Author: Franciscan

Greetings, and happy Easter.

If we were writing this story, would the Cross be the end of that story? Or would we come up with an ending that would justify what the hero had to endure? It is always great to hear that the hero of the story comes out victorious. 

As it is, we each are writing our own story. We are the ones who introduce the characters, who develop the plot. Unfortunately, even though we are the authors, we sometime do not know where this story may lead or how it may end. 

Watchman Nee, a Chinese Church Leader once said, “Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.” Maybe Pastor Nee may just give us an idea on how our story can end.

Part of reading a good novel, regardless of the kind of novel it may be, a love story, mystery, or something in between, a good book keeps the reader attentive so that they are unable to put the book down.

As we reflect on Nee’s reflection today, we might consider our own history. Where we have been, and where we are going. Given the fact that our “New History”, begins with the resurrection, we just might consider that our story will end in glory. Just keep in mind what Jesus said, “Where I am, you also will be.”

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the 

Bros and Srs. of the

Franciscan House of Prayer.  

“He has risen; He has risen indeed”

How could this be true? I am sure that the women who when to the tomb to complete the necessary rituals for burial asked the same question when they found that the tomb was empty except for a young man in a long white robe asking, “Why look of the living among the dead?” (Lk 24:5) Not exactly what they expected to see and hear.

But as we have seen over and over again, God has His ways which far outreach our ability to understand. Even the dead don’t remain dead. 

St. John Chrysostom declares, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hell where is your victory? Christ is Risen and you are overthrown. Christ is Risen and the demons are fallen. Christ is Risen and the Angels rejoice. Christ is risen and life reigns. Christ is Risen and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being Risen from the dead is the First Fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages.” 

But, my brothers and sisters, this is not just a Gospel story. This is not just some tail that has been told down through the ages. This is a promise that God is making to each one of us. One day in God’s good time, we too will break the bonds of death and that of the grave and sing along with countless others, “Alleluia, praise be to our God now and forever more.” 

A Blessed Easter to each and every one of you!!

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer. 

Greetings.

It is over. The gentle one from Nazareth is dead. His suffering has come to an end. His loyal followers are nowhere to be found. It is the Sabbath so the rest of the traditional rites of burial will have to wait until tomorrow. 

Jesus had said that He had come not to abolish the Law but to bring it to fulfillment. Did the Religious Leaders misunderstand what He was saying and trying to do. Were they that afraid of change? Did they have to go so far as to hand Him over to the Romans to get their point across to those who would dare to bring about any change in what they have held holy for years upon years?

It seems that the Sabbath rest and the silence over the city was due to more than because it was the Sabbath. There was a strange silence that settled upon the city.   

“Today a great silence reigns on earth, a great silence and a great stillness. A great stillness because the King is asleep. 
The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen to sleep in the flesh and has raised up all who have slept since the world began . . . I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead.” (From the Liturgy of the Hours for Holy Saturday.)

And yet, as we all know, God does not just put a period at the end of His sentence until He is truly finished . We will just have to wait until someone like Paul Harvey says to us, “And now the rest of the story.”

Peace and All Good, 

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Peace to you all.

Today is a day of great sadness. The gentle Rabbi of Nazareth has undergone a great deal of suffering and a horrible death on a cross. His devoted friends had fled for fear that they may find themselves in the same situation. Only one, John, the youngest of the group, had the strength to stand with Jesus’ mother Mary and Mary of Madela. 

But as we continue to listen to the story, we know that this is not, cannot be the end of what God has put into motion. 

For centuries, saints and sinners have written about this event. They knew that their story could not end here. There had to be a better ending. But even in their most wild imaginations could they come up with what God had in mind. But why such a horrible death? A question that may be in the minds of many who hold this day “Good”.    

St. Charles Borromeo gives us his thoughts when he tells us, “Behold, Jesus Christ crucified, who is the only foundation of our hope. He is our mediator and advocates the victim and sacrifice for our sins. He is goodness and patience itself, His mercy is moved by the tears of sinners, and he never refuses pardon and grace to those who ask it with a truly contrite, and humbled heart.” But still the question, “Why the Cross?’ 

And again, these words of Sacred Scripture come to minds, the only answer that may make any sense,“God so loved the world that he sent his only Son.” So LOVED the world. So I would say the only answer that makes any good sense is “LOVE DOES SUCH THINGS”.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer. 

Greeting and Happy Holy Thursday.

Some may call this day Maundy which recalls when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples to give them all an example of servantship which they all are to exhibit to all they encounter.

Today we also remember the institution of the priesthood and the Holy Eucharist, both which took place at the Last Supper.

C. S. Lowis gives us this thought today, ” Maundy Thursday is not just a day but a reminder of our covenant with God, sealed by His love and sacrifice.”

Though this day begins with Jesus and the disciples celebrating the joyful holiday of Passover, the freedom from slavery in Egypt, we know that it will soon turn dark with the betrayal by Judas and the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Olives. And so the drama begins. And we are among the crowd who are present to witness it. The question that stands before us now is do we run away as some of the disciples did or do we walk with the Lord to be present to support Him in this his time of need?

That question may still be waiting for an answer.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.  

Hello, I pray that your week is going well.

Today we have reached the halfway point in our journey to Easter. The drama, as in any great mystery story is just beginning to build up. Today is also known as “Spy Wednesday.” It is call such as it is the day when Judas struck a deal with the religious leaders to hand over Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.

Judas, kind of gets a bad rap in this story. But as in any good mystery, someone must enable the plot to thicken, as they say, but I would find it hard to believe that he did it out of hate of Jesus, but rather out of fear of what Jesus was about and where His movement might lead to.

Someone once wrote, “Judas was part of the story, but so was mercy. ” So here we are at the apex of our story. we have had the buildup of our story, now we have almost reached the turning point and the resolution. We will have to just keep reading or listening to see where this story takes us. Again, some said, “Even in silence, God was moving.”

Peace and All Good, 

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Peace and All Good!

In some places this day is known as “Fig Tuesday”. This is the day we recall the time when Jesus is on His way to the Temple and was hungry. He sees a fig tree full of leaves but cannot find any fruit and he curses the tree which withers up. There are a number of interpretations about this story which we find in the Gospels of Matthew (21:18-22) and Mark (11: 12-14, 20-25). 

Most will say that Jesus is using this experience to tell his disciples that their lives must bear fruit in what they do and speak. They cannot be like the pharisees.  

St. Maximus the Confessor tells us, “Holy Tuesday is a day of judgement upon hypocrisy and a call to authentic discipleship.”

Our actions must not be just so others will consider us holy. Our actions are not for show, but for God’s glory. 

As we approach Easter, let us clear our hearts and minds to be ready to experience the unbelievable. But most importantly, let us keep in mind that what we see in the Resurrection of the Lord is a promise that we also will be brought to a new life in Christ.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello.

Well, I hope I get this one correct. Yes, it is Monday of Holy Week.

Here we are opening another Holy Week. For us who are a little older than others, this is not our first rodeo as it is said. But regardless, of how many Holy Weeks we have walked through, we need to treat it as if it were our first. Yes, we have read and heard the Gospels and readings before, but we need to allow ourselves to clear our minds and hearts as if it were the first time. (I remember walking the Way of the Cross in Jerusalem when I was a student. A very moving experience.) 

As someone wrote, “Monday of Holy Week is a call to remove the clutter of the world and make room for the Divine.”

We may hear the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple. This was done because the people saw it as a place to line their pockets with money rather that a place to worship God. Their stalls, money changing tables, and the selling of animals for sacrifice took over this sacred space. There was no room for God and the worship that this building was created for.

So, let this Monday of Holy Week be an opportunity to clear away what may be standing in the way for us to truly enter into these Holy Days, and experience the Love the Father. 

As we look up Calvery Hill, at the cross this Holy Week, let us not forget to turn around and view the tomb which once held the body of Jesus, and from which Christ. the Promised One, will come forth in all His Glory.

Peace and All Good, 

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello. Happy Palm Sunday.

Today we open the most holy days of our year. This week we will walk with Jesus through His triumph entrance into the city of Jerusalem to the shouts and joyful waving of palm branches. The people’s welcome even moved them to lay their coats on the grown for Jesus to travel over. 

Depending on which Gospel we read, we will see that each story is altered. Regardless, we see the enthusiasm of the people calling “Welcome to the Son of David.”

As we continue to read this story, we will see the people turn from shouts of welcome to demanding Jesus’ death.  

The well known author and speaker Garrison Keiller tells us ” . . . and people are to march around the church to commutate the event. Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem and was greeted with applause and with palms. People thought he had come to overthrow the Romans, but . . . no . . .  he had come to change THEM . . .  and that led to things turning bad.”  

And so it begins. Our Lent is over. Hopefully we have ready ourselves for these days ahead of us. 

We all should try the best we can to put some time aside to read our Bible, spend time in prayer, and most important spend some time in silence to allow the Lord to speak to us 

May the Lord give us the grace of these days to draw ever closer to Him. 

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer. 

Hello. 

Well, we have just about made it through another Lent. Soon we with our brothers and sisters throughout the world will be celebrating the great feast of Easter. The unthinkable becomes real. One who was once dead and buried has broken the seal of the tomb and vanquished Old Death who thought he had the upper hand. But the Lord had another idea in mind. As the angels said to the women, “He is not here, He has risen as He said.” (Matt. 28:6)

As the Gospel writers say, this took the women by surprise. I’m sure it would take anyone with any sense by surprise. I am sure that it took these women a few moments to recover from their shock to run with the message of the angel.

As someone once wrote, “Lent. A time of reflection, sacrifice, and spiritual growth. Let us journey together in faith, fining strength in our shared humanity.” ‘Finding strength in our shared humanity’. Such an event is not something that one can keep to themselves. It is something HAD to be shared. 

Over two thousand years later the event still needs to be told. Now it is not up to those women who went to the tomb to complete the required burial rituals. Rather it is up to us to run and tell others. That does not mean we have to run down the street screaming “He has risen” but more important is that we now must begin to live the risen life of the Lord in our own lives. 

As is the custom in the Eastern Church when greeting another, one will say “He has risen.” the response to that greeting is “Yes, He has risen indeed!”

We may not use such a greeting, but the truth is expressed. He has risen INDEED!!

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.