We take our coffee seriously, among the Marians.
Welcome to Part 11 of a new weekly series on the formation journey of Josh, a first-year novice at the Marian House of Studies in Washington, D.C. Watch for a new entry every Friday.
My fellow novice Michael and I drove our community’s black minivan toward Giant supermarket. The day was sunny and warm, and gusts of wind picked up light brown leaves and sent them fluttering through the air.
Between my feet on the floor in front of me, I had a big red box of ground coffee.
“Wait, you have that coffee?” Michael said in surprise.
“Yeah, I was thinking we could stop at the sisters’ on the way . . . No, wait, we can’t stop at the sisters. It’s already 3:15 and you have to cook.”
“Right,” Michael agreed, glancing at the clock.
We had already been to Costco that morning and picked up two cart-loads of goods for the community. I liked this brand of coffee and it was already ground, so easy to make. When I passed by some on a shelf, I grabbed a box.
Our head shopper, Michael, saw the coffee box in my cart but didn’t comment. As he said later, “I thought it was a sick, twisted joke!”
Unpopular brand
The reality is we already had two full boxes of the same brand of coffee at home, plus one that we were still trying to finish, and this brand was, evidently, very unpopular in the community. People were murmuring against it, I just wasn’t in those hostile conversations. I also didn’t know we had extra already at home. So, I had just bought another one for the community.
When we got home from that Costco trip, I said to our secretary, Rosemary, “I have some bad news.”
She expressed doubt that it was possible I could have bad news.
Her expression changed very quickly when I told her, “I bought some more coffee.”
We take our coffee seriously, among the Marians.
Well, now I knew! I had made a critical error. Even Rosemary was unhappy. I try to keep powerful, influential people like our secretary happy. Something had to be done.
Anything helps
Consequently, I now had the coffee box on the car floor between my feet as we drove to Giant supermarket to pick up groceries we couldn’t find at Costco. Our superior, Fr. Jim, suggested offering the coffee to the Servants of the Lord, the sisters who gave us flowers for our chapel. We didn’t have time today, though.
I joked to Michael, “Maybe if we see a poor person holding a sign saying ‘anything helps,’ I should give them a full box of your coffee.”
We reached Giant and walked inside. As we wandered through the aisles, picking up groceries, I spotted two young ladies in blue and grayish brown habits. I didn’t know it at that time, but they were the Servants of the Lord, the very order Fr. Jim suggested I give the coffee to! Amazing – and providential.
Approaching them, I said, “Excuse me . . . Would you like some coffee?”
“Yes please!” they exclaimed.
“Great! Could you wait outside the store while I get it?”
I ran across the parking lot to our minivan and returned with the coffee in my hands.
The sisters were waiting outside. They received the coffee gratefully, and one of them told me, “Our Superior asked us today to beg for coffee! Saint Joseph is really watching out for us!”
They asked Saint Joseph’s intercession and without needing to beg at all. I’d randomly introduced myself that very afternoon, offering them a full box of coffee!
I think we can also count on them to take our other coffee boxes the next time we pick up flowers.
Faith boost
Rosemary laughed to tears when I told her how I’d gotten rid of the newest box of coffee. But, she mentioned, “If the next batch of flowers they give us is wilted, we’ll know why!”
The sisters’ revenge?
I shook my head. “They’re probably too pious, but if I were they and I didn’t like this brand, I’d blame St. Joseph! After all, on the very day they asked him for coffee, someone randomly offered them coffee! If I didn’t like the coffee, to me, that would be on Saint Joseph!”
We laughed together at the thought.
I personally think my brand is good coffee, though. The sisters had a delightful faith-boost experiencing Divine Providence taking care of them — and so did I, by being part of it!
Next entry: "Frontline Evangelism."
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