This is my call. This is my joy.

Brother Jay Clark recently took vows to become a novice in the Order of Lesser Sisters and Brothers (OSFM), which is an ecumenical community in the tradition of St. Francis.  As a committed lay person, Brother Jay shares below how he discerned a call to religious life and following the Rule of Life of OSFM. 

I grew up thinking of vocation as something accompanied by visions or angels and only for the

few, but have come to realize it is something whispered in quiet corners of all our lives, present in the small stirrings of the heart. My own call to the Franciscan way began long before I had a name for it, or even understood what it meant to follow such a path. I was a young teen, traveling with my family through San Antonio. We visited the Franciscan missions, grand, sun-washed buildings lined with stone walls, their courtyards humming with history. I remember feeling a pull I could not name, a longing to stay, to pray, to simply inhabit that space and breathe in its quiet devotion. Even then, before I understood Franciscanism, I felt the seeds of a call planted deep within me.

Years later, in college, I encountered The Little Flowers of Saint Francis. I was a Southern Baptist at the time, yet reading those stories of Francis and his brothers awakened something in me, a desire to live free, radically open, and tenderly devoted to Jesus in the simplicity of daily life. Iwatched Brother Sun, Sister Moon and let the film’s gentle sunlight and the joy of those friars fill me with longing. I wanted that life: a life shaped not by possessions or ambition, but by prayer, presence, and the care of all God’s creation, a simple life of following the way of Jesus.

Later still, at my confirmation, I chose as my Christian name, the name Francis, holding close the dream of following him in heart and spirit, even if the path seemed distant or uncertain.

Belonging to the Franciscan Order of Lesser Sisters and Brothers is, for me, a living out of that call that began so many years ago. It is not a clerical vocation to the life of a priest, but a consecrated lay life of a brother, rooted in simplicity, humility, and devotion. It is the daily witness of the habit, a quiet reminder of my evangelical witness that I serve Christ in all people, and the habit welcomes any who need a listening ear. It is following a rule of life, finding rhythm and sanctuary in the Daily Office, sitting with God in lectio divina, and letting the silence of centering prayer shape my heart. It is walking through the world with awareness and gratitude, carrying the Gospel not only in words but in life itself.

What makes this vocation particularly beautiful for me is that our order is dispersed. I can live out my Franciscan calling fully while sharing life with my partner, tending to my work, and engaging with the world. The order’s dispersed nature affirms that holiness and devotion are not limited to

cloisters or isolated spaces, but can be lived fully in ordinary life, wherever God has placed us.

I have also found a home at Grace Church, a place that beautifully embodies both an evangelical spirit-filled spirituality while still honoring Anglo-Catholic spirituality. Here, the Eucharist reveals its full power. In receiving Christ in his body and blood, I encounter a holy union with Christ the Bridegroom, a moment of intimacy and love that reflects the words of the Song of Songs: "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is more delightful than wine" (1:2). Each time I receive, I am drawn into this sacred union with Christ and his entire body, reminded that God calls us not only through words and visions, but in the very body and blood of Christ present among us.

Vocation is mysterious. It comes in a child’s wonder, a book that speaks to the soul, a film that opens the heart, a parish that nurtures the spirit, and the living presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It is the gentle insistence of God to live fully and faithfully, even in ordinary days. For me, the Franciscan way is a calling to love without reserve, to serve without counting the cost, and to find God in the quiet corners of life: the mission courtyards, the rising sun, the simple rhythm of prayer and presence, the sacramental intimacy of Christ with his people, and in the ordinary patterns of everyday living.

This is my call. This is my joy. And this is the path I walk, step by humble step, following the footprints of Francis of Assisi.