As Holy Week progresses, a friar at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land, explains the meaning behind an annual event that will happen on Friday. He also describes how the more than 100-year-old monastery — home to 20 friars from eight OFM provinces and 10 student priests — serves the community. WASHINGTON — On Good Friday night during this …
Reflection: St. Patrick’s Day as a Memory, a Celebration and a Challenge
In this seasonal reflection, John Anglin, OFM, a member of the Province’s Ministry of the Word, examines various aspects of the March 17 holiday. The author writes extensively through his blog The Wandering Friar. As an Irish-American Catholic who grew up in Boston, I have celebrated more than a few St. Paddy’s Days. At home, my Dad would play Irish …
Seasonal Reflection: Are You Listening During Lent?
The reflection below is reprinted, with permission from its author, from the blog Friar Musings. In this essay, George Corrigan, OFM, of Tampa, Fla., describes to the need to listen to the word of God to be reminded that, like Abraham and Sarah, we are people on a journey. He urges us to stop and take a look at the …
Seasonal Reflection: ‘I Have a Dream’
As the nation observes Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a friar who met the civil rights leader when King was awarded the St. Francis Peace Medal in 1963, writes about the changes in race relations he has witnessed as a member of the African-American community. When the HNP Communications Office asked me to write a reflection on this year’s observance of the …
Reflection: Sabbatical in the Holy Land
For many, January is a time of transition and fresh starts. For a friar who returned last month from a sabbatical in the Middle East, it is a time to settle back into parish life in the United States and to share his experiences. After 31 years of ordained ministry, I decided that it was time for a sabbatical. Through …
Seasonal Reflection: Coming into God’s Presence
As we journey toward Christmas, a friar based at St. Anthony Shrine in Boston writes about the value and beauty of contemplative prayer. I have always loved the season of Advent. It is a time of expectation and of hope, to prepare one’s heart for the coming of God into my hurried life. It is a time to rise up …
Seasonal Reflection: Veterans Day
As Veterans Day approached, a friar who served with the infantry during the Korean conflict reflected on his tour of duty. “I wrote the following article, titled ‘The Last Hill,’ primarily for the young men and women who are serving in the Middle East,” he said. “I hope that this will assure them that although war is horrible, they can …
Seasonal Reflection: Anniversary of St. Francis as Patron of Ecology
As the 35th anniversary of the naming of Francis as the patron saint of ecology nears on Nov. 29, a friar offers thoughts about the importance of appreciating and caring for God’s creation, describing programs being held at Clemson University, where he is campus minister. Recently, The New York Times announced the death of the New England poet Galway Kinnell. …
Seasonal Reflection: Respect Life Month
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has designated October as a time to pray for respect for all human life. Below a friar who is speaking about the “Consistent Ethic of Life” on Oct. 25 and 26 at St. Francis Church in Triangle, Va., encourages us to examine the way our actions — and the actions of our country — …
Seasonal Reflection: St. Francis from a Gardener’s Perspective
As the Oct. 4 feast of St. Francis nears and people around the world commemorate the patron saint of the Order, the executive director of university ministries at St. Bonaventure reminds us that Jesus is looking for us to be complete, not perfect. Catalogues lie! Have you ever purchased something through a catalogue or online and then become extremely disappointed …
Reflection: Living Through a Superstorm — The Aftermath
Superstorm Sandy caused extensive damage to Long Beach Island, N.J., a barrier island on the Atlantic Ocean, home to the Province’s St. Francis of Assisi Parish. In the months following the storm, friars struggled to minister to displaced parishioners scattered across the coast. In part two of this reflection, Stephen Kluge, OFM, recounts the months after the storm and his time as …
Reflection: Traveling to the Holy Land
As Pope Francis prepares for his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in May, Robert Lentz, OFM, reflects on a recent peace trip he took to Israel and Palestine with Jacek Orzechowski, OFM, Francis Soucy, OFM, and members of the St. Camillus Church community. It was a Sunday morning and we had been standing in line for 15 minutes, painfully inching our way toward the marble …