Updates below feature many 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 issues of HNP Today, email information to communications director Jocelyn Thomas at communications@hnp.org.
Lawrence Anderson, OFM, will celebrate Mass in High Mountain Park Preserve in New Jersey on Nov. 16 during a hike for young adults of St. Mary’s Parish, Pompton Lakes, N.J., where he is stationed. Information is provided in the Oct. 27 parish bulletin.
John Anglin, OFM, a Ministry of the Word friar, published a blog post recently about the value of social media in ministry. It is titled “Some New Dimensions in an Old Ministry – Using the Internet to Proclaim the Word.”
Student friar Casey Cole, OFM, traveled to Greenville, S.C., recently, where he gave a talk on vocations at the Masses of St. Anthony of Padua Church and Furman University, from which he graduated in 2010. A copy of his reflection can be found on his blog, “Breaking in the Habit.”
Thomas Conway, OFM, director of St. Anthony Shrine, Boston, reports that Br. Damian Park, OFM, a friar of the Korean Province who has lived at Holy Name College, Silver Spring, Md., for several years, will be ordained a priest on Jan. 6, 2014, in Seoul, Korea. Damian is “currently living at Arch Street and is studying for his master’s degree in philosophy at Boston College,” Thomas said.
Octavio Duran, OFM, has created a website for Robert Struzynski, OFM, a member of the HNP Ministry of the Word who moved from Western New York to Butler, N.J., earlier this year. “Meditate and Pray” features videos of Bob teaching about and leading contemplative or silent prayer.
A painting by David Haack, OFM, was unveiled Oct. 13 at St. Mary of the Angels Church, Olean, N.Y. The commissioned Children’s Chapel triptych, four by eight feet long, depicts the children of Fatima, and was blessed and dedicated on the feast day of the apparitions. “The benefactors, Stan and Mary Cygan, commissioned the work to honor their 12-year-old daughter, Margaret Mary, who died in 2001. The narrative in the work was inspired by Margaret Mary’s diary and journal writings.” A story about the painting appeared in the Olean Times Herald on Oct. 11. Examples of David’s work are available on his website.
Provincial Secretary Michael Harlan, OFM, is in Asia until Nov. 12, accompanying the Province’s General Visitor, Fr. Melvin Jurisich, OFM, to meet with friars in Taiwan and Japan.
John Hogan, OFM, spoke Oct. 29 to the 20s/30s Young Adults Group of St. Anthony Shrine, where he is guardian. Titled “Relationships as Seen Through the Lens of Franciscan Spirituality,” John’s talk focused on seeing spirituality as “an exploration into what is involved in becoming human,” and how we can experience “becoming human” as “an attempt to grow in sensitivity to self, to others, to the non-human aspects of creation, and to God, who is within and beyond this totality,” according to the shrine’s bulletin.
Gerald Hopeck, OFM, of the HNP African Ancestry Committee, reminds friars to display information about the 2013 Go Down Moses retreat at their ministries. The event, scheduled for Dec. 27 to 30, is aimed toward Catholic men ages 18 to 40 of African-American descent, as well as those who are African immigrants. The weekend gathering will take place at Holy Family Spiritual Center in Maryland.
Daniel Horan, OFM, is presenting the 2013 Ignatius Brady lecture on Nov. 7 at St. Bonaventure University. “A Franciscan in Blue Jeans: How Thomas Merton Became and Remained a True Franciscan,” will take place at 4:30 p.m. in the University Chapel.
Photos by Glenn Humphrey, OFM, appeared in the Oct. 2013 Padres Trail, the newsletter of Our Lady of Guadalupe Province, in a story about the Transitus at St Michaels Mission in Arizona, where he has worked in the school for the past two years.
David Hyman, OFM, chair of the HNP African Ancestry Ministry Committee, announces that the Province’s commemoration of the 2014 Martin Luther King holiday will be at St. Joseph Church in Wilmington, Del. The committee will discuss details at its next meeting on Nov. 7.
Last weekend, Julian Jagudilla, OFM, organized a public forum on immigration in celebration of the opening of the Migrant Center, where he is director, at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in New York City. Julian recently created a Facebook page for the center.
Brian Jordan, OFM, was quoted in an article titled “A World Away, the Seventh Game: Close at Hand, Condemned Nazis” in the Oct. 27 The New York Times. The article describes the ministry of Richard (Sixtus)O’Connor, OFM, as chaplain to Nazi war criminals. Brian, a former Siena College student of Sixtus, as he was then called, remembers the friar saying: “Jordan, you absolve them of their sins, but you don’t absolve them of their actions.” The article explores the ties between Richard’s challenging chaplaincy, the forgiveness of sins, and the 1946 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox. The author, Dan Barry, is an SBU graduate.
A farewell reception for Stephen Kluge, OFM, is being held Dec. 10 at St. Francis Parish, Long Beach Island, N.J., where he has served as pastor for seven years. In January, Stephen will begin a semester sabbatical.
Daniel McLellan, OFM, reports that Mario Gómez, OFM, is joining the HNP Chapter Planning Committee. Mario, a resident of Boston, replaces Erick López, OFM, who resigned this month due to scheduling reasons.
Kevin Mullen, OFM, and the community of Siena College, where he is president, welcomed Bishop Howard Hubbard, an affiliate of Holy Name Province, to the Loudonville, N.Y., campus last week to commemorate the bishop’s service and his retirement. Provincial Minister John O’Connor, OFM, participated in the Oct. 29 festivities that included a dinner and an academic symposium, of which Kenneth Himes, OFM, took part. On Nov. 4, Siena established a new scholarship in Bishop’s Hubbard’s name. “This scholarship gives students coming out of Catholic secondary education in the Capital Region the opportunity to continue their studies at Siena College, a school that is rooted in the Catholic and Franciscan tradition,” said Kevin, a 1975 graduate of Siena, in the announcement.
On Sept. 14, Neil O’Connell, OFM, presided at the Eucharist at the Church of all Saints in Harlem, N.Y., for the profession as Secular Franciscans of two parishioners. “These newly professed are the first of an emerging Secular Franciscan community at All Saints under the sponsorship of the St. Mary of the Angels Secular Franciscan community at Most Holy Name of Jesus Church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan,” Neil said.
Robert Sandoz, OFM, president of Christ the King Prep School in Newark, N.J., is pleased with the success of the fifth annual president’s gala held Oct. 17. For the first time, the gala raised more than a quarter of a million dollars, a 17 percent increase over last year’s event, and a 157 percent increase in two years, due to increased sponsorships and other factors. Robert commented on the gala’s growth: “We owe this extraordinary increase to a dedicated board of trustees, which is not afraid to be creative and take risks, and an equally progressive, loyal donor base. The feeling in the room that evening was very focused and enthusiastic: America needs innovative educational models to ensure that its youth can compete on a global level. The Cristo Rey schools provide that environment, and Christ the King Prep’s success proves it: 100 percent of Christ the King Prep students are accepted into college in a city, where 50 percent graduate from high school.”
Frank Sevola, OFM, pastor of St. Mary’s Parish, Pompton Lakes, N.J., reports that Bishop Arthur Serratelli visited St. Mary’s twice last weekend. “He was here on Saturday, Oct. 26 for a Healing Mass with the Order of Malta, of which I am a chaplain, and then on Sunday, Oct. 27 for Confirmation with our Latino community.” A story with pictures appeared in the Oct. 31 The Beacon, of the Diocese of Paterson.
Timothy Shreenan, OFM, reports he has taken over as guestmaster at St. Francis Friary, on West 31st Street, New York City, because Vincent Laviano, OFM, has been reassigned to St. Petersburg, Fla. Requests to visit 31st Street should be sent to Tim’s email: timothy275@aol.com.
Vocation director Brian Smail, OFM, is organizing a “Come and See” weekend for Dec. 6 to 8 at Holy Name College, Silver Spring, Md. Registration is requested by Dec. 2.
On Nov. 5 during the Commemoration of All Souls of the Seraphic Order, pastor Jud Weiksnar, OFM, and the friars of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Camden, N.J., took part in a unique custom. “At the 8:30 a.m. Mass, we take the stack of ‘deceased friar cards’ that I’ve accumulated since joining the Province in 1987, and at homily time, we have everyone pick a card from the stack,” Jud said. “We friars then share a little something about their lives. Today, the parishioners picked some friars whom none of us knew well, but others we knew quite well, such as Adrian Riester, OFM, and Julian Riester, OFM, and Alban Maguire, OFM. The people seemed to enjoy hearing about some of the legends of Holy Name Province.”
News for the next issue of HNP Today is requested by Nov. 13, always the Wednesday before the newsletter’s publication date. Updates about the friars and their ministries can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.
Topics planned for future newsletters include:
• Priestly ordination of Paul Keenan, OFM
• HNP Young Adult Ministry Committee
• Update of Secular Franciscans from Gene Pistacchio, OFM
• Blessing of a new client choice food pantry in Buffalo
— Compiled by Jocelyn Thomas