Franciscans – Page 6

Fr Benedict Groeschel celebrates 50 years of priesthood

This year is Father Benedict Groeschel’s golden jubilee as a priest. That’s right! He’s 50 years a Catholic priest. Many would know him as a TV personality on EWTN; others know him as the instigator of the Friars of the Renewal, to many, he’s a friend and a great priest. Friends of his put together a beautiful, brief video of Father Benedict. Watch it, the link’s below.

Pray for priests. Pray for Father Benedict. Pray for the Friars of the Renewal.

The CFR newsletter on Father Benedict

A video honoring him can be seen here.

The JOY of living…in Christ as a Poor Clare nun

Look at these beautiful young women following Christ as Poor Clare nuns of Lerma (Burgos), Spain! I can’t believe my eyes!!! They’re happy. They’re alive. They’re infectious.

You’ve gotta read the CNA story (in English) here but the video in the story is in Italian with English subtitles. Also, watch another video about these same Poor Clares. Sorry, these videos are subtitled but watching them you get the point: the heart is attracted by love and joy.

I want to know: do we have anything like these nuns in the USA?

Friars of the Renewal keep tradition of wine making

Where else would a seminarian and a priest be doing on a rainy, Thursday afternoon in
the middle of prep work for midterm exams & papers? If you guessed wine
making then you answered correctly. Taking a break from an afternoon of
meetings, paper writing and exam prep, Father Philip (from Burma) and I took a
ride over to Saint Leopold Friary to see what the good Franciscan Friars of the
Renewal are doing with their wine making project. Brother Giuseppe Maria is
spear-heading a Franciscan making effort for two years. This second try seems
to be off and running well.

Sacred Scripture supports wine drinking (and wine making, of course). Can one ever think of true Christianity without wine? If you

don’t believe me look at 1 Timothy 5:23 which says: “No longer drink only
water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent
ailments.” If you want more holy Scripture, try on Revelation 6:5-6 for size:
When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!”
And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in
his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living
creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley
for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

Looking into the spiritual
tradition you can see monks and friars making wine and beer for medicinal
purposes. Let’s just look a the Benedictine tradition for a second. In chapter
40 of his Rule for Monasteries, Saint Benedict doesn’t think wine should be
served to monks but he concedes that it may be served to the

sick and those who
can’t be persuaded otherwise. Saint Benedict writes: “However, with due regard
for the infirmities of the sick, we believe that a half a bottle of wine a day
is sufficient for each. And then he says: “We read it that monks should not
drink wine at all, but since the monks of our day cannot be convinced of this, let
us at least agree to drink moderately and not to the point of excess, for
“wine makes even the wise fall away” (Eccles. 19:2). OK, so tradition
is a beautiful thing and so let’s enjoy a little bit of life. Just for the
record, Mount Angel Abbey has a Festival of Arts and Wine.

So it is no wonder Brother Giuseppe and his Franciscan brothers are making
wine. This IS serious work!

Here are some photos of step two in making homemade wine.

Our Lady of
Cana, pray for us.

Wayne Hellman & the Pope

In the mid-1990s when I was in formation at Bellarmine House and a student in St Louis, Missouri, I made the acquaintance of Conventual Franciscan Father Wayne Hellman. Father Wayne was a professor of Theology at Saint Louis University, St Louis, MO. I think he was also the Friar Guardian of the local Conventual Franciscan House (St Bonaventure’s Friary) and one of the nation’s experts in Saint Bonaventure’s theology.

Wayne was frequently perceived as a zaney Franciscan professor but an incredibly bright and sensitive man, one that you can easily approach. I enjoyed his company. Until reading about his encounter with the young Joseph Ratzinger, didn’t I realize the interest and scope of theological formation and how he started off. The pedigree of theologians is always of interest to me because I am interested in history and trajectory.

My friend David Miros sent me and a few others a striking story published in the Saint Louis University News of Father Wayne’s recent encounter with the Holy Father. Why is this striking to me and why should you read the story? Because it is a realization how the Holy Spirit works at the lowest and yet the most human of levels: the heart.

Sonnet for Assisi

Blind Francis, waiting to welcome Sister Death,

Worn
though he was by ecstacies and fame,

Had heart for tune. With what remained of
breath,

He led his friars in canticles. Then came

Brother Elias, scowling, to
his side,

Small-souled Elias, crying by book and candle,

This was outrageous!
Had the friars no pride?

Music at deathbeds! Ah, the shame! the scandal!

Elias
gave him sermons and advice

Instead of song; which simply proves once more

What
things are sure this side of paradise:

Death, taxes, and the counsel of the
bore.

Though we outwit the tithe, make death our friend,

Bores we have with us
even to the end.

(Phyllis McGinley, 1950)

Saint Francis of Assisi

Let us rejoice in the Lord, and keep a festival in honor of blessed Francis. Let us join with the angels in joyful praise of the Son of God.

Father, You helped our seraphic father Francis reflect the image of Christ through a life of poverty and humility. May we follow Your Son by walking in the footsteps of Francis of Assisi and by imitating his joyful love.

The Minister General and the General Definitory of the Friars Minor gave his worldwide brothers (and to the rest of us) a letter on the feast of holy father Saint Francis. It can be read Letter for St Francis feast 2009.pdf.

May I invite you to read the homily for this feast of Francis given/posted by my friend and classmate, Capuchin Father Charles, who serves as a curate at the nearby Sacred Heart Church. His perspective into the person Francis is worth the time.

The author of a recent book on Francis speaks on an American Magazine podcast. I don’t know the reliability of the author’s work, but it sounds interesting, especially in these days of Christian-Islam exchange.

Saint Francis Mary of Camporosso

Lavishly he gave to the poor; his generosity shall endure forever.

God our Father, you made your lowly servant Saint Francis Mary illustrious through every work of charity. Grant us through his prayers and example always to continue in sincere and humble service of our brothers [and sisters].

Some calendars have Saint Francis Mary’s liturgical memorial on September 19 and others on the 20th.

Know more about Saint Francis Mary

Another version of the saint’s life

CFR Sudan Mission

Appeals for money on this blog are rare but I believe in giving to needy philanthropic projects. Plus, this request comes via my friend Henry who is connected with the priest in question (and seen to the right).

On my own recommendation I urge you to give because I believe the work and witness of the Franciscans. AND that I am in school with many Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, I am asking for consideration of Father Herald Brock’s mission work. Father Herald is a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal. Therefore, I want to encourage you to consider making a donation. Details about the situation are on Father Herald’s blog.

Donations in the form of checks or money orders made out to “CFR Sudan Mission,” can be sent to the following address:

CFR Sudan Mission
PO Box 1086
Secaucus, NJ 07096-1086

&nbs
p;

Please note in the memo box if you would like the funds to be used for hunger relief.

Peace in Christ

Franciscans cultivate possibilities for change for addicts

Some of our brothers and sisters have found themselves in a downward spiral that could end in premature death if a fundamental change doesn’t happen: getting & remaining clean. It’s easy to pontificate about the necessity to get and stay clean “or else,” perhaps even trying brow-beat someone into change hoping to trigger a desire to live more healthily. None this works. The simple thing is to allow God’s grace to work and to have a clean environment to live and work, to provide competent professional help and to make opportunities available for substantive change to happen. One more ingredient in my book that’s essential and a non-negotiable is the spiritual. Prayer, spiritual direction and fidelity to the witness of the Church goes to the root level of human desires and happiness given us by Divine Providence. But we have to admit that unless a drug addict wants to change her life no amount clever argument or cute programing is going to matter. If a person doesn’t take his human heart (his desires) seriously, including his need of happiness, then there is little we who aren’t captured by addiction can do.

The Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement have opened their friary, St Christopher’s Inn, in Garrison, New York for drug habilitation for the homeless. The Franciscans have developed a culture of life for those who are vulnerable and weak and hoping to live differently.

Last Sunday (August 16) the NY Times ran an article about the work of a farm sponsored by the friars and sisters along with the laity who collaborate to make change possible. The setting is an organic farm where the slow yet determined life of plants provide the metaphor for conversion: ground prepared, seeds planted, soil and plants watered, hoed, weeded and hoping for a harvest.

Please read the article and watch the video clip provided therein.

2010 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: You are witness of these things

Since 1908 the Church has called upon us to join in prayer with
other Christians around the world during the Week of Prayer for Christian
Unity. We do this work of prayer as an education in hope for spiritual and actual Christian unity realizing that the Holy Spirit is the only one capable of bring unity among various groups of Christians. The proposal for a week of prayer was initiated in the USA by Franciscans of the Atonement Father Paul
Wattson and it is held from January 18 – 25. Today the observance is international in scope.

It is generally held that the 1910
World Mission Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, marked the beginnings of the
modern ecumenical movement.

In tribute, the promoters of the Week of Prayer for
Christian Unity, the Commission on Faith and Order and the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity, invited the Scottish churches to prepare this year’s
theme. They suggested: “You are
witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:48).

The 2010 theme is a reminder that as the
community of faith those reconciled with God and in Christ, “You are witness of
these things“–witness to the truth of the power of salvation in Jesus Christ
who will also make real his prayer,
“That all may be one…so the world may believe.” *Witness gives praise
to the Presence who gives us the gift of life and resurrection; by knowing how
to share the story of our faith with others; by recognizing that God is at work
in our lives; by giving thanks for the faith we have received; by confessing
Christ’s victory over all suffering; by seeking to always be more faithful to
the Word of God; by growing in faith, hope and love; and by offering
hospitality and knowing how to receive it when it is offered to us.

Materials
to observe the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity are available from the
Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute, a ministry of the Franciscan Friars
of the Atonement.

For more information visit www.geii.org