Sometimes Being a Dominican Means Working Like a Franciscan . . .

We all know the story. God directed St Francis to rebuild his Church. Francis mistakenly thought that God was directing him to rebuild the fallen down church of San Damiano, and so he set out to rebuild the church of San Damiano stone by stone.

On 22 August, the Queenship of Mary, I was blessed with a marvelous task. my pastor gave me permission to “rebuild” an Adoration Chapel–with no budget and no directive other than to make it look “chapely.” Ok–no problem for a Dominican you may think. Well, guess again , . . The task involved a total redesign of what used to be a three season porch and the herculean task of patiently enduring the narrow vision of many parishioners who do not tolerate change easily. My task was, therefore, comprehensive in every aspect of what needed to happen–I had to raise funds for the renovation, win the hearts and minds of the unwilling, design a prayer space that was functional, comfortable, aesthetically pleasing, and above all, Catholic, and be prepared for long hours of renovation work since contracting the labor out was off the table,

How bad was bad? Well, the old space was completely dysfunctional. 1/3 of the total floor plan was dominated with closets that were relatively empty save a lot of junk and a built in bookcase that housed books on everything but Catholicism. The other 1/3 of the floor plan was taken up with an old tabernacle altar that was in alignment with the door. Then there was an old rusted out and molded air conditioning unit that made more noise than a jet engine and could not keep the room cool or warm. We would later discover that it also leaked and caused structural rot on the floor sill it was resting on. Throw in some burning hot fluorescent ceiling lights and the picture is complete as to how bad bad was.

First the closets were tore out. And a fierce some battle ensued over–of all things–silk flowers. One of the closets was apparently “promised” to a parishoner by a former parish employee to hold two large silk floral arrangements that were only ever used for a total of fours a year. Yes–for four hours a year there was a need to have a closet to hold two silk floral arrangements in what should have been space dedicated for prayer only. A space which the parish is in sore need of because our worship space is exactly that–worship space that is too large for personal prayer and not conducive to lighting or cooling feasibly at any hour of the day or night. People need a comfortable place to pray and that should not be impeded or limited to a worship space that is only open 8 hours during the daytime. The ability to pray is directly linked to the salvific mission of Jesus Christ–closets holding silk flowers are not.

We tore out the old lights and made a happy discovery that we had enough room in the ceiling to install can lights with LED retrofits. Then we took out a window and the old air conditioning unit replacing it with a much more efficient and whisper quiet new HVAC unit. Throw in some acccent lighting and sheet rock over a brick wall and we were well on our way to having a much more comfortable and Catholic prayer space–one that will eventually house the Blessed Sacrament permanently.

Everything we have done is nothing major–mostly just common sense reallocation of space and cosmetic design overhaul. Our spiritual lives are often not much different. Our venial sins are what clutter up the prayer space in our hearts and narrow our vision of what our lives in Christ could be and are meant to be. Like the silk flowers, we hold on to things that have no value for the salvation of our souls and then wonder why our faith has become something we only celebrate one hour a week at Sunday Mass. Is it work to make a fitting space for Christ in our hearts? Yes–no doubt about it. But the old saying holds true–a cluttered work space is the sign of a cluttered mind–or in this case, a cluttered heart.

Hopefully renovating our Adoration Chapel will in some ways help to rebuild a Church that has forgotten the thirst of our Lord in the Eucharist for people to spend time with him in the silence of prayer and adoration. To this end, sometimes being a Dominican means working like a Franciscan.

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