Paraclete Press Online Retreat – Prayer, Our Deepest Hunger
How is prayer experienced as a hunger? How does the Spirit pray through us “in groans that are too deep for words?” How do we “pray always?”
Animator Notes: Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Newsletter Special Edition
It is with the heaviest of hearts that I write this. Once again, we are at a moment in time when yet another unarmed person of color is brutally and viciously murdered at the hands of those sworn to protect and serve. And yet, this time something is different.
Statement on Racism from the National Commission of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation of the U.S. Secular Franciscan
How long, O LORD, must I cry for help and you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” and you do not intervene? Why do you let me see iniquity? Why do you simply gaze at evil?
Minister’s Message
Each of us, as we follow God's path for us, find ourselves in places we never dreamed we would be, doing things we never thought we would do.
We need to Be More Welcoming to Build Our Church & Our Fraternities!
He (Jesus) makes them (his disciples) see that the Christian journey is about changing hearts. It is about learning to live differently, under a different law, with different rules. It is about turning from the path of selfishness, conflict, division and superiority, and taking instead the path of life, generosity and love. It is about passing from a mentality which domineers, stifles and manipulates to a mentality which welcomes, accepts and cares.
A “Trinity of Be-Attitudes” with an “Examination of Conscience” Concerning the Vitality of our Fraternities
When my Mom's health really began to plummet after the death of her younger son, I needed to take her to her wonderful and wise General Practitioner, Doctor Leibowitz.
The Primary and the Four Marks of a Vibrant Secular Franciscan Fraternity
Not to be legalistic, but the last words of the last Canon of the Code of Canon Law offer the primary focus of a vibrant Secular Franciscan Fraternity. Those last words read: “the salvation of souls, which must always be the supreme law in the Church, is to be kept before one’s eyes”
“Prayer, Formation, Fraternal Sharing and Necessary Business, and in this order!”
We all know from the Nicene Creed that the four marks of our Church, the Body of Christ, are that the Church is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.
The Franciscan Command to Smile!
“And all the friars, no matter where they are or in whatever situation they find themselves, should like spiritually minded men, diligently show reverence and honor to one another without murmuring (1 Peter 4:9). They should let it be seen that they are happy in God, cheerful and courteous, as is expected of them, and be careful not to appear gloomy or depressed like hypocrites.”
Lady, Holy Queen, Holy Mary, Mother of God, Virgin!
“I greet you, Lady, Holy Queen, Holy Mary, Mother of God, Virgin...chosen by the most holy Father of heaven; consecrated to holiness through His most holy and beloved Son and the Holy Spirit, the Comforter