that knows human weakness and the need for religious discipline in a truly religious vowed life.May God encourage more souls to enter a Congregation
So that our readers might get to know us better and on a more personal level, we are asking different members of the Congregation to share some thoughts about their own vocation, the Servant ministry, and how they experience God's grace at work in their day-to-day lives. The series continues this month with an article by Brother Conrad Rydelek, s.P. Presently Brother Conrad ministers at our house in Jemez Springs, NM.
Dear
Partners in this Paraclete Ministry
,
My vocation as a Brother servant in the Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete is a culmination of my Catholic upbringing.
Faithfulness to the Mass and the Sacrament of Penance was very important to me. This practice helped my conscience to develop. I realize now that I have always believed but not always very deeply. The grace was given to me to raise my thoughts of God to a higher level. I felt I wanted to serve God in a clear and direct way.
So I attempted the novitiate of the Society of the Divine Savior at St. Nazianz, Wisconsin.
I failed by not persevering. Leaving St. Nazianz I entered into depression which eventually forced my parents to hospitalize me. I knew and truly believed, that I had turned my face from God by failing to persevere. I had served myself rather than God.
I never forget this. And I thank God for the pain of conscience that came from this realization because it strengthens me today in my determination to persevere.
I am reminded by my past that I will fall back into black despair if I should turn away from my true vocation. Weakness in my struggle with virtue is a serious deficit of mine.
This is where the God-given Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete comes in. In 1962, I was admitted to the Novitiate of Our Lady and St. Therese in Randolph, Vermont. The "TLC" of Fr. Joseph McNamara, s.P. and Fr.Urban Gerhart, s.P. overlooked my many faults and thus I was given a second chance to fulfill my desire to serve God as a religious Brother.
I
have always experienced real loving kindness from my fellow Paracletes since
I entered. This has in turn helped me to further discover and experience
the great mercy of God - like a treasure hidden in a field, like a pearl
of great price. I can always count on this mercy as God answers my prayers
and reaches down and lifts me up.
My approach to my vowed commitment is the simplicity and littleness of a Brother's life. A humorous but true motto is "Keep it simple, stupid!" It works. The years have passed rather swiftly and busily.
Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald, s.P. through his openness and kindness, opened up for me a second chance to please God in religious life by accepting me into the Congregation. It is his vision of God's mercy and love that guides the Servants today. He believed in the kind of spiritual healing and renewal which offers a second chance to so many who may have given up or been lost.
May God encourage more souls to enter a Congregation that knows human weakness and the need for religious discipline in a truly religious vowed life.
My gratitude goes out to all who are partners with us in this work of fostering God's healing and renewal in the souls, minds and bodies of His Priests and Brothers. I truly believe your reward will be great.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Bro. Conrad Rydelek, s.P.