Bloggin’ Friars at franciscans.org

May the Lord give you His peace! ¡El Señor le dé la paz! I have not yet been to Honduras. I am not familiar with the political situation there. I do know, as the rest of the world does right now, that the president was removed from office last Sunday in a coup. This is much more than a news story for me. While world leaders and the United Nations deal with this event and as this Central American nation strives to stabilize politically, I keep praying for our friars in that country and the people they serve. One of the blessings and consequences of being a friar is that the world becomes a much smaller place. The distance of miles, geographic and political borders, differences in languages and cultures do not hinder the bond we share as brothers to one another in this Franciscan fraternity. While the political drama continues to unfold in Honduras, I continue to offer prayers over and over again for men who are faithful servants of the Gospel in that country and the people they serve during this difficult time in their nation’s history. The Honduran friars are my brothers as are the friars in India, Poland, Ghana, Brazil, Lebanon, Korea, Argentina, Cuba, Italy, Russia, Japan, the Chinese friars studying in Rome, the increasing number of friars in Romania, the young friars preparing for solemn vows on a retreat in Assisi or in Colombia and in several others parts of the world. We Conventual friars number about 4,500 worldwide. We live without anything of our own and share all things in common. So, their struggle is my struggle, their fear is my fear, their joy is my joy, their quest for justice is our common quest. As brothers, our pilgrimage together in this life is marked by a fraternal love in the Lord and for all of God’s people. As a citizen of the United States and a New Yorker by birth, I remember (like we all do) exactly where I was when we heard of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. As painful as that day was, I will never forget the e-mails and phone calls from friars in other nations, offering prayers of consolation for the friars in the United States and for our nation. Throughout the world, we friars support one another, we help one another, we love one another as brothers. It is a great time in the life of the world and the Church to be a friar minor conventual. My life as a friar has made the world a lot smaller for me. My life as a friar has made my life so much more blessed because of these men who I call my brothers, mis hermanos. Please dear God, keep them all safe and well, wherever they serve you right now. Dona nobis pacem.

May the Lord give you His peace! Sorry I have been away for a bit. This past week we celebrated the Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist (June 24). In recent days, I have been reflecting a lot on two of the Old Testament readings from the liturgy of that solemnity. The first is Jeremiah 1, 4-10 from the Vigil Mass of the solemnity. This is a great reading for someone discerning a vocation because we can all be like Jeremiah: coming up with all the right reasons why we may think this vocation that God is calling us to live is a bad idea (as if the all-knowing, all-loving, all merciful, all-powerful God would come up with a bad idea). For Jeremiah, the issues are “I do not know how to speak. I am too young.” For God the issue is, “I want you to do this. I need you to do this.” That’s where the first reading for the Mass of the Day was important, Isaiah 49, 1-6. Isaiah talks about what God does in His servant, through His servant, for His servant. I can come up with some “very good reasons” not to follow a vocation with all the “right intentions. Peter has a great one (at least it seems that way at first glance) in Luke 5: “I am a sinful man.” However, like Jeremiah and Isaiah and Peter and so many of our ancestors in the faith, when it really comes down to it, the only reason is this is what the Lord is asking of me. He does not need our excuses like “I am too young” or “I am a sinful man” or “I do not know how to speak.” He just needs our YES. He needs each of us to say, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say.” Take some time today and read Jeremiah. Read Isaiah. What is the Lord asking of you in your life now? Peace and all good!

On this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, I offer this favorite prayer with you and for you. Peace and all good!

“Let everyone be struck with fear,
let the whole world tremble,
and let the heavens exult
when Christ, the Son of the living God,
is present on the altar in the hands of a priest!
O wonderful loftiness and stupendous dignity!
O sublime humility!
O humble sublimity!
The Lord of the universe,
God and the Son of God,
so humbles Himself
that for our salvation
He hides Himself
under an ordinary piece of bread!
Brothers, look at the humility of God,
and pour out your hearts before HIm!
Humble yourselves
that you may be exalted by Him!
Hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves,
that He Who gives Himself totally to you
may receive you totally!”

Francis of Asssi
A LETTER TO THE ENTIRE ORDER

May the Lord give you His peace! Last week, I had the privilege of concelebrating the Mass of Installation of the new Bishop of Syracuse, Robert Cunningham. I had never been to an installation of a bishop, so the ritual was a bit new to me. With all of the joy, pageantry and incredible music, I was struck by two remarks that seem so simple yet are so profound. At the beginning of the liturgy, Bishop Thomas Costello, the auxiliary bishop of Syracuse gave a brief and impassioned word of welcome to the new bishop at the entrance to the cathedral. Bishop Costello welcomed Bishop Cunningham as our “new pastor” and asked him to “lead us help us to grow in holiness.” During his homily at the Mass, Bishop Cunningham spoke of the universal call to holiness. . Both bishops reminded the assembly there of the importance of growing in holiness, i.e. growing in a loving relationship with God so as to be God’s loving presence in the world. Bishop Cunningham reiterated the importance of holiness this week at a meeting with some of the priests of the western region of the diocese and then again at a vespers service with the laity, religious and priests of the same region. The Second Vatican Council, in its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: Lumen Gentium teaches us: “Therefore all in the Church, whether they belong to the hierarchy or are cared for by it are called to holiness, according to the apostle’s saying: ‘For this is the will of God, your sanctification’ (1Th. 4:3; cf. Eph. 1:4). This holiness of the Church is constantly shown forth in the fruits of grace which the Spirit produces in the faithful and so it must be; it is expressed in many ways by the individuals who, each in his own state of life, tend to the perfection of love, thus sanctifying others; it appears in a certain way of its own in the practice of the counsels which have been usually called ‘evangelical’” (LG, no. 39).
Why do friars encourage vocations to our way of life? How could we not? Vocation promotion is not about recruiting large numbers of workers; it is about inviting people to this adventure of holiness that is Gospel life in fraternity. This is how we friars have found our path to holiness. This is how we grow in the love of the Lord. How could we not invite others to do the same? Our life as friars is not an exclusive adventure in holiness, but one that we readily invite others to share with us. I am often reminded of Mother Teresa’s words to a journalist. She said, “There is nothing extraordinary in being holy. I need to be holy in what I am doing. You need to be holy in what you are doing.” Today, I want to be holy as a friar. How do you want to be holy?
Peace and all good!

May the Lord give you His peace! I had read this quote somewhere a few weeks ago. Then two weeks ago, I heard a professor emeritus use this very same quote in a talk on a college campus. Then I read this quote in another book yesterday. It keeps coming back for some reason, so I want to share it with you.

“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet”
(Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC, San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1993, page 119).

In commenting on this quote in a book on vocation, John Neafsey writes:
“ Vocation is not only about ‘me’ and my personal fulfillment, but about ‘us’ and the common good. In Buechner’s words, our callings are found in the places where our ‘deep gladness’ and the ‘world’s deep hunger’ meet, on the holy ground where our heart’s desire comes together with what the world most needs from us. Authentic vocational discernment, therefore, seeks a proper balance between inward listening to our hearts and outward socially engaged listening with our hearts to the realities of the world in which we live. These come together in our heart’s response to the needs and suffering of the world” (John Neafsey, A Sacred Voice is Calling: Personal Vocaction and Social Conscience, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2006, page 1).

What are you hearing in your heart? What does the world need from you? How do you want to respond?

Peace and all good!

May the Lord give you His peace! I have often found great inspiration in the work, witness and example of Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, the author of Dead Man Walking and The Death of Innocents. In the April 13 issue of America: The National Catholic Weekly, Sister Helen has a wonderful article on vocation (http://www.americamagazine.org). I would like to share with you a beautiful part of that article. Sister Helen writes:

“Discerning vocation is not always easy, but one sure sign that we are being called is that the idea keeps coming: Why don’t you do this? You know you want to do this. And we can picture it and we cannot shake it, and we know we are going to have to give it a try just to get some peace. But it is not like being obsessive or compulsive, which deep down comes from some sort of fear. When a vocation fits who we are, by living it, we feel ourselves growing into a stronger, truer self, even though the going gets rough and at times we feel confused and tired. The kind of ‘tired’ we feel is worth noting. It is not that heavy, sad fatigue we carry around like a low-grade fever, a form of depression. Life work demands genuine expenditure. We spend ourselves, maybe exhaust ourselves. But the energy flowing out of us feels natural, just the opposite of feeling pulled at by others, who have their own ideas about what we ought to be doing. When we let this happen, we feel resentful and cranky. I do not feel resentful or cranky or sad, so I guess my boat must be sailing the current of my true calling. Or better, my calling within a calling, because, as you know if you have been at this for a while, the call just keeps expanding – but not in a vacuum, for the Christian call comes in this way: to follow, to imitate, to embody Jesus Christ” (America: The National Catholic Weekly, April 13, 2009, page 36)

Sister Helen has been called “to follow, to imitate and to embody Jesus Christ” as a Sister of St. Joseph (http://www.sistersofsaintjosephfederation.org). We friars have been called “to follow, to imitate, to embody Jesus Christ” as Franciscans. How is God calling you “to follow, to imitate and to embody Jesus Christ” at this time in your life? The idea may keep coming. You may not be able to shake it. Then give it a try. Thanks Sister Helen for all that you do and all that you are in the service of the Gospel. Peace and all good!

May the Lord give you His peace! Christ has risen! He has risen indeed! What a week it has been. I spent Holy Week working in the parish of St. James in Puriscal, Costa Rica. I worked in the same parish last year for Holy Week. The parish has thirty-two different churches in the rural hills, about one hour from the capital city of San José. Just like last year, I arrived on Monday morning, to help with confessions and the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the main church of the parish in the center of Puriscal. The church seats about 1,100 people. We were five priests hearing confessions at a time, Padre Carlos, Padre Miguel and Padre José, who all work in the parish. Then there was Padre Israel from Guatemala and myself. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we heard confessions for 6-7 hours a day. It was not uncommon to arrive for confessions and find 25% of the seats in the main parish church occupied with people waiting to celebrate God’s infinite mercy by confessing their sins. Some people waited two hours to go to confession. For the Triduum, I presided at each of the liturgies in two places – the community of La Legua up above Puriscal and Pozos about 25 minutes away. Both communities are very rural and are made up of many campesinos and farmers. While I worked in those two communities, the other priests in the other worked in the other communities and we all helped in the main parish church. One of our North American friars in formation, friar Reto from Montreal, worked in the communities of San Rafael and Floralia. As a friar preparing for solemn vows and ordination in the future, friar Reto visited the sick and led various celebrations of the Word and offered catechesis in these communities. We had a lot of work, it was hot during the say, the roads were pretty rocky at times and it was great. Before the start of the Holy Thursday Liturgy in La Legua, I was standing in front of the church, watching people walk that steep hill up to the church. I could see other hills in the difference and I just thought to myself, “This is what it is all about!” I entered religious life to serve the poor as a member of the Franciscan Order and here I was getting ready to celebrate Holy Thursday with the poor of Costa Rica. Costa Rica is a very popular tourist spot, but too often the poor in the rural and urban areas are forgotten. It was great to be with them for Holy Week. While I was celebrating Triduum in rural Costa Rica, I was thinking of my brothers throughout the world who were celebrating the Triduum in different places. Together, we walked into churches throughout the globe on Holy Thursday praying, “We glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our men in formation here in Costa Rica joined our men in formation in Honduras for Holy Week in Honduras. They have come back to Costa Rica with wonderful stories of their time there in Olancho and Compamento. They speak of the work of the friars there with such joy. “That is what it is all about” — putting ourselves at the service of one another and in so doing, serving the God-man who gave Himself completely so that we may have life. There will be more from Costa Rica later. Peace and all good!