The question was simple and familiar to many in religious life: How does one deal with a curmudgeon – someone who is set in his ways, resistant to change and vocal about it?
“I have an idea, but I can’t say it out loud,” quipped Conventual Franciscan Father Michael Heine, prompting laughter from the banquet room at Baltimore’s Hyatt Regency Hotel July 24.
“The key is just to be loving,” he continued. “There is no easy answer. One of the worst things you can do is pull away. Just love them. To realize his past, he’s so hurt or something, you know, to acknowledge that and keep reaching out and trying.”
Father Heine, provincial leader of the Conventual Franciscans’ Our Lady of the Angels Province in Ellicott City, spoke during a panel on fraternity at the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) National Assembly. Held in Baltimore July 21-23 under the theme “Rejoice in Hope: Solidarity and Fraternity,” the assembly gathered 150 leaders representing 125 religious jurisdictions for dialogue, reflection and celebration of faith.
