NEW YORK — Below are updates about some of the many activities of Holy Name friars, including their celebrations and presentations and ministry events. More information can be obtained by visiting links to the parishes and organizations mentioned, by contacting the friars by phone or e-mail and by connecting with the Communications Office.
To provide news briefs for future issues of HNP Today, e-mail information to communications director Jocelyn Thomas.
The parady by Lawrence Burke, OFM, “The Francis X Burke Funeral Home”, sung to the tune of “O Tannenbaum” was part of the thatrical fundraiser held in October for Father John’s Animal House in Lafayette, N.J., named for the late John Forest Loviner, OFM. The writer and producer of the Oct. 15 Murder Mystery show, Jacqueline Kroschell spent a day with Lawrence and performed the song which Larry sang years ago as part of the Three Singing Friars.
Michael Carnevale, OFM, and Jerome Massimino, OFM, were mentioned in the Dec. 16 issue of Catholic New York in a story by editor John Woods titled “Food and Hope on the St. Francis Breadline.” Jerome said in the column that the need for the breadline “has picked up as the economy soured in recent years.” Woods described the operation as “profoundly Franciscan,” siting the give and take between friars, volunteers and clients.
Former Provincial Minister Anthony Carrozzo, OFM, is featured in the December 2010 issue of Bonaventure magazine.
The great niece of Brian Cullinane, OFM, participated in a Christmas presentation for President Barack Obama and his family on Dec. 12. Meghan Maurano, who lives in Maryland, was asked to be an elf in a special presentation, held in Washington, D.C., Brian said. “Meghan — at just 30 months old — was the youngest elf. In the pictures, she is the littlest one on the left. She eventually is in the arms of Michelle Obama holding her teddy bear.”
Angelo Gambatese, OFM, thanked parishioners of St. Stephen of Hungary Church on Manhattan’s Upper East Side where he is pastor, for making the Nov. 13 to 14 volunteer recruitment drive a success. In the Dec. 5 bulletin, he said “Four Eucharistic ministers signed up as well as two lectors and two ministers of hospitality. Our outreach ministries benefitted as well.”
“Sparks of Haecceitas: A Scotist Reading of Thomas Merton,” written by student friar Daniel Horan, OFM, was published in the latest issue of The Merton Journal.
The deaths of Matthew Gaskin, OFM, and Boniface Hanley, OFM, are mentioned in the fall 2010 issue ofFortes In Fide, the magazine of Bishop Timon-St. Jude High School in Buffalo, N.Y., where both friars taught.
The Christmas 2010 letter from St. Anthony’s Guild offered a 2011 calendar titled “Pilgrimage to Padua — A Journey of Faith.” Joseph Hertel, OFM, director of the Guild said in his letter, “The friars offer a special gift that ‘will inspire your devotion throughout the New Year. The enclosed 2011 Guild calendar features the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, taking you on a unique spiritual journey with our Guild patron.”
Richard Husted, OFM, directed this year’s Gaudete concert held at the St. Bonaventure University campus on Dec. 11. He appeared in a photo in the Olean Times Herald’s article “Fourth annual Gaudete Saturday in Quick Arts Center at St. Bona.”
Gregory Jakubowicz, OFM, led the “Blessing of the Brains” — a reading day tradition — last week at Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y. “Offering this event at the end of each semester is part of who we are and what we claim to be as a Roman Catholic college in the Franciscan tradition,” said Greg, the college chaplain. Other friars who participated in the Dec. 11 event were Brian Belanger, OFM, Linh Hoang, OFM, Daniel Horan, OFM, Walter Liss, OFM, and Dennis Tamburello, OFM.
Photos of Joseph Kotula, OFM, and Kevin Kriso, OFM, appear in the Winter 2010 issue of the Mt. Irenaeus newsletter, distributed this week. The publication provides dates of upcoming events including (1) Jan. 28-30, 2011 Mountain the the Sun weekend in Florida, (2) the April 1-3 Sojourners Retreat, and (3) April 8 Mountain Work Day.
Jim McIntosh, OFM, returned to the United States yesterday from a two-week visit to Lima, Peru.
Provincial Vicar Dominic Monti, OFM, is in Ohio this week conducting formal meetings of the friars of Assumption Province, for whom he is the General Visitor. He will return to New York late next week and then travel to Maryland for the Provincial Chapter.
On Dec. 9, Russel Murray, OFM, of Silver Spring, Md., led a discussion among a local group of Catholic priests and Lutheran pastors on the theme of ordained ministry in ecumenical dialogue. The basis of the discussion was the statement “Apostolicity and the Church,”by the international Luther-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity, he said. Russel has been part of the local group for two years.
Sean O’Brien, OFM, has incorporated art projects into his lessons about the feast of St. Francis at Sacred Heart Academy in Tampa, Fla. The middle school students put on puppet shows, wrote journal entries and painted the classroom windows, a project, he said was very popular. “They loved the finished product and were eager to show everyone the great work they have done,” Sean said. “I do the same for Advent and the Stations of the Cross during Lent.”
Michael Putich, OFM, of Buffalo, was appointed to the Integrated Ethics Council at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Buffalo. The council rotates the local facility’s chaplains as one of its members. Michael said, “The VA has recognized the need to establish a national, standardized, comprehensive, systematic, integrated approach to ethics in health care — and Integrated Ethics was designed to meet that need. This innovative national education and organizational change initiative is based on established criteria for performance excellence in care organization, methods of continuous quality improvement and proven strategies for organizational change.”
An article about the late John Richardson, OFM, titled “Remembering Father Gus” appeared in the Sullivan County Democrat earlier this month.
Vocation director Brian Smail, OFM, encourages friars to promote religious vocations next month in conjunction with National Vocation Awareness Week, Jan. 9-15. Last month, the HNP Vocation Office staff sent a kit to all HNP pastors, suggesting they facilitate NVAW activities. This newsletter will run an article about the ways that Provincial Ministries recognized the annual week.
A. Francis Soucy, OFM, of Ringwood, N.J., and Dennis Tamburello, OFM, are assisting with Christmas Masses at St. Mary Church in Pompton Lakes.
The community of St. Anthony of Padua Church and School in Greenville, S.C., where Patrick Tuttle, OFM, is pastor, ended the silent phase of its capital campaign for a new school. With more than half of the $5 million needed to replace the existing school pledged, the community recently kicked off the public phase of its campaign with a “glitzy gathering of Greenville’s most influential people” at the Poinsett Club, Patrick said. He said the school plans to have the additional $2.5 million raised over the next six months. “In an environment where only 38 percent of black children graduate from high school,” Patrick added, “St. Anthony of Padua School graduates 94 percent from high school. More than half of those students go on to higher education.”
An article about the 25th ordination anniversary of Thomas Vigliotta, OFM, appeared in the Dec.17 issue of the Athens, Ga., Banner-Herald in an article titled “Catholic Center Director Marks 25th Anniversary.”
Jud Weiksnar, OFM, appeared in a photo on the cover of the Catholic Star Herald in its Dec. 10 issue. The picture was part of a story titled “Layoff crisis prompts clergy to take action.”
News for the next issue of HNP Today is requested by Jan. 5 (always the Wednesday before the newsletter’s publication date). Updates about Province ministries and friars can be found on the Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province Facebook page, which has more than 525 followers.
Topics planned for future issues of this newsletter include:
· Christmas in Lima
· Music ministries of St. Camillus and St. Francis of Assisi parishes and other HNP communities
· Presentations of the Province’s Francis Medal
— Compiled by Jocelyn Thomas