Brother's ministry is serving elderly

Brother Stephen Merrigan, OFM Conv., is in the middle of a sentence when his cell phone rings.

"Excuse me -- that's the nursing home," he says.

For Brother Stephen, director of eldercare for the Immaculate Conception Province of Franciscan Conventual Friars, living out his vocation starts with prayer and extends throughout his day -- which is why, he jokes, the cell phone comes in handy.

Like Francis

This is Brother Stephen's definition of religious life: a special, life-long calling and commitment to serve others.

The brotherhood is "living a consecrated life with three vows: poverty, chastity and obedience, and, for Franciscans, following in the footsteps of St. Francis," he explained.

The brothers, who live in a friary in Albany, work through Holy Family parish to serve the city through outreach programs, Hispanic ministry, visits to jails, running a job-placement program and doing still more.

"This is what we were supposed to do: live in community, pray together in community, work together, recreate together," he explained. "That's the beauty of vocation: We share each other's talents."

Family of Francis

Being an altar server as a child at St. Columba parish in Schenectady exposed him early to Franciscan priests and brothers.

Entering the Franciscan brothers' seminary in Watertown in 1957, he found a love of serving the elderly.

"The younger friars always took care of the elder ones," he said. "The whole thing is: This is my family."

Since then, he has always been involved in caring for the elderly.

Many hats

As director of eldercare for his order, Brother Stephen makes sure friars are receiving Social Security and Medicare benefits, takes care of the paperwork for elderly friars, and works with nursing home placement to make sure each friar is receiving care.

He also keeps friars' families up to date with news, coordinates funeral arrangements and "handles all the work" involved with government agencies. He also works with a funeral home in Albany, counseling, handling arrangements and speaking at wake services.

"I'm energized by it," he said of his many duties.

Religious life

One of the biggest "rewards" Brother Stephen gets from his work is to watch elderly friars doing the work of God up to the end of their lives, even ministering to others in the nursing homes they live in.

He admires one nun who went back to school at 65 after a career as a teacher to become a nurse in order to help her aging community. Another sister taught at a local jail until she was 80.

"That's religious life," he said. It's "a life of giving" as well as a life of "fulfillment."

Choice

People sometimes ask him why he didn't become a priest or a deacon.

The answer is "easy," Brother Stephen said: "It's a separate vocation. It is what I want to do. My vocation is preaching love and preaching joy.

"If people see that you're happy, that says a lot. This is what I do."

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