Team Cozart: Greetings from Fr. Loren!

On Monday, April 29, Denise visited with Father Loren Connell and Father Ron Corl in Detroit, Michigan. Fr. Loren showed her and Fr. Ron the places where he ministers in downtown Detroit - soup kitchen, pantry, and clothes distribution. Downtown Detroit is one deserted neighborhood after another. Half the population has moved away. Fr. Loren is doing what he can to be a compassionate presence to the remaining people. He sends greetings to the folk at St. Leonard. His address is: St. Aloysius Friary, 1234 Washington Blvd, Detroit MI 48226-1894

Vital Life: A Friar's Experience

Fellow Residents and Staff,

As many of you know, this September I begin a new life in Detroit, Michigan.  Forty-five years ago I committed myself to the brotherhood of the Friars Minor and vowed to live the Rule of that brotherhood all the days of my life.  The brotherhood gives meaning and structure to my life.  In the brotherhood I grow into the person that God is calling me to be.

When I moved to Saint Leonard three years ago, another brother, Curt Lanzrath, OFM, was living here in retirement.  I fondly remember our evening meals together in the assisted living dining room.  Two years later Joe Rigali, OFM, another brother, retired here.  Curt’s health deteriorated, and he moved to Cincinnati, while Joe and I got together weekly for prayer, fellowship, and dinner.  This summer Joe moved to a nursing home as resident chaplain; and I was left alone at Saint Leonard, a brother without nearby brothers. 

As Joe’s move was being finalized, the brothers asked me to consider moving to Saint Aloysius Friary in downtown Detroit.  I checked it out, considered the pros and cons, prayed over it, and said, “Yes, I want that.”  The friary is an apartment on the eighth floor of the archdiocesan chancery building.  I will be living with my brother Tod Laverty, OFM.  In two different parishes we will be ministering to senior citizens in HUD housing, homeless people on the streets, business people in office buildings, and a host of volunteers who are helping the friars carry out God’s work.  It will be an exciting and new venture for me.

Life is about growth, and growth reaches its climax in autumn.  Autumn is the season of abundance.  The riches of the preceding seasons are harvested and enjoyed.  In the autumn of my life, I look forward to an abundant harvest in downtown Detroit.  No one is ever too old for the harvest.

Residents and staff of Saint Leonard, you have welcomed me into your lives, and I treasure our time together.  To each of you, in the words of Saint Francis,

Peace and every Blessing!

  

 Loren Connell, OFM,

 sacramental minister

Team Faith Community: Dedication of Chaminade Courtyard

Dedication of Chaminade Courtyard in Honor of St. Leonard Faith Community.

Team Spiritual Care: Bible Study Group

Father Loren Connell OFM and the bible study group at St. Leonard

Vital Life: A Friar's Experience

This month I’d like to share some thoughts on better physical and psychological health. Toward the end of my senior year of college a classmate half-dared me, half-teased me, to smoke a cigarette. I had never smoked anything in my life and didn’t even know how to inhale, but I was up to the challenge. That one cigarette soon led to a pack-and-a-half-a-day habit.


In the late ’60s and early ’70s all Americans were learning more and more about the dangers of tobacco smoke. I wanted to quit but kept right on smoking anyway. Then one morning I lit a cigarette as usual, inhaled once, felt perfectly satisfied, looked at the remainder of the cigarette between my fingers, and realized that it would burn down to ash while I had already enjoyed as much of it as I wanted. What a waste of money, for I might as well have rolled up a dollar bill and set it on fire! That awareness—economic, not medical—helped me bring a thirteen-year habit to an end.

That morning I started to take control of my own health. I soon began to undertake enjoyable physical exercise on a regular basis—how fortunate we are at Saint Leonard to have stairs to climb and paths to walk! I became attentive to my diet and learned how to prepare healthful, tasty, and affordable meals. Several years later I discovered Al-Anon, an anonymous fellowship of families and friends of alcoholics. I no longer live with an alcoholic, but I still live with me, . . . and I have developed a lot of sick behaviors over the years. Al-Anon gives me the tools to identify those behaviors of mine, find healthy alternatives, and change my approach to life’s small and major challenges.

Today I am in a good place, both physically and psychologically, . . . and when I am not, I know what I have to do to change it. My story is not yours, but you and I both have a responsibility to take care of ourselves. Whether we are beginners or veterans, what are some practical ways by which we can continue to meet that responsibility?

In the words of Saint Francis, Peace and every Blessing!

Loren Connell, OFM,

sacramental minister

July 31, 2012

VITAL LIFE: A FRIAR’S EXPERIENCE

Fellow Residents and Staff,

Summertime,

and the livin’ is easy.

Fish are jumpin’,

and the cotton is high.

Summertime is my favorite aria from Porgy and Bess. Summer is indeed here. In early June I leave for a week and a half’s vacation in Maine, the Maritime Provinces, and the Gaspe Peninsula. I’m brushing up on my Bon jour, S’il vous plait, and Merci from fifty-plus years ago. I don’t expect to see any cotton, and I don’t think lobsters jump, although the tides in the Bay of Fundy rise over thirty feet. In any case, I hope that the livin’ will indeed be easy.

I don’t usually take vacation in the summer, and I haven’t had an extended vacation in three years. I’ve wanted to visit Atlantic Canada for ages, and this year early June seemed like the right time to do it. Our culture considers summer to be a carefree time of relaxation. Carefree relaxation sounds delightful. Wouldn’t we all like to enjoy it? Such cultural considerations, however, can lead to unrealistic expectations, which can lead disillusionment, which in turn can lead bitterness. Life is messy, and nothing is carefree. Happy people learn to accept the mess, alleviate what they can of it, and find joy in living life on life’s terms.

All is gift, life is gift, and God is the giver of all gifts. How attentive are we to God’s gifts? Can we learn to enjoy them, to share them with others, and to find even greater joy in giving them away? If we do, we have become God-like; and we become God-like by opening ourselves to the Spirit. Whatever difficulties you might experience, whether in your health, your family, your finances, or something else, open yourself to the Spirit. Don’t lose sight of the gifts that God wants to give you. Trust in God, gratefully accept those gifts, and enjoy your summer.

In the words of Saint Francis, Peace and every Blessing!

Loren Connell, OFM,

sacramental minister

May 31, 2012

Vital Life No. 5: A Friar's Experience

Fellow Residents and Staff,

Groundhog’s Day occurs this month. That day fascinated me when I was a kid and fascinates me still. Sixty years ago I didn’t know what a groundhog was, but I imagined something like a porcupine. (The best thing about imagination is that we can imagine whatever we want!) I didn’t understand anything about the critter’s seeing its shadow; and in cold, wet, slushy February spring seemed like a long way off, shadow or no shadow, six weeks or no six weeks. I first saw a groundhog ten years ago when I lived at Saint John the Baptist Friary in suburban Cincinnati, as we had several groundhogs on the property. Two years ago I stayed all night in notorious Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on my way home from vacation.

Behind the longtime folklore and more recent hoopla, however, there lies a grain of truth. If shadows are seen in mid-winter, the sun is shining. If the sun is shining, there is no cloud cover. If there is no cloud cover, earth’s heat dissipates. If earth’s heat dissipates, winter will remain. On the other hand, if there are no shadows to be seen, the sun is not shining. If the sun is not shining, there is cloud cover. If there is cloud cover, the earth’s heat is trapped. If the heat is trapped, spring will come earlier.

We have had an unusually mild winter. While a mild winter may be convenient for those of us who would otherwise have to scrape, gouge, or dig ice off our windshields in the morning, it is not good for our planet. In latitudes such as ours we need the cycle of seasons—winter, spring, summer, fall. How concerned are we for the well-being of our earth? Christian theology and Franciscan spirituality teach that creation has been entrusted to us. How good has our stewardship been? Do we reverence the earth? What kind of planet do we want future generations to inherit? What changes in lifestyle are we willing to make in order to leave them with a healthy planet?

Lent begins later this month. Should those questions be part of our Lenten meditation?

In the words of Saint Francis, Peace and every Blessing!

Loren Connell, OFM,

sacramental minister

February 1, 2011

Vital Life No: 4: A Friar's Experience

Fellow Residents and Staff,

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. What does Thanksgiving mean to you? For me, it means gratitude for my life and for all the wonderful people who have been a part of it. I am grateful for my parents and for the heritage that they bequeathed me. I am grateful for being a friar minor and for the call to meet God more intimately in the Franciscan tradition. I am grateful for my health, physical, psychological, and intellectual. I am grateful for my education and the opportunities which it has given me. I am grateful for the many wonderful people who have been a part of my life. I am grateful for God’s love as I have come to experience that love in the people and events of my life.

I was not entitled to any of those many blessings. I don’t deny that I have worked relatively long and hard and that I have done a reasonably good job, but the joy of resting in God’s love is a gift, not a reward. No one is entitled to a gift, for a gift is freely bestowed at the discretion of the giver. That awareness can be pretty deflating, even terrifying, when we allow ourselves to get caught up in our own egos. It can be liberating when we allow ourselves truly to hear the Gospel: God’s love knows no bounds. God does not weigh our merits and failures. Rather, God lavishly pours out God’s love on every one of us. As Saint Francis came to understand, all we have to do is let go of ourselves and accept the gift. That is cause for giving thanks, for loving others in return, and even for celebrating with turkey, cranberries, and mincemeat pie!

In the words of St. Francis,
Peace and every Blessing!
Loren Connell, OFM,
sacramental minister
November 8, 2011

Team Spiritual Care: Vital Life No: 3

Vital Life: A Friar's Experience Fellow Residents and Staff, On Tuesday, October 4, Franciscan men and women throughout the world celebrate the life and death of the Little Poor Man of Assisi, Saint Francis. Few saints have captured people's hearts like Francis. Why? What was or is there about Francis of Assisi that has drawn people to him across centuries and cultures? Perhaps it was his genuineness. Francis was authentic. There was no pretense in him. He knew that God loved him, and that was enough. He had no need to promote himself and his own agenda. In God's love he found freedom. He did not have to worry about what other people thought of him. Francis responded to God's love with joyful exuberance. He broke forth in song. He gave praise. People took notice. They wanted that same joy for themselves. They sought his way of life. In our own day I sometimes think that Saint Francis has been tamed. People still want to have his joy, but most want it to fall on them like sunshine. They don't want to work for it, for in order to experience true joy, people have to let go of their own egos, their own concerns, their own security—and letting go is scary. Saint Francis found joy through the Cross, and the Cross is neither pretty nor popular. The raw Francis is too threatening to most people. A domesticated Francis with robins and squirrels and goldfish is a whole lot safer. . . and a lot less real. . . and a lot less joyous. Overly zealous biographers can sometimes suggest that Francis experienced no doubts or struggles as he sought to follow Jesus, and how wrong they would be! Francis struggled just like the rest of us. His greatest struggle may have been in watching the brothers develop a vision and structure for his Order which differed from his. From a human point of view, his greatest achievement was taken away from him by the very people who claimed to be his followers—but what a paradox! When Francis let go of the Order, when he embraced the Cross, he had only Jesus. He found freedom by letting go. In that freedom he could sing for joy. Only forty-four years of age, Francis completed his life on the evening of October 3, 1226, at his beloved Saint Mary of the Angels in the swamps outside the city of Assisi. May all of us who are inspired by Saint Francis embrace the Cross in our own lives and thereby come to joy. In his words, Peace and every Blessing! Loren Connell, OFM, sacramental minister October 1, 2011

Team Spiritual Care: Vital Life No. 2

Vital Life: A Friar's Experience Fellow Residents and Staff,

As a child and adolescent, I enjoyed school and did well in it. History was my favorite subject, teachers were my role models, and I wanted to teach history. In 1970 I began teaching social studies at Franciscan high schools in Cincinnati and later in Fort Wayne. I enjoyed the kids but was not very good at teaching. While I in Fort Wayne, I was ordained to the ministerial priesthood by Bishop Joseph Crowley, the auxiliary bishop of the diocese.

In the summer of 1977 Lily, a mother of two of our students, called and asked for a priest to celebrate Mass at a camp south of town. I volunteered. The camp, it turned out, was for migrant farm workers, most of whom were Mexicans or Mexican-Americans who spoke little or no English. Lily herself was not only the mother of two of our students but also the director of the diocesan office for Spanish-speaking Catholics. Summer was tomato season, and the people had come to pick the crop. The camp consisted of central showers, toilets, and tap water, and fifteen or so one-room cabins, with a whole family, parents and children, assigned to a cabin. A slightly larger building served as a common meeting place, and that was where the Mass would be celebrated. Lily assured me that I could celebrate the Mass in English. The people might not know the English words, but as Catholics they would understand the central mystery of the Mass. When I arrived at the camp, to my own surprise I determined to celebrate the Mass in Spanish. The only Spanish that I knew was "Si." I did not know the words of the Mass, and I pronounced them as though they were English. Little kids giggled, but the people appreciated my effort. That summer evening transformed me. For the first time in my life I was engaged in something bigger than myself. I did not have to be a failed high school teacher. I could touch people's lives. I learned Spanish and ministered to both migrant and settled Hispanic Catholics for nine more months. The Holy Spirit had touched my heart. How has the Holy Spirit changed you? In the words of Saint Francis, Peace and every Blessing! Loren Connell, OFM, sacramental minister

September 1, 2011

Team Spiritual Care: Vital Life No. 1

Vital Life: A Friar’s Experience

Fellow Residents and Staff,

I have been ministering at Saint Leonard in one capacity or another for five years. Two years ago I moved into an apartment in Chaminade Hall. Now I am in the unique position of experiencing Saint Leonard both as a resident and as a staff member. I am blessed to get to meet so many wonderful people here. Who am I?

I was born sixty-eight years ago in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the son of a German-American mother and an Irish-American father. My parents grew up in southwestern Wayne County in east central Indiana, Mother in the little town of Milton, Dad on a farm a mile south. Mother’s family moved away in the 1920s, but parts of Dad’s family remained there until my last uncle died five years ago. I spent the happiest days of my childhood on the farm; and though the buildings are gone and the deed has changed hands, I still make the occasional pilgrimage to Wayne County and draw strength at my roots.

Both Dad and Mother were Catholic, and I grew up in the Catholic Church. During college I entered the Order of Friars Minor (in contemporary English, Community of Little Brothers), otherwise known as the Franciscans. At that time candidates for the Order had to choose to become either lay brothers or ordained brothers. It appeared as though the latter had more opportunities, and so I chose to become a priest, studying for the priesthood at right here at Saint Leonard College. As a friar and priest, I have ministered to high school students in Cincinnati and Fort Wayne; to hospital patients in Lafayette, Columbus, and Houma; to the gay and lesbian community in Columbus and Houston; and to the sales force of Saint Anthony Messenger across the country. I am now back in Centerville, where I first lived forty-some years ago.

In the words of Saint Francis, Peace and every Blessing!

Loren Connell, OFM,

sacramental minister

August 1, 2011