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The T.O.R.
Provincials of North America
Pictured from left to right:� Very
Rev. Christian Oravec, Very Rev.
Anthony
Criscitelli, Very Rev. Amando
Trujillo Cano
♦
On Tuesday, July 18,
the T.O.R. Provincials of North America met at Saint Francis Friary
in Loretto, Pennsylvania, along with a delegate from each Province,
to address questions and concerns of common interest facing the
three Provinces.�� The delegates were: Bro. Mark McBride , Fr.
Esteban Jasso Gonz�lez, and Bro.
David Liedl.
Agenda items included: providing an overview of apostolic
commitments; sharing information on finances, especially as they
relate to retirement; discussion of joint formational experiences;
and issues related to immigration.� Two decisions were made: to plan
an inter-Province continuing formation program for friars in solemn
vows for five years or less, and to host a joint Council meeting
within a year.� As a point of information, it was noted that 2008
will mark the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the T.O.R.�s in
North America arriving in Spalding, Nebraska, in 1908
Book Review
Tracy Kidder,
Mountains Beyond Mountains:� The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who
Would Cure the World
(New York: Random
House Trade Paperbacks, 2003.)
Tracy Kidder is a
winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the author of the bestsellers:
The Soul of a New Machine,
House,
Among
Schoolchildren,
and
Home
Town. This
powerful and inspiring new book shows how one person can make a
difference.
At the center of
Mountains Beyond Mountains
stands Paul Farmer. Doctor, Harvard professor, renowned
infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, the recipient of a
MacArthur "genius" grant, Farmer was brought up in a bus and on a
boat, and in medical school found his life's calling: to diagnose
and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of
modern medicine to those who need them most.
Mountains Beyond Mountains
takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer
changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy
that "the only real nation is humanity." At the heart of this book
is the example of a life based on hope.� This magnificent book shows
how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem
insurmountable, and it also shows how a meaningful life can be
created.�
"Mountains
Beyond Mountains
unfolds with the force of a gathering revelation," writes Annie
Dillard, and Abraham Verghese of the
New York Times Sunday Book Review
writes: �Mountains
Beyond Mountains
is inspiring, disturbing, daring and completely absorbing.�� �If
ever I go on a retreat again,� the critic for
The Washington Post Book World
writes, �this is the
kind of book I�d like to take for spiritual reading.� Kidder knows
it is impossible to live like Farmer, but the impossibility is the
very thing that can somehow give us life.��
The following is the text of a letter from Archbishop Harry Flynn to
our newly ordained friars.� His sentiments bear repeating as a
reminder to all our priest-friars of the gift of their particular
vocation.
�
Dear Father Foley and Father Kaczmarek,
Thank you so very much for your kindness in inviting me to your
ordination on June 10.� Unfortunately, I will not be able to be with
you because of other commitments.
However, I do write to you today to express to you my profound
congratulations on this great event in your life.
Monsignor George Mulcahy, my predecessor as Rector of Mount Saint
Mary�s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, used to say and he said it
frequently:� �It is no small thing to be a priest.�� You both are
embarking on a splendid vocation- a vocation that will enable you to
touch the lives of others in ways that you could never dream.� If
you accept the mandate of the Lord Jesus Christ and remain in His
holy love you will be amazed at what you will accomplish.� You will
be amazed, at times the right word will come when you don�t know
where it�s coming from.� You will be amazed at the solace you will
give when your own heart seems to be broken because of one thing or
another.� You will be amazed and amazed and amazed if you remain in
union with Our Lord Jesus Christ because he will use you beyond your
greatest expectations.
You have a promise of my prayers and I send to you blessings and
gratitude.
With every good wish, I remain
�
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn, D.D.
Archbishop of Saint Paul�and Minneapolis
A
Reflection on Ordination
-
David Kaczmarek -
A
few days before I was to be ordained, a woman I know well asked me
why I would want to be ordained as a Roman Catholic priest. She had
good reasons, I thought, to raise the question. The difficult
climate within the Church in the midst of a sexual scandal,
deep-seated questions regarding who should be ordained, and the
growing divide between �liberal� and �conservative� in the Church
are all legitimate points, for one who is discerning ordination, to
consider.
But in the end, even serious considerations like these cannot trump
where the heart is leading you. Some people refer to this as �a
calling�, but is certainly not a singular command of God; it is
discernment of God�s will
and discernment
of one�s own heartfelt desire
and the support
of one�s community that make for such a calling. But it is also one
thing more,
trust, that God
will never mislead you or leave you unsupported.
Everything I just said applies to my vocation, which is to be a
Franciscan Friar of the Immaculate Conception Province of the Third
Order Regular. The question of ordination, though related to my
vocation, has always been secondary and much more dependent on my
community�s mutual discernment with me of how I can best be of
service in the world.
I
am very grateful that this discernment required years to accomplish
because when my admission to solemn vows, and then later to the
presbyterate became a reality, I knew that I was ready and that the
discernment was right.
The day of my ordination is somewhat of a blur in my memory given
all the busyness, the things I needed to remember on that day, and
what seemed like endless details, but the feeling of gratitude
remains. Much of my presbyteral ministry right now consists either
of learning new things or in putting the training I received into
practice. But no matter what I am doing, and what roles I have taken
on, it is still me at the core, me, the friar, and now, me, the
priest.
I
truly believe that the greatest aspiration of any person is to use
their freedom to serve God-- that is real vocation-- no matter how
God and you express it. Thanks be to God for a heart that is free.
�
�
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