Hope for Victory

We have just returned from a tremendous trip to Washington D.C. We had the privilege of participating in the annual March For Life. This year was the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. There are many other beautiful events which take place before and after the march - it has developed into quite an experience.

I have attended the march every year since 1993. I was so discouraged after that particular march because it was the first time I had a first hand experience of the blatant bias in the media coverage of the event - distortions and lies. A good bit of media coverage this year was the same - distortions and lies. Yet, somehow this year the media coverage had the opposite effect on me.

The march was so massive, positive and youthful that I couldn't help but be happy. As I was marching and praying a thought came to me, "Truth always defeats lies. Good always defeats evil. Beauty always defeats ugliness. Right always defeats wrong. And because of Jesus, life defeats death."

"Jane Roe" of Roe v. Wade is now a pro-life Catholic. "Mary Roe" of Roe v. Bolton is now a pro-life
Christian. Dr. Bernard Nathanson, a doctor who was instrumental in getting abortion legalized in the US, died a pro-life Catholic. I con-celebrated his funeral Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

It is only a matter of time until abortion is ended. Until then we pray, witness and do what ever we can to promote the Gospel of Life and the Civilization of Love. It is only a matter of time.

God bless,
Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR
Saint Joseph Friary
Harlem, New York City

Must see video - 1 Million Hits For Life!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

We need your help!
To make a donation click here

(PLEASE DO NOT REPLY
AS THIS ACCOUNT IS NOT CONNECTED PERSONALLY
TO FR. LUKE - THANK YOU)

Epiphany

Traditionally Epiphany celebrates three events in Christ’s life. The adoration of the Magi, the baptism in the Jordan, and the wedding feast in Cana, Galilee, yet in all these, the message is the same: this is the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. It is a message highly important both then and now.

As the magi arrive in Jerusalem we hear them saying, “where is he born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East and have come to worship him.” And so following the star they come to the manger hoping to find the new-born king, and as they draw near, I would like to put the words of Christ’s heavenly Father at the baptism on the lips of St. Joseph, his earthly father spoken to the approaching Magi, “Behold, my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” The magi, who for us symbolize the gentiles or the non-Jewish people of the world, found the king of the Jews in the son of Joseph, the son of David, and they paid him homage with gifts. Yet doing so they must have looked to the woman holding the child, to Mary, with great reverence knowing her to be the mother of the new-born king, and if we were to hear her say to them those words that inaugurated our Lord’s earthly ministry at a wedding in Cana, we would surely find the Magi repeating them in silent wonder, “do whatever he tells you…” And like any devoted subject of a true king, they would. In fact, a tradition tells us that they were among the first Christians of the early Church.

Its true that a linear timeline is unique to the experience of the material world, and if we bend the rules with the Church to encounter these three moments at once in a hyperbolic scene as beautiful in its encompassing grandeur as it is potent in its tender intimacy, we find ourselves at the heart of the mystery of this special feast: God has broken into our history. The magi came from afar to adore a baby born, the beloved son of the Eternal Father, the son of Mary, who in turn implores us to be obedient to the always present in-breaking of God in our world. And so we rejoice because Jesus, in his birth, in his assuming of the human experience, in his ministry on earth has given us new access to the life of God, and we like the Magi before us must go to him in gratitude and humble adoration.

May his Holy Name be praised.

God bless you,

Br. Joseph Michael Fino, CFR

Most Blessed Sacrament Friary

Newark, NJ

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We need your help!

To make a donation click here

God’s Romantic Love

Love is a word that is bigger than mere romance. And yet there is something in romantic love that more keenly captures the heart. Paternal or maternal love, filial or fraternal, even spousal love—which cannot always be romantic—are more enduring kinds of love. They’re loves that walk us through life, foundational and structural loves, highly important in practice and reception.

We know that God loves us paternally, like a father. Jesus is our friend and brother, and so we experience his steadfast support and presence. Even the Holy Spirit loves us, encouraging and inspiring us over the long haul. But do you ever encounter God’s romantic love? If not, I have to say, it’s important that you do. Romantic love is quicker, more sudden, shorter lasting but more impacting. It is the love that pierces the heart and captures the imagination. This encounter is behind all those overbearing converts that won’t stop talking about Jesus and the Church and the Eucharist, and they wont do it because they simply cannot, because they’ve fallen in love, and when we do that, we want everyone to fall with us! And I would suggest that this romantic love is the revealing love of Christmas.

The scriptures give us no shortage of evidence that God will pursue us, that he will court us, and the word seduce us is even used. Christmas is the story of a lover decidedly throwing himself into the life his beloved. God puts himself in a position of radical closeness to the one he loves and begins to woo, to seduce by his presence, by his words and his life. He now touches us, speaks closely to us and desires to take us unto himself so that we may live together forever.

He is anxious to love you romantically, to surprise you and win you; you have only to let him do it. If you’ve not yet experienced this side of him, I would say, ask for it, expect it, and don’t be afraid when it actually happens. For then you will learn two very important truths: Jesus is real and alive, and he loves you personally, whoever and wherever you are, and he loves you a lot. And if you allow it, this will change your life.

God bless you,
Br. Joseph Michael Fino, CFR

Most Blessed Sacrament Friary
Newark, NJ
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We need your help!
To make a donation click here

Letters of hope and consolation #20

As we approach the last of these letters I am left wondering how I can summarize all that it is we have been discussing. We have talked about prayer, forgiveness, God’s love, listening for God’s voice and so many other things. Yet perhaps it comes down to this simple conclusion; Jesus Christ is your deepest source of hope and consolation.

The world will promise you much and even if you conquered the world it would still not be enough. You would still be restless and you would still be yearning for something greater than this world. Why? Is it because the world is bad? Absolutely not! The world is very good. In fact that is part of the problem. The world is good, but not good enough to satisfy your soul. Your soul is like an ocean and there is nothing in this world that can fill that sacred space except Him who “summons the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth” (Amos 9:6).

My prayer for you is that each day you will discover more deeply the love that you already have in Jesus Christ. Though you don’t realize this now you lack nothing because of Him and with the apostle Paul you can proclaim, “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). There is nothing you did to deserve His love; it is His free gift to you, just as there is nothing in life that can take His love away from you, since His love reaches down from heaven into your little world. Hence, the love that you have been experiencing is the beginning of eternal life. If I can encourage you to do anything else it would be to run toward that love that lasts forever since it really is your only hope and consolation in this world.

God bless you,
Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR
St. Felix Friary, Yonkers, NY


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We need your help!
To make a donation click here

THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS

I was remembering the chorus from that old Pink Floyd song, “You’re just another brick in the wall.” Like so many things in popular culture, there is some truth to this but it doesn’t get it quite right. While it is true that we are all bricks in the great structure of human history, it isn’t true that any of us is insignificant, unanimous or faceless.

Human history is unfolding and each of us has a role. When we are born none of us knows what this role will be. When we die most of us still won’t know the significance of our role. Day by day, we are paving the path to the future. One brick allows the next to take its place. Each brick (that is each person), if looked at alone may truly seem insignificant and expendable. But when looked at from the eyes of eternity, each brick contributes to that tremendous edifice of humanity. Each life, like a single stroke of a masterpiece, contributes to the magnificence of the whole.

Every stoke adds to the beauty. Perhaps we do not recognize this, especially during times of suffering or in a life that seems filled only with miseries – or more strikingly when a terrible tragedy occurs. Each person is indispensable and adds a unique element to the whole drama. Each one affects so many others, even without knowing it. So many unknown people have affected our own lives: the people that made the bridges we drive over every day, the soldiers that died alone and unknown on a battlefield that turned the course of human history, the teachers that affected our teachers, the people that influenced our parents and grandparents, those who preserved and passed on the faith throughout the centuries. Even seeing, or knowing about a destitute homeless alcoholic does something to each one of us (that hopefully changes us for the better forever).

This is something that the genealogy of Jesus teaches us. Each person on that list had a role to play, was a brick that paved the way for Jesus Christ. But none of them knew it. Each one just lived their lives. I am sure that many, if not all of them, at some time or another, wondered what their lives were all about, if their suffers would produce anything good, if their lives had any meaning beyond drudgery and misery. Remember, that genealogy included some not so glamorous or holy things. There was infidelity, fear, betrayal, intrigue, murder, foreigners, and a prostitute. God used all these things to accomplish the greatest thing that was ever done – using all these people without them ever knowing it.

As the New Year approaches, let us take a moment to wonder at the grandeur of our own lives – not that we have such a dramatic contribution to make but to marvel at the fact that we are part of the marvelous work of art that the Almighty God is composing.

May we recognize that every life has an irreplaceable contribution to make. May we be filled with wonder and gratitude. May we be a magnificent stroke on God’s canvas by beautifully living the lives that the Lord has given us.

God bless you,
Fr. Giuseppe Siniscalchi, CFR
Most Blessed Sacrament Friary
Newark, N]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We need your help!

To make a donation click here

(PLEASE DO NOT REPLY
AS THIS ACCOUNT IS NOT CONNECTED PERSONALLY
TO FR. GIUSEPPE - THANK YOU)

Letters of hope and consolation #19

Quite honestly it seems that what you really want, what you think would take away all of your problems is somebody else’s life because the one you already have doesn’t appear good enough for you. You are always speaking about somebody else’s job, somebody else’s family, somebody else’s house, a different style of clothes, a different climate and a constant surplus of new friends who can pull you out of these funks and make life once again fresh and exciting.

What about your life, your job, your family, your friends, etc? What about all the blessings and opportunities that are already a part of your life? Instead of constantly desiring other things maybe you should begin by thanking God for what you already have, which, if you took time to consider, would realize is actually a great deal. The problem is you are always admiring other people and the happiness you think they have and never realize all the great blessings God has already given to you.

The moment you begin to be grateful for what is already yours it is as if a new world appears, or rather the fog from your current world disappears and you are able once again to see the freshness and excitement of life that has always been present to you in your life. You do not need somebody else’s life to be happy. God has already given you all the ingredients you need for a happy and fulfilling life, if only you can open your eyes to all that is before you.

God bless you,
Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR
St. Felix Friary, Yonkers, NY
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We need your help!
To make a donation click here 

The meaning of Christmas: God is Love

Love is an entering into the world’s distress, another’s sorrow or another’s joy.  This is why God is love; this is why Christmas happened.  God so loved the world that he entered into it in the person of Jesus, and he entered into our distress, our sorrows, our joys.  He entered into the whole of our human experience with the exception of sin, but even still, he is one who entered into the pain and brokenness of our world: hunger, poverty, rejection, abandonment were all part of the life he lived, but also he shared our joys: family, religion, celebratory feats, and friendships.  Jesus is Emmanuel (God-with-us) because he came to be with us: face to face, heart to heart, lips to brow, arm in arm.  This is why God came.  This is why Christmas happened, and in light of the Resurrection, we can say more clearly this is why Christmas happens.  Whatever you’re doing, Jesus wants to share that experience.  He wants to be born right there.

God bless you,
Br. Joseph Michael Fino, CFR

Most Blessed Sacrament Friary
Newark, NJ
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We need your help!
To make a donation click here