the pillars of the framily

A little over two years ago I was blessed to become part of a group of individuals that has since become known as the "framily" (friends as close as family). The term was originally coined by a group of close friends who met on their candidate Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) retreat. It wasn't long however, before the term was picked up by the much larger TEC community. At first this made our original group a little upset, as we felt the term had been "stolen" by people who didn't realize the origins of the word, or the people involved. But as we soon learned, the term had evolved to stand for much more than a group of friends. It now stood for a community of love; a community of hope. The friendships formed on events such as TEC are so strong because for once in our lives, we aren't soley concerned with our own selfish desires, seeking what we get out of the friendships. The friendships formed at these events are formed during the "God moments" of the individuals lives, simultaneously experiencing God's agape, his selfless love for us. It is this agape that acts as the adhesive, the bond that joins these friends together and makes them so strong.

Just the other day I was talking with my dear friend Brooke about the identity of the framily, and came up with the following pillars in our community:
1. Eucharist/Adoration
2. Devotion to Mary
3. Liturgy of the Hours
4. God-given fun (swing-dancing)

1. Eucharist/Adoration. Being that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith, it is only fitting that it is the main pillar in our community. I think for the great majority of the framily, our devotion to the Blessed Sacrament either began or was greatly strengthened at the Adoration/Penance services of our TEC retreats. Personally, I would like to see the sacrament of Reconciliation celebrated simultaneously with Eucharistic Adoration more often. The gift of our Lord in the Eucharist is not one we should take for granted. It is such a blessing then to spend some time in reflection in the presence of our Lord before Reconciliation so that we may ask Him to allow us to see more clearly and to see ourselves as we truly are. Then after purifying our souls and washing them clean of the sins that have kept us from being in communion with our Lord, we can immediately fill ourselves with the graces of the Lord by returning and doing our reparation for our sins in the presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. For me, this is one of the most beautiful parts of the TEC weekend, getting to see the candidates and even the team members released from the chains of sin that have held them as slaves for too long. In correspondence (snail mail) with some of my close friends from the framily, I have noticed in closing their letters, my friends Steph and Tony often conclude with the following life: see you in the Eucharist. The simplicity of that statement almost makes us lose sight of those implications. Right now we are so blessed to share in one another's company. But there is a time when we will have to part ways (we are experiencing a smaller form of that in our return to our various colleges and high schools). But we are the disciples of our age. And although I'm sure the disciples enjoyed one another's company immensely, they didn't just stay in one town the whole time and enjoy this agape they had discovered. No, they went out into all parts of the world; each to his own place, following their individuals mission's in life. Yet they were united in one thing: Christ, and his body given in the Eucharist. They were bound not only with one another, but those that had gone before them and reached the heavenly goal. So though we made be spread apart: from Dallas to Wichita, Manhattan to Lawrence, even clear out to Boston and New York; we are united together as friends; as a community, the Body of Christ, we we participate in the sacrament of the Eucharist. What a blessing my brothers and sisters! Who else can say that their friends, after a night of fun, close the night (or morning as it's usually about 2 am) with a visit to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

2. Devotion to Mary. Many of the framily has consecrated themselves to our Blessed Mary. (sorry i'm a little behind on this, it will happen, i promise).  St. Louis de Montfort stated that "It was through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus came into the world, and it is also through her that He must rein in the world." Total Consecration to Mary, explains St. Louis de Montfort, "consists in surrendering oneself in the manner of a slave to Mary, and to Jesus through her, and then performing all our actions with Mary, in Mary, through Mary, and for Mary." Even those of us who haven't consecrated ourselves hold a devotion to our Mother in our prayers, especially through her weapon she has given us to fight evil in our world, the rosary. I can't remember where, but I read somewhere (i think in a max lucado or scott hahn book) about an analogy of Mary in the Old Testment story of Rebekah helping her son Jacob deceive his father Isaac in order to gain his blessing. Genesis 27:1-45 contains the whole story, a bit long for this post, so i'll sum it up. Isaac promises his blessing to Esau. However, Isaac is of old age and is blind.Rebekah, wanting the blessing to go to her son Jacob, tells Jacob to  bring her some game with which she will prepare a meal for Isaac. Rebekah then dresses up Jacob in the skins of animals in places Isaac would come in contact with Jacob so he thinks it is the hairy Esau. Jacob gets the blessing in place of Esau. Anyway, to the analogy. In the story, Rebekah takes Jacob's gift (the game) and embellishes it, makes it more pleasing to Isaac (turns it into a scrumdiddlyumptious meal) and adorns Jacob in Esau's best clothes and prepares him to receive his Father's blessing. Likewise Mary takes our gifts to God and emblishes them with her own love and makes them pleasing to our Lord and adorns us to receive blessings from our Heavenly Father.

3. Liturgy of the Hours. The following are quotes I took from http://www.universalis.com/ concerning the Liturgy of the Hours. The Liturgy of the Hours (also known as the Divine Office) is the richest single prayer resource of the Christian Church. It provides prayers, psalms and meditation for every hour of every day. It has existed from the earliest times, to fulfil the Lord's command to pray without ceasing. “The purpose of the Divine Office is to sanctify the day and all human activity.”

“The Office is... the prayer not only of the clergy but of the whole People of God.”

Pray is such an important party of our relationship with God, yet we often fail to make adequate time for this time with God. The Liturgy of the Hours is one way to help implement this time into our schedules. But like all things, it is a commitment made much easier in community, with brothers and/or sisters to hold you accountable. For those of you not familiar with the Liturgy, I'd definitely suggest talking to your friends that are familar. It is something that has definitely helped my own faith life. I'd recommend to start with just saying Night Prayer out of the Liturgy. Once you have this as a staple in your schedule, then you can begin to implement morning and evening prayer. After this, if you are really ambitious, you can implent the rest of the Divine Office.

4. God-given fun. The greatest part of the framily is that they can have a good time without falling into all the lies of what this world says is "fun." One of the most common ways we achieve this is through swing-dancing at country clubs. One of the greatest parts of swing dancing is teaching new people (especially new Tecies). It's almost a right of passage anymore. Make a Tec. Learn to Swing dance. Then you are officially part of the Framily. But everyone needs to have fun in life, and we are no exception. Aside from swing-dancing, lakes/ponds would probably be the next in line under activities of God-given fun. Whether it's trying to hurt ourselves in a competition at Joel Arnold's to see who can land upright on a canoe or just running out to Cheney lake *cough* mudhole * cough*. And of course there's just the many conversations we have. And with our group, it seems like the later the conversation, the better. Especially on TEC retreats. Although I'll have to say that "man talk" with Tony Seiler, Jesse Elpers, Ryan Rausch, and some other guys in the kitchen at 1 or 2 in the morning at the Spiritual Life Center drinking hot chocolate is one of my personal favorites.

So keep the fire burning guys, keep growing in your love of Christ, and let's keep making memories to take and share with others as we enter into our missions in life.