The 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.
Scott Brookbank, OFM, on the novitiate team in Burlington, Wis., completed training and is now a Myers Briggs Type Indicator certified practitioner. He is a qualified presenter for team building, leadership training, personal development and community building.
Fred Dilger, OFM, and Michael Duffy, OFM, appeared on the cover of the March 10 issue of the Philadelphia Daily News in an article titled “Friar Power” about the St. Francis Inn soup kitchen. The newspaper says, “These men of God serve 150,000+ meals yearly to the poor.” The two-page story describes the soup kitchen and the satisfaction the friars receive from their work. “We physically keep people alive,” said Fred in the story. “The world is so hard out there. I don’t think I could go through what some of our guests go through and continue to soldier on.” In the story, Michael, guardian of Juniper friary, was quoted as saying that “most of the 400 diners are regulars, from seniors and single parents with children, who are seated first, to addicts who arrive after attending the Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings across Kensington Avenue.”
St. Bonaventure University’s website featured a story about a winter pilgrimage co-led by Francis Di Spigno, OFM. He and Sr. Suzanne Kush, CSSF, took students from schools within the Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities on the trip from Dec. 23, 2013 to Jan. 6.
Several Holy Name Province friars — Julian Davies, OFM, of Siena College, Provincial Secretary Michael Harlan, OFM, and Brian Jordan, OFM, of Brooklyn — are included in the Acknowledgements section of “Mission at Nuremberg” by Tim Townsend. The book, published this month by William Murrow, describes the life of American Army chaplain and Lutheran minister Henry Gerecke, who ministered alongside the late Richard (Sixtus) O’Connor, OFM, as chaplain to Nazi war criminals. An article about the two chaplains was published in The New York Times in October.
Daniel Horan, OFM, will be the keynote speaker at the Franciscan Mission Service’s 2014 World Care Benefit and Celebration on April 14. Information about the event, being held at 7 p.m. in St. Francis Hall on Quincy Street in Washington, can be found on the FMS website.
Christopher Keenan, OFM, says the Province’s Ongoing Formation Committee, which he chairs, is offering friars limited scholarship funds, if they have an ongoing formation program they wish to attend or develop before June 30, the end of the HNP fiscal year. He asks that interested friars contact him before March 23.
Pius Liu, OFM, of Taiwan, served as chaplain of a two-day pilgrimage and sightseeing trip organized by the family club of his former parish. The friar, who earlier this year commemorated 60 years as a priest, said, “We visited and said rosaries inside the room of ‘House of Fiat,’ similar to the Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in Italy. We asked the Blessed Mother to intercede for us to imitate her Fiat and to know peace and happy marriages and families in the world. We also took a picture with a statue of Pope Francis in the reception room in Touwu, Miaoli Hsien, the central part of Taiwan. We visited several scenic and historical spots, and enjoyed nutritious aboriginal meals. We celebrated the Eucharist in the comfortable hostel of the employees of the Taiwan Electricity Corporation. This was a fruitful and enjoyable pilgrimage and sightseeing trip indeed!”
William McConville, OFM, led a parish mission earlier this week at Sacred Heart Church in Tampa, Fla. Since December, the daily reflections that William records are posted on the website of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Raleigh, N.C., where he is stationed.
The Provincial retreat originally scheduled for February at St. Anthony Friary, Butler, and cancelled due to the weather, has now been rescheduled, according to guardian Richard McFeely, OFM. The retreat will begin Monday evening of Holy Week, April 4, and will end at noon on Holy Thursday.
Daniel McLellan, OFM, is meeting with the Chapter Planning Committee on March 19 to discuss the fraternal gatherings, as well as the agenda of the 2014 Chapter, whose theme is “Being Who We Say We Are.”
The former Washington Theological Union, purchased in February 2013 by Douglas Development Corp., will undergo renovations for the building’s new tenant, Education First. The project will include office space and classrooms on the first and second floors, and dormitory rooms on the third and fourth floors. More details are available in Washington Business Journal. Provincial Minister John O’Connor, OFM, attended a meeting of the WTU Board of Trustees last week.
Paul O’Keeffe, OFM, led two groups of college students on poverty immersion alternative spring breaks. The first was from St. Bonaventure University and the second, from University of Georgia. While in Washington, students spent time on the streets feeding the homeless, worked at a shelter doing odd jobs and visiting with residents, worked at a food pantry and learned how to advocate for the poor. They also “visited their congress members and senators to discuss what they are doing to help the homeless,” Paul said, “and spent time with the friars at Holy Name College.” Paul, a resident of Holy Name College, provided photos of the students from SBU and from UGA.
On March 8, Jacek Orzechowski, OFM, chair of the HNP Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Directorate, gave a keynote presentation at the annual Social Ministry Convocation for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He spoke about “Care for the Poor, Care for the Earth: Listening to Pope Francis.”
The Province’s Hispanic Ministry Committee is planning the 2014 Spanish vocation retreat for Sept. 5 to 7 at Holy Name College, according to Christopher Posch, OFM, committee chair.
Dennis Tamburello, OFM, took nine Siena students to Philadelphia earlier this month for a visit to St. Francis Inn soup kitchen. He and the students volunteered at the more than 30-year-old ministry in the Kensington neighborhood.
Provincial Treasurer Dennis Wilson, OFM, reminds friars that fiscal year 2015 operations budgets for friaries, offices, committees and friars living on their own are due to his office April 1.
News for the next issue of HNP Today is requested by March 26, always the Wednesday before the newsletter’s publication. Updates about the friars and their ministries can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.
Topics planned for future issues include:
- Presentation on Pope Francis by John Maganzini, OFM
- Solemn profession of Joseph Cavoto, OFM
- Franciscan Challenge update
- Jubilarian profiles of Richard Mucowski, OFM, and Emeric Szlezak, OFM
— Compiled by Jocelyn Thomas