A New P-Era (Phase of Life) Begins

And so it finally happened. After several years of suffering under my own impatience, the Franciscans of Western Canada and Canon Law let me Solemnly Profess. Before most of my immediate family, many extended family, friends, and my Franciscan brothers, myself and Billy Isenor, OFM pledged “perfect” gospel living. A ridiculously tall order…and now my dear sister Janine may legally point, glare, laugh, and exult: “You said you would!”

All joking aside, my profession liturgy (St. Mary’s Parish) and reception (on the lawn of Mount St. Francis) in Cochrane is the highlight of my life thus far. It feels good to be surrounded by love and support! Now I cherish the advice of my friend Father William Hahn: “remember those hills when you go into the valleys, brother”.

Life is like that –full of ups and downs. “One has to swim the moat before reaching the castle.” Heard enough clichés? Apologies, I’ve been watching movies again; good ones always get my fingers flexing.

I wrote the following (in ink) last night; my laptop has fallen terminally ill.

“Eat, Pray, Love”: I suffered through the book and much of the movie too. Maybe it was the random (whom am I to talk?) nature of Elizabeth Gilbert’s story, or the “unbuddhist” within me (I have nothing against Buddhism; the little I grasp does not appeal to me) yawning, but I was bored. And here I am writing about it.
Like many aimlessly romantic/spiritual tales, Eat, Pray, Love spoke to Friar Ducharme. Any sincere spiritual journey must and will lead to the truth of one’s heart. Liz Gilbert, like all of us, seeks love. Why? Because buried under superficial diversions is a person longing to be set free. I may be wrong, but I assert that each and every individual can be encompassed in this one word – “lover”. Like the Supreme Being we are all, at our roots, lovers. Church Father St. Ireneus proclaimed “God became human so that human beings become divine”. If we truly wish to be like God, That Whom we are not, we need be humble enough to love whom we are.

Before departing, I should fill you in on other random news. I was ordained a deacon on September 11th. The plan is to be ordained a presbyter sometime in the new year. In between celebrations, there is work. I have started a pastoral year at St. Mary’s Parish in Cochrane, Alberta.

“I’m not perfect, but I will keep trying because that’s what I said I would do” (Hedley).