Reflections - Friars in Pre-Novitiate
Their Vocation Journey...
CHRISTOPHER STUART GEORGE, O.F.M., CAP.
Christopher comes to us from Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts. He is 28 years old and came to discern with us after attending a vocation discernment retreat in Baltimore. Christopher has taught environmental education to fifth graders and served a two year enlistment as a Chaplain Assistant and paratrooper with the United States Army Airborne Division. Below are Christopher's thoughts since his acceptance into the Capuchin Franciscan Formation Program...
For two years before applying to Postulancy I was actively investigating religious life. Now, it seems like such a short time ago. Since then my experience discerning with the Capuchins is that they have been very open minded and concerned for what is best for the individual person.
In the discernment program there have been very many opportunities to get to know the Order and explore God’s Call. Over the last two years I attended several discernment weekends, Ordination ceremonies, and visited several friaries. Here I met the people, other postulants, heard about the ministries of various friars, saw some of New York City, and got better acquainted with Capuchin life. Discernment weekends were valuable times to witness the characters of the friars and to think whether this was a group I would want to join. I have good memories of these weekends, and found earnest responses to real questions about the vows, sacrifices, and joys of religious life.
Throughout my discernment, the Vocations Director, Brother Tim, was both an administrative contact and a very helpful sounding board and well of experience for times when I needed to discuss more particular questions about God in my life. Any one of the friars when I asked about personal experience with their own vocations was generous with their experience, and very supportive. This was a key aspect leading up to my decision to apply. In addition to personal spirituality, sharing faith with other people makes the rubber meet the road. I found the friars to be comfortable with one another and with themselves. The discernment weekends were a good chance to talk with the other Candidates, and Postulants as well.
At what point did I round a corner and feel that I should apply? Ultimately, it was a personal decision between God and I. Looking at the relationships in my life, and a wealth of information from the Capuchins and other Orders, I believe that these things have helped point me in the direction of religious life.
ALEX PRADO, O.F.M., CAP.
Alex comes to us from South Ozone Park, New York. He is 28 years old and has been discerning with us for several years. While discerning with us and contemplating whether to begin a social work degree, Alex was working as a case work aid specializing in assisting dysfunctional families to keep their children in the home rather than have them institutionalized. Below are Alex's thoughts since his acceptance into the Capuchin Franciscan Formation Program...
I began discerning with the Capuchins in 2005. I never considered religious life until meeting Brother Tim and the Capuchins living at St. Johns in Midtown Manhattan.
Since 2005, I have just been finishing up school and working while directing a youth group in my local parish, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in South Queens. During these past years, staying close to the friars has helped me stay grounded to the Gospels while learning to be more level-headed in all my ministries; something for which I will be forever grateful.
In the friars of this Province, I truly see the First Apostles at work... carrying St. Francis' spirit and joy. I know this will be an enriching experience, and I hope to continue learning and appreciating the human experience
SCOTT SURRENCY, O.F.M., CAP.
Scott comes to us from New York City, New York. He is 37 years old and has a doctorate in Italian Literature. He came to first discern with us after visiting Assisi during his studies. Scott taught for four years at Penn State University and then came to reside in New York City in order to spend more time on his discernment. Below are Scott's thoughts since his acceptance into the Capuchin Franciscan Formation Program...
When I moved to New York City in 2006, religious life was the furthest thing from my mind. The way I saw it, I had done the discernment thing already, soon after entering the Church at Easter in 1996, and could therefore reasonably conclude that I most certainly did not have a religious vocation. A couple of years after my arrival in New York, however, in the Fall of 2008, I experienced a re-conversion to and re-discovery of my Catholic faith. If you can imagine a gentle, peaceful, and friendly kind of earthquake – and one that’s a full 10 on the Richter scale – that’s what happened to me spiritually, as everything got rocked and shaken back into place. Before too long I found myself once again feeling drawn to religious life, but since I’d been through all that before, I was more than a little skeptical of myself and quite reluctant to pursue such a desire any further. I remembered all too well where that had gotten me before – absolutely nowhere – and I didn’t want to subject myself to the heartache and shame and disapppointment of not having a vocation all over again. So I did what any sane and rational, albeit confused, person would do in my situation and prayed to St. Joseph for his help and guidance.
In strictly human terms, my discernment with the Capuchins might seem to have been from the very beginning more a matter of chance and coincidence than any effort or initiative on my part, as I had no strategy or plan of attack whatsoever. But looking at it through the eyes of faith, I can see that it was really the hand of God at work all along through the Capuchin friars I met, through good friends who knew me well, and through the interior inspirations and promptings of the Spirit. I prayerfully did my best to take just one step at a time, and almost as soon as I took that one step, the next one presented itself. This past year of discernment has shown me that if we start to let go and be less resistant, to surrender to and trust in God alone, He really will come through. (I have also learned the difference between praying Thy will be done and Thy will be done but only if it’s what I want.) As Saint Thérèse of Lisieux so eloquently and succinctly put it, “All is grace.” Never in a million years would I have guessed that I’d have to come to live in New York City, the capital of every kind of excess imaginable, to decide that I wanted to live a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The Lord works in mysterious ways…