The updates below feature activities of Holy Name friars, including their celebrations, presentations, and ministry events. For more information, visit links to the parishes and organizations mentioned, contact the friars by phone or email, or connect with the HNP Communications Office.
To provide news briefs for future articles, email information to communications director Jocelyn Thomas at communications@hnp.org.
► Seven friars will be honored next month at the Province’s annual jubilee celebration. Commemorating 50 years as friars are John Anglin, OFM, Brice Leavins, OFM, and Richard Mucowski, OFM, and celebrating 25 years are Thomas Conway, OFM, Francis Kim, OFM, Patrick Tuttle, OFM, and Jud Weiksnar, OFM. A 5:30 p.m. Mass will be celebrated on Nov. 12 at St. Francis of Assisi Church in New York City.
► Scott Brookbank, OFM, was installed Oct. 1 as guardian of the Franciscan Interprovincial Novitiate in Burlington, Wis., where he has been part of the formation team since 2012. Photos of the event can be found on the Franciscan Interprovincial Novitiate’s Facebook page.
► John Capozzi, OFM, reminds friars that the Province’s house in Margate, N.J., where he is curator, is closed from Oct. 25 to Nov. 6.
► Ross Chamberland, OFM, has been named executive director of St. Bonaventure University’s new Lateran Center. This initiative will provide programs to relate the university’s Catholic-Franciscan mission with the themes of renewal and inclusion for which Pope Francis is being hailed worldwide. Ross will work with president Sr. Margaret Carney, OSF, in developing closer relationships “with the many branches of the Franciscan Order, as well as the Catholic dioceses associated with the university,” according to SBU’s announcement. Ross professed his solemn vows in August.
► Thomas Conway, OFM, spoke earlier this month at the annual fundraiser for Dignity U Wear in New York City. In a post on its website, St. Anthony Shrine, Boston, where Thomas is executive director, reported, “Fr. Tom spoke about Dignity U Wear’s successful partnership with various Boston nonprofit organizations, including St. Francis House on Boylston Street, to provide new clothing to the poor of Boston. Dignity U Wear is a national organization that began operating in Boston earlier this year. One recent clothing shipment to the Shrine included $150,000 in clothing, which is currently being distributed to the homeless of Boston. We at the Shrine are happy to lead the way in providing social services in downtown Boston.” A video created by the organization was posted recently on the Shrine’s Facebook page.
► Last week, George Corrigan, OFM, and 46 parishioners from Sacred Heart Church in Tampa, returned from a pilgrimage to Franciscan Italy. The group visited Assisi, Greccio, Fonte Columbo and other significant sites. “It was a beautiful experience shared by fellow parishioners as we walked the streets Francis walked, and together we broke bread, ate pasta and ate more pasta,” according to the Oct. 19 bulletin, which included photos of the trip.
► Siena College announced last week that Julian Davies, OFM, will retire after 44 years of teaching philosophy. According to a news release titled “Professor, Friar and Friend: Fr. Julian Davies, OFM, Prepares to Retire,” Julian said that he wanted to work in academia from the time he first studied philosophy. During his career as a scholar, he has published two translations and one book of his own. He also logged more than 50 years as an editor of Franciscan periodicals. The release was written by a Siena senior, who said he was introduced to the college by his parents, friends of Julian.
► Xavier De la Huerta, OFM, Fred Dilger, OFM, Michael Duffy, OFM, Thomas Gallagher, OFM, Julian Jagudilla, OFM, and Patrick Tuttle, OFM, are among the friars who appear in the photos on HNP.org’s home page.
► Provincial Secretary Michael Harlan, OFM, gave a presentation on the life and spirit of St. Francis during an evening of prayer and reflection on Oct. 20 at St. Francis of Assisi Church in West Nyack, N.Y. The event was part of the parish’s 50th anniversary celebration.
► Provincial Vicar Lawrence Hayes, OFM, recommends that friars review the resources for the Year of Consecrated Life — running from Nov. 29, 2014 to Feb. 2, 2016 — that appear on the website of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men. At this month’s meeting, the Provincial Council endorsed CMSM’s proposal to participate, at a local level, in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops program for this commemoration. Three events are listed on the website: a religious open house on Feb. 8, 2015, a day of mission and service with religious in summer 2015, and a day of prayer with religious on Sept. 13, 2015. “These events, which can be organized by interested houses, may prove to be good opportunities for enhancing vocational awareness, celebrating our partnership with laity and for sharing the contemplative aspect of our charism,” said Lawrence. The CMSM’s site includes the logo for the Year of Consecrated Life’s theme, “Wake up the World,” that was designed by the National Religious Vocations Conference.
► A presentation by Kenneth Himes, OFM, “Spirituality and Morality: The Role of Prayer in the Moral Life,” is scheduled for Oct. 23 at St. Patrick–St. Anthony Church, Hartford. The program “will explore the various ways that our prayer life and our moral experience enrich each other,” according to recent publicity by the parish. Kenneth is an instructor of theological ethics at Boston College.
► Julian Jagudilla, OFM, is helping to lead the Asian-American Day of Recollection for Franciscan Vocation on Oct. 25. The program at St. Francis Church in New York City is open to men ages 21 to 45. Other vocation events being held in the coming months can be found on the Upcoming Events page of the Join Us section of the HNP website.
► An essay by Brian Jordan, OFM, about Columbus Day, was published Oct. 13 in the New York Daily News. Titled “Columbus Day: About More Than Just the Explorer,” the article describes why Brian feels it is important to recognize not only the first recorded European discoverer of the New World, but to “celebrate the longstanding heritage and outstanding contributions of Italian-Americans to the United States.”
► Last week, Cidouane Joseph, OFM, returned from Haiti, after visiting St. Genevieve, St. Patrick-St. Anthony’s sister parish. He and the parishioners who traveled with him plan to share more information in the weeks ahead.
► The memory of Mychal Judge, OFM, was honored on Oct. 18 by St. Francis University, Loretto, Pa., with an award presented to the friars of St. Francis of Assisi Church, New York City. Andrew Reitz, OFM, pastor, accepted the award. Christopher Keenan, OFM, who succeeded Mychal as chaplain of the Fire Department of New York, also attended Saturday’s event on West 31st Street. Roughly 150 people attended, said Andrew.
► Provincial Minister Kevin Mullen, OFM, participated in the Oct. 19 dedication of Siena College’s new grotto. He and interim president F. Edward Coughlin, OFM, delivered remarks during the Oct. 19 ceremony at which Howard Hubbard, bishop emeritus of Albany, presided.
► Jud Weiksnar, OFM, guardian of St. Patrick Friary, Buffalo, led a retreat earlier this month for staff members of Bishop Timon-St. Jude High School, Buffalo. The theme of the Oct. 10 event, Jud said, was how Timon can maintain its Franciscan identity despite having no friar on staff. “I spoke about Francis and the early Franciscan movement, drawing a lot on the writing of David Flood, OFM. We also had a Franciscan trivia contest, won by Timon principal Tom Sullivan, who may have an advantage because for a short time he was in our initial formation program. The prize was a WWFD (What Would Francis Do?) T-shirt designed by Francis Pompei, OFM. We also played the game ‘Cambio de Conejo,’ an old favorite of Juan de la Cruz Turcios, OFM, when he was in the Esperanza Latina youth group before he joined the friars.”
News for the next HNP Today e-letter is requested by Oct. 29, always the Wednesday before distribution. Updates about the friars and their ministries can also be found on the Province’s Facebook and Twitter.
Topics planned for future issues include:
- National gathering of OFM friars involved with Hispanic ministry
- Meeting of new pastors and guardians on Oct. 28
- Commemorations of the 35th anniversary of the naming of St. Francis as patron of the environment
— Compiled by Jocelyn Thomas