capuchins. Now looking back, I can truly say that my meeting with Brother Tim Jones last August was the start of a new beginning for me. Last year at this time, if someone had told me that I would be moving to Brooklyn to begin my Postulancy, I would not have believed them. Yet, God works in mysterious and wonderful ways and has led me to begin this journey of faith.
The time leading up to the admission’s board decision proved to be a stressful period in my life. Now that all those months of waiting are behind me, I can finally start preparing for my future. This summer will be full of farewells, not only to my family and friends, but to my hometown and current way of life. Also, resigning from my job where I have been employed for seven years will be difficult. However, these changes are bittersweet since they mark the end of my current life and the beginning of life as a Postulant. I am using this period leading up to Postulancy for deep prayer and reflection. I am also freeing myself of many of my material possessions which is bringing me to a deeper appreciation for poverty. I am looking forward to the “big move” because I am eager to be molded into a Capuchin.
I have always been the type of person who likes to know what is going to happen tomorrow, next month, and next year. However, this journey is a learning experience for me because I have learned to trust God’s Will and the plan He has for me. I am beginning to understand that no matter what happens in my future I know that God will take care of it and guide me to where I belong.
To read more about Dan, please click here.
MATTHEW GILES, O.F.M., CAP.
Matt comes to us from Ashland, Massachusetts. He is 19 years old and recently finished his second year at Stonehill College, where he has been very active in the campus ministry program. He frequently visits San Lorenzo Friary, our Capuchin House of Studies. Below are Matt's thoughts since his acceptance into the Capuchin Franciscan Postulancy Program...
The day of the Admissions Board meeting I was, to put it bluntly, a total wreck. I was checking my phone every few minutes or so, hoping they would call soon and praying I would not miss the call. It had been a long and difficult process to complete the application. The length of the application is certainly daunting and the process takes months to complete, including many different phone calls to be made, appointments to be made and kept, and paperwork to complete. Apart from that, my parents had not been supportive of my decision to apply to enter the Capuchins, which added a lot of emotional and spiritual stress onto an already difficult situation.
When Brother Tim called, I was sitting alone in a small, quiet chapel in silence – waiting. When he told me that I had been accepted, a broad smile spread across my face and I knelt down gratefully before the altar of the chapel. Preparing for Postulancy, I am amazed at how far I have come and excited to begin this new chapter of my life. As one of my fellow postulants-to-be told me shortly before the Admissions Board decision, “This is going to be the experience of a lifetime.”
For me, being accepted is both the culmination of an amazing journey of discernment with the Capuchins and the start of a new, deeper discernment with the Capuchins in which my brothers and those whom I will serve will play an important role. At times, I still can not believe that I was accepted and I sit and marvel at what a wonderful and amazing gift from God it really is to be able to call myself a Capuchin Franciscan.
I am excited but also nervous about what lay ahead. The future is sometimes a scary thing to think about, especially since it is so easy to fall into the trap of pessimism and doubt. I know, despite all of the obstacles that seem to be present ahead of me, God will be with me and so will my Capuchin brothers, who have and will continue to be a living witness of God’s great love for me and for all people. Saint Anselm put it well when he said: “let this hope of mine be in my thoughts and on my tongue; let my heart be filled with it, my voice speak of it; let my soul hunger for it, my body thirst for it, my whole being yearn for it, until I enter into the joy of the Lord, who is Three in One, blessed forever. Amen.”
Being accepted to the Capuchins is the greatest gift I have ever received. I know I will continue to grow in the love and graces of God and my journey, consecrated to Christ, will truly make me a light in the midst of great darkness. Glory to God in the highest!
DESMOND O'CARROLL, O.F.M., CAP.
Desmond comes to us from Pearl River, New York. He is 33 years old with dual citizenship in Ireland and the United States. He is an attorney who has worked with the United Nations hearing the cases of war crimes in Kosovo. He also worked in East Timor, Missouri and now New York. Below are Desmonds's thoughts since his acceptance into the Capuchin Franciscan Postulancy Program...
April 16, 2009, the day of the admissions board meeting in New Paltz, New York, came at the end of a trip I had undertaken to Nevada to participate in a sacred peace walk in the desert. I had wanted to spend Holy Week far away from the bustle of the city streets, in order to truly prepare myself for the outcome of the board meeting. There were only two possible outcomes: acceptance or rejection.
The day of the meeting itself, as I flew from Las Vegas to New York, I felt a strange mix of trepidation and serenity. I had resigned myself to God's will being done, and whether that meant acceptance or rejection, I was ready to face the outcome. Shortly after I landed at Kennedy airport at about 7:30pm that evening, I received the call from Bro. Tim informing me that I had been accepted. A surge of delight and relief coursed through my body.
As I took the train home that night, I prayed in thanksgiving for the trust that the board members had placed in me and the other candidates who had been accepted into the postulancy program. That is how I view this undertaking: as a sacred trust. I know that it will demand all my reserves of will and fortitude to honor that trust, but I am determined to rise to this challenge. God willing, the journey ahead will be as grace-filled as the discernment journey thus far has been.
To read more about Desmond, please click here.
RONALD O'KEEFE, O.F.M., CAP.
Ron comes to us from Montclair, New Jersey, although he spends most of his time in the New York area. He is 37 years old and worked as a payroll manager. He has been discerning with us for two years and on weekends assists with the senior friars at St. Clare Friary. Below are Ron's thoughts since his acceptance into the Capuchin Franciscan Postulancy Program...
I was grateful to hear the positive news of my acceptance into the Capuchins. The opportunity to expand in a religious setting and to focus more on my relationships with myself, with others, and most importantly with God is an opportunity that I have waited for and prayed about for many years.
I think the thing that I look forward to when entering Postulancy is really getting to know the others that I will be living with. There is so much work and coordination that leads up to that first day of Postulancy that it can feel a little overwhelming if I do not keep in mind that we live by His grace and His grace alone.
I would definitely encourage anyone seeking the Lord in there life through a vocational call to attend one of our weekends. These weekends are spirit-filled and the men that you meet are all great people who are listening and figuring out where in their life they are being called to serve.
To read more about Ron, please click here.