Listening to God Video by Fr. Herald, CFR

Listening to God by Fr. Herald, CFR
A new video from ReviveFaith.com

Four Friars to be Ordained to the Priesthood

Cardinal Dolan to Ordain 11 to Priesthood

at Saint Patrick's Cathedral, NYC.

Saturday, May 25, 2013 at 9 AM – All are welcome!

Click here to read the full story from The Catholic New York

Click on each name to read about our four new CFR priests!

Father Paschal Coby, C.F.R.

Father Felix Desilets, C.F.R.

Father Luke Leighton, C.F.R.

Father Bonaventure Rummell, C.F.R.

Empty Tabernacles (1 of 3)

What's drastically on the rise in the U.S. & other countries recently? Churches are ransacked & desecrated. Sacred images are smashed to pieces. Consecrated hosts are scattered all about & trampled underfoot. But perhaps not as overtly 'shocking' but of similar concern & more within our power to change is the loss of faith in & reverence for the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist (including many who consider themselves to be 'good Catholics').

Along with the Eastern Orthodox, every Catholic should know the *one reason* that makes their churches uniquely different than all others throughout the whole world: the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament (i.e. the Eucharist, which is received during Mass as Holy Communion). We see the sanctuary candle (usually encased in red-colored glass) burning next to the tabernacle, & we know *SOMEONE* is present here. That's why we prayerfully genuflect in adoration, reverently making the Sign of the Cross. This simple witness of our faith works *wonders* in overcoming the loss of reverence.

Now-a-days people are dying for many reasons. When *I* die, I want to die for CHRIST, for love of HIM & HIS Holy Will, not for some half-baked 'cause', personal philosophy, or even...sin.

Just imagine the emptiness of the world without Jesus present in every tabernacle! A desolate wasteland... And yet, every one of our souls is a 'living temple' where God *already* dwells through Baptism, & He desires to increase His presence & love in us & our personal union with Him through every Communion well-received. Whenever a baptized Catholic in the state of grace receives Jesus in Holy Communion with the proper dispositions, we 'give joy' to Jesus who desires to dwell in us fully - we become 'living tabernacles'! And people *notice* when Jesus' love shines out!

+Br. Philip Maria, CFR

Most Blessed Sacrament Friary

Newark, NJ, USA

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A Cautionary Word

It is the effect of not believing in God that you lose your common sense and can’t see things as they are. So said G.K. Chesterton through one of his most famous characters, Fr. Brown, the very English priest-detective.  It’s a comment that some of his contemporaries took arms against but a fair and valid point I have to say, and so for clarity let me repeat it

It is the effect of not believing in God that you lose your common sense and can’t see things as they are.

You see, it would be like not believing in something like numbers.  In such a mind addition or multiplication would lose their power and in such a world, houses their structure.

Of course, it’s nearly impossible to imagine a man who doesn’t believe in integers—if he exists I don’t know him.  Though I have met and read of men who don’t believe in God (though in the history of the world it’s just as absurd a thought), and truly such men do live in a world of crumbled and broken homes because they’ve undercut the foundation of life and reason, and they take up the maddening task of re-working the times tables with something other than numbers—that is to say they have to understand the meaning of life without the proper tools to find the solution.

Often times this problem they conclude unsolvable which is, in fact, the only conclusion they can make.  Five times five means nothing if we have no knowledge of what five is.  Thus meaning of life means nothing if we have no knowledge of what life is.  Five is five because one is one five times over.  Life is life because God is God, giver of life.  As five can only be understood in light of one so life can only be understood in light of God.

Here’s the challenge today: the world is so interconnected that the confused minds and crumbling homes of such people become for all of us a confused education and a crumbling society.  So what do we do, we who live uniquely in the truth that God is real and who are able to rejoice in the beauty of each stunning facet of that three word sentence, when the collective voices of atheism and its maddening or more subtle forms are louder and more pervasive than ours?

Be sure your convictions come from the basic truth of God’s veracity rather than whatever is most loudly shouted in your ear lest we pose no threat to the deconstruction of our society and the brokenness of our world.

+ Br. Joseph Michael, CFR

Most Blessed Sacrament Friary

Newark, NJ

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The Faith Side: Does Faith Fit?

Another video from YoFoReal.com , The Faith Side : Does Faith Fit?

Don't miss the bonus footage at the end ...



Find the youtube.com playlist for "The Faith Side" here:

 http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbWIeUGkATPWPaPQKKgaJWBbiygc4Fhu1

Letters of hope and consolation #24

Often times you suffer from being nearsighted, therefore you can only see what is in front of you while everything further away is foggy and unclear. Since you cannot see too far in the distance you tend to concentrate on what is only directly in front of you. The danger here is that you are not embracing all of reality, but only a very small portion of it.

In this life it is easy to be overwhelmed by sufferings, trials, disappointments, fears and a million other things that stand directly in front of you. Our faith reminds us there is a greater part of reality we are not seeing. There is a greater part of reality that we often ignore. It is the reality of heaven! 

This world, with all of its struggles and disappointments, does not contain the complete picture of your life. The Catechism says that “heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1024). 

Without this eternal perspective you will be overwhelmed by this life and all its drama. Happiness, peace, joy and fulfillment are not simply part of a fairy tale. You can experience them in pieces in this life, yet in heaven they will be yours in abundance. Keep heaven before you always and remember that by doing so you are not neglecting anything, but in fact you are embracing the fullness of reality.

God bless you,
Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR
Sacred Heart of Jesus Friary
Fort Worth, TX
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Sanctification: The Process of Becoming

In life there are various processes of becoming. Children are in the process of becoming adults, students are in the process of becoming professionals, but life itself can be said to be one of these processes. It is the process of becoming saints. Now as with all processes the challenge for us is constancy, fidelity, patience and perseverance. 

Here's how it happens: we set our expectations high, they’re not met, we become despondent and we bail, give up, lose hope or whatever lesser way we’ve found to cope with disappoint, discouragement or general down-in-the-dumpiness. Now, this is not an exhortation on lowering your expectations for sanctity—expect it! (in the very least, desire it ambitiously). It’s what you’re made for. Just don’t expect it in the blink of an eye or a genuflection. 

Sanctity is the culmination of a (often times long) process of becoming, and this process is the trying of our intentions and motivations—the refining of our desires. The saints were not made of plaster but of flesh; they knew their limits and embraced them. Their days went by with longing for what seemed an ever evasive ideal, and mostly they were oblivious to the transformation of their souls much like the slow unfolding of the flower goes unnoticed until suddenly it's in bloom. They were not impressed by their sanctity because they knew it was anything but theirs. They didn't think about virtues and miracles but simply went about their day with a unique disposition that says, yes. 

Remember, You need not be today who you are to be tomorrow, but today--whoever you are--be that person in God's grace, and tomorrow a petal will fall as this process of becoming unfolds unto your salvation.

+ Br. Joseph Michael Fino, CFR

Most Blessed Sacrament Friary

Newark, NJ

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Revive Faith: Understanding Purgatory - Episode 3

Another video from ReviveFaith.com , Understanding Purgatory - Episode 3 by Br. Philip, CFR

The Faith Side: Does God Listen to Our Prayers?

Another video from YoFoReal.com, The Faith Side: Does God Listen?

Great Response to the Boston Bombings

Here is a quote I heard on WCBS 880 AM Radio from Chester Elton:

"I’ll tell you what, Michael, you know that in a lot of cultures one terrorist will spawn a bunch of other terrorists, right? “You blow me up - I blow you up.” What I love about American culture is, this one terrorist spawned a whole bunch of heroes and I love that about our society - that just because one guy went crazy and caused some crazy things and whatever, we don’t retaliate and become like them. A terrorist in American society creates heroes not more terrorists."

click here to hear the audio (2 minutes long)

Below is the full transcript (posted with permission):


Woman: Companies large and small have stepped up to help the victims of Monday’s bombings in Boston by donating millions of dollars to The One Fund.

Man: Corporate Host Chester Elton joins us. It’s a pretty impressive list Chester.

Chester: John Hancock the Insurance Company, they have been headquartered in Boston for over 150 years, immediately donated a million dollars to people that were affected by the tragedy. One of my favorite ones was the Boston Craft Brewery Association – you know all these little pubs that have their own breweries – 21 of these little breweries are having an event this week and 100% of the sale of their beers goes to the victims. Bane Capital steps up; the Boston Foundation; the Celtics and the Red Sox. There are baseball players and football players that have dedicated X amount of dollars per homerun or per catch. I just love companies that, when stuff like this happens, they immediately step up. I think that it speaks to their character. It speaks to their employees. Those are the kind of brands that you want to support and that you love and count on. 

Man: I know that you are also impressed by what Google did in the minutes after the attacks.

Chester: Isn’t that remarkable? The biggest fear you have is, “Was one of my loved ones affected?” And Google takes their technology and immediately says, “Hey, sign on here, find out.” Can you imagine the stress that it relieves for literally thousands and thousands of people when they found out that their loved ones were safe? Google is beyond cool with their technology.

I’ll tell you what, Michael, you know that in a lot of cultures one terrorist will spawn a bunch of other terrorists, right? “You blow me up - I blow you up.” What I love about American culture is, this one terrorist spawned a whole bunch of heroes and I love that about our society - that just because one guy went crazy and caused some crazy things and whatever, we don’t retaliate and become like them. A terrorist in American society creates heroes not more terrorists. 

Man: Well put Chester Elton the Apostle of Appreciation. Thanks Chester.
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I hope this encourages you as it does me!

Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR
Harlem, NYC