“What are you giving up?” Any Catholic who grew up in the “pre-Vatican II” era would immediately know what this question is referring to—especially if you attended a parochial school taught by nuns. It means, “What are you giving up for Lent?” The answer of most school kids back then was somewhat the same—candy, soda, or television. Although the good sisters suggested that giving up fighting with our siblings would be even better, I personally thought that was just a bit too much to give up.
Isn’t it true how easily we can get attached to things. Now that the cell phone has become mainstream and no longer a status symbol, I know there are some of you who might get more than annoyed if you had to give it up! Soon kids will be asking, “What was life like before cell phones. I mean, how did people contact you when you weren’t home?” How true it is—we quickly become best buddies with comfort and convenience; yet as you know, there is always a price we must pay.
Lent is a time to look at our attachments—and not only material things or objects—but attitudes. As our doctors can now scan our bodies looking for problems, this is the time to ask for some help to “scan our souls” and to look deep within for things which can be suspicious and maybe malignant. No doubt, some of our readers are quite comfortable with such examinations and are quick to get at the problem area. Some, for example, have a spat with their spouse; yet they never allow the sun to set on their anger. Instead, the whole affair ends with an apology and a goodnight kiss. Others, however, refuse to admit any guilt and spend years in a cold war. These couples have become quite comfortable with their illness.
Have you ever had something—an article of clothing, for example—that spends most of its life hanging on for dear life in a dark closet or buried in some overstuffed drawer? Maybe it was a gift from grandma or a hand-me-down which once belonged to dear ol’ dad. While our prized possession serves no other purpose but to take up space, the chilling thought of getting rid of our family heirloom borders on sacrilege or treason. Of course, occasionally we take out our treasure and try it on; it is stretched here and it sags there, and it may be just a bit threadbare at the elbows, but besides the broken zipper and a few missing buttons, it looks almost new! Maybe, just maybe, you will wear it in when the weather warms up a bit.
Friends, today we enter the liturgical season of Lent. Lent is an old English word, “lengthen,” which means “springtime.” Lent commemorates the time Our Lord fasted and prayed and was tempted in the desert; therefore, it is a time characterized by prayer, reflection, fasting and abstinence. Our interior attitude or spiritual posture is expressed in the somber violet which is worn by the priest and which decorates the sanctuary. Lent is, in essence, a time to look inside ourselves and open that interior dark closet and overstuffed drawer. It is a time to ask ourselves if we have become accustomed and attached to what is obviously ugly and outdated.
If you are serious about spring cleaning your soul, you must be honest and objective. This is why an extra set of eyes and expert advise is always helpful when making decisions about what stays put and what is put into the garbage. This is but one reason we have the sacrament of confession—we don’t have to do the dirty work alone. This means, instead of going to confession with our wrinkled and weary list of sins, we go in “with a pen and pad,” which means an attitude of openness and a desire to get the job done right. This task begins and is made easy by asking a simple question: “Father, can you help me make a good confession?”
Maybe if we ask for help, we may not only find more junk than we expected, we just might find more room within us for peace and joy. So there they hang—uglier than grandma’s kelly green sweater or dad’s plaid jacket—guilt, shame, anger, lust, resentment. So, what are you giving up this Lent?
God bless you,
Fr.Glenn Sudano, CFR
Most Blessed Sacrament Friary
Newark, NJ
re-posted from the archives
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Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
What to do for Lent?
At the beginning of Lent Christian homes are full of conversations about what to do or "give up" during this annual penitential season. Let the medicine match the malady. If you have a cold you do not take chemo therapy. If you have cancer you do not take an aspirin. Why not take a look at those faults and weaknesses that you usually pray about and confess. Then think about a devotion or practice that would directly impact those things.
The New Testament often quotes a famous passage from Isaiah 40, "A voice of one calling in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low' ..." So let us level those mountains of pride and fill up those valleys of doubt in order to make a path in our hearts for the grace of the Lord!
God bless you,
Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR
St. Joseph Friary, New York, NY
Papal message for Lent 2012
The New Testament often quotes a famous passage from Isaiah 40, "A voice of one calling in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low' ..." So let us level those mountains of pride and fill up those valleys of doubt in order to make a path in our hearts for the grace of the Lord!
God bless you,
Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR
St. Joseph Friary, New York, NY
Papal message for Lent 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Letters of hope and consolation #2
As we all get older in age there is something that happens universally to almost everybody; we become forgetful. Some of those things we forget might be trivial, while others may be more serious. Regardless of whether something is trivial or serious forgetfulness poses a serious danger. Though it might be a blessing to forget some of the bad things that have happened to us the opposite can occur; we may also forget the good things that have happened to us. By forgetting the good things we have experienced in life we become more susceptible to doubt, skepticism and fear.
One of the greatest dangers in the spiritual life is forgetfulness; forgetting what God has done in your life, how he has spoken to you in different stages of your life, forgetting those moments where God felt close to you, where the presence of God was undeniable, or those moments when God spoke to you through a friend, a spouse or where you had a profound experience of him in prayer or meditation. Everyone has had these or similar experiences with God. Do you remember yours? How many times have you and I “forgotten” these experiences because of the busyness of life or because we are experiencing a dry period in our spiritual life? Because you may have forgotten all the graces God has poured out on you over the years you now doubt his love for you and his nearness to you.
The reality is God is speaking to you every moment of the day; however, every moment will not always appear as a profound encounter with him. If we are honest most of the moments of our day and our experiences of them are routine and “ordinary.” Yet God is still active throughout your day since it would be impossible for him to disappear from your life even for a second.
So what can you do to help prevent this forgetfulness?
A practice that you might find helpful is to record your experiences of God in a journal. Every time you have a profound experience of God write it down in a journal so that you never forget it. In this journal you could write words from Scripture that spoke to you in a certain moment, something a friend shared with you that touched your heart or any experience that helped remind you of God’s love and his nearness to you. Then when we are in the “desert” or just going through difficult times we can open our journals and be reminded of how faithful God has been to us over the years. By remembering God’s actions in our life we become less likely to forget all that he has done for us, which gives us confidence and peace about the present moment and all that God might be asking of us in the future.
God bless you,
Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock CFR
St. Felix Friary, Yonkers, NY
One of the greatest dangers in the spiritual life is forgetfulness; forgetting what God has done in your life, how he has spoken to you in different stages of your life, forgetting those moments where God felt close to you, where the presence of God was undeniable, or those moments when God spoke to you through a friend, a spouse or where you had a profound experience of him in prayer or meditation. Everyone has had these or similar experiences with God. Do you remember yours? How many times have you and I “forgotten” these experiences because of the busyness of life or because we are experiencing a dry period in our spiritual life? Because you may have forgotten all the graces God has poured out on you over the years you now doubt his love for you and his nearness to you.
The reality is God is speaking to you every moment of the day; however, every moment will not always appear as a profound encounter with him. If we are honest most of the moments of our day and our experiences of them are routine and “ordinary.” Yet God is still active throughout your day since it would be impossible for him to disappear from your life even for a second.
So what can you do to help prevent this forgetfulness?
A practice that you might find helpful is to record your experiences of God in a journal. Every time you have a profound experience of God write it down in a journal so that you never forget it. In this journal you could write words from Scripture that spoke to you in a certain moment, something a friend shared with you that touched your heart or any experience that helped remind you of God’s love and his nearness to you. Then when we are in the “desert” or just going through difficult times we can open our journals and be reminded of how faithful God has been to us over the years. By remembering God’s actions in our life we become less likely to forget all that he has done for us, which gives us confidence and peace about the present moment and all that God might be asking of us in the future.
God bless you,
Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock CFR
St. Felix Friary, Yonkers, NY
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Letters of hope and consolation: #1
The mercy of God is not an abstract theological principle. It is the fruit of our Lord’s passion and death. In other words, it is the logical progression of selfless love.
This mercy has found us, not because we deserved it or because we earned it. It is God’s free unmerited gift to us. It is his way of saying to each of us individually, “You are no accident, you belong to me, and nothing can separate us from each other.”
Is this hard for you to believe? Essentially it means that God sees something beautiful inside of you that you cannot always see, feel or even believe. It means that God is not content with remaining on the surface, but dives deep into the depths of our soul to rescue that image of beauty with which we have been created.
Accepting God’s mercy then is not about us. It is about affirming those unfathomable “riches and wisdom and knowledge of God,” (Rms 11:33) that is within us. It is about placing our hope entirely on him who has proved himself over and over again to be for us and not against us. Even if nobody ever recognizes the beauty that is yours God will never forget it. He sees you and rejoices and nobody can take that away from you.
God bless you,
Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock CFR
St. Felix Friary, Yonkers, NY
This mercy has found us, not because we deserved it or because we earned it. It is God’s free unmerited gift to us. It is his way of saying to each of us individually, “You are no accident, you belong to me, and nothing can separate us from each other.”
Is this hard for you to believe? Essentially it means that God sees something beautiful inside of you that you cannot always see, feel or even believe. It means that God is not content with remaining on the surface, but dives deep into the depths of our soul to rescue that image of beauty with which we have been created.
Accepting God’s mercy then is not about us. It is about affirming those unfathomable “riches and wisdom and knowledge of God,” (Rms 11:33) that is within us. It is about placing our hope entirely on him who has proved himself over and over again to be for us and not against us. Even if nobody ever recognizes the beauty that is yours God will never forget it. He sees you and rejoices and nobody can take that away from you.
God bless you,
Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock CFR
St. Felix Friary, Yonkers, NY
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Beggars before God
We are all beggars before God. There is nothing we can truly call our own. Everything is a gift from God and everything comes from him.
However, not all beggars are alike. Some are childlike, obsessed with their own needs and anxiously try to prolong their existence and fulfill their desires as much as possible. They demand things from God in a timely fashion and if their prayer is not heard according to their will they do whatever is necessary to make sure their needs are accomplished. Another type of beggar is one who is humble, sincere and has realized their own helplessness and in humility has turned outside of himself for the answers and for the help he needs for his life. His “nothingness” has not led him to despair but to hope in a loving and merciful God.
Which kind of beggar are we?
If our brokenness, sins, mistakes, regrets and fears do not make us humble than we will remain like the beggar who is never satisfied and who is always anxious and afraid. Yet if in our poverty we can turn to God, honest about ourselves and our lives, we will experience the hand of a loving Father in our life. He will change the rags that we as beggars have acquired and clothe us in the new and beautiful garments of the children of God.
God bless you,
Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock CFR
St. Felix Friary, Yonkers, NY
However, not all beggars are alike. Some are childlike, obsessed with their own needs and anxiously try to prolong their existence and fulfill their desires as much as possible. They demand things from God in a timely fashion and if their prayer is not heard according to their will they do whatever is necessary to make sure their needs are accomplished. Another type of beggar is one who is humble, sincere and has realized their own helplessness and in humility has turned outside of himself for the answers and for the help he needs for his life. His “nothingness” has not led him to despair but to hope in a loving and merciful God.
Which kind of beggar are we?
If our brokenness, sins, mistakes, regrets and fears do not make us humble than we will remain like the beggar who is never satisfied and who is always anxious and afraid. Yet if in our poverty we can turn to God, honest about ourselves and our lives, we will experience the hand of a loving Father in our life. He will change the rags that we as beggars have acquired and clothe us in the new and beautiful garments of the children of God.
God bless you,
Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock CFR
St. Felix Friary, Yonkers, NY
Monday, January 2, 2012
Questioning in Luke 1
When I was growing up “y” was my favorite letter of the alphabet - my poor parents! We modern people love to question things. Faith can be a huge area of questions and doubts.
Zechariah and the Virgin Mary both question what the Angel Gabriel told them. Zechariah as an elderly priest in the Temple asked, “How can this be? My wife and I are past the child-bearing age?” Mary as a teenage girl asked, “How can this be? I do not know man?” Zechariah receives a nine month silent retreat as punishment for his disbelief. The Virgin Mary receives the Word incarnate in her womb.
What was the difference between their two questions? Evidently Zechariah questioned from a position of disbelief. Mary questioned from a position of faith seeking understanding (the fides quaerens intellectum of St. Anselm).
So let us question like Mary, not from skepticism and suspicion, but rather from a trust which seeks to understand. The answers to some questions are so big and wonderful that we will need to wait for eternity to ponder them. If God was small enough for our minds, He wouldn’t be big enough for our problems.
Another helpful point to ponder: With God the penalty always contains the remedy. Nine months in silence was just what Zechariah needed to confront his unbelief. Silent prayer in the presence of the Lord will help our unbelief as well.
God bless you,
Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR
Saint Joseph Friary
Harlem, NY
What was the difference between their two questions? Evidently Zechariah questioned from a position of disbelief. Mary questioned from a position of faith seeking understanding (the fides quaerens intellectum of St. Anselm).
So let us question like Mary, not from skepticism and suspicion, but rather from a trust which seeks to understand. The answers to some questions are so big and wonderful that we will need to wait for eternity to ponder them. If God was small enough for our minds, He wouldn’t be big enough for our problems.
Another helpful point to ponder: With God the penalty always contains the remedy. Nine months in silence was just what Zechariah needed to confront his unbelief. Silent prayer in the presence of the Lord will help our unbelief as well.
God bless you,
Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR
Saint Joseph Friary
Harlem, NY
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Skepticism: Enemy of Your Vocation
A blessed Advent and Merry Christmas to all of you. This is such a beautiful time of the year, filled with memories and moving images of an amazingly humble God. Various TV channels usually run such classics as Dicken's A Christmas Carol (did you see the Disney - Jim Carrey version?), 1983 A Christmas Story, 1964 Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1969 Frosty the Snowman and the 1965 A Charlie Brown Christmas. Some people like the 2008 movie The Nativity Story. Many churches put on live nativity plays (see ours here). Saint Francis started it all! (read more here).
Christmas and Easter are also times when it is popular for various TV channels to show documentaries on Jesus, etc. Many of these programs this year will focus on anything except the religious aspect of Christmas - or they will be presenting the story from a skeptical point of view using testimonies from various "scholars". Beware!! It is worth noting that we are often bombarded from so many different sources which plant seeds of doubt about our faith. This is the tactic taken by the serpent in the garden. We are all influenced by the secular culture. Beware!! Skepticism is the enemy of your vocation. Littleness of faith is a huge problem when it comes to discerning and answering your call from God. Let's say bah humbug to the sowers of secular skepticism.
 |
| You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus (Luke 1:31) |
Christmas and Easter are also times when it is popular for various TV channels to show documentaries on Jesus, etc. Many of these programs this year will focus on anything except the religious aspect of Christmas - or they will be presenting the story from a skeptical point of view using testimonies from various "scholars". Beware!! It is worth noting that we are often bombarded from so many different sources which plant seeds of doubt about our faith. This is the tactic taken by the serpent in the garden. We are all influenced by the secular culture. Beware!! Skepticism is the enemy of your vocation. Littleness of faith is a huge problem when it comes to discerning and answering your call from God. Let's say bah humbug to the sowers of secular skepticism.
 |
| Just say no to those skeptical Grinches! |
P.S. Remember the Nativity story? It is all true.
May the newborn baby Jesus bless you,
Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR
Saint Joseph Friary, Harlem, NY
Check it out ...
| + Pope Lights World’s Largest Xmas Tree & Shares His 3 Xmas Wishes |
| + Ultra Sound Baby Jesus Poster found here |
| + Archbishop Carlson sees signs of encouragement for US vocations |
| + Padre Pio's Christmas Meditation - from a hand-written notebook |
| + GrassrootsFilms Superbowl Doritos Commercial - a must see from our friends |
| + The Star of Bethlehem Documentary - really really interesting |
| + [Advent Conspiracy] Enter the Story 2011 - a must see - 2:39 video - this Christmas |
| + Videos: A Friar Tells His Story + Mother Teresa on Vocation + CFR Sisters 1 + CFR Sisters 2 |
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
A Litany for Salvation
Jesus save me from my pride that refuses help, even when I know I need it.
Jesus save me from the fear I have about the future.
Jesus save me from the desire to be my own savior or to find a savior in somebody or something else but you.
Jesus save me from lust and treating and seeing others only as objects of pleasure. Jesus save me from anxiety about decisions and circumstances in my life.
Jesus save me from my interior poverty and brokenness.
Jesus save me from my loneliness.
Jesus save me from my insecurities about myself, my body and my state in life right now.
Jesus save me from being overly concerned with what people say or think about me.
Jesus save me from the thought that my life has no meaning.
Jesus save me from despair and the temptation to think that You don’t love me and that I am beyond your help.
Jesus save me from disordered desires that cause imbalances in my heart, body and soul.
Jesus save me from being envious and jealous of others.
Jesus save me from blindness that prevents me from seeing the truth.
Jesus save me from mediocrity and only living life with half of my heart.
Jesus save me from the fear of being the person you call me to be.
Jesus save me from an attitude of “possession” that wants to take instead of receive life as a gift.
Jesus save me from laziness and an inordinate desire for worldly pleasures.
Jesus save me from the fear of death.
Jesus save me from not seeing the good you have placed within me.
Jesus save me from the million other things I cannot see or hear right now.
Most of all Jesus, save me from the thought that your love is not enough for me…
God bless you,
Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock CFR
St. Felix Friary, Yonkers, NY
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Fr. Mariusz is recovering well
(On Nov. 17, Fr. Mariusz suffered a heart attack and is now recovering well)
Dear CFR Associates and Friends,
With deep gratitude I write to thank you for your prayers for my recovery. Certainly this experience has reminded me again of the precious gift of life, and especially of the precious gift of our Faith.
On November 2, 2011, Pope Benedict spoke these words:
"If we reduce man exclusively to his horizontal dimension, to that which can be perceived empirically, life itself loses its profound meaning. Man needs eternity for every other hope is too brief, too limited for him. Man can be explained only if there is a Love which overcomes every isolation, even that of death, in a totality which also transcends time and space. Man can be explained, he finds his deepest meaning, only if there is God. And we know that God left his distance for us and made himself close. He entered into our life and tells us: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).
Be assured of my prayers for you and best wishes for a joy filled Advent Season. Please continue to pray for my recovery, that I will use this time as a time of prayer and renewal. Your intentions are in my heart at the celebration of Holy Mass. May God bless you abundantly!
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Fr. Mariusz Casimir Koch, CFR
Community Servant
Dear CFR Associates and Friends,
With deep gratitude I write to thank you for your prayers for my recovery. Certainly this experience has reminded me again of the precious gift of life, and especially of the precious gift of our Faith.
On November 2, 2011, Pope Benedict spoke these words:
"If we reduce man exclusively to his horizontal dimension, to that which can be perceived empirically, life itself loses its profound meaning. Man needs eternity for every other hope is too brief, too limited for him. Man can be explained only if there is a Love which overcomes every isolation, even that of death, in a totality which also transcends time and space. Man can be explained, he finds his deepest meaning, only if there is God. And we know that God left his distance for us and made himself close. He entered into our life and tells us: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).
Be assured of my prayers for you and best wishes for a joy filled Advent Season. Please continue to pray for my recovery, that I will use this time as a time of prayer and renewal. Your intentions are in my heart at the celebration of Holy Mass. May God bless you abundantly!
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Fr. Mariusz Casimir Koch, CFR
Community Servant
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
A Collection of prayers: VII.
I cannot fathom my heart Lord. It is an ocean I am unable to conquer.
I rebel underneath its waves. I fight like a warrior against its currents. I curse its temperature and fall exhausted on the shore gasping for breathe. I plot revenge with a smile. Am I proud or just a fool? How long will I try and vanquish this mystery alone?
I was not made for this solitude. My heart suffocates in isolation.
My wisdom has been imprudent and my hope in vain.
I lift my eyes to You Father, my only hope for communion. You are the answer to the thousand questions that rage inside of me.
If only I am brave enough to surrender.
I rebel underneath its waves. I fight like a warrior against its currents. I curse its temperature and fall exhausted on the shore gasping for breathe. I plot revenge with a smile. Am I proud or just a fool? How long will I try and vanquish this mystery alone?
I was not made for this solitude. My heart suffocates in isolation.
My wisdom has been imprudent and my hope in vain.
I lift my eyes to You Father, my only hope for communion. You are the answer to the thousand questions that rage inside of me.
If only I am brave enough to surrender.
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