Author: Franciscan

Good morning, I hope you all had a good weekend.

Today we remember a man who was born in Paru. The baptismal records say he was a “Half-breed”. His mother was possibly Native American, or a freed woman of Panama, his father a Spanish grandee of Lima. 

Martin answered the call to religious life and joined the Dominican Order as a lay-brother. Martin has some experience in working with the sick and used his knowledge in caring for the sick in his community but giving much time to attend the sick in the city.   

St. Martin tells us today, “When you give to others you not only give them food or material things, but you also give them hope and reason to believe in a better future.”

St. Teresa of Calcutta reminds us that the greatest illness is being overlooked, being forgotten. Physical illness is one thing, being overlooked as a human being is some quite different. 

Remember it costs nothing to say “thank you” or give a smile to another. But as I have said before, it might mean the world to that person.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Good morning.

Today as we remember all or our departed brothers and sisters, it is important to remember that where they have gone, we will follow them when it is our time. It will be at that time that were won’t be any farewells, but only a warm, “good to see you” and more joy and happiness then we have ever experienced in this life. 

Pope Francis tells us today, “If today we are remembering those brothers and sisters of ours who have gone before us and are now in heaven, they are there because they were washed in the Blood of Christ, that is new hope, and this hope does not disappoint. If we live our lives with the Lord, He will never disappoint us.”

Remember, as the saints have told us down through the years, death is but a door we go through to a new and everlasting life with the Lord.  As Jesus reminds, there are many rooms in His Father’s house, and one of them has our name on its door. 

May all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Peace and All Good, 

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

P.S.  Don’t forget to change your clock one hour back as Daylight Savings Time ended today. Yes, we can sleep in one hour longer!!!

Good morning. I hope you have a restful day planned.

Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints. On this day we remember all those people who are in heaven. That is that any person in heaven is in fact a SAINT. That could mean our parents, brothers or sisters, friends those we have known and loved in this life. They are saints.

Pope Francis tells us today, “The saints were not superhuman. They were people who loved God in their hearts, and who shared the joy with others.”

Well, if that be the case, we all have the possibility of becoming a saint. one who has loved God here on earth and will be with Him for all eternity.

Enjoy the day. Say a prayer to someone who has gone before you. Just pray. God always is listening to His little ones. 

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Good day.

Today is Halloween. It is a day for the kids to go out in costumes and collect candy for neighbors. 

The origin of this day comes from the ancient Celts. They believed that it was a day when the boundary between the living and the dead was blurred. Some say that people put on costumes to hide their identity from the spirits. 

This day has been with us for a very long time and there are as many meanings as there are people who may have the true rendition of the history. 

One of these histories tells us that the name HOLLOWEEN comes from the words, ALL HOLLOWS EVE. as the 31st of Oct. is the day before ALL SAINTS DAY.

As the traditional Scottish prayer that is said on Halloween, “From ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us.”   

Whatever or how ever we what to treat this day, may it be for you and yours a blessed, enjoyable, day. Please be safe and be blessed.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the 

Bros and Srs of the

Franciscan House of Prayer. 

Hello, hope all is well.

We have heard it say to us over again, “Pray always”. But sometimes we just might be tired of praying for something that never come about. We pray of a sick family member of friend and they pass away. We pray that we can get a good job, only to find out that someone else has gotten the job ahead of us. An so it goes. So why bother. Yet we find ourselves saying that little silent prayer to ourselves with the hope that someone will hear and answer.

Someone once wrote, “May we never fear our prayers are insufficient in the face of tragedy. May we never believe the lie that praying for others is futile. Our prayers are powerful.” 

Once again, our old friend FAITH comes into play. We have to believe that God always hears our prayers. Remember, God knows better that we what answer will be the best answer, it may not be the one we would like but in the long run, we see that the answer to our prayer was much better that the one we had in mind.

Pray, pray always, the Father is always there to hear His children’s request. 

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Good morning.

Have you ever felt all alone? I remember when I had returned from rehab and realized that I had to take my old cat Fred to be put to sleep. A friend and I took him to the Human Society where we served as chaplains . When I got home and my friend left, I looked around and said to myself, ” Now I am all alone.”

Always having a cat or three around, it just felt so empty not to hear a meow or two coming from one of the rooms. It took some time until I got use to not having Fred around. 

I like many others have to be reminded that we are never really alone. God is always around, and not let us forget our guardian angel.

Someone once wrote, “God did not remove the Red Sea . . . He parted it. He isn’t going to remove the situation, but he will make a way through it. Trust that God is always on time. Even when we think He is too late. Amen if you believe.”

Just a little thought to keep in mind when you have that lonely feeling and need to know that we are really never 

ALONE!

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.  

Hello, hope all is well.

Today we recall two of the twelve, Simon and Jude. Jude’s actual name is Judas, but it was shortened to Jude because of Judas Iscariot. 

We remember Simon as being a Zealot, an extreme Jewish Nationalistic movement who met their end in 70ce, with the destructions of Jerusalem by Rome

St. Jude we all know as the Saint of Lost and the saint of Impossible Causes. This comes to us due to the number of persons who have experienced Jude’s intercession when people felt that he was their last course of action.

We know that a number of saints have come to be known as one to pray to when something is lost or that they needed a strong intercessor. 

When we look at the group that Jesus first called to follow him, he did not call the well-educated, the ultra-religious, but rather fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot (revolutionary), the most common of the common. 

Pope Benedict XVI says to us today, “Let us also bear in mind, that the group of the twelve is the prefiguration of the Church, where there must be room of all human qualities that find their composition and unity in communion with Jesus.” 

Our church must be open to all. NO ONE should be refused entrance.  As St. Augustine once said, “the church is not a hotel for saints, it is a hospital for sinners.” 

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Good day to you all.

I have written about how we can have a positive or a negative effect on others.

Someone may be having a bad day, but you holding a door open, saying “thank you”, of just giving a person a kindly look and a smile may make all the difference to turn that bad day into a good day.

Sometimes we need to put ourselves into the “shoes” of the other person. How do we feel when someone offers us a kindness? It just may mean that we MATTER. Someone has recognized us. 

I know it sounds like a little thing, but it can make or break the day for that other person.  

Leo Buscaglia, the motivational speaker, gives us this thought. “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential of turning a like around.”

Have a safe and blessed day.

Peace and All Good

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Good morning, happy Sunday.

Once again, St. Luke gives us another story that we may heard a number of times before. It is the story of the tax collector and the Pharisee. 

Both men go into the Temple to pray. The story goes on to tell us that the tax collector goes off to some dark place of the Temple and does not dare lift his eyes to heaven. The Pharisee, on the other hand, takes a predominate place where all can see him, lifts his hands to heaven and takes on a “holier than thou” look and offers his prayer.

So what is the problem? Well it is what each man has to say to God. The tax collector prays for forgiveness saying to God, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”(Lk 18:13 ff) The Pharisee, on the other hand, tells God all the good he has done. “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector”, and so he goes on. (Lk18:11ff)

Henry Ward Beecher, the American clergyman wrote, “Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.”

I am sure we all have encountered such a person who will not tire of telling you of all the good they do and are proud of it. I do believe that they have already received their reward.

A blessed and safe Sunday to you all.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Greetings. I hope your week has gone well.

Today we remember another saint who helped to establish our Church as a missionary and establishing a community of missionaries to continue his work. In 1850, Pope Pius IX ordained him bishop and head of the diocese of Santiago de Cuba. 

We have many such men and woman who have given their lives to spread the Good News. For Anthony and many others, it meant leaving their homeland, family and friends to live in a far-off country. But, in truth, each of us are “missionaries” as we are all called to spread the Good News. 

St. Anthony Mary Claret leaves us with this thought today. “Our Lord has created persons for all states in life, and in all of them we see people who have achieved sanctity by fulfilling their obligation well.”

We do not know how many mothers and fathers are in heaven and are so blessed because they have shared the Good News with their children and other family members. Or the number of persons who have, by living out their Christian calling, been effective in changing the lives of others. 

Remember, it not by only the words we speak, but more importantly, the actions we do, that lay the building blocks of the Kingdom here on earth. Remember the words of the Lord, ” For indeed, the Kingdom of God is within you.” (Lk 17:21)  

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.