From its very beginnings, the Catholic Church has always followed the command of Jesus to go out in to all of the world and preach the Good News. That is the Church’s primary mission, evangelization. In order to do that the Church also has to maintain a community of believers who are continually learning more about the faith and their relationship to God and are continually receiving the gifts that God gives them to grow and complete their purpose. The Church, by its very nature, is communal. It is a body of people who work together to learn more about the faith, grow in the faith and then spread the faith. Jesus himself relied upon a group of believers, the 12 apostles, and the many followers and “the women” to start His Church and to spread the Good News. The need for community is strong and the benefits of community bring about strength.
The Church has had many different forms of community over the ages. For many years religious orders grew in large numbers and helped to accomplish the Church mission. Recently, especially in the Americas and in Europe, the number of people entering religious orders has decreased, but at the same time there has been an increase in lay people becoming involved with the traditional religious orders to work with them. I really believe that this has been a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit at work. I know of so many good Catholics who are part of “secular” or “third order” movements working with the traditional Franciscan, Dominican, Carmelite (etc) orders where they experience the gift of this community and continue the work of this community without giving up marriage or jobs or family. They continue the order’s mission right in the midst of today’s culture. They become like monks or sisters right within the workplace of everyday living. They also bring with them the fruits of these orders.
I have been fortunate to be one of the people to do this. I have been a member of the Franciscan Deacons of Rockville Centre and I would like to share with you some of the experience I have had there with this community. To do this, I would like to share a little history of our group.
The Society of Franciscan Deacons of Rockville Centre started over a dozen years ago by three deacons of my diocese who had originally started in formation to become brothers in Franciscan orders. After some discernment during their formation, they felt the call to marriage and to work within the normal workplace. After many years of marriage and secular work, they then felt the call of the Holy Spirit to become Catholic Permanent Deacons. God’s Spirit later put upon their hearts the original call to Franciscan spirituality and they began meeting to discern how to answer that call within the life that God had called them to. After meeting for some time, they felt called by the Lord to make a decision to follow Franciscan Spirituality and meet together as a group. One of the members is a Canon lawyer and Judge in our Diocesan tribunal. He was able to use his canon law skills to develop a way to form a legal society of deacons who follow Franciscan spirituality. He then approached our diocesan Bishop who thought the idea was a good one and the Society of Franciscan Deacons of Rockville Centre was formed. It started with the three original founders and has grown to over a dozen members. I am so blessed to be one of them.
We meet together as a group once per month where we pray together the liturgy of the hours, talk about our journey with the Lord, plan charitable actions for the group and do a study together as a group. Sometimes we study a book, and sometimes we study a movies series such as Fr. Dave Pavonka’s Wild Goose series. We also go together on retreat every summer for 5 to 6 days. In the midst of all of this we try to grow in our Franciscan spirituality to strengthen our work as parish deacons and evangelizer’s of God’s Word.
All of us have to take the vows of the Third Order Regular Franciscans and have gone through the normal stages of community life, Aspirant (someone thinking of joining), Postulant (praying with the group and learning about the group), Novitiate (continued training and beginning of temporary vows, Solemn Profession (taking perpetual vow to be a full member). The vows for the Franciscan Deacons are centered on poverty, chastity and obedience. Since Permanent Deacons are usually married men who own homes and have jobs, these three vows are further explained. Poverty for us is embracing a simple lifestyle, especially regarding possessions. Chastity for us is being true to our marriage commitment. And obedience to us is continued obedience to our Bishop and to our faith. Part of our foundational training and additional training is learning more about St. Francis and Franciscan Spirituality. We have read and studied together several books on both Francis and Claire. The gifts that these two people brought to the Church are both simple and profound. Studying these two great people and their relationship to God has most certainly helped my spiritual life and desire to serve God’s people.
All of the religious orders emphasize prayer and community and we certainly do that in our meetings. We often have dinner together in a restaurant before our meetings and that helps the sense of community grow among us. Most orders also emphasize work of some sort. Now in our Society, we are all diocesan deacons who are assigned work within our own parishes (and the diocese) and this is seen as our main form of work. However, we also keep a tie with the Franciscan Society of the Atonement in Graymoor, NY. Several of the men in our group actually attended their formation there when they were thinking about becoming friars and brothers. We have a very close bond with the Friars of the Atonement and part of our “work” is with them. We often go up to Graymoor for weekends to help with the retreats and special days that we run. Several members of our community have advanced that by becoming Tertiary’s of the Atonement order. They still meet with us in our group but have expanded their connection with the Society of the Atonement.
I am so glad that the Lord drew me in to the Society of Franciscan Deacons of Rockville Centre. I have always loved St. Francis, even when I was a Methodist. I was actually ordained a deacon on October 4th, the Feast day of St. Francis. Our society has helped me form closer relations with my brother deacons and has helped me grow in my own spirituality and in my service to the Church. Yes, I am saddened by the lack of vocations that many of our orders are experiencing, but I am also thrilled with what the Lord is doing with “third order/secular” groups today in the Church. If you are feeling a need for more community especially as lived out by a particular Saint, I would suggest you seek out a “third order or secular” group near you. I know that my involvement in our group has greatly helped me in my walk with the Lord and has helped me to grow in my service to Him and His people.