Franciscan – Page 3

Keeping the mission in front us

Missions to help people find their true humanity and to know the mercy of Christ and friends, always needs our personal attention: friendship, prayers & study and financial assistance. Can I get you thinking about the foreign missions by personally undertaking some work to know the good work of missionaries and the work of the Holy Spirit?

Consider this blog post a seed planted: make a plan to go to the missions for period of time (even for a week), support a project with friendly letters, human contact and financial support and most certainly with your prayer to the Saints Francis Xavier, Therese of Lisieux and Josephine Bahkita for their intercession before God’s throne.

In all the consider you make, perhaps you may want to pray the Memorare to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Feeling a call to serve as a missionary in the Sudan, one of Africa’s incredibly poor countries, Father Herald Joseph Brock, CFR asked his superiors if he could serve the Church in Sudan. With tremendous generosity of the Friars of the Renewal and friends, Father Herald is rocking on… Father Herald writes a blog, “CFR Sudan Mission,” to keep friends engaged in his projects.

Making donations to the Franciscan Mission Outreach –CFR Sudan Mission can be done here. Last September I made a plea for help for the Mission.

Luigi Padovese murdered by Turk

Bishop Luigi Padovese, OFM Cap, 63, was murdered today at about 1pm local time by his driver who it is claimed had psychological problems and history of violent outbreaks was supposedly a convert to Christianity but some news agencies are naming the driver a Muslim. At the moment no one is claiming political motivation for the murder.

Bishop Padovese was born at Milan, Italy and a member of the Capuchin Franciscan order. He was ordained a priest for nearly 37 years and a bishop for 5.5 years. He was the Vicar Apostolic in Anatolia.

Bishop Padovese was to meet Pope Benedict XVI with other Middle East bishops in Cyprus to receive the Instumentum laboris, the working document for the forthcoming Synod of Bishops, scheduled to meet in October.

The Minister General of the Capuchins posted this brief bio for Bishop Luigi.

The BBC story noted here and Spero News here.

May God grant mercy Bishop Luigi Padovese mercy and may his memory be eternal.

Where are you?

The
very first question that God asks man in the Bible is, where are you? “The Lord called to the man, and
said to him, where are you?” (Genesis 3:9) It is not a question that demands sophisticated answers nor
are there multiple answers to this question. Rather, it is a question of concern from a loving
father and the only demand placed upon this question is that one answers
truthfully, even if the truth exposes something to us that highlights our selfishness
and our need for God.

Before God asked Adam this question Adam had committed a
sin by disobeying God’s commandment and ate from the tree God had forbidden him
to eat from. Adam had forgotten
about God’s love and choose to place his own will and desires over the will and
desires of God. Now Adam, ashamed
and afraid (which is always the fruit of sin) tries to hide from God because he
realizes something dramatic has occurred in his relationship with the Lord. The Lord simply asks him, Adam, where
are you?

This question, as old as the Bible itself, God continues to ask us
today. Throughout our lives,
throughout each day, and often several times a day, God is continually asking
us, “My son or my daughter, where are you? In other words, where is your heart right now? Is it tired, frustrated, angry? Is it overwhelmed by the demands of
life? Is it engrossed in selfish
activities? Is it immersed in lust,
pride, envy, jealousy, etc? Is it
distracted by the things of this world?

When the Lord asks us this question it
is an invitation from him to turn our eyes away from the many distractions we
often promote and to turn our eyes once again towards Him. It is our Father, gentle tapping us on
the shoulder and calling us back to Him.
Rather than living in future events, or reliving past wounds over and
over again it is an invitation to experience God in the present moment, the
only place where we can be guaranteed to encounter God.

Brother Jeremiah Myriam
Shryock, CFR, a Fourth Year Seminary Student Saint Joseph’s Seminary-Dunwoodie,
Yonkers, NY. Brother Jeremiah was ordained a deacon on May 29, 2010 with three
other Franciscan Friars of the Renewal by the Most Reverend Manual Cruz, an
auxiliary bishop of Newark. A poem of Brother Jeremiah’s, “After Eden,” was published here.

Gabriel Robert Scasino takes the Franciscan Conventual habit

Yesterday morning (May 8) my friend Gabriel Scasino was invested in the habit of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFMConv) at Saint Bonaventure Friary (Forestville, MD) during Lauds. His Minister Provincial, Father Justin Blase, presided at Lauds, blessed the habit, and then invested Gabriel with the Habit. Father Justin then celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Friar Gabriel belongs to the Immaculate Conception Province.

So you may ask, What is the habit all about? The habit is the religious garment of the person who takes the evangelical counsels (poverty, chastity, obedience). It is a sign (used here in the religious/philosophical sense) of something deeper than the person wearing the garment and it is a sign and symbol of Christ and the Church. As a point of comparison, diocesan priests would wear a cassock or a

clerical shirt of some sort. Nevertheless, most religious orders of men and women have a habit, usually some stylized clothing of a former era, though some sisters and priests may wear secular clothing because the founder didn’t specify a habit because of the era in which the congregation was founded (e.g., Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity) or like Saint Ignatius of Loyola who told his disciples to dress as the respectable priests of the day. Orders like the Benedictines, Carmelites, Augustinians, Dominicans and the Franciscans have a habit to identify themselves as living as the poor: simple attire. The habit is a witness to someone greater than me; and believe it or not, the habit often opens more doors to Christ than one might realize because many people recognize a habit as a garment that expresses virtue.

The use of the habit may depend on the context in which the religious is living and working. In some cases color and type of fabric may be relative. However, what is clear is that the habit is not optional; it is not circus clothing, it is not for dress-up. The habit ought to help the person wearing it to take into account his or her life in Christ, preaching the Gospel and living the vows.

So, for my purposes here, let me quote from the Constitutions of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual we learn what the habit means for the Conventual Franciscan in relatively direct terms:

The religious habit of the friars, the sign of our consecration and of our community and a witness to poverty, must be simple and modest, poor and becoming. It consists of a black tunic with a capuche and a white cord. In certain places, for a reasonable cause approved by the Minister General with the consent of his definitory, the grey habit may be worn.

According to custom, it is laudable to wear –suspended from the cord– the Franciscan crown of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The friars must wear the habit of the Order. The Minister General, however, for particular reason and as long as these last may permit another form of dress (97; emphasis mine).

As you can see from these photos, Friar Gabriel and his conferes are wearing the grey habit, which the other Conventual provinces around the world are beginning to adopt as it is seen as the more authentic habit of the Conventual Franciscans.

Friar Gabriel Robert Scasino and I are from the same town, when to the same high school and our home parish is the same, though Gabriel is much younger than I am. He was a Conventual Franciscan for 7 years has been out for about 7 years and has been mercifully and graciously been re-admitted to the same.

Beginning next week Friar Gabriel will spend 3 months in Assisi, Italy, doing a Franciscan course of study with the aim of putting him in touch with the Franciscan way of life by locating himself at the heart of Franciscan life.

Friar Gabriel will make a profession of temporary vows on the feast of Saint Joseph Cupertino, September 18.

May God grant Friar Gabriel many years as a Conventual Friar.

Daniel Sulmasy: Franciscan Friar-Doctor-Ethicist appointed Presidential post

Not long ago President Obama appointed Franciscan Brother Daniel Sulmasy, MD, to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. He’s universally well-received for his competence, compassion and humor. Oh, yes, the President did appoint a Catholic, a religious and a pro-life member to the commission.

Brother Daniel is a professed member of the Order of Friars Minor of the Holy Name Province and he’s a friend and collaborator with Communion and Liberation. He spoke at the first annual New York Encounter in January, 2010.

Until last year he worked here in NYC until he took a job at the University of Chicago.

The National Catholic Register ran an article on Brother Daniel.

An interview with Brother Daniel, “Doctor and Brother” by Joan Frawley Desmond

The Franciscan announcement.

The Secular Franciscan Order: A pope’s recommendation to join

Pope Leo XIII begins Humanum Genus (the 1884 encyclical
on Freemasonry) by acknowledging the divided heart of humanity since the Fall
man and woman: there are “separated into two diverse and opposite parts, of
which the one steadfastly contends for truth and virtue, the other of those
things which are contrary to virtue and to truth. The one is the kingdom of God
on earth, namely, the true Church of Jesus Christ; and those who desire from
their heart to be united with it, so as to gain salvation, must of necessity
serve God and His only-begotten Son with their whole mind and with an entire
will. The other is the kingdom of Satan, in whose possession and control are
all whosoever follow the fatal example of their leader and of our first
parents, those who refuse to obey the divine and eternal law, and who have many
aims of their own in contempt of God, and many aims also against God.”

One his
recommendations was to advocate the faithful’s vital membership in the Third
Order of St Francis, today called the Secular Franciscan Order. Himself a Third
Order Franciscan, Pope Leo’s recommendation didn’t fall on deaf ears because
diocesan seminarians, priests and bishops joined the Third Order and millions
of the laity followed suit. Here is what Pope Leo XIII said:

Wherefore, not
without cause do We use this occasion to state again what We have stated
elsewhere, namely, that the Third Order of St. Francis, whose discipline We a
little while ago prudently mitigated,* should be studiously promoted and
sustained; for the whole object of this Order, as constituted by its founder,
is to invite men to an imitation of Jesus Christ, to a love of the Church, and
to the observance of all Christian virtues; and therefore it ought to be of
great influence in suppressing the contagion of wicked societies. Let,
therefore, this holy sodality be strengthened by a daily increase. Amongst the
many benefits to be expected from it will be the great benefit of drawing the
minds of men to liberty, fraternity, and equality of right; not such as the
Freemasons absurdly imagine, but such as Jesus Christ obtained for the human
race and St. Francis aspired to: the liberty, We mean, of sons of God, through
which we may be free from slavery to Satan or to our passions, both of them
most wicked masters; the fraternity whose origin is in God, the common Creator
and Father of all; the equality which, founded on justice and charity, does not
take away all distinctions among men, but, out of the varieties of life, of duties,
and of pursuits, forms that union and that harmony which naturally tend to the benefit
and dignity of society. (34)

*The text here refers to the encyclical letter Auspicato
Concessum (Sept. 17, 1882), in which Pope Leo XIII had recently glorified St.
Francis of Assisi on the occasion of the seventh centenary of his birch. In
this encyclical, the Pope had presented the Third Order of St. Francis as a
Christian answer to the social problems of the times. The constitution Misericors
Dei Filius (June 23, 1883) expressly recalled that the neglect in which
Christian virtues are held is the main cause of the evils that threaten
societies. In confirming the rule of the Third Order and adapting it to the
needs of modern times, Pope Leo XIII had intended to bring back the largest
possible number of souls to the practice of these virtues.

Perhaps there ought
to be a new appraisal of the vocation to the Secular Franciscans with the encouragement to join!

Conventual Franciscans meet in Chapter, prayers please

You may be wondering why I am asking you to send up some prayers for the Conventual Franciscans. This week two east coast Conventual Franciscan provinces are meeting in a provincial chapter to discuss matters pertaining to their life as Franciscans. A chapter meets every four years. This week the two provinces on the east coast of the USA are deciding by vote the merger of their provinces, no insignificant matter. May the Holy Spirit guide and protect the discussions!

The Conventual Franciscans arrived in the USA in the 19th century to work with the German and then Polish immigrant peoples You can read more their history here The Conventual Franciscans History.pdf. Fast forwarding through particular histories, about four years ago, the then Minister Provincial Father Canice Connors introduced the idea of merging the two east coast provinces, Immaculate Conception and Saint Anthony of Padua, into one; each province has about 100 men in each so we’re not talking about hugh numbers of men coming together like, for example, what the Jesuits are doing at the moment (they’re moving 10 provinces into 5). This merger will change the face of Conventual Franciscan life in the friaries and in the many dioceses where the friars serve in the East, especially in some New York and Connecticut dioceses.

You can also follow developments of the world-wide Conventual Franciscan movement on their website.

The witness of of the Franciscans is necessary for us today and we ought to sustain them by prayer and fraternal relations in their deliberations, today and in the days/years to come. As Pope Benedict mentioned in his Regina Caeli address of April 5, we need to be heralds to the world of God the Father’s great plan for the restoration of man: of God’s love for man and woman, our resurrection with Christ in glory. In baptism all Christian people are called to announce and to live the divine love; the charism passed down to us from Saint Francis through the Conventuals ought to do the same.

Let me end but calling to mind Holy Father Saint Francis’ words to the Friars at the end of his Rule of life which I think may be appropriate for all of us to consider in for our prayer for the Conventuals (and for ourselves):

O most beloved brothers and sons forever blessed, hear me, hear the voice of your Father:

Great things we have promised;

greater have been promised us.

Let us observe the former;

let us aspire to the latter.

Pleasure is short;

punishment, everlasting.

Suffering is slight;

glory, infinite.

Many are called;

few are chosen.

Retribution for all.

Brethren, while we have time, let us do good.

May the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, Saint Joseph, Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi, Saints Anthony of Padua and Maximilian Mary Kolbe, pray for a favorable outcome of this week’s chapter.

Shrine of St Anthony in Ellicott City, MD –breaking for spring

Easter week is time for spring break this year, especially after a very busy Holy Week schedule. And getting away from the ordinary was required. Like all graduate students on break, I went to visit friends at a Conventual Franciscan friary in Maryland.

One of my friends there is Friar Brad, the Father Guardian (and formation director) of the student brothers and postulants. My other friend Friar Gabriel who’s originally from the New Haven, CT area and preparing to profess vows and to follow more intensely the Franciscan way of life. Besides preparing for priesthood, Gabriel and I share a number of common things in life; the important part of the visit was seeing him in situ and understanding his religious life as a Conventual friar (the group first founded by St Francis of Assisi). Being among the friars was restful and delightful. I wasn’t there too long but I did get to Washington, DC, Georgetown, WTU and the Shrine of St Anthony, Ellicott City, Maryland. Sadly, the cherry blossoms were gone by the time I bounced on the scene.

A ministry of the Conventual Franciscan Friars, the Shrine of St Anthony is a place of welcome of pilgrims come from far and near for a period of prayer. The Shrine is located in the farmlands of Howard County in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Situated on about 200 acres, you know you are in farmland by sight and scent: the working farms dot the landscape. As good stewards of the land, the friars rent a good portion of the land to the University of Maryland for their learning. Architecturely the shrine will remind you immediately of Tuscan architecture with the tile roof, gardens, stone and wood work. I had an immediate sense of home. The friar’s chapel has an exquisitely carved set of choir stalls. As a spiritual “program” the friars provide a horizon for reconciliation, healing, spiritual direction, meditation and contemplation. Outdoor shrines are dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Maximillian Kolbe and the Way of the Cross all which capture the theological imagination and propel the retreatant or causal visitor to work on holiness. The shrine chapel staff provides a regular schedule of the Mass, confession, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Vespers. There’s also Tuesday’s Novena of St Anthony and 3 healing Masses a month.

On the 800th anniversary of St Anthony’s birth the friars received a gift of a reliquary of St Anthony from the Italian province of Conventual Franciscans enthroned in a walnut-tree house. Historically St Anthony lived and preached in a walnut tree house.

Franciscan winemakers cheer the heart

In October I posted a
piece on the Franciscan Friars’ wine making hobby. Franciscan Friar
of the Renewal Brother Giuseppe Maria Siniscalchi had an idea a few years ago
to make homemade wine when he wasn’t hitting the theology books. The friars do more than study, serve the poor, run the Catholic Underground— they cheer the heart with their wine which is a very human thing to do. This is the
second year for Our Lady of Cana wines. Perhaps this may be a new franchise for the friars!!! I’m looking forward to a 3rd year of winemaking. AND I am willing to be the wine-quality control guy.

With grapes handpicked and materials donated by friends, and
help from the other friars, Brother Giuseppi made a great barrel of wine. Of course, nature did her part and God His… For the
last six months the wine has matured –and we’ve been eagerly waiting for the maturing process to work– in a basement corner in an oak barrel. The
wine now sufficiently mature, today was the time to bottle.

Deacon James
Ferreira, Ken Riello (a 1st yr Dunwoodian) and yours truly set out to watch,
assist and taste the fruit of the earth. James was most kind in bringing some
great bread, cheese and soppressata.

We had great fun bottling nearly 275 bottles of wine. James, I hear, has a case of wine for his first Mass in May! AND this event was SO Catholic!

Always thinking liturgically, the
soon-to-be-priested, Friar Deacon Charles blessed the new wine using this
text, but here is another version of the blessing of wine:

The Blessing of Wine in Honor of Saint John the Evangelist

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.

Pray Psalm 22 and then the Our Father

V. And lead
us not into temptation.

R. But deliver us from evil.

V. Preserve thy servants.

R.
That trust in thee, my God.

V. Send them aid, O Lord, from heaven.

R. And from
Sion watch over them.

V. Let the enemy be powerless over them.

R. And the son
of evil do nothing to harm them.

V. And should they drink anything deadly.

R.
May it not hurt them.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come unto
thee.

V. The Lord be with you.

R. And with your spirit.

Let us pray.

Holy Lord,
Father Almighty, eternal God! Who didst will that thy Son, equal to thee in
eternity and substance, should descend from heaven and in the fullness of
time take temporal birth of the most holy Virgin Mary, so that He could seek
the lost and wayward sheep and carry it on His shoulders to the sheepfold, and
could cure the man fallen among robbers of his wounds by pouring in oil and
wine– do thou bless + and sanctify + this wine which thou hast vintaged for
man’s drink. Whoever partakes of it on this holy solemnity, grant him life in
body and soul. By thy goodness let it be to him strength in the pilgrimage to
prosper him on the way, that his journey may come to a happy termination.
Through the same Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

Let us pray.

O Lord Jesus Christ,
Who didst call thyself the true vine and thy holy apostles the branches, and
didst desire to plant a chosen vineyard of all who love thee, bless + this wine
and impart to it the power of thy benediction.+And as thy beloved disciple John,
Apostle and Evangelist intercedes for them that partake thereof, grant them
security from all deadly and poisonous afflictions and constant good health of
soul and body. Who lives and reigns forever.

R. Amen.

Let us pray.

O God, thou
gives to man bread to eat and wine to drink — bread to nourish the body and
wine to cheer the heart. And as thou didst confer upon blessed John, thy
beloved disciple such favor that not only did he himself escape the poisoned
potion, but could restore life to others so overcome; do thou grant to all that
drink this wine spiritual joy and eternal life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
thy Son, who with Thee, lives and reigns, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one
God, forever and ever.

R. Amen.

Friars of the Renewal profess vows today

May the Lord grant you His peace!

Great news echoes in the heavenly courts: 16 Franciscan Friars of the Renewal novices professed temporary vows (poverty, chastity and obedience) today at Saint Antoninus Church (Newark, NJ). Newly elected Community Servant (Fr. Provincial) Father Mariusz Koch received the vows. A reception followed at the novitiate of the Most Blessed Sacrament Friary also in Newark, NJ. Bishop Emmanuel Cruz, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark was present. Here are some pics of the community.

The Friars also invested 10 new men as novices on Saturday. Names are always fun, especially when you think, “where did they get that name from?” Read the new names:

Br Frantisek Marie Chloupek, Br Vittorio Maria Pesce, Br Jude Thaddeus Boyden, Br. Tobias Marie Redfield, Br Simeon Mary Lewis, Fr. Maximillian Mary McGoldrick, Br Seamus Mary Laracy, Br Mark-Mary Maximilian Ames, Br Angelus Immaculata Montgomery, Fr Felipe Immaculee Casadia.

May Saints Francis and Clare bless the new friars abundantly!