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Posted By Kate Kleinert, on July 7th, 2016
St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
July 2016
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace!
St. Francis of Assisi has a powerful hold over the hearts of many Catholics, non-Catholics, and even non-Christians. The ‘Poverello’ of Assisi, whose death occurred over eight centuries ago, lives on in his spiritual children and all those who have come to understand the importance of his all-embracing ministry. God offers us extraordinary signs to remind us that God is with us. The miracles that suspend or enhance the laws of nature are only messages reminding us that what seems permanent is only passing. The famous ‘bookmark’ of Saint Teresa of Avila states: Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things are passing. God alone remains. Who possesses God possesses all things. Holiness is being possessed by God. If we seek only the extraordinary, we may fail to recognize the wonderful gifts found in the ‘ordinary’ experiences of life. God is always at work fulfilling His will in both ordinary and extraordinary. Focusing on ‘the wonder of the miraculous’ in the life of any holy person, we may lose sight of the ever-present gifts of grace in him/her, that we too share with the saint according to our cooperation with God’s grace. The gift of grace we receive at Baptism awaits to be developed in our own unique way so that our lives be God-centered, following Jesus and the Gospel, in a word, Holy!
Holiness is not a static quality; it is exciting and ‘ever-new’, to paraphrase Saint Augustine, O (Holiness), ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved You. True holiness is a reflection of the One Source of all Life, Whose Love is eternal, and Who is always at work in creation. Like the moon, a ‘holy’ person reflects the light of the Son of God, Jesus, in Whose Name we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 18:28). Holiness reflects the goodness of God in our human nature. St. Francis’ Canticle of the Creatures is a reminder of how he was able to see the attributes of God reflected in all creation. Though we are weak and infinitely less perfect than God, grace urges us to be active agents of God to others.
As the adage goes, saints, like the prophets of old, are called into service for others in the name of God, in order to give comfort to the troubled and to trouble the comfortable. They are women and men who have turned their lives over to the Lord, and who must confidently struggle like all human beings to fulfill the purpose for their existence. Scripture tells us that this purpose is: Be holy because I your God am holy (Leviticus 19:2) … Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). The Spirit Jesus gave as the Gift of Easter to His Church is the same Holy Spirit we receive at Baptism and Who strengthens us at Confirmation. The Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son is the ‘God within’ (In Greek the words are ‘en-theos’ from which we get the word ‘enthusiasm’) encouraging us to be excited about life and our role in fulfilling God’s eternal plan for all creation. ‘Holy’ people are not secluded from the world. They live aware of their responsibility ‘to be Jesus’, to assume the image of Christ to others. Secular Franciscans live in the world, but not of it, so they can be the yeast in the dough, the salt in the food. Like yeast and salt they must be as though lost or dissolved that they might truly affect a change in others as they allow themselves to be spent for the Lord’s greater glory. Like Jesus, they too must endure the consequences of rejection, as well as the joys of acceptance. Do not be afraid! What we lose is the ‘extra baggage’ we have allowed to clutter our lives. In allowing the clutter to be eliminated from our lives, we offer Jesus and His Spirit the opportunity to enter our lives more deeply. If only we could make our sincere prayer that of an elderly Franciscan sister who said her prayer each day was: “Jesus take over”. And she mean it with all her heart!
The various words taken from Hebrew and Greek originally used to express the word ‘holy’ actually indicate a ‘separate-ness’, an ‘other-liness’, an ‘un-earthliness’. The world and our lives seen from that perspective make the challenge more interesting. Holiness is not a question just of not doing bad things. It is a life grounded in the reality of the world of which we are intimately a part by nature, but lived in a way that allows the ‘super-nature’ to be the root and goal of every moment. It takes a lifetime to fulfill and that’s what makes it interesting and exciting. Every moment till the end of our earthly journey is an act of faith in God, of trust in His providence for the future, and of love for the One Who journeys with us through time to eternity. Isn’t this what our Seraphic Father taught all his children by his total trust in Divine Providence? Two ‘gifts’ accompany our journey and enhance and feed our desire to be holy: the Eucharist, source of holiness, and our brothers and sisters given by God to us as ‘gift’ (cfr. Testament). The Eucharist is the constant pledge and strength of the One Who said: I am with you always (Matthew 28: 20). It is the Eucharist that gives meaning and purpose to all we do, since in this wonderful Sacrament we are one with the Lord in everything, and are strengthened in our bond of charity with each other and all creation. Our brothers and sisters challenge us each day to be ‘Eucharist’ in thanksgiving and to always see the image of Jesus in others.
The more we strive to ‘do holy things’ in order to ‘be holy’ the more we realize we do not always achieve what we proposed; it only reminds us that what matters is what God disposes for us in life. Father … not my will but Yours be done (Luke 22:42). Holiness is a question of seeing all things in the light of God’s Eternal Will. We must be able to say with Jesus: It is accomplished (John 19: 30); or with Saint Paul: I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance. (2 Timothy 4: 7-8).
Goodness surrounds us in many ways. Often we fail to recognize the depth of it because it is so ‘normal’. Holiness takes on many faces. Character, circumstance, challenges, and the like, influence how holiness is perceived and/or expressed. Much has to do with how holiness is portrayed and perceived. There are varied ways in which sanctity is portrayed, presented ad even promoted in this world. The image is so often distorted, exaggerated, and sometimes even rendered ridiculous because of fanaticism and misguided ‘religiosity’. The Orders and Congregations in the Church all have their Rules and Constitutions, and Statutes and Regulations. These are spiritual and/or organizational documents that strive to keep everyone focused on how that religious family seeks to grow in holiness for God, Church, humanity and obviously for the person who has professed that particular life.
– Self-styled saints make it difficult for anyone to live with them, since they see themselves as the ‘code of holiness’. Holiness without humility is just pride with a mask!
– There are good people who struggle each day to live God’s will; they pray and desire others to do the same. They forget that holiness is like love. A fruit of love, holiness is an ongoing act of the will that strives to cooperate with God’s will at every moment. No one can be forced to be ‘holy’ but anyone in proximity to many ‘well-meaning holy ones’ are often ‘bulldozed’ into one practice or another. ‘Live with a saint and become a martyr’ is an adage that may have its foundation in these two examples. They forget that the kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).
– Then there are the ‘saints’ who strive to live in God’s will, to ‘live Jesus’ and His Gospel, and who offer others by their words and example the opportunity to understand God’s love. As they grow cooperating with grace at their own pace, they become an encouraging example for others. Nevertheless, the more they affect the lives of others by their good example, the more they often become the object of scrutiny and personal demands to ascertain their authenticity. What better vocation promotion than an authentic life: integrity leads to credibility!
Secular Franciscans, Spiritual Children of St. Francis of Assisi, have ‘things’ that they ‘do’. Nevertheless, the basic objective of being a spiritual child of St. Francis of Assisi is to be a saint! We believe God has called us to this life that we might give God glory and save our souls, to become saints. This is not exaggerated or proud. All of us are called to holiness. Life and the things we do are intended to help us to fulfill this challenge. In the Poverello of Assisi we find a privileged soul who speaks to our heart. His example and words help us to see God and evaluate our response to God’s will. Like the great leader he has remained, our Seraphic Father helps us to have confidence in God and in the gifts God has given us. These ‘gifts’ are reflections of the attributes of God we are called to share with others. No one can make us holy but God and our own free will totally available to God’s Will. As Spiritual Children of St. Francis of Assisi let us all make a committed promise to the Lord each day to be holy. Let us offer each day and all it contains to the Lord. Let us recommit ourselves daily to the ‘Covenant’ the Eternal Father made with us in the Blood of Jesus that is renewed every time the Sacred Sacrifice of the Mass is offered. The gifts of the Holy Spirit will strengthen us to become the holy people we were called to be, and have sought to become through the intercession and charism of our Seraphic Father.
We all have an invitation to eventually to meet in heaven. Thousands of spiritual children of Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi have gone before us and await our arrival. July 16th commemorates the canonization of Our Seraphic Father Saint Francis eight centuries ago. That day the Church officially declared Francis Bernardone of Assisi a saint to be revered as a friend of God and pattern for God’s People who seek an example in word and lifestyle to enter a deeper relationship with God. Let us be true children of our spiritual ‘parents’, our Father Francis and Mother Clare. The holiness to which we are called is not a pious reflection but a vital call that will determine our eternal destiny. To paraphrase our Seraphic Father: There is so much good that is in store for us, that even pain and difficulty are tolerable and even pleasing.
May God bless you; Our Lady guide, guard, and protect you; and our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi look over each one of us, his spiritual children, with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on June 1st, 2016
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on April 30th, 2016 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assis Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 email: pppgusa@gmail.com
May 2016
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord grant you His Peace, the Life-giving Gift of the Holy Spirit
Holy Virgin Mary, among the women born into the world,
there is no one like you.
Daughter and servant of the most high and supreme
King and of the Father in heaven,
Mother of our most holy Lord Jesus Christ,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
pray for us with Saint Michael the Archangel,
all the powers of heaven and all the saints,
at the side of your most beloved Son, our Lord and Teacher.
This prayer of our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi tells us so much of St. Francis’ love for Mary and his awareness of Her place in the mystery of our salvation. His love for Her was undeniable. Francis saw our Heavenly Mother Mary and Her greatness always in relationship to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and, because of that, to the Church.
This year, the month of May is saturated with celebrations of basic beliefs of our faith: Incarnation brought to fulfillment and glorification in the Ascension, Trinity, Eucharist, Holy Spirit and the Church.
– The Incarnation of the Word is the beginning of the crowning point of our human nature raised up by Jesus and glorified in His Ascension.
– The Coming of the Holy Spirit heralds the beginning of the Church and the Proclamation of the Gospel to all the world.
– The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity celebrates God – The Father creates; the Son, Incarnate Word, redeems; and the Holy Spirit continues the action of sanctification down through the ages.
– The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ acclaims the wonderful mystery of the continued presence and re- presentation of the Mystery of our Redemption when we were saved in the Blood of Christ (Hebrews 10: 19). A happy coincidence this year has all these occurrences during the month dedicated to Our Blessed Mother Mary, a gentle reminder of the eminent role that She plays in the mystery and history of our salvation. True devotion to Mary, our Mother and Queen, whose Immaculate Heart envelops all Her children with tender loving care, always leads to a greater love and trust in God.
When we celebrate God and His saving action in and for humanity, the relevance and experience are always actual and timely. There can never be a time or occasion when God is not relevant or necessary. If God does not build the house, in vain do the laborers labor. If God does not watch over the city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil (Psalm 127: 1). It is this active presence of God that demands we return to our origins to re-discover the relevance of God’s Word and the impact His Word has on our daily life. If we could see the events of our Faith with the heart of those who had seen and walked with Jesus, things would be drastically different. If we would only allow the events of our lives and how God manifests Himself to us to penetrate our hearts as Mary did! She kept all these things in Her heart (Luke 2: 19).
Obviously, we cannot do this physically, but, with the eyes of a Faith convinced and committed, we can experience the same zeal and enthusiasm of the first followers. The Holy Spirit that descended on them is the same Holy Spirit that we receive at Baptism and Confirmation. The distinction is seen in the effects of the Spirit’s presence based on the availability of the person ‘gifted’ by the Holy Spirit. Our Faith, founded on the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Jesus, would be of no value had it not been for the empowering of the Spirit in those first followers whose availability to His prompting allowed themselves to be led by the Spirit of God that they might lead others. We are called to lead others to know, love and serve God in the Gospel Life proclaimed by Jesus. In the Spirit, we remember, we celebrate, and we believe Jesus to be the Incarnate Son of God and Redeemer of humanity. This Faith will bring us to a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Jesus, and consequently with one another, just as it did for the first followers.
The first and most excellent of all the faithful followers was Mary, our Blessed Mother. Faith accompanied Her into the divine plan that made Her Mother of the Christ, Mother of the Christian, Mother of the Church. The depth of Faith of the Mother of God, expressed so powerfully at the foot of the Cross of Jesus, was enhanced with the added ministry entrusted to Her by Her dying Son; He called Her to become the Mother of all the Faithful: Woman, behold Your son; Son, behold Your Mother (John 19: 26-27). Infinitely less than Jesus and eminently greater than all of humanity, Mary makes the ultimate sacrifice in offering Her Son to the Father with the same availability to the Father’s Will with which She offered Her first ‘yes’ to become the Mother of the Savior. She becomes, in the words of our Seraphic Father St. Francis, the Virgin made Church. It is the Church that perpetuates the living presence of the Savior, especially in the great gift of the Eucharist, the living Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Savior. The Church continues, with Mary, to offer Her Son – our Brother, Lord, Savior, Word Incarnate – to the Father, in that one perfect Sacrifice perpetuated through the ages in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We are that Church! We, like Mary, offer ourselves each day in loving response to God’s tremendous love for us in Jesus.
We are that Mystical Body of Christ of Whom Mary is the Channel of Graces. Her ‘yes’ acceded to the Father’s Will and She became Mother of the Word Incarnate, Whose redeeming Passion-Death-Resurrection offers the limitless gifts of God’s graces to Humanity. Thus, through Mary we have easier access to Christ, and through Her we are facilitated in receiving immense graces and gifts from the Father, through the Son in the Holy Spirit. She truly is an Avenue of Graces, Whose almighty intercession pleads to the Father on behalf of Her children born from the open side of Her Son.
Mother of the Redeemer, She excels in the example of total surrender to God’s Will. Her Faith is an active and essential element of Her very being. Faith is not just a static acceptance of some theological truth; it is living life in the light of what we have come to believe. ‘Believing is seeing’, not vice versa as we are accustomed to presume. Believing God’s Word, we see God’s almighty power and providence at work in our lives. Thus we can confidently yield to all the Father requests of us. This same Faith places Mary in a position of total trust in God and profound love for all His children, now entrusted to Her motherly care by Jesus. She stands as the Advocate for all Her children before the Majesty of the Blessed Trinity. Truly She is, as St. Francis of Assisi acknowledged: Daughter and Servant of the Most High and Supreme King and of the Father in heaven, Mother of our most holy Lord Jesus Christ, Spouse of the Holy Spirit (Office of the Passion by St. Francis of Assisi). Her intimate relationship with the Triune God enables Her to be our most powerful Advocate in heaven.
Mary stands out as first among the followers of Jesus and one who precedes all others in Faith.
– The Marriage Feast at Cana signals the moment when the first followers of Jesus recognized His works and believed in Him. Mary precedes the Faith of those first disciples when She presents the embarrassing situation of the young newly- weds to Jesus. She knows in Faith that He can and will resolve the dilemma …
– Mary goes with the disciples to Capernaum and becomes an integral part of the newly-forming Faith community of disciples. She becomes the living link between Jesus and the disciples …
– Mary stands at the foot of the Cross offering Her Son to the Father. She consents with a mother’s love to all the Father is asking of Her Son, and also of Her. Mary believes beyond the torture and death of Her Son in the New Covenant He came to establish in His Blood for all humanity with the Father. Mary’s compassion of a Mother’s love sharing in the suffering of Her Son is the ultimate sign of the depth of Her love for all humanity.
– Mary is with the first followers awaiting with surety the promised Paraclete. Her presence strengthens and urges them in confident faith-filled expectation.
In these pivotal moments when challenges are presented to the followers and responses are made, it is interesting to note that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is present offering Her response rooted in a convinced and committed Faith – Lord, In all things ‘Yes’! Here I am, I come to do Your Will! (Hebrews 10: 19)
We can see how Our Blessed Mother is significantly and actively present throughout Salvation History.
– Mary is the virgin who will conceive and bear a Son … who will be called Emmanuel – God is with us (Isaiah 7: 10-14). – Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit, gave birth at Bethlehem, accompanied Jesus to the foot of the Cross, and is in the company of the Apostles and other women in the Cenacle (Acts 1: 14).
– Mary is the woman about to give birth,… She gave birth to a son … destined to rule all the nations … the ancient serpent, … pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child…the (serpent) became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus (cfr. Revelation 12: 1-18).
A promise of God’s fulfilling Word in Isaiah and a warning of the struggles that will always ensue between good and evil should never leave us confused or fearful. It is Mary’s good counsel and advice, last recorded words of Our Lady in Scripture, that offer a way that cannot fail. These words reveal our Mother’s concern for Her children and Her own total trust in God: Do whatever He tells you. (cfr. John 2: 1-11). How much easier could it be!? Why do we make it so difficult!?
Present in prophecy, present in history, and present in the expectations of all God’s People, Mary is a life-giving presence that speaks of the power of God working in human history. Mary is a sign of hope for a waiting world. She reverses the obstinacy of creation in Eden and accepts wholeheartedly to cooperate with all the Father asks of Her. She becomes the Mother of all the Faithful Who enter into a New Covenant with the Father in the Blood of His Son, conceived in Her by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary’s loving response and daily re-commitment to that response encourages us to respond to the Father and to ask that Jesus come alive in our hearts through the same Holy Spirit working within us.
Mary was the first to practice the Gospel in all its perfection before it was written. May Her example and prayers enable us and stimulate us to follow her example. We must make every effort, like many elect souls, to follow this Blessed Mother, to walk close to Her since there is no other path leading to life except the path followed by Her. We cannot afford to refuse to take this path that undeniably leads to Life. We must unite with this dear Mother of ours. With Her, close to Jesus, we can proceed confidently through life in the midst of whatever we must bear, to its fullness in heaven.
As Followers of the Poverello of Assisi, we strive to live the Faith we profess and to see in Our Heavenly Mother a sure Advocate Who pleads our cause. We open our hearts to the Spirit we have received and we listen to God Who speaks to us in the silence of our hearts. Francis encourages us to foster an ever-growing love for our Blessed Mother Who stands to intercede for us at every moment. Mary’s life was one continual ‘yes’ to God. The joys, sorrows, hardships, and whatever else life dispensed to Her, were always gratefully received with the same ‘yes’ that allowed God to be enfleshed in our life that we mighty share His eternal Life. With Mary, close to Jesus, let us go … Let us do the same as our Mother Mary!
May God bless you; Our Lady guide, guard, and protect you; and our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi watch over each one of us, his Spiritual Children, with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, OFM Cap
Regional Spiritual Assistant
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Posted By Kate Kleinert, on April 7th, 2016
April 2016
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you His peace and lead you through the mystery of His Passion and Death to the joy of His Resurrection and our renewed Life in Jesus!
Our world has become more confusing than ever. Things we held dear are disrespected, contradicted, and at times even abused. Values that were the foundation of our lives are challenged, or totally disregarded. Faith and belief in a God Who is the source and destiny of all human beings is criticized as old-fashioned or ridiculous to ‘enlightened people’. We sense a subtle persecution of all that we spiritually value and that makes our lives meaningful. Sometimes the subtlety gives way to outright contradictory and derogatory statements by individuals seeking to denigrate and render foolish what has been the foundation of the lives of all believers, even those not of the Catholic tradition. Times never change! The Resurrection and what flows from that historical event and truth has always been a target of those who understand what belief in that great Mystery involves, and what belief in the Paschal Mystery of the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Christ can effect in our world through those who accept the mystery and surrender wholeheartedly to it!
Belief in the Resurrection of Jesus is itself a gift of Faith. The Resurrection confirms our belief in the Lord Jesus and all He said and did, and all He is able to continue to be and do for us. The Resurrection is also the moment that challenges us to believe the Lord Jesus, Who is the Christ and Incarnate Son of God, by living without hesitation as He told His disciples to live. One Who rises from the dead merits – to say the extreme least – our undivided attention and unconditional surrender through life. Why would anyone, who has heard of and accepted the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus, refuse to allow the Holy Spirit of God, first Gift of the Resurrection, to lead them to believe the Good News and live accordingly?!
We should not be harsh, however, on those who are still searching nor on those who want to believe but are still cautious because reason is still blocking where faith would go beyond. How did our sisters and brothers in the Faith, the original followers, act on the day of the Resurrection, some even after their companions spoke to them of having seen the Risen Lord and Savior?
– Thomas … one of the Twelve … said to (the Apostles), ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe’ (John 21:24-25) … Pessimism and Disbelief
– The two disciples, speaking with Jesus whom they did not recognize as they journeyed on the road back to Emmaus from Jerusalem, said: We were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel … Some women from our group … reported that indeed they had seen a vision of angels … but him they did not see (Luke 24: 13-25) … Disillusionment and Discouragement
– When Mary of Magdala told the disciples she had seen the Risen Lord and that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe (Mark 16:11) … Cynicism and Skepticism
– Even when the disciples followed the command to go to Galilee where they would see Him before He ascended to the Father, When they saw Him, they worshiped, but they doubted (Matthew 28:16-17) … Hesitancy and Doubt
Thomas, Cleophas and his traveling companion, the Apostles after hearing Mary Magdalene, and many of the followers who saw Him on the Mount in Galilee at the Ascension, all had difficulties and even understandable doubts concerning the ‘impossibility’ of a person rising from the dead … on his own power! We believe today after the two thousand-year-old event, and after centuries of witnessing the truth by those who believed before us, and some who even gave their lives rather than deny the Risen Lord. The power of the Holy Spirit had to shake them free to see and believe. They loved and believed Jesus, but it took an eternal power and a ‘real presence’ to lead them into the light of a new Life, rooted in a Person Who overcame execution on a cross and was alive. The death of Jesus sealed the Covenant God made with humanity; and humanity, in Christ, consumated the covenant, fulfilled the prophecies, and set free all who accepted the Gospel Message: God so loved the world that He sent His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might … have eternal life. For God did not send his Son … to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him (John 3: 16-17). The Resurrection was, and is for many, hard to accept. The condemnation and death sentence of Jesus inflicted a mortal wound on the hearts of His followers, and on those still seeking to understand and believe today. Their hearts and minds cannot as yet make the ‘quantum leap’ of faith into the certitude of the ways of God. Jesus had prepared the disciples for this momentous experience, and many today have heard the story but they could not and cannot fully understand and accept. Why?… because His ways are not (our) ways, Whose thoughts are not (our) thoughts.
Suffering and pain are real! We experience them often in life. The lives of some persons are in continual suffering and deep in pain, whether spiritual, physical, psychological. Unless faith takes over and hope is kindled within our hearts, the love of God that conquers all things is the deepest desire of the heart but the furthest sensation we feel. Serenity and inner peace become just pious words and deep desires. We hear words of encouragement, but are overwhelmed by our own broken body and tired spirit. Even our Seraphic Father through moments like this, and so did/do his spiritual children. The human condition is common to all the children of God, saint and sinner alike.
The Passion and Death of Jesus speaks to us of the extravagant and limitless love and mercy of God for all humanity. The Resurrection of Jesus gives meaning and encouragement to life. The Eucharist is the Real Presence of the Glorified and Risen Lord Who journeys with us at every moment. It re-presents the whole Paschal Mystery and offers us the opportunity to be with the Risen Lord, Whose Sacrifice we enter, celebrate, and with Whom we seek to become one in Holy Communion. The presence of Jesus transforms lives. His bodily presence on earth centuries ago gave Him the opportunity to raise people from the dead, to heal the sick, to give hope to the downtrodden and outcast, to reassure the marginalized, to care for the various needs of those whom He encountered. His sacramental presence raises and heals souls dead and/or weak through sin, speaks to the depths of the heart of those who spend silent time with Him, and strengthens us with the grace of His Body and Blood to accept the demands that life places upon us with the realization that we are not alone but live and move and have our being (Acts 17: 28) with the Giver of all good gifts Who walks and works with and within us. His ‘Presence’ is truly ‘Real’. His is a ‘tangible presence’ that makes Himself felt according to our willingness to see with the eyes of the heart and not the eyes of the head alone.
The sacred event of Christ’s Passion-Death-Resurrection we celebrate at this season encourages us always to believe that Jesus loves us, is with us, and will always be with us, particularly in the great Mystery of the Eucharist and the celebration of the Mass. Jesus, the Victim-once-again has placed himself quietly on the altar, just as Isaac was placed on the wood by Abraham. The priest, like Abraham our Father in faith, prepares to immolate the Victim … but where is the fire ready to consume the sacrifice? The fire is the love we bring, the love we carry within us. Jesus enkindled this fire long ago in our hearts. It is a “fire” that consumes us so that nothing remains but Him in-with-through us. We place our souls on the altar of sacrifice with the Paschal Mystery of Christ Jesus and become one with Him. All we have to do is say “yes” and allow the Spirit of God to take over. The open wound in the side of Christ invites us to enter in and experience the loving embrace of the Father and the gift of His Holy Spirit. The first Gift of Easter is the continued participating presence in our life with His that fulfills each moment. We enter gradually and more deeply the reality of a Presence that can transform the world as it transforms and consumes us with Love and Mercy.
At times our Seraphic Father’s transports of sentiment may have made him seem like a person overwhelmed. He endured this experience of God being “so real” to him that the mere thought of Him made Francis weep, sing, go into ecstatic states. St. Francis of Assisi was a Eucharistic soul who found the power to rekindle his strength continually offering himself with Jesus – ‘victim with the Victim’. The Eucharist for Francis is the Living Christ, so powerfully imaged as such on the Crucifix of San Damiano, that challenged him at the beginning of his conversion. The Poverello was in love with Jesus, Who was so real to him in the Eucharist. The joy of the Mystery re-presented at Mass or re-kindled in the heart at prayer made Jesus always come alive for St. Francis. As he saw Christ present in mystery in the Eucharist, and received Him in Holy Communion, our Seraphic Father was able to recognize and serve Him in people, especially the marginalized, alienated, ostracized, and so on, of society. No one can emphasize enough how essential the Eucharist was to St. Francis and all he was able to allow God to accomplish through him … and how essential it is to all of us .. or should be for those who seek to live the Gospel after the example of St. Francis of Assisi!
Before He entered His Passion, Jesus, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end: and while they were at supper, He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: ‘Take this all of you and eat of it, For this is My Body’ … In a similar way, taking the chalice filled with the fruit of the vine, He gave thanks, and gave it to his disciples, saying: ‘Take this all of you and eat of it, for this is the chalice of My Blood’ … (Fourth Eucharistic Prayer) The Eucharist was a decisive moment in His relationship with the disciples, and it was the last gift before His redeeming death that He left His disciples to continue, Do this in memory of Me (Luke 22: 19; 1 Corinthians 11: 24). The Eucharist is the Easter Gift as well as the Easter Mystery. The Mystery of the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Our Lord is the heart of the Church and the “Heavenly Manna”, Who nourishes and nurtures the Holy People of God – His Church – on journey through time toward eternity.
As Spiritual Children of the Seraphic St. Father of Assisi, we pray to him, speak about him, want to know more about him. The greatest form of admiration is imitation. Do we imitate the love of our Father Francis for the Eucharist? Do we acknowledge the Eucharist not just as the re-presentation of the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Jesus, but that His glorified person is truly present among us and thus should be a source of peace, joy, and love?! Most of us are not called to the unique external signs of those particularly called by God as St. Francis and the Sacred Stigmata, nevertheless, when the Eucharist is truly the center of our hearts and lives, we share, in our ordinary lives, the graces of the saints themselves. Among all the other prayerful devotions, the Eucharist is not so much a ‘prayer’ as a ‘participation’ in the intimate life of God through Jesus in the Holy Spirit. The Eucharist is the goal to which we arrive each day, as well as the starting point from which we all find strength and direction to live the will of God at every moment. The mystery of the Resurrection is a pledge of the glory we are called to share one day. When we cannot participate at Mass, at the very least, take time to reflect on the readings for the day and sincerely and lovingly make an act of Spiritual Communion. Strive to lovingly enter a living relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist. This awe-filled Sacrament binds us together in the great family of the Catholic Church and in our own particular Franciscan Family. Thus we proclaim the Resurrection and the power of its grace not by what we necessarily say, but by how we live the Eucharist and allow it(Him) to affect our lives.
May the light of Christ’s Resurrection shine in us that we might have life, and have it in abundance (John 10: 10). May the Risen Lord Jesus shower us and our loved ones with peace, joy, and abundant blessings for a Happy Easter; may Mary, Mother of the Redeemer and our Mother, help us to live with Jesus in the light of the New Life His Resurrection offers us; and may our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi watch over each one of us, his Spiritual Children, with loving care. Blessed and Joyous Easter to you and your loved ones.
Christ is Risen! He is truly risen! Alleluia!
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on March 3rd, 2016  March 2016
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Risen Christ bless you with His peace!
In his ‘Letter to All the Faithful’, St. Francis writes: And as His Passion was near, … He placed His will in the will of His Father, saying: Father, let Your will be done; not as I will, but as you will. His Father’s will was such that His blessed and glorious Son, Whom He gave to us and Who was born for us, should offer Himself through His own blood as a sacrifice and oblation on the altar of the cross: not for Himself through Whom all things were made, but for our sins, leaving us an example that we might follow His footprints … We are brothers (and sisters) when we do the will of the Father Who is in heaven… (Letter to the Faithful, Second Version).
Our Seraphic Father reminds us of ‘spiritual indifference’, the foundation of a peaceful and serene life. The indifference is not a matter of ‘not caring about anything’. It is a matter of doing and acting as though all depends on us and trusting in God as though all depends on God. Everything does depend on God: My word does not return without having fulfilled the purpose for which it was sent (Isaiah 55: 11). However, God has entrusted us with the awesome privilege and responsibility for our own salvation by the gift of free will which can or not correspond with the will of our Creator. Thus, a word that stands out for us to consider as we read the words of St. Francis to the Faithful and celebrate our Redemption in the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Jesus the Christ is surrender.
‘Surrender’ is a powerful word. It can also be disconcerting and even frightening when one considers ‘surrender’ as a way of life. Jesus ‘surrendered’ to the Father’s Will from the first moment of His existence as a human being. From all eternity, Jesus surrenders to the Will of the Father. Though He was in the form of God … He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave … He humbled Himself becoming obedient to death, even to death on a cross (Philippians 2: 6-11). ‘Surrendering’ to the Father’s will made Jesus resolute, even to death and death on a cross. This kind of ‘surrender’ leads to victory and glory, not defeat and infamy. Because of this God greatly exalted Him…(Philippians 2: 6-11).
The intensity of the resolute character of Jesus is vividly portrayed in a brief phrase from the Gospel according to St. Luke: When the days for his being taken up were fulfilled, he steadfastly set his face to Jerusalem … (Luke 9:51). How often we correctly focus on the heart of a Scripture passage, but miss a detail that can offer deeper insights for a better understanding and appreciation of what we have read. This brief passage tells us so much about Jesus and how He ‘approached’ the fulfillment of His mission among us. It merits a deeper reflection as we approach Easter, the great celebration of our Redemption and New Life of grace in the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Jesus. There is nothing more essential for us than to consider our life and our active participation in the Paschal Mystery. We unite ourselves with Christ in His obedience to the Father’s Will, to His personal surrender, and to all His obedience implies. In so doing we encounter a more profound value to our earthly life, and thus can live in the hope of an assurance of Eternal Life. The reason I say that there is nothing more essential for us is because once we recognize, understand, and accept God’s Plan for all creation and particularly for ourselves, our life takes on a whole new meaning and expression.
The Lenten season invites us to ‘set our face toward Jerusalem’, just as our Savior did. Though the words from the Greek and Latin Vulgate texts can be translated in several ways, the original more faithful expression to the ancient text – He resolutely set his face towards Jerusalem – offers us a powerful image of Jesus ‘eyeing’ His opponent and moving in for the encounter and confrontation. The text speaks volumes of the character of Jesus and His personal compliance with the mission entrusted Him by the Father. Jerusalem is not another town on the itinerant schedule of Jesus the preacher. Jerusalem is not just another platform for his preaching/teaching and healing ministry to attract the crowds at Passover. Jerusalem is an anticipated and desired destination. Jesus has actively been moving both psychologically to this decisive moment and physically to this ‘center of the world’ for the Jews and ‘Seat of God’s Presence’ for those who believed in the God of Abraham. Everything must be in place: The prophets and their prophecies must be fulfilled and the ‘backup plan’ must be ready, before ‘setting his face to Jerusalem’. It is time for Jesus ‘to allow’ his life to be taken for the sake of all humanity. Let us never forget that no one takes His life from Him: I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father (John 10:17-18). Determining episodes in Jesus’ life and ministry had led to this climactic moment. Each experience tested His obedience and resolve to fulfill the Father’s Plan as willed. His trust in the Father and determination to obey whatever the cost to Him were put to the test, and ultimately triumphed for the sake of us all.
– He ‘plunged’ into the River Jordan to be baptized by John. His plunge was an acceptance of the ministry entrusted to Him by the Father. His ministry, as Simeon had prophesied so many years before in the Temple, was to be a light of revelation to the Gentiles and glory of (the) people Israel (Luke2:32), and at the same time He was destined for the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that (would) be contradicted (Luke 2:32). Jesus ‘plunged’ into the realities of our world. And He set His face toward them!
– He contended with the ‘demon’ of comfort, compromise, convenience in the desert, and withstood the easy road of complacency with the power of conviction in the Word of God. God’s Word is God’s Will and God’s Will overcomes all things for those who place their trust in Him. Jesus did not run from the ‘demon’ but confronted the adversary face-to-face. No hesitancy! Let go! … as Jesus did when he set his face towards Jerusalem.
– At Cana He changed water into wine, thus giving evidence of His power and uniqueness. This miracle attracted many to Him. The immediate fulfillment of His mission now begins when His followers ‘believe in Him’. The subtle challenges of the desert test return; miracles are signs but do not make for solid faith. True Faith seeks to enter the mystery and never demands to see miracles. Only in the mystery can the miracle be an effective sign and make sense. Jesus would be opposed by those who needed ‘to be entertained’, or whose ‘hopes’ were not met according to their desires. And He set His face toward them!
– In three years, an entire life would come full circle. The purpose for His birth would finally reach its climax, not with joyful acclamations of a people’s fulfilled hopes, but with the shouts and ridicule of a rabble crying out ‘Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Beneficiaries of only goodness and compassion were instigated to cry for execution by some of the leaders of the people. They could and should have known better. Ambition and jealousy clouded their vision and hardened their hearts. None of this was hidden from Jesus’ knowledge. He knew. He had told His disciples that He would be betrayed, captured, tortured, killed, and on the third day rise. When Peter would not have Jesus accept this fate, what to Peter sounded like total failure and defeat, Jesus turned to Peter and said, Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are not thinking as God does, but as human beings do (Matthew 16: 23). Jesus knew quite well what lay in store for Him! And He set his face toward it all.
– At the Last Supper, in the Upper Room, we can almost enter the mind and heart of Jesus. It is a powerful moment, filled with human sentiments. An inner sadness, a last hope and attempt for conversion are so evident when Jesus appeals to his betrayer: Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me (John13:21). Failing to change the heart of Judas, Jesus seeks support and strength from the others. Going with them to the Garden in Gethsemane He falls to the ground in prayer. He was in such agony and He prayed so fervently that His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke22:44). He prayed: Father, if You are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but Yours be done (Luke 22:42). Jesus was that One Solitary Life Who knew what His life entailed and what awaited him, and still, from the very beginning, He set His face toward Jerusalem, and everything He was born to accomplish.
– Jerusalem, Jerusalem you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you (Luke 13:34), was the city of Prophets and Kings. Jesus entered to the acclaim of the crowds who had so often heard His preaching and had benefitted from His awesome power over both the spiritual and material worlds. In the course of one week, the crowds praised Him on Sunday strewing the road for Him to walk on their cloaks and palm branches, and ridiculed Him on the Great Sabbath calling for His death. The people yelled, His blood be upon us and upon our children (Matthew 27: 25). And Jesus set His face to Jerusalem … and Mount Calvary.
For most people, ‘surrender’ is synonymous with weakness, failure, ineptness, shame, maybe even cowardice, and so much more. Spiritually, there is another ‘surrendering’ that is absolutely necessary for victory and success; without this ‘surrendering’ our lives ultimately are total failures. Another word for it is ‘abandonment’ – abandonment to the Will of God and total trust in the power and presence of a God Who calls, challenges and completes in those surrendered to His Will what is for their good. When our spiritual life is surrendered to the Father’s Will, we never lose sight of our duties and our goal. Jesus fulfilled His duty as Messiah and Victim, and achieved the goal for humanity as Redeemer and Victor.
Calvary was most certainly a frightening thought that loomed always in the heart and life of Jesus. His humanity did not seek pain and death. But His heart knew that there was only one way to fulfill His Father’s Plan. That’s all that mattered. The empty tomb was the visible sign of the Father’s acceptance of Jesus’ total emptying of Himself in deference to the Father’s Will. It was the Father’s response to the Son’s love. Our own Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi simply and confidently sought out God’s will through His inspired Word. God’s Word was the Rule of Life he set down for himself and those who asked to follow his way of life. He submitted always to another that he might follow the example of the obedient Son of the Father. Love is a total surrender. The love for the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit kept Jesus in total harmony with the Father’s Will.
As Spiritual Children of St. Francis of Assisi let us love enough to surrender ourselves to God. We never lose when we give everything over to the One Who gives everything, especially Himself, to us. There is always such fear in saying ‘I surrender’. When we say it to God, why be afraid? God knows what we are capable of and where we are headed, long before we do. Abandoning ourselves to His Will, truly trusting in Him, and living every moment as a deliberate act of surrender to the Divine Will, we cannot help but experience an inner peace, serenity and joy. We will discover and live a more balanced and cheerful life, even in the midst of difficulties. When God is in control, we are always headed in the right direction. Just as a husband and wife surrender themselves in love and the two become one, let us become one with God as we surrender to His Divine Will. Emptying ourselves of our own material and earthly desires, false ambitions, self-centeredness, pride, will allow the joy of new life and rebirth to be so palpable that our Easter celebration will be as though it were that first Easter Sunday.
Jesus is alive! He is Risen! He precedes us on the way! Let Jesus come alive in your hearts and lives so powerfully that, like the first followers, we will be, as Saint Augustine calls the People of God redeemed in the Blood of the Lamb, ‘an Alleluia People’. May we praise Him with our lives!
May the light of Christ’s Resurrection shine in us that we might have life, and have it in abundance (John 10: 10). May the Risen Lord Jesus shower you and your loved ones with peace, joy and abundant blessings for a Happy Easter; may Mary, Mother of the Redeemer and our Mother, help you to live with Jesus in the light of the New Life His Resurrection offers us; and may our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi watch over each one of you, his Spiritual Children, with loving care. With a promise to keep all of you affectionately in my Easter Masses and Liturgies, I wish you and your dear ones a very Happy and Joyous Easter. Christ is Risen! He is truly risen! Alleluia!
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on February 1st, 2016  February 2016
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you His peace!
We are a nation and a people blessed by God. This land and nation, with all its negatives and positives, vices and virtues, failures and successes, and so on, has been the destination of millions down through the years who dreamed of living in a land of freedom, justice and peace; a land where everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Many of these wonderful attributes of our nation have been severely affected because many have forgotten that first of all we are a nation under God. When we forget, dismiss, or otherwise shelve this fundamental element of our national heritage, it is understandable why our wants can turn into our needs, and our hearts can become indifferent to the lives and needs of the sisters and brothers, all children of God, around us. » Click to continue reading “From the Desk of Fr. Francis – February, 2016” »
Posted By Teresa Redder, on January 3rd, 2016 Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord let His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!
 The first recorded words of Jesus in the Gospels set a scene that might leave some people a little perplexed. Jesus comes across acting like an arrogant adolescent. He seems to be asserting His independence now that the community considers this twelve year old boy a man. He appears to be doing “His own thing”. His parents – Mary, His Mother and Joseph, His Messianic Father – anguished three days looking for Him. Eventually finding Him in the Temple, His Mother asks why…why did He remain in Jerusalem, why didn’t He ask them, why did He allow them to feel such anguish? Jesus’ response would probably make some parents quite annoyed, to say the least. Rather than apologize, His response is: Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be in my Father’s house? It almost seems as though Jesus makes his parents’ presence in His life insignificant. These must have been difficult words for His loving parents to hear. In any case, the Gospel tells us that He obediently went to Nazareth with them (Mary and Joseph) and was subject to them.
Some have explained this episode with a spirituality that places the twelve year old Jesus already beginning His public ministry. I would rather see the moment as a normal family situation concerning parents and adolescents. Whatever the fact, there is food for reflection in this event in the life of the Holy Family. This challenging family moment offered the members of the Holy Family the opportunity to assess the role that each one in the family was called to fulfill, including Jesus, and they would fulfill their roles faithfully. Obedience would be the key word and virtue; this obedience was the fruit of a Love that no other family has ever or will ever experience. » Click to continue reading “From the Desk of Fr. Francis – January, 2016” »
Posted By Teresa Redder, on November 30th, 2015 
December, 2015
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
May the Infant Jesus grant your heart the Peace you desire.
May His Star enlighten your mind with the splendor of His Truth.
May His Love consume your heart so that it beats solely for Him.
His mercy endures forever (Psalm 136). God’s mercy is limitless. God’s mercy and love are His judgment and sentence. God’s mercy was manifest from the beginning of creation. The mere fact that God loved and loves us into life is an eternal sign of God’s mercy. Throughout salvation history God has shown His mercy to His people, even when, because of our unfaithfulness, we have deserved the contrary. The apostle John reminds us in the Gospel he wrote: God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him (John 3: 16).
We celebrate God’s eternal love and mercy throughout the year in our liturgies, beginning with the Season of Advent. Advent introduces us to the eternal, immortal, undivided, and supreme God, Who did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave coming in human likeness. Found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2: 6-8). St. Paul’s words remind us that to speak of Christ among us, we must remember the purpose for His incarnation: obedience to the Father’s Will leading His incarnate Son to death…and resurrection. Before we speak of his incarnation and birth, we already focus on his death. We cannot separate the Crib of Bethlehem from the Cross of Calvary. The two are inseparable! » Click to continue reading “From the Desk of Fr. Francis – December 2015” »
Posted By Teresa Redder, on November 1st, 2015  November 2015
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace!
God, even through nature, often speaks to us about life’s journey. The Winter Season, soon to be upon us, is announced by days that grow ever shorter and the sun that seems to take its time offering us its light and warmth each day. It is a good time for us to reflect on certain basic realities that we often place at the margin of our mind. Yet, these truths are a fact of our human life and a fact of Eternal Life: Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell.
There was a time when these Four Last Things, as they were called, were an indisputable theme for at least some Sundays of November, and always during any Retreat or Mission. They were intended not so much to frighten us into submission to God’s Will, as help us to realize that we cannot hide from the inevitable, so we were reminded “to be prepared”. We were expected to strive to know, reflect, and decide, through our understanding of these Four Last Things, what course we would take in life. Once we follow through with our decision, life becomes more peaceful and the journey and its end more certain. » Click to continue reading “From the Desk of Fr. Francis – November 2015” »
Posted By Teresa Redder, on October 3rd, 2015  October 2015
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord bless you with His peace!
Bringing the month of September to a close, the Catholic Church in Cuba and the United States was privileged to receive the Holy Father, Pope Francis, on a pastoral visit. As Chief Shepherd of the Catholic Church he was coming to address the World Meeting of Families being held in Philadelphia. But also, as Chief Shepherd, he took the opportunity to speak with his spiritual children in Cuba, and three cities in the United States: Washington DC, New York City, and finally Philadelphia. Everywhere he went, the welcome and joy was overwhelming. His message was simple, to the point, non-judgmental, directly challenging the various matters that besiege the world today, both Catholic and secular. The specific purpose of his journey was the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, yet all the matters about which he spoke or mentioned affect the world community of whatever background, and specifically families that form the nucleus of society.
Everything the Holy Father mentioned will no doubt be published soon and commented on for a while. Politicians will speculate about what side of the political spectrum he favored. Society will speculate what issues he manifested a more liberal approach towards. Religious bodies and/or individuals will offer remarks concerning his liberal or traditional views. Dialogue and discussion of topics mentioned and comments made are part of growing in knowledge and understanding, we must remember our Holy Father was here as a religious leader who is called to speak the Gospel truth of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is a living Word that lives today, in the twenty-first century, and thus will also have an impact on the life of today’s world, Christian as well as not. It might be a profitable idea, once his talks are available, for the fraternities to read and reflect upon them, openly and honestly. The Franciscan, especially the Secular Brother and Sisterhood, lives in society and are called to express the Gospel life in an everyday experience, in fidelity to Christ, Tradition, and the Magisterium » Click to continue reading “From the Desk of Fr. Francis – October 2015” »
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St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
