May the Lord give you peace! We friars do not live permanently in an abbey. We live the religious life in the world. In the Franciscan tradition, we vow “to live in obedience.” Our obedience is the structure that “houses” us and holds us together. This summer, many friars have [...]
May the Lord give you peace!
A significant part of our life as friars is that we live without anything of our own. We share things in common. At first glance, that refers to material things and financial resources that people give to us out of their generosity. We share everything in common. [...]
May the Lord give you peace! Some things we just cannot make up. This past Saturday, friars and postulants from various parts of Central America, one postulant from Canada, one friar from Poland and nine friars from the United States gathered with the bishop and local church of Alajuela, Costa Rica for the [...]
May the Lord give you peace! My family is celebrating the high school graduation of my nephew. On the evening before the commencement ceremony, we all attended the school’s baccalaureate in a beautiful gothic chapel on the school campus. The ecumenical service for the diverse student body included readings from the Song [...]
May the Lord give you peace! Get ready for this. I am here praying for you at the top of the Mount of Beatitudes above the Sea of Galilee in Israel. I am here on pilgrimage with forty people through the Franciscan Pilgrimage Program in the USA. To say that these [...]
May the Lord give you peace! Last evening at he Celebration of the Lord’s Passion at Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown, the priest in his homily challenged us to place ourselves before the mystery of the cross. He had an interesting insight of how often we can domesticate the cross, decorate the cross, [...]
May the Lord give you peace! I went with the friars to Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper last evening. The liturgy was beautiful with great music, lots of singing, fine preaching and a very prayerful atmosphere. The silence before the Blessed Sacrament was profound. [...]
May the Lord give you peace! As these days of Lent draw to a close, the Paschal Triduum begins this evening with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. In this journey of Holy Week, news outlets throughout the world carry stories of shameful abuse in the Church and the inadequate response to such abuse on [...]
Thirty years ago today, Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador was assassinated while celebrating the Eucharist in the chapel of the Divine Providence Hospital in San Salvador. I was a junior in high school then. At that time, I did not know who Oscar Romero was or where to find El Salvador on [...]
May the Lord give you peace! During this journey of Lent, we the Church accompany the elect in these last stages of their journey towards the sacraments of initiation. We are also accompanying candidates for full communion in their preparation to enter the Catholic Church. At the same time of year, [...]
