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Francis's
own life story and experience resonated with what I had come to
want in my life
Interview with Bob Mokry, ofm
I'll
give these dummies one more chance
Testimony from Gerry Clyne, ofm
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Francis's own life story and experience resonated with what I
had come to want in my life
Where
did you grow up? Family, interesting stories...
I spent most
of my early and teenage years in a small town, Hodgeville, in
rural southern Saskatchewan. It was, in hindsight, a good place
to spend my youth - a close-knit and generally supportive community
where I was free from many of the difficulties, stresses and stains
that young people now face - but while I was growing up, especially
in my teenage years, it was the most boring place I could imagine,
and I looked forward to being able to leave.
I come from a large family, and am the second of 7 children, most
of whom are quite a bit younger than I. As a youngster, a difference
of 5, or 10, or 12 years in age can be almost insurmountable as
far as relating closely to your siblings. I remember having to
babysit my brothers and sisters, which I didn't mind, but this
cut into my own time which I'd just as soon have spent on my interests
or with friends. I had several very good friends with whom I was
able to connect and to spend time visiting, listening to music,
talking about the future, and making plans for when we'd finish
high school and be able to move away from home to more exciting
places.
Tell
us about yourself as a teen or young adult.
During my
teenage years, most of my "fun" centred around going
to school, school events, weekend parties, and working part-time.
I liked school and did fairly well but probably didn't apply myself
to studies as much as I should have since I didn't want to be
branded as the class nerd. When I finished high school, I went
on to university, but didn't really know what I wanted to do.
I enrolled in the College of Arts and took a variety of classes,
but spent a lot of my time with my friends critiquing and analysing
society and discussing such heady issues as oppressive social,
economic and policital systems, the solidarity of humanity, the
need for an uprising of the proletariat and a social revolution,
the Vietnam war, and just about any other cause or issue that
circulated. These early university years were great times, and
we seven guys and girls who shared a house, became a close community
of high-minded friends, but not necessarily, at least in my case,
highly successful students.
Was
the Church or religion something that occupied you?
In our family,
it was taken for granted that we would all attend Sunday Mass
- as long as we were living at home, there was no other option
for us kids. As a youngster, while still in elementary school,
I was an altar server and served irregularly at weekday Masses.
This was prior to Vatican II, and I remember enjoying this. I
liked being able to recite Latin responses to the priest, or occasionally
to read the Epistle. There were also a few perks: for example,
getting out of school to serve at special Masses and sometimes
getting a few dollars for helping out, if the priest received
a generous stipend. This interest waned as I became older. In
my teenage years, I was still a regular attendant at Sunday Mass,
but I became very critical of what I perceived to be hypocrisy,
of others' failures, of the inadequacy of the Church's teachings.
After I left home and went to university, I found that the Church
held little interest for me: other causes or issues in the world
seemed more important; and I fell away - told myself that God
didn't exist, and that the church was irrelevant.
What
was your discernment like on the road to becoming a friar?
I suppose
a number of things converged in my life, at a certain time, which
led me to become a Franciscan Friar. Since I did not know exactly
what I wanted to do and why I was at university, I took some time
off and went to work in central Canada. At about the same time,
the excitment and idealism which arose from those heady university-day
discussions began to diminish as I became increasingly aware,
like many other 9-5 working stiffs, that there was never going
to be any great unifying proletarian pull to create a new world
order. With a certain amount of disillusionment and no sense of
direction, I took to the road and travelled around Europe. After
a time of meeting up with and then leaving other young people
who were "on the road", I found myself alone, lazing
around in the warmth of North Africa in a very religious, and
ironically non-Christian, culture. Undoubtedly, it was a combination
of loneliness, exhaustion, and the culture shock of a strikingly
different society which believed in God that brought me to see
something of the emptiness and purposelessness of my life. I remember
revisiting my life experiences - going back to a time in my life
when there was a sense of purpose, of completeness; and of recognizing
that God had been a part of those times and that God had actually
given me a certain sense of who I was. I guess I glimpsed that
whoever I was and whatever I did depended on God. I remember telling
myself then, that if I could believe in God, I could come back
to believe in Christ and the Church. I guess the rest is history
- within a few years I was a novice and a student in the Franciscan
Order studying theology.
Why
the Franciscans?
Coming back
to my faith involved beginning to think about God and Christ in
different ways. The story of Francis of Assisi helped me very
much to think of God, in His relation to us and all creation in
a more loving and inclusive manner than previously. Also Francis's
own life story and experience, although different from mine, resonated
with what I had come to want in my life. Francis, too, it seemed
to me, envisioned a loving unity of all people, all creation,
bound together by divine love into a fraternity where brothers
and sisters sought out one another, and expecially the poor, in
Christ-like service. This idea of God and Christ and humanity,
shown forth in my reading of Francis, probably was influenced
by earlier humanistic ideologies; but now, the difference was
the recognition that God really is present with and among us.
I was coming to replace empty ideologies with the truth and power
of God in my life, and I could recognize that this was occurring
in many other people's lives. "God with us" wasn't an
illusion it was a reality.
What
are the vows you took?
Once I entered
the Franciscan Order and after the first year or so of initial
formation I took vows, which I renewed annually for several years,
and then finally I made vows to God for life. I vowed to live
in chastity and obedience and without anything of my own . Living
in Chastity means that I will not marry, so that I can commit
myself more fully to serving and to proclaiming the Kingdom of
God to all people rather than exclusivly to a spouse and those
closest to me. Living in obedience means that I seek to be obedient
to the Will of God and to respond as greatly as possible to what
God asks me through Scripture, the Church and its sacraments,
as well as through the requests of superiors and others who are
a means of guiding me in discerning God's Will. Living without
anything of my own is not quite the same things as vowing "poverty".
It means, first of all, recognizing my total dependence on God
who, in His graciousness, showers us with riches beyond compare
- and so we can never be truly poor; and then it means emptying
myself of my own attachments, like Christ, to accept with joy
and gratitude, whatever gifts God gives me in my life; and finally
it means accepting that all that I have, which comes from God,
is for the good of all God's people. In this sense of living without
anything of my own, there is also an aspect of material poverty
(but not only material poverty) since God asks us to give of all
our gifts, to share with all, so others might live more fully.
What
are your favourite accomplishments since your vows?
I guess my
greatest and smallest accomplishment, and one which I continually
set out to accomplish anew, is to live as fully as possible by
responding to what God asks of me through the people and events
of every day. This is the same challenge we all face, and it is
the same accomplisment we all achieve. In doing this, I have over
my many years as a Franciscan Friar spent a great deal of time
studying and attaining degrees which have served me well for teaching,
which I thoroughly enjoyed. Now, since I was elected Provincial
by my brother Franciscans, I, along with a Council, oversee the
needs of and care for my brother Franciscans throughout Western
Canada. This is an honour, but it is also a challenging way of
serving that has its own joys and brings a sense of satisfaction.
I don't know what the future will bring for me, but I hope I can
remain open to new ventures.
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