Pre-novitiate candidates begin fall semester

“Autumn is a second spring, where every leaf is in flower.”

—Albert Camus |

By Father Francis Mulvaney |

Life has sprung anew for the pre-novitiate candidates in the Bronx.

The new always stimulates interest, attention, and thought. As Moses moved closer to the burning bush (Exodus 3:2-3), compelled to see this curiosity up close, so have these men drawn closer to see and experience Redemptorist life for themselves.

We began the fall semester in Ephrata, Pa., at St. Clement’s Mission house. Nature, prayer, and sacrament drew us into the divine presence.

During this time—part retreat, part bonding weekend, and part getting to know the Redemptorists in the area and their ministry—we welcomed four new members to our community. Brother Larry Luján-Angel and Brother Gene Patin joined the formation team. Angel Martinez, who is from the Bronx, and Greg Benjamin from Grenada joined us as first-year candidates.

The setting could not have been more perfect: temperatures in the mid-seventies, bright sunny skies, sky-high corn stalks, and rolling green hills in front of the rectory that called for a soccer game or tossing the football around—or a least a little work on the short game. Nature shouted to us, “See how glorious God is!

We used the natural beauty and tranquil quiet of the property to examine and refine the way our community would pray. On the recommendation of Father Peter Hill, we took up Timothy Gallagher’s Praying the Liturgy of the Hours. Father Gallagher, O.V.M., recounted how praying the breviary helped transform his religious life and priesthood, changing from a rote formality to an energizing necessity.

We resolved to pray more slowly, rising earlier in the morning and lengthening the silent pauses after the psalm or canticle. We recalled the words of our beloved St. Alphonsus: “He who prays is certain to be saved; while he who prays not is certain to be damned.”

Father John McLoughlin welcomed us to Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish, and we had the grace-filled opportunity to join them for a Sunday liturgy. Father Jim O’Blaney did the same for us at St. James in Lititz.

Father Pat McGarrity, Father Tom Siconolfi, Brother Bosco, and Father Gordon Cannoles shared breakfast and coffee with us at various times over the weekend. More importantly, they shared their wisdom gained from years in the mission fields and living community life.

Our encounter with these men was living proof of what our confrere Assisi Saldanha, C.Ss.R., described in the Lexicon of Redemptorist Spirituality, that “in working for the salvation of people the sanctification of the members is achieved.”

Sister Serafina gave us a tour of the assisted living facility with her signature enthusiastic, if not demanding, style. She urged us to care for our bodies and souls so we would be able to care for the spiritual wellbeing of others. Along with Tom Siconolfi, she warned of the deleterious effects of processed sugar and a sedentary lifestyle. With fist raised in the air, she trumpeted the holy trinity of health: diet, exercise, and sleep. We’re good at the sleeping part. We’re working on the other two.

Of course, no trip to Ephrata would be complete without a visit to the famed famers’ market, the Green Dragon. With great prices on fresh produce and big ol’ belt buckles, we had to resist the urge to get a small pig or maybe a few chickens at the live-animal auction.

We weren’t the only ones stimulated by the new. A young Amish boy stared at A. J. Riviere, C.Ss.R., a newly professed student from Dominica, as he circled him a few times, not sure what to make of this cool island dude wearing dark sunglasses.

He seemed to resist an urge to touch his dark skin. He looked at A. J. as if he had seen him somewhere before and was trying to figure out where, maybe on TV playing football for the Philadelphia Eagles. His wordless face spoke of fascination, as if to say, “ya’ll ain’t from around here, are you?”

During his recent trip to Cuba, Pope Francis used the words encounter and dialogue to exhort Cuba and the United States to renewed openness with each other. Our students will encounter and dialogue with philosophical and theological thought at St. John’s University in Queens.

They will encounter and dialogue with inner-city kids at Immaculate Conception Church and hurting, dying elderly people at Terrence Cardinal Cooke Care Center in Manhattan.

We will encounter and dialogue with one another in colloquiums, group communication, relationship-building sessions, and retreats.

Most importantly, we will encounter and dialogue with the living God through prayer, Scripture, sacrament, and all of Jesus’ brothers and sisters we meet in our various ministries.

At the end of the rite of baptism, the priest or deacon raises his hand in blessing over the mothers of the newly baptized, calling them to see the hope, proof, and promise of eternal life in the shining faces of their children.

May we see the hope, proof, and promise of continuing Redemptorist life and mission on the shining faces of these men as they begin their formation year in the Bronx.