"Making All Things New" August 2016
In This Issue
Fr. Dan's Column
Why I Give Through EFT
Mountain in the Valley
Mountain Fund update
Mountain on Instagram
Prayer with Fr. Dan

You may take time with the following prayer, and create your own; add variations in this prayer that spring from your own hearts today.

- Fr. Dan
God of wonder and wide-eyed glory, you invite us each, and I at this moment, to be your child again - to understand that I am your child, to stand under the brilliance of your love and stand in the fullness of your care, to find you enfolding me and others in this amazing compassion and mercy that is your very self, loving God.

Pick us up and carry us, then set us down so that we might walk in your footprints this day, in the footprints of Jesus Christ. Help us to celebrate all you have given us, while bringing it as service to others. We make this prayer in Christ's name.

Amen.


Correction
 
In our last e-newsletter, it was noted that former St. Bonaventure President Fr. Mathias Doyle, ofm, was 88 when he passed away in June. He was actually 82. Fr. Doyle is pictured here (on left) along with Fr. Dan Riley (on right) at the raising of the Holy Peace Chapel in April 1989.
 

Save the Dates for Online Mountain Auction
 
 Nov. 3 -13

Please consider donating a new, un-used gift. We also appreciate cash donations. Please visit our website for gift ideas and guidelines.

Save the Date: Weekend to Celebrate Fr. Dan's 50 Years as a Friar at Mt. Irenaeus
  
Come, join us at the Mountain as we celebrate Fr. Dan Riley, ofm, on his golden jubilee.

Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016

Come enjoy the land in the afternoon
4 p.m. - Liturgy
6 p.m. - Supper
Music celebration follows

Mass and brunch will be held as usual on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Join us as we celebrate Fr. Dan's 50 years of service as a friar!

Please call or e-mail Michelle Marcellin if you plan to attend at 716-375-2096 or mmarc@sbu.edu.

Summer 2016 Newsletter 
 
Access the latest print newsletter online. 


Fr. Dan's Podcasts





 Connect with us!
Wonder in Each Moment
Fr. Dan Riley, ofm, reflects on some of the blessings of 50 years of religious life as he recovers from illness.
It is early morning and the quiet - the truly gentle silence of this backwoods hilltop we call Mt. Irenaeus - is so refreshing. The felt sense of being protected in, as Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., calls it, "our own Franciscan enclosure." At times like this my heart opens, feeling cared for and held well by our God of mystery and presence. I am encouraged to hold others in prayer as well as I open the Psalms and meditation arises.

Awaking like this helps me sense the particularity of each day, and with that, each person and each creature. As I consider the phrase "50 years of vowed Gospel life," I only know what this is in this moment. And even then I barely know what this means. I am, with the grace of illness, blessed to be finding deeper meaning - a deeper sense of God's presence.

This is the blessing of this Mountain and this time in life. Still in recovery from a rare illness, I find life has a day-to-dayness that is qualitatively different than a few months ago. I am sure this is at the heart of healing. You and I know that if we pause for a moment nothing is ordinary.

We are called to live in a new time in this world that is full of pain and name-calling. It is a time for families, and Francis of Assisi would have us know that we are "members of one family," to live well here on the Mountain and other places, reminding ourselves that we can be family, can claim other members of our family and bring them among us.

After 50 years of being a follower of St. Francis, I may be finally journeying with him on the path to peace with Jesus Christ. And then, as soon as I say this, I know I am once again a novice; one who is only beginning to learn about this life, one who is in the earliest stages of being taught what it is to be a friar and a follower of Jesus Christ in the footsteps of Jesus and Francis.

Because of the tender care of many, I am aware of the tender teachers I have around me. We all are called to both teach and follow, learn and open up the meaning of our days with each other - both in the silence of a relationship and in the sacredness of conversation.

Nothing happens in five, 10 or 50-year increments! It opens in a moment. It opens in a smile or a tear on someone else's face. It opens when we forget ourselves and we open to what is here, the grace of God and others.

Even this sense of "a day" can mask and have us mistaking the wonder of the moments we are in, both together and in our own way, finding wonder and not counting our days!  

You might now, if you wish, join me in a simple prayer found in the left column of the e-newsletter, adjacent to this column.
Fr. Dan Riley, ofm, (second from left) stands with other jubilarians at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Manhattan in June. A special Mass was celebrated to honor the Holy Name Province friars marking 50 years since making their simple profession as Franciscans. (Photo: Br. Octavio Duran, ofm) 
Why I Donate Through EFT
2010 Bona alumna Liz D'Onofrio discusses why she gives back to Mt. Irenaeus with EFT
 
Liz D'Onofrio pictured with Br. Joe Kotula, ofm
I am a proud 2010 alumna of St. Bonaventure and a former member of Students for the Mountain (now Mountain Community Leaders). Mt. Irenaeus played a major role in my life as a student.

I currently work as a social worker outside of Boston, and between student loans, rent, living expenses and a crazy high cost of living, it has felt pretty impossible to give any extra money back to the Mountain or St. Bonaventure. I also tend to shy away from giving money if I don't know where it's going. But when I heard about the Mountain's EFT (electronic fund transfer) option, it sounded like an awesome opportunity.

I know I'm not the only one who, despite a tight budget, has a desire to give back to Mt. Irenaeus, which has given us all so much. With the EFT option, I can choose to donate something as small as $10 a month. The money is taken from my account automatically, and there are no extra administrative fees charged. It doesn't seem like much, but even giving this small amount can make a huge difference for the Mountain. Plus, I know my donation will go directly to supporting programs and materials that the Mountain needs to sustain its wonderful ministry.

Think of your donation as buying a chocolate cake for the women's overnight, or new shovels to clear the snowy pathway up to the chapel, or new bedspreads on the cabin bunk beds. The students will thank you!

So, please consider supporting the Mountain through EFT. It's quick, easy and it will make you feel good about supporting this invaluable place!
Mountain in the Valley
Local gathering planned for Nov. 18

After careful consideration by our event volunteers, we have decided not to hold our annual live Mountain Auction in 2016. We are grateful to all who supported this wonderful event and to those who have volunteered their time, talent and treasure and raised thousands of dollars for Mt. Irenaeus over the past 15 years. 

Because we greatly value the times we have spent both in prayer and in a social setting with each other, we will be hosting a "Mountain in the Valley" on St. Bonaventure campus on Friday, Nov. 18. A Mountain Mass will be celebrated at 5 p.m. followed by a dish-to-pass supper. 

Our Online Mountain Auction will continue again this year. Details are highlighted in the adjacent left column. 

More information on our Mountain in the Valley event will be coming soon. We look forward to seeing you there and thank you again for your support!
Your Gifts Make a Difference! 
From the Mt. Irenaeus Development Team:

Thanks to all who generously donated to our annual 2015-16 Mountain Fund. Through your support we have surpassed our goal and raised more than $220,000. Your annual gifts provide needed dollars to meet the Mountain's operating budget of $515,000.

Of course, our success wouldn't be possible without all of our volunteers and benefactors. This year we were blessed to receive a $25,000 match challenge from Mari Snyder, Hilary and Kevin Van Norstrand and Rob Buckla. We are thrilled to report that this match was met and exceeded by new and increased gifts of $500 or more. The continued leadership from Mountain Fund Chairperson Marv Stocker and all of our phon-a-thon volunteers was once again pivotal to our success.

We are already under way with our efforts for this year's Mountain Fund. Our goal is $200,000, and we look forward to reaching out to you for your continued generosity of time, talent and treasure. Your gifts are a blessing to us all!

Please contact Jackie Lanzillo, board member and chair of the development committee, or Mary Schlosser, coordinator of development and volunteers, if you would like further information on ways to help us!
 The Mountain on Instagram 
 Enjoy this recent post from Fr. Dan. For more, follow @mtirenaeus. 

 It is all so pure and fresh  today as I wake this morning to  all that is present, all that  presents itself to me.

 The privilege of the early  morning hours is this sense of  freshness, in solitude, the felt  sense of everyone being here! 
 Beginning again - beginning for  the first time! 

 I believe this is what God wishes  us to experience as we wake;  not burdened by yesterday,
 not carrying regrets or  recriminations, but a fresh start  and a new heart!

The newness of this moment  calls us to join in; to enter this day with others with a certain  abandon, trusting our Creator hidden in the ordinariness, and particularly  of this very moment, hidden in ourselves and each other. 
 
St. Francis of Assisi said something like; "Let us begin now, for up to now  we've done almost nothing at all!" Not looking back in judgment, but in  contrast to the virginal possibilities here and now ... Francis offers us an  open-hearted approach for entering with all others this new time, given to  us to "make all things new!" 

Contact Us

 

Mt. Irenaeus
P.O. Box 100
West Clarksville, NY 14786
585-973-2470