Obedience

"How was the Chapter, Father?"
"Well. Thank you for asking. It was very short," Fr. Roch answered, peering over his glasses.

My classmates and I were settling down to our Ecclesiology class at the monk's library.
Fr. Roch, our instructor, had shared with us that his Cistercian community were having elections for a new abbot. The process is usually called Chapter of Elections.

"The vote was practically unanimous. This is a blessing. It means that we are united," Fr. Roch continued. No one exactly knew how old Fr. Roch was but scores of college professors across the United States boast of being taught by him.

"I was telling my freshman class that Fr. Peter, our new abbot, is a wonderful man. You know, he was my student. The class of 1973."

1973.
All of us in the room definitely wasn't even born yet.

"They asked me how I felt about kneeling down in front of Fr. Peter, my student, and vowing obedience until the day of my death."
Most religious takes the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience.
I remember my first time, June 14, 1997.

"I told them, God took care of it."
Fr. Roch's face crinkled in a huge smile. "My knees are so bad, I couldn't kneel."

No wonder generations of students continue to sign up for Fr. Roch's classes.

Photo credit & for more information:
http://www.cistercian.org/abbey/news/abbey-news/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life with Ashes

Image
It was time to move. Goodbye to Allen Parkway and hello to Florin Wood. Our family was moving from Houston to Sacramento. This was over 20 years ago and the day comes back with ashes. And a smell. My dad had piled all our old clothes, furniture, and knick knacks into a huge heap in front of our yard. He poured gasoline generously and lighted it with a smile. My mom looked on regretfully. All seven of us kids were delighted with the dancing flames. The neighbors didn't care. We lived in what they called the ghetto part of the world and since we were not shooting at anyone, we were okay. "We're starting a new life," my dad reassured mom as our van entered the highway. "No need to hang on the old stuff." "It was pretty dinky, wasn't it?" my mom replied hesitantly. Our years in Houston were our first years living in the United States, far away from the land of our origin, Vietnam. What dad burnt was the few possessions we accumulated fro
Read more

Teddy Bear

Image
"Dear God, I love you so much, I want to give you everything. You can have my Mom, my Dad, my sister, my teddy bear. No, I take it back. You can have everyone, but I want to keep my teddy bear." Love, Little Boy. Fr. Roch hardly lost a beat in his lecture of sin as he told his joke. Sin is putting ourselves above God. Not willing to let go. In actuality, God never wants everything. He just wants the teddy bear. What we think is necessary. Photo source: www.funkyfriendsfactory.com
Read more

Bingo!

Image
Sisters at Salerno's Artichoke Lucia.  Baked with Italian cheeses and breadcrumbs. Grilled fillet salmon on a bed of blanched spinach and mushrooms, topped with pine nuts. 8oz. marinated and charbroiled steak topped with sauteed mushrooms; served over linguine. Saturday night at Salerno's. It was time to "open community." Every year we choose a venue to celebrate the beginning of our time together as a religious community.  This year the venue chose us. "Bingo!" An almost audible gasp escaped from the surrounding tables. Sr. Leslie Thu at our table had won another bingo game. A Knight of Columbus member handed her a sealed envelope. Her eyebrows arched in delight. It was a $50 Walmart gift card. We cleared our cards and another round started. It was the Knights of Columbus Sisters Appreciation Luncheon. It was on a early Sunday afternoon. They had sent the invitation two months ago. Sr. Jacinta Ngân had "highly encouraged"
Read more