Thankfulness

From the Irish Jesuits website, Sacred Space..."Thankfulness is a wonderful gift. It arises in people’s hearts when they can look back and see how their lives have been enriched, by parents, or children, a spouse or faithful friend, or other good people. Thankfulness may be delayed, indeed, and can only come after much darkness and struggle, when sunbeams and rays of light have shone through - when, despite what has been painful and difficult, I can now see those sunbeams, in the eyes of kind friends who have stood by me, or in the little everyday things which are good and uplifting. As a result, often my prayer can be simply a mood and feeling of gratitude and praise. I simply want to be in that thankful space. ‘I thank you, Lord, with all my heart’, the psalmist says, ‘you have heard the words of my mouth … I thank you for your faithfulness and love / which excel all we ever knew of you. / On the day I called, you answered; / you increased the strength of my soul’ (Psalm 138). How good these words are! And even if my mood is not thankful just now, perhaps in repeating these lines, or those in the rest of Psalm 138, the gift of thankfulness will rise in my heart."
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About an hour ago, I prayed the Office of Noonday.  Although it's "Noonday" in the BCP, I prefer to call it "Midday Prayer," since it doesn't always happen at noon.  I highly commend this prayer office for busy people, so that they can take a break in their busy work schedules, and offer thanks to God. A person can easily go to our website at www.gregorians.org, go to the dropdown box and find "The Rule," and then "the Daily Office" around noon and find Noon Prayer. Towards the end, there is time to offer free intercessions. Not a day goes by that I don't use this time to offer thanks. I always include thanks for my community of brothers, frequently by name.

To showcase that we are in fact a community of brothers, regardless of whether we are lay or ordained, is a photo from our recent Convocation.  Brothers James Patrick and Blane Frederik are shown at their First Profession of Vows.  You will note they have the same exact cross and habit.  James Patrick happens to be a lay brother, and Blane Frederik a priest brother. But in the end - brothers just as we all are.

Of Vows / Florence Nightingale

From Psalm 61:  8   So will I always sing the praise of your Name, * and day by day I will fulfill my vows.

How nice that on the 11th day of each month at Evening Prayer, Gregorian Friars are able to pray this verse of Psalm 61. What a nice reminder. My Brother Karekin in San Francisco wrote about vows and I posted his comments earlier this month.  It's a serious undertaking for Religious, regardless of whether one is in a traditional community or a contemporary community.  As explained earlier today, the Canons differentiate the modes.

Tomorrow's calendar commemorates Florence Nightingale, nurse and social reformer. Several of my BSG brothers are in healthcare, serving either as Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses or Certified Nursing Assistants. One of my brothers is a Doctor of Pharmacy and one of my brothers is in medical school. As we remember Florence Nightingale tomorrow, I'll certainly be remembering all health care professionals, but especially my confreres, who have a tough job and treat it as they should - as a Vocation.  Here's an icon written by Br Tobias Haller (NY) of Florence Nightingale.