A Debt of Gratitude

 A Debt of Gratitude
March 2, 2021

Things are going well here at the Seminary. We are in the midst of evalution season and coming up on midterms. Writing peer evalutions and a self evalution is always a reflective process that allows you to see the growth in yourself and in your brothers. This year has been a year of great growth and graces. I continue to grow in knowledge of who I am and what being a beloved son means. I have also come to a clearer realization of what appropriate self-care and leisure are like, as well as learning about relational boundaries with people around me. My extroverted self needs time to sit in the silence and recollect once in a while. 

Onto to the Title:

I recently recieved an e-mail from my alma mater Briar Cliff University, asking for a donation this coming month in honor of the Sisters of St. Francis of Dubuque, Iowa. The Community who founded Briar Cliff and have worked tirelessly since the inception to support and fund various projects on the campus. Almost 200 Sisters have worked there since the doors were opened in 1930. As I read through the e-mail, and watched the video attached, my heart was moved with gratitude and love for Briar Cliff, but most importantly the Sisters of Saint Francis. This is something I have mentioned in the past, but it is so ever present to me, the older I get. 

My time at Briar Cliff encompassed some of the greatest years of my life. I was engrossed in the Franciscan Tradition and the values of service, compassion, and openness to all. I learned about St. Francis and St. Clare and how they were counter-cultural to the time in which they lived. They sought a relationship with the Lord and they attained it, which provided a great example to me. 

Most importantly during these years, I met a person who would become one of my best friends in life: Sr. Mary Jane Koenigs. Through my realtionship with Sr. Mary Jane, I grew in my love and devotion of Francis and Clare and also learned about the Franciscan Community to which Mary Jane belonged. I found in here a steadfast confidant and support system. Someone I could trust and share the joys and the sorrow of my life with. She became my spiritual director, and in fact still is. 

Because of my relationship with Sr. Mary Jane, I decided after graduation, to go through the Franciscan Way of Life Program and become an Associate with the Sisters of St. Francis. This has allowed me to grow in many relationships with various Sisters, both in ministry and at Mount Saint Francis, their Motherhouse in Dubuque. I will forever be indebted to their leadership, their joy, their passion, their commitment to serve those who are less fortunate, and of course for the love they show me and the prayers they say for me! I know that I have a group of Sisters praying for me in my vocation, and that is a comforting feeling. 

Briar Cliff and the Sisters of Saint Francis have molded me and shaped me and helped me become a better man. They have showed me time and time again how important a relationship with Jesus is. That relationship has sustained many generations of Sisters in their ministries and it sustains me in my daily life. To all my professors at The Cliff, I say thank you. To all the Sisters who worked their during my four years (Srs. Kathy K., Janet M., Mary Jane K., Grace Ann W., Shirley F., Mary D., and Ruth S.) and to all of the Sisters I have met since then. Please know of my prayers for you and for your ministries. 

As you read this, I invite you to ponder the people and the institutions that have helped you grow in your own life and thank them!

God Bless,

Pax et Bonum,

Jake