Eleven Friars Make Solemn Vow Retreat

From Bro. Jason Welle, OFM

From June 27th to July 27th, I was blessed to spend a month in the mountains of Colorado on retreat with ten other Franciscan friars preparing to make their solemn vows. Our group was a snapshot of the Church around the world, with friars hailing from Vietnam, Mexico, Syria, and Palestine, as well as the United States. All of these friars had discerned a permanent commitment to the Franciscan way of life, and sharing prayer, input, recreation, and fraternity together, for thirty days enabled us all to deepen this commitment.

Road to Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Forest

Our group resided at St. Malo’s Retreat Center an hour and a half north of Denver. When John Paul II came to Denver for World Youth Day, he took some personal time for hiking and prayer at St. Malo’s and we were very conscious of his presence among us; we spent many hours hiking the trail now named for the Holy Father, in addition to many other trails in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Amid this breathtaking scenery, Fr. Francis Di Spigno, OFM, and the rest of the retreat committee organized several complementary components to help us explore the meaning and gift of our Franciscan vocation. Fr. Tom Hartle, OFM, the guardian of the retreat, provided a stable and supportive presence for the month, which began with Fr. Bill Beaudin, OFM, preaching a week of conferences on the prayers and writings of St. Francis.

The second week, facilitated by Fr. Jerry Bleem, OFM, focused on Christianity and the Arts. Fr. Jerry led us in both imaginative activities like sketching and painting and repetitive activities like calligraphy and crochet.

These helped us touch our more creative sides, opening channels for the week-long directed retreat with Fr. Tom and Sr. Doris Gerke, OSC. These directors met with each retreatant for an individual conference each day, with the rest of each day free for silent prayer and reflection.

St. Catherine of Siena Chapel, St. MaloRretreat Center

Three special wisdom figures provided the input for the final week. Fr. Nicholas Lohkamp, OFM, reflected on his life as a moral theologian; Fr. Daniel Barica, OFM, on his ministry as pastor of California parishes and missions; and Fr. Mark Soehner, OFM, on his work in psychology and parish ministry.

Listening to these three very different friars comment on the blessings and challenges of their Franciscan vocations and their hopes for the community’s future rounded out our thirty days of prayer and growth in fraternity.

When the retreat ended, we scattered to return to our home provinces, conscious that even though we would profess our solemn vows in different places this fall, we are deeply united in our common vocation to the Order of Friars Minor.

Bro. Jason Welle, OFM, on his way to his Solemn Vows at Assumption BVM Church in Pulaski, WI!

Benedict’s Visit Reflects Changing Church

An article by Bro. Jason Welle, OFM, during his year in the province at Sacred Heart Parish in McAllen, TX


Pope Benedict XVI won’t be visiting Texas (this time!), but the Franciscan friars in the Rio Grande Valley, have still been eagerly awaiting his arrival. Personally, I’ve felt a close affinity to this pope ever since his election. My family heritage is Germanic and I had the chance to help another Franciscan friar lead a group of high school students to see the Holy Father at World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, in 2005. Seeing Benedict speak German in his home country was a wonderful thrill, but following this visit through the news with our parishioners has been a great blessing as well.

Our parish’s religious education programs have found different ways to draw attention to the Holy Father’s message. In my fourth grade CCD class, the kids acted out a play about Shepherd One landing at Andrews Air Force base—although the Texan kids clamored more for the roles of President Bush and the First Family than for the papal entourage! My 12th grade class read and discussed some commentary on the pope’s trip, and my adult education Bible study integrated conversation about Benedict’s style of leadership with that of St. Paul, as we continued our reflections on 2 Corinthians. In the wake of Good Shepherd Sunday, we asked ourselves what kind of shepherd Jesus was, what kind of shepherd Paul was, and what kind of (German) shepherd Benedict is.

These discussions are exciting because here in deep South Texas, just a few miles from the Mexican border, we live in a unique cultural mix. Many commentators have observed the growing presence of Hispanics in the Catholic Church throughout the United States, and Benedict’s recent creation of Texas’ first cardinal, Archbishop Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, seems to acknowledge the significance of this for the future of the American Church. In many places throughout the country, different cultural groups live side-by-side in the same parish or neighborhood but yet remain distinct and separate. We feel blessed here in McAllen to minister in a poor, downtown parish where Spanish and English speakers mix freely, working together for the future of this community. The friars of the Assumption Province came to this parish two years ago and were warmly welcomed, as we continued the long Franciscan tradition of reaching out to those on the margins. Our friars occasionally run into problems communicating, but Catholics here appreciate the sincerity of the effort; we pray that American Catholics will extend the same openness to the Holy Father’s words as he calls us all to hold up the richest parts of our tradition and preach Christ our Hope!

Bro. Jason Welle, OFM, kneeling, renews his religious profession in the hands of our Provincial Minister, Fr. Leslie Hoppe, OFM