Teaching in Stroud, Australia

For the last month I have been teaching with Brothers Alfred BoonKong, Bruce-Paul and Christopher John at a Spirituality Program SSF offers brothers, historically brothers from the Solomon Islands (SI) and brothers from Papua New Guinea (PNG). This year we opened it up to include brothers from the Province of the Divine Compassion: Korea, New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka--the province is called the Province of the Divine Compassion (PDC). One of the brothers from Korea (Cyril) was able to be with us for a month of the program, but he has already gone home, and Christopher John has gone back to school in Dunedin, New Zealand (where he is getting a doctorate). In addition to learning about the vows of obedience, poverty and chastity, we studied the SSF Principles, the spirituality of Francis and Clare, the Psalms and the Daily Office SSF. The brothers from The Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea have been away from home since the end of November. We all go back to our home provinces this week (I go to the Solomon Islands, my home-away-from-home). Above you see us in our "classroom" the beautiful friary common room. Like most of the buildings at Stroud it is made of handmade adobe mud bricks.

It has been a fabulous time. Whenever you add 4 extra brothers to a small friary, it can be a challenge. But the home team has been incredibly gracious and we all felt totally at home. In addition to studies we have done lots of projects around the friary: cutting grass mostly, but also cutting trees, planting trees, pulling weeds, caring for the vegetable garden, and (my favorite) scrambling down into the water tanks to clean out the muck. Cool business on some ferociously hot days. Cooking was a daily challenge and eating together a daily consolation. A couple of times I was accompanied on a run by a brother, too. Others went to the local pool. All in all, it was a healthy balance of body, mind and spirit.

Sunday we decided to celebrate the completion of the course, and Brother Simone's birthday with a meal out, at an all-you-can-eat restaurant. Here we are, stuffed and happy. From left to right, home province noted after our names: Simone (PDC), Luke Manitara (SI), Alfred BoonKong (PDC), Matthew Sikiboki (SI), Clark Berge (USA), Bruce-Paul (PDC) and Wilbert Bamemba (PNG).

A Vowed Life

The weeks fly by, and there's lots of grist for the mill.

Popes and archbishops resign and retire, and the church and world continue.

Perhaps the best comment I read about Benedict XVI's resignation is that it keeps the focus on the church, and what is best for the church--having a physically and mentally fit leader is very important.

Obviously some Roman Catholics disagree about retirement versus serving for life; but fitness rings a bell with me. Being physically fit and mentally alert are important for anyone seeking to lead. "Physically fit" doesn't mean running marathons either--some of us like distance running, but I know folks in wheelchairs who could lead anything they wanted to--differently abled and fit as a fiddle.

I have been teaching about the vows to four brothers gathered at one of our friaries in NSW, Australia. We talked about obedience as listening carefully and conforming our lives to God, the Scriptures, our Founders, each other and nature. This last category includes listening to, and caring for, our bodies. I think the Pope's resignation is a wonderful example of the kind of obedience to the body I am talking about.

The other two vows are of course poverty and chastity. Poverty in the sense of trusting each other, living interdependently and humbly. It means recognizing our limits in exerting our will, and living in solidarity with the economically poor. I dont think I have ever used the Pope as a positive example so much before; but here again we have a beautiful example of poverty as humility in the recognition that the future belongs in others' hands.

Chastity, as I am often at pains to point out, is not just about no sex. It is also about self control in speech, showing love and care, patience and kindness: the fruits of the Holy Spirit. We sin against chastity when we say harsh or intemperate things as much as when we break a celibate commitment. To acknowledge honestly and graciously the limitations of life, to manifest gracious acceptance is a kind of chastity which more people might take to heart. Certainly it is a challenge and an invitation to all Christians and me and my brothers as we learn more and more about our vows and the lives we have been called to live.

I wish Benedict XVI a joyful, peaceful retirement.