Author: Franciscan

Hello,
What do you consider prayer? Where should it be said? What words should you use? 

There is a little story of a novice in the  monastery who asked his Abbot, “Is it OK if I smoke during prayer?” The Abbot, with a stern face said, “Not at all, Brother,” and he went on to say “But should be smoking as say a prayer, well that would be OK.”

St. Teresa of Avila said “Prayer is an intimate relationship and friendship with God rather than a rigid formula.”

Keeping in mind this thought, prayer is just speaking to an old friend, one who knows all our dings and dents, and still loves us very much. 

Brother Lawrence of the Order of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel who was born in 1614, tells us today, “He does not ask much of us, merely a thought of Him from time to time, a little act of adoration, sometimes to ask for His grace, sometimes to offer your sufferings at other times to thank Him for the grace, past and present, He bestowed on you in the midst of your troubles to take solace in Him as often as you can. Left up your heart to Him during your meals and in company, the least little remembrance will always be the most pleasing to Him. One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think.”

Have a blessed weekend.

Peace and All Good,Fr. Vinnie, osf

and the Bros and Srs of the Franciscan House of Prayer.

Greetings, well it looks like I am getting the hand of this new computer. I should not gloat over it , the whole thing could come apart even as I write this to you.

All during this new adventure, I have truly been tried to be patient. A friend of my called me and encouraged me and told me that there would be a learning curve to this new computer. If I know this curve would be like this, I would have gotten a pair of hiking  boots and a pick ax

. 
Today I would lie to give you a thought on patience which I came across some time ago. It was said by the podcaster Joyce Meyer, “Patience is not the ability to wait but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.”

Ms. Meyer’s words ring so true in my mind. I don’t know how many times I wanted to through this machine out of the window, The problem is that I live on the first floor and I would have to walk over it every time I wanted to go out of my home.

It is amazing to see how calm and quiet some people are when it would seem that their entire world if falling apart, or that they have to wait for something to take place. I guess I envy them and their ability to have that kind of composure.

 
As I have said before, God does not give us patience, but gives us opportunities to practice this wonderful virtue.  

May you have a bless and patient day. 

Peace and All Good,Fr. Vinnie, osf

and the  Bros and Srs of theFranciscan House of Prayer.

Greetings.
I am sure that you have been inspired by what you read or what you have heard from someone. It is amazing where and when God will send us a message that will move us or enable us to accomplish a task that we are working on.

As I have told you before, I have a number of folders and notebooks filled with quotes that I have come across and want to save to use in a sermon or to sent out to you.
The other day, I open a notebook that goes back a number of years and found this quote by St. Stephen of Hungry. I thought it might give you just a little something to think about. 
Stephen says to us, “Do not look forward in fear to the changes in life; rather, look to them with full hope that as they arise, God whose very own you are, will lead you safely through all things and when you cannot stand it, God will carry you in His arms. Do not fear what may happen tomorrow; the same understanding Father who cares for you today, will take care of you then and every day. He will either shield you from suffering or will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.”

I know this may be a little long, but you do not have to read the whole thing at once. 
Sorry this is kind of late, we had a power outage for a second of so and knocked me off line. Go figure. Is Gos trying to tell me something, or do I need to go back to school to learn computers.??
Have a safe and blessed day.

Peace and All Good,Fr. Vinnie, osf and theBros and Srs of theFranciscan House of Prayer.

Good morning. Hope your week is going well.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find myself during my pryers or meditation, wondering who God is. I think of story creation in the Old Testament. God saying let us make . . .  I wonder about the size of the universe, which no one really knows. I wonder about is there life somewhere way out there? And is there is, do they look like us or have they developed in a different way? Then there is the question, did a person similar to Jesus visit there world to bring the Good News?

Opening one of my old notebooks, I came across the following. I don’t know who wrote it, but it relates a dialogue between a woman in pray and God speaking back.

“While praying one day a woman asked “Who are you God?” He answered “I Am”. But, Who is I Am? She asked. He replied, “I Am Love, I Am Peace, I Am Grace, I Am Joy, I Am Strength. I Am Safety, I Am Shelter, I Am Power, I Am The Creator, I Am The Comforter, I Am The Beginning and the End. I AM The Way, Truth and The Light,”

With tears in her eyes she looked toward Heaven and said, “Now I understand, But who am I ?” God tenderly wiped the tears from her eyes and whispered, “You Are Mine.”
I know this is just a story, but sometimes the greatest truths are related to others in stories. It is much easier to remember a story, than facts and figures. 

Have a blessed and safe day.

Peace and all Good,Frl Vinnie, osf and theFranciscan House of Prayer. 

Good day to you all. 
Here we are again as we were yesterday celebrating the sorrow of a mother who stood at the foot of the Cross watching her only child die a horrible death.

Let us read what St. Luke tells us in the second chapter of his Gospel. Following the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary brought the Child to the Temple to dedicate Him to God. There they encounter an elderly man by the name of Simon to whom it was promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he saw the Messiah. He took the Child in his arms and said, “Now Master, you can dismiss your servant in peace as you have promised. For my eyes have seen your salvation. . . (Lk 2:29-ff). As he gave the Child back to his parents, he said to Mary, 

“Indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall And rise of many in Israel and to be a signThat will be opposed – and a sword will pierce your own soul – the the thoughtsOf many hearts may be revealed.” (Lk2:34) 

But as we saw yesterday, this is only one paragraph of the story which was written before the world began.  

Pope St. John Paul II reminds us today, “The Exulted of Easter tells us that he is “the light which knows no decline,” Seek the light of the soul. Through it, suffering united with that of our Lord and of the Virgin Mary at the foot of the cross opens the way to eternal life, for oneself and for others.”

“Stabat Mater”By the cross of our salvation, Mary stood in desolation.While the savior hung above.
All her human powers failing,Sorrow’s sword, at last prevailing.Stabs and breaks her heart of love. . . 
Virgin Mary, full of sorrowFrom your love I ask to borrowLove enough to share your pain. Make my heart to burn with fire,Make Christ’s love my own desire,Who for love of me was slain.”

And the prophecy of the old man Simeon cameTo pass.

Peace and All Good,Fr. Vinnie, osf

and theBros and Srs of the Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello. Hope all is well.
It would seem ironic that we should call this day the “feast” of the Holy Cross. An installment of a gruesome, painful, long lasting way to be put to death. But we see this Cross adorn our homes and in our churches. We sign ourselves with the “Sign of the Cross”. How? Why?
Yes, what we have said to all true. But the Cross stands for us not as a horrible way to die, but that by the Cross we have been set free. The death of the Lord on the Cross stands for us as the ultimate sign of how far the Father will go to express his love. 
It is only with the passage of time and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that saints began to understand and give us a view of the Cross in a new light. St. Andrew of Crete,(650-712AD) tells us “The Cross stands for Christ’s suffering because on it He freely suffered unto death. But is is also His trophy because it was the means by which the devil was wounded and death conquered.”Remember, as I have said before, the Cross is a means to an end, and that end is New Life in the Resurrected Jesus who promised that He would be with us until the end of time.
Yes, it is ironic that we should hold an instrument of death in so high esteem. But without the Cross there would be no Resurrection. The devil would still be seated upon his throne in Hades, and death would still haunt the dark corners of our world.
“We adore you O Christ, and we bless you. for by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world. Amen.”
Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, osf and theBros. and Srs of theFranciscan House of Prayer.

Hello. I hope this finds you all well.
Our Gospel today speaks to us about something we all find very difficult to do. That is to FORGIVE another.
Depending on the fault we have committed, those two simple words “I sorry” always seem so hard to say. But we know that forgiveness is something we all are in need of, and need to extend to another who may have wronged us.
A number of years ago when I was teaching high school we were discussing the concept of forgiveness. I had read an article about Pope John Paul II. The article spoke of how after his recovery from being shot, the pope went to the prison and visited with the man who had shot him. After some time, the Pope gave the man a blessing and embraced him before he left.
In the article, the author who was a professor of theology at New Your School of Theology said that not to forgive is like being stuck in the mud. The harder you try, your wheels just continue to spin and you get nowhere.
So often, we feel that not to forgive is to have control over the other person. But this concept could not be further from the truth. In all reality we are the one who is under the control of the other person. This is especially true if we do not accept the forgiveness of another.
No matter the weight of the act, or the number of times the act has been committed, we all are in need of forgiveness. The act of offering forgiveness and the act of accepting forgiveness is all a part of life. 
The author Thomas Fuller once wrote, “He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven. “
I remember when I was studying in Israel, a friend of mine said, that if you do not forgive you will never be able to truly say the “Our Father” prayer again. That one statement has stayed with me all this years. It is SO true. 
Peter asks the Lord, “How many time, seven time?” The Lord responds, “No, seventy – seven times.” In other words, as many times as it necessary to forgive your sister or brother. 
Truly,. this Gospel gives us much to ponder on during this up and come week. 
Have a blessed and safe week, let us pray for each other that those little words “I’m sorry” will be able to pass our lips but more importantly that they come from our heart. 
Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, osf and the Bros and Srs of the Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello, hope all are well and that you have a restful weekend ahead of you. 
How many times have we put aside our ideas, our dreams, our hopes because someone said that we were foolish to believe that something like that could come to be. How many of our dreams have never come to fruition  because others have told us that they know better.
When I lived in NJ, there was a guy who would be with us. Now, he was a nice guy but he alway had a better idea then anyone else. It got to be that we would call him “Eddy no, no.”  No matter what you would want to do Eddy would always have a better way and you could be sure he would say, “NO, NO, you know what you should do . . .”  
Someone once wrote, “When they laugh and call you crazy, remember that the crazy people built the ark, and the experts built the Titanic.” Now, this is not to say that we should not take council from others, but sometime we fail to live out or dreams because they are not the dreams of another may have had. 
Peace and All Good,Fr. Vinnie, osf and theBros and Srs of the Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello,
25 years ago. Can it be so long ago that we experienced the horrible event that took place? 
Let us pray that God gives us the gift of understanding. 
An eye for an eye just does not work any more. We start with an eye for an eye. Then a building for a building. Then a city for a city. And where does it stop?Peace, sometimes, comes when we begin to truly understand where hate leads us. 
“Forgive us our trespasses as we for give those who have trespassed against us.”     
“May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.”
Fr. Vinnie. osf 

Hello, yes, it’s me. Sorry for the mix up with sending out the wrong days and the other mix ups. It is truly a learning curve. 
I would dare say that we all say prayers of petition.  We say our novenas for nine days, we say the correct number of prayers, we follow the instructions to a “T”. And at the end of our novena, nothing happens. We are wondering if I may have not said the correct number of Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Be(s). What happened? Why does not God hear me?
In the First Book of Kings, the prophet Elijah put the priests of the god Ba’al to a test. And with all their drum beatings, crying out, and all the other rituals, their god did not answer. Elijah told them “Cry aloud . . .he has gone aside or he is on a journey or perhaps is asleep..”(1Kings 18;27) You might what to read the entire story for yourself. 
Thomas Merton tells us today, “Do not be discouraged. The Holy Spirit is not asleep.” 
Yes we have our prayers, we have our novena and all the rest. But we have got to remember that our prayers are not magical formulas that deliver what we want when we want it. God knows what we need before we do.
What is needed is faith. Faith that the Father hears our prayers, He knows what we need, He will answer our requests. The answer to our prayers may not always come to us as we would want. But sometimes, as the Scriptures tell us, we sometimes don’t know what is the best answer to our prayer. As I said before, sometimes the best prayers are the ones that go unanswered. Not because God does not care. But rather the Father knows what is best for us. And as any good parent, they ALWAYS know what is best for their little ones. 
Peace and All Good,Fr. Vinnie, osf and theBros and Srs of the Franciscan House of Prayer.