Author: Franciscan

Hello, and happy Friday.

Today we remember St. Joseph as the patron saint of workers. This feast was established by the Church to off set, as it were, the holiday established in communistic countries, called May Day, in honor of the all the workers around the world. This holiday was especially celebrated in communistic countries. To offset this secular feast, Pope Pius XII in 1955 established the feast in honor of St. Joseph the Worker.

But we today do not need a special day to honor the foster father of Jesus with a feast to off set a secular one. We know Joseph for who he was and what quiet, and sometime hidden role he played and plays in God’s plan of salvation. 

So today we honor, yes, those who labor everyday to give us what we have, and many times cannot themselves afford what they produce. But we also remember in a special way, St. Joseph who labored quietly in his role in God’s story of salvation.   

Pope Francis give us this thought, ” Each of us can discover in Joseph – the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet, and hidden presence an intercessor, a support, and a guide in times of trouble.” As Joseph was “father” to Jesus he extends his hand to us in troubled times as a good father would to he child.

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 along well.

I know that there have been times I have been faced with what I thought to be impossible tasks. I would have to take a step back and think about how I will be able to complete this task that is before me. But the more I  evaluate what I have to do, I begin to see that there are several ways of tackling the job.

St. Francis of Assisi says to us, “Easter proclaims that nothing is impossible with God and that His love can overcome all obstacles.”  

Many of the difficulties we face in life are not related to our employment, relationships, or anything that is “out” there.  Many of these difficulties come about from this thing we call LIFE. Sometimes we can see them coming, but many time difficulties seem to be waiting for us before we have a chance to have our morning coffee.

We need to keep in mind what our Father Francis tells today. “Nothing is impossible with God . . .” Also let us keep in mind what Hudson Taylor, the British Protestant Christian missionary who is considered the most important and influential missionary of all time, tells us today. “When we work we work. When we pray God works.”

Have a blessed day.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello, hope all is well.

I would think that we all have met people who try to be someone other than who they are. Some times some are able to pull this off very well. But every once in a while they let their “mask” fall and they reveal the person beneath who really they are.

When we do get to see the real person, we feel cheated, taken, or maybe foolish that we have allowed this person to take us as a fool.

We know that we all have a vicarious “masks” we put on depending on with whom we are with. So when we are in a meeting with our boss, we have one which would differ with the one we ware when we are out having coffee with some of our fellow employees. And then there is the maybe the real “we” when we are at home with our family or with our close friends.

St. Catherine of Siena tells us, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” That is the person who God had in mind from the foundation of the universe 

It makes for a very difficult life having to decide which mask we need to use depending on who we are with. It is so much easier just to be ourselves and allow others to see the wonderful person God love from all eternity and the one that God wishes to reveal Himself to those who we are with. That is what Catherine had in mind`  in being the person we are meant to be, and we will be able to set the world on fire with God’s love.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello. 

I wonder if you all are getting a little tired of me saying that Easter is not just a day, but it is a life to be lived. 

As I do my reading, I find that I am not alone in this thought. The great theologians of old, back up what I have said. Believe me, I am nowhere in the same category as these scholars, nowhere near them. 

St. John Chrysostom picks up this thought for us today, “Easter is not just a day to celebrate, it is a season to live with renewed faith and hope.” 

Well, I guess we have no choice but to live this Easter Myster, this Easter Reality out in our lives. CHRIST IS RISEN!! That is the song we sing in our hearts and live out in our lives. 

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 
Franciscan House of Prayer.

Greetings to you all. I hope your weekend went well.

A number of times I have mentioned that though we have celebrated the feast of Easter some three weeks ago we have the Easter season that will last for some four weeks to come.

I came across this quote by St. Augustine of Hippo which explains the reason much better that I could. He says,  “The season before easter signifies the troubles in which we live here and now, while the time after Easter which we are celebrating at present signifies the happiness that will be ours in the future. What we commemorate before Easter is what we experience in this life; what we celebrate after Easter points to something we do not yet possess. This is why we keep the first season with fasting and prayer; but now the fast is over and we devote the present season to praise. Such is the meaning of the Alleluia we sing.”

This is the feast that we as Christians should be celebrating every day of the year because it is the very core of our faith. It is in this hope of the resurrection that we live. And we as faithful Christians should be witnesses to this reality in everything we do. 

I don’t say that we have to walk around with smiles on our faces, but that smile should be in our hearts, that peace is what we live in that centers us and enables us to whether whatever life throughs our way. 

We need to keep that song of Alleluia alive in our hearts and lived out in our everyday lives. 

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello and happy Saturday. I hope you are able to get a little “me time” today.

I am sure you all have encountered others who seem to handle whatever comes their way. In the midst of pain and suffering of whatever kind, they just seem to be peaceful. This is not to say that they are not affected by the pain and suffering they are experiencing but there just seems to be a peacefulness about them. 

St. Mark the Ascetic who was a 5th century Christian theologian and monk tells us today “Troubles reminds the wise man of God, but crush those who forget Him”.

So many time we feel we have to carry the burdens of this life all alone. We forget that the Father is there with His Son and the Spirit to give us all the assistance we need. We only have to ask for it.

Pain and sorrow are a part of this thing we call LIFE. But we also have to keep in mind the words Jesus said to his disciples as he says to us today,

“I will be with you until the end of time.” (Matt. 28:20)

Peace and All Good

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Happy Friday! The end of another week, that is, if you don’t work on the weekends. That always put a little wrinkle in my garment.

I am sure we all have heard it said, “being in the right place at the right time.” Or you may have just picked the right numbers by mistake for the lottery. Or our “horse” has just come in. There are times that we just have to stand in awe at what has just taken place.  

 Someone once wrote, “Sometimes I just look up, smile and say, ‘I know that was you God. Thanks.’ “

So often we go through our lives thinking that God is up there in His heaven and we are down here doing the best we can with what we have. But then there are times that God gives us just a little kiss to remind us that we are not alone, He is watching. Yes, even closer than Santa Clause.

We like to believe that it is “Lady Luck” who has been walking with us. Maybe, just maybe it was not so much as Lady Luck as it was The Father from whom all good things come. Just something to ponder over the weekend. And don’t forget to say, “THANKS!!”

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello. And here we are almost at the end of another week.

Last week I wrote to you about those “What If” moments we have in our lives. Those are the ones that we wonder if I had made other decisions in my life. It seems that just when you have things all together and you have mapped out some direction God grabs by the shoulder and points you into another direction. And many times it comes like a “bolt out of the blue.”!

Chirstian leader Tony Evans says.” God will meet you where you are in order to take you where He wants you to go.”

Take it from me, there is NO fighting the Holy Spirit. She will take you to places you never thought you would go. But OH MY, what a ride.!!

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer

Hello, and good day!

I don’t know about you, but I have found myself getting rid of a lot of “stuff” that I have gathers throughout my life. Little trinkets that at one time I thought were so important. But as time goes on and after my experience with hospice, I have discovered for myself, that what I consider a treasure will be tomorrow someone’s else garbage.

I try to give things to others who I feel will appreciate them as I did.  

Our friend, Martin Luther tells us today, “I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all, but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”

But what can I put into the hands of God that He does not already have or that He could not create? I am sure it would not be a picture of my brothers, and I when we were kids!

As I write this, the Christmas song comes to mind. It is about a poor little boy heading to Bethlehem to see the Baby Jesus.  It goes,

“What can I give 

to the great I am

I am not a shepherd

so, I cannot give a lamb

oh, though I’m not a rich man

still, I can make a start

since I don’t have much to give him

I’ll give my heart.”

(Jodian Pantry)

Well, that might just be the place to start. Have a great day!

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.