Lunch With Friends

Yesterday I drove to the home of my friend, Fr Dennis, to help prepare and enjoy a lunch with some friends. These were not ordinary friends. One was Fr. Damien, the current Abbot of Gethsemani. The other was Fr. Timothy, a former Abbot of Gethsemani and now the Procurator General of the Cistercian Order. Fr. Timothy was my Novice Master during my time at Gethsemani. It was a great priviledge to share such an intimate encounter with them. It was especially nice because, in spite of their titles and roles in the Cistercian Order, we ate as friends. There was also another priest with us from New York. I was told that he helped care for Fr. Francis Kline while he was in New York being treated for the leukemia that eventually caused his early death. The five of us laughed and told stories about one another and others we knew in the religious life. We shared concerns about the future of religious life and the church. All in all we were just five men who shared different but similar spiritual journeys.