NEW YORK — Below are updates about some of the many activities of Holy Name friars, including their presentations, outreach and celebrations. 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 communications director Jocelyn Thomas at communications@hnp.org.
Todd Carpenter, OFM, and Michael Tyson, OFM participated in a July 8 march against drugs and violence in Wilmington, Del. The march is part of a series that began in May as a way to advocate in and to the community. Todd, the pastor of St. Paul Church, in Wilmington, posts photos on his Facebook page. The next march is Aug. 12.
An article by F. Edward Coughlin, OFM, appears in the spring/summer 2010 issue of Bonaventure magazine. In his piece in the Franciscan Minute — “The search for worthy dreams” — Ed writes about Thomas Merton, one of the most influential spiritual writers of the 20th century. “As Merton’s story so aptly demonstrates,” Ed said, “one of the greatest challenges any educational institution faces is the challenge of engaging the students’ imaginations in the formation of ‘worthy dreams’ and awakening desire in the innermost self to make a difference, to create something beautiful.” Other friars featured in this issue include Daniel Hurley, OFM, and Gerald McCaffrey, OFM.
A recent homily by Frank Critch, OFM, appears in the July 11 bulletin of St. Mary’s Church, Pompton Lakes, N.J., where Frank is interning this summer. He discussed hospitality and the Eucharist. “The people we invite to our table, our Eucharist” Frank said, “says much about who we are as Catholic Christians. Do we look to the laws of the Church first to determine who we are or do we look to the people, into their hearts? … The power of Jesus to see in another not only who he was but also what he could become is quite evident. … Jesus continually stressed in his ministry the desire for mercy and not sacrifice.”
William Fitzgerald, OFM, reports that the Province’s Quam Bonum house on Cape Cod is closes July 18 to 31. “I am having a new boiler installed and there will be no water in the house and a whole lot of noise and dust,” he said. Announcements about this and the Province’s Point Lookout friary can be found on HNP’s Extranet.
Daniel Horan, OFM, was recently named a 2010-2011 Shannon Fellow by the International Thomas Merton Society. The fellowship is named after the renowned Merton scholar, founding president of the ITMS and emeritus professor of religious studies at Nazareth College, Msgr. William H. Shannon, Ph.D. Given annually to no more than five qualified scholars, it includes a research grant to visit one of the major North American Merton archives and material repositories. In addition to Dan, the ITMS honored Dr. Malgorzata Poks of Koszecin, Poland, with a Shannon Fellowship. In other news, Dan recently had an article published in Review for Religious titled “Koinonia and the Church in the Digital Age.”
Barry Langley, OFM, has been studying cello as part of Tutti Celli, an adult learners’ cello ensemble. The members of this group come from the greater Boston area and have either just begun playing cello as their first instrument or have returned to playing the cello after having played during childhood. Most of the members began their recent playing of the cello through the beginner and advanced beginner cello classes at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education in Cambridge, Mass., taught by Cynthia Forbes. On July 18, Barry and the group presented a concert titled “Tutti Celli … from Bach to Bartok and Beyond” in the 2nd floor church of St. Anthony Shrine and Ministry Center, Boston. This was their second annual concert. John Maganzini, OFM, reports that a young man who attended the concert said, “They are like professionals. I hope they perform again in the near future!”
Daniel McLellan, OFM, wrote a piece about the formation process of Franciscan friars for the July 11 bulletin of Immaculate Conception Parish in Durham, N.C., where he is pastor. In “A final look at the Franciscans…” Dan wrote, “Whatever a friar does — priest, carpenter, teacher — the core of our life is still living the Gospel. Since work, but no particular kind of work, is required of a friar, we are not a collection of intellectuals or specially gifted men, at least as gifts for a special type of work are concerned. We are a person-centered group. In the end, we have nothing to offer other than our own imperfect lives shaped, we hope, by the Gospel after the manner of Francis. My hope is that there’ll be some men from our parish who think the same.”
Kevin Mackin, OFM, president of Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, N.Y., thanks U.S. Senator Charles Schumer for arranging a $100,000 grant to the college for medical education equipment. The senator visited Orange County, where the college is located, on July 12. Both Kevin and Schumer, shown in this photo, originally hail from Brooklyn.
Robert Menard, OFM, returned recently from a trip to Peru, where he and others from St. Francis of Assisi in Triangle, Va., visited the church’s sister parish. Details on the trip will be provided in a future issue of this newsletter.
Provincial Minister John O’Connor, OFM, hosted a dinner last month in San Damiano Hall on the lower level of the Provincial Offices for members of the newly-created HNP Capital Campaign advisory committee. The group gathered to discuss how they can help with the Province’s fundraising needs — both financially and as advocates for the ministries of Holy Name Province. Among the friars at the June 29 dinner were Provincial Secretary Michael Harlan, OFM, Joseph Hertel, OFM, director St. Anthony’s Guild, and Jerome Massimino, OFM, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church on West 31st Street.
An opinion piece by Steven Patti, OFM, of Immaculate Conception Church in Durham, N.C., appeared in the July 16 issue of Durham’s Herald-Sun. In “Immigration discussion must return to human stories,” Steven stresses the importance of hearing the individual stories of immigrants over stressing a stance on pieces of legislation. “The letters to the editor and the arguments go back and forth — where do you stand on the Arizona law? What are we to make of all the ‘illegal immigrants’ or ‘undocumented workers’ in our midst?” he writes. “What often gets lost, in all of this, is the human story. Who is this person in front of me? Where did he or she come from, and why are they here?”
Daniel Riley, OFM, and the friars of Mt. Irenaeus hosted 20 former Franciscan Volunteer Ministers July 16 to 18 at the Franciscan Mountain Retreat in Western New York. In addition to the FVMs were some spouses and children as well as Michael Duffy, OFM. The weekend including prayer, meals, a bonfire, gardening and Sunday Mass.
Xavier Seubert, OFM, reports that three books by the late Regis Duffy, OFM, have been reprinted by Wipf and Stock Publishers. The books are Real Presence: Worship, Sacraments, and Commitment, The Liturgy in the Catechism: Celebrating God’s Wisdom and Love, and A Roman Catholic Theology of Pastoral Care. The books can be ordered through Wipf and Stock and Amazon.com.
Vocation director Brian Smail, OFM, will soon be using Facebook to reach young men discerning a vocation. He said the Franciscan Vocation Ministry is exploring advertising on the social networking site that boasts more than 500 million active users. Brian added that the new vocation video Make a Life Shift: Be a Franciscan is now available on the Be A Franciscan YouTube Channel. YouTube easily allows the sharing and embedding of videos.
Dennis Tamburello, OFM, of Siena College, returned last week from Israel where he served as chaplain for a group of 20 Catholic educators. The July 8 to 16 trip, sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League, in cooperation with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was part of a program called Bearing Witness, that promotes a better understanding of Judaism, Jewish-Catholic relations and the Holocaust, Dennis said. The trip included stops at Yad Vashem (the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem), Masada, the Dead Sea, Nazareth, Bethlehem and Galilee. Dennis has created a photo album of the trip on his Facebook page.
News for the next issue of HNP Today is requested by July 28, 2010.
— Compiled by Rebecca Doel and Jocelyn Thomas