Monkeys, Wonder, and 21st Century Disciples (Part One)

Hello CYFM blogging world! This is my first blog post! Val the Party Gal coming at you from Beacon/Garrison, NY. No, Val the Party Gal is not my college nickname. I got it at a youth conference I was part of this summer because I love to dance and have fun! (Shout out to the Peer Disciples and everyone from St. Isaac Jogues Youth Conference 2015! :D.)

So what am I, a recent college grad from Cohoes, NY (Cohoes is a small city near Albany. We have a beautiful waterfall yet still no one has ever heard of us) doing in the Hudson Valley, nearly 2.5 hours south of home?

Simple. I am a dedicated to a year of service as a CCV at CYFM.

Simple?! That’s a lot of acronyms. What does that mean?!

Well, a CCV is a Cap Corps Volunteer, or a Capuchin Corps Volunteer, and CYFM stands for Capuchin Youth and Family Ministries. What is a capuchin, you ask? A capuchin is a monkey. It is also a type of Franciscan friar. I volunteer with the friars, not the monkeys. While there are many similarities between friars and monkeys, - their playful nature, their constant screeching …. Oh wait, no, that’s just the monkeys - their names are actually not as related as you might think. According to Father Fred, a capuchin of the Franciscan variety and our grandfatherly chaplain here at CYFM, the capuchin friars received their name from the habits they wear. In Italian cappuccio means hood. So the friars, who began their work in St. Francis’ home country of Italy, were known there as “the hooded ones,” and the name stuck. To make things more confusing/interesting, we do have a capuchin monkey as our office mascot. His name is Lawrence. He actually came apple picking with us a few weekends ago. He also plays the guitar. Lawrence is awesome. Anyway, moving on…..

Now you know something about the capuchins. So what about CYFM? CYFM is a ministry of the Capuchin Friars of the Province of St. Mary. The ministry is based out of a retreat center in Garrison, NY, where we host retreats for teens and their families. The retreats range from one day to one week in length, and serve as a space to spend time reflecting on pivotal life events, such as Confirmation and Senior Year, and giving of ourselves in service to the community, such as on COP (Capuchin Outreach Program) and CAM (Capuchin Appalachian Mission). Most of all, the goal of these retreats and service trips is to lead teens and their families to a deeper encounter with Jesus Christ.

This is the primary focus of my life as a CCV, accompanying teens and their families as they grow deeper in their relationships with Jesus Christ.  And this, my friends, is a wonder-full and awe-inspiring thing to be a part of. Wonderful and awe-inspiring in the sense of standing before God and being absolutely amazed.