SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS | FOLLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS By Janice Lane Palko
Being a Friar a ‘Powerful Witness to Unity’
S
t. Francis’ witness has spoken to many people throughout the centuries. Some have related to his love of nature, while others have embraced his simplicity, and still others have admired his detachment from worldly goods. Father Michael Martin, OFM Conv, cites another aspect of Franciscan spirituality that he believes we could all use these days: unity. “Religious life, at least in our community, is one of the most, if not the most, powerful witness to unity. We live in a fractured world that keeps trying to ask itself how we can be less fractured. As a Franciscan, I have no control over who I live with. I’m assigned to live in a community with other friars. We have to find a way to love each other, and not just love each other but live with each other,” says Father Michael, who is the director of the Duke Catholic Center at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and resides with three other friars. EARLY STIRRINGS OF THE SPIRIT
Father Michael, 59, grew up in Baltimore in a Catholic family. “My dad’s side of the family was Catholic, but my mother’s side was Lutheran,” he says. “My mom converted to
marry my dad, who is one of the best Catholics I know. We went to church on Sundays. I never felt like we were ‘uber Catholic,’ but faith was very much a part of our identity.” He first thought about becoming a priest when he was in middle school. “The pastor of my parish was a fine man, very rooted in Jesus. He was a horrible administrator—he couldn’t organize a sock drawer, but everyone loved him, and he lived his faith very powerfully. He taught me how to pray,” says Father Michael. “Once I went to high school at Archbishop Curley, which the friars have administered and taught at since its opening in 1961, I felt a connection to them.” By his senior year, he had already applied to colleges, had a girlfriend, and was ready to launch his adult life, but he couldn’t deny his calling. “I found that I couldn’t shake the idea of becoming a priest,” Father Michael recalls. “I felt like I wouldn’t allow myself to think about it. Once I gave myself permission to think about it, however, it became clear to me that this was what I needed to do. I think I was just afraid of what it meant. And what it would cost.” Father Michael entered the seminary in Ellicott City, Maryland, right out of high school at 17 and made his
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF FATHER MICHAEL MARTIN, OFM CONV
“We live in a fractured world that keeps trying to ask itself how we can be less fractured. As a Franciscan, I have no control over who I live with. I’m assigned to live in a community with other friars. We have to find a way to love each other, and not just love each other but live with each other,” says Father Michael Martin, OFM Conv.
12 • March 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
Spirit of St. Francis 0321.indd 12
1/29/21 2:13 PM
