Author: Franciscan

Good day to you all.
I am sure that at one time or another we all have prayed for peace. And sometimes like the psalms say, “Pearce, peace, and there is no peace.”
Peace is something that does not come in a pretty wrapped package. Peace is one of those virtues that WE must work for. God is always there to show us the way, but it is you and me that must WORK for peace.
One commentator wrote this about peace. “Peace is both personal and collective, and extends outward through acts of kindness, justice, and cooperation.”
The question we need to ask ourselves is “What have I done to create a peaceful environment today?What have I done to establish peace with those I come in contact with? Does the way I live, speak and interact with others establish an atmosphere of peace or of discord? Am I open and adult enough to accept another’s stance on a particular subject that I may have a different view?
Peace does not come because I just as God to send it to us. It is something that I and I alone can establish in my little part of the world.
Peace and All Good,Fr. Vinnie, osf and the Bros and Srs of theFranciscan House of Payer. 

I am getting a LITTLE better on this new computer. NOT great, but a little better. I hope!!
As we go through our Ordinary Time we should keep in mind that this time is to put into practice what we had celebrated at our last major feast, that being Christmas. It is unfortunate that we have really lost the true meaning. I guess that is why we have someone coming up with the saying, “Keep Christ in Christmas.”
This festival calls to mind that God became one of us. This was no freak of nature, or a mistake, or a “hide and seek show” on God’s part. This is to make real the fact that God became one of us that we might become like Him.
My dear friend St. Anthony once wrote, “We are formed by environment and grace, by politics and prayer, by church and conscience. All God’s creatures conspire to teach us as well. We stumble, we stutter. We rise, we are lifted.”
As we are want to say, “Put this in the back of your head.” Well that back room is well filled. Maybe we need to do home house cleaning in that room, clean out what we don’t need, and make room for what we are now learning. Maybe we can find room for the saying, “God don’t make junk!!”

Peace and All Good,Fr. Vinnie osf

and theBros and Sis of the Franciscan House of Prayer. 

Hello, hope all goes well. I’m slowly learning how to use this new computer, as I have said to others, “baby steps before you can run.”

In St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, he speaks about the Spirit of God groaning as he says, “ . . . the Spirit  himself makes intercessions for us with groaning that cannot be expressed in speech.” St. Paul also tells us that we really don’t know what to pray for and that it is the Spirit that directs our true need in our prayers.

One scriptural commentator says, “The groans of the Holy Spirit refers to the Spirit’s deep, wordless intercessions on behalf of believers, expressing what cannot be articulated in human language and aligning prayers with God’s will.”

As children, many times ask for things that are really not good for them. The parent must be the teacher and soon the child begins to understand what is good for them and what is not.

We need to put our trust into the Hands of the Spirit and allow Him to make our prayer that we will come to know that God knows what we need before we even do.

Have a safe and blessed day/

Peace and All Good,
Fr. Vinnie, osf and the
Bros and Sis of the 
Franciscan House of Prayer.

Good day to  you all.

Today we remember one of the little known apostles, St. Bartholomew. He was also known as Nathaniel of Cana.

We know of him because his name is in the list of the twelve. Tradition tells us that he met a very gruesome and painful death for the Lord.

Being a follower of Christ is not an easy job.  It is one thing to talk about Christianity, but it is a very different thing to LIVE out what we talk about. 

One of the hardest principles to be put into practice is that of not judging another,  Dietrich Bonhoeffer tells us today, “Judgeing others makes us blind, whereas love illuminates. By judging others, we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.”  

As we move into a new season of Fall soon, let us try to put into practice that which we preach about when we say we are Christian and followers of the Son of God.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, off and the 

Bros and Sis of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer. 

Hello. I know that some of you may be receiving more than one of these. Well like the song says, “Double your pleasure, double your fun. . .” It is slow, but we are learning.

Today’s Gospel story relates to us the time that Jesus and the disciples are in the most northern part of the country and it is at this spot that Peter proclaims Jesus as the Son of God. It is to this confession that Jesus tells Peter, “You are Rock and upon this Rock, I will build My Church.” This took place after Peter said to Jesus, “Your are the Chosen One, You are the Son of God…” Faith is still needed to be in place before the Church could be established. That faith is still necessary today for the Church to carry out Her mission.

This some might say is the beginning of the Church. But as we know there are many miles to go before the Church is truly founded.

The Welsh Congregational Minister, Martyn Lloyd – Jones tells us today, “The Church will continue because she is the Church of God and because He will sustain her until her work is completed.”

The Romans thought the Church was done with when Jesus died. But not so. The Church may undergo hardship now and then, but She is still God’s kingdom on earth. Each of us are part of that Rock upon which the Church is built. Each of us must continue to do our part to carry on the task Jesus gave to Peter and the other disciples, until He comes to carry us all home to His Heavenly Father.

May you all have a blessed and safe Sunday.

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

Greetings.

Well I got my new computer. BUT now it is teaching an old dog new tricks.

I will keep this short and offer a thought by St.  Maximilian. Hopefully tomorrow I will be a he to get back on track

St. Maximilian offers this prayer about the Blessed Virgin Mray., “Prayer is powerful beyond limits when we turn to the Immaculate who is queen even of God’s heart.’

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, osf and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of prayer.

Hellol

I remember a number of years ago, I watched a movie called “Evan Almighty.” It was a story of a young father who finds out that his future is to be the “new Noah.” The story evolves around his coming to understand that he is to build an ark and save the animals and people as the first Noah did. Morgan Freeman plays the character of God in the movie.

Not to go into the entire movie, I write this because of what of what God says to Evan’s wife when she asks God for more patience. God says to her, “My daughter, I don’t give patience, I send you opportunities to practice patience. (I can attest to that with this computer.)

St. Francis de Sales tells us. “Have patience with all things – but first with yourself. Never confuse your mistakes with your value as a human being. You are perfectly valuable, creative, worthwhile person simply because you exist. And no amount of triumphs or tribulation can ever change that.” 

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, osf and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello, hope all goes well with you and yours. 

How would you describe living in a world that war and strife did not exists. A world that there would be no poverty, no suffering, everyone would have enough and not without.

Sounds a bit like what heaven may be like. Not having to worry about who has the largest bomb, who can manipulate people to live in squalor, and be thankful for the very little they have. A world when there was a need from a natural disaster help would be right there. Sounds like a dream.

The great spiritual writer, Fr. Henri Nouwen, tells us “For Jesus, there are no countries to be conquered, no ideologies to be imposed, no people to be dominated. here are only children, women and men to be loved.” What a high bar to be reached. But its up there, all we need to do is to do is try to create a world where that bar would be able to be reached.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, osf and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello, hope all goes well with you and yours. 

How would you describe living in a world that war and strife did not exists. A world that there would be no poverty, no suffering, everyone would have enough and not without.

Sounds a bit like what heaven may be like. Not having to worry about who has the largest bomb, who can manipulate people to live in squalor, and be thankful for the very little they have. A world when there was a need from a natural disaster help would be right there. Sounds like a dream.

The great spiritual writer, Fr. Henri Nouwen, tells us “For Jesus, there are no countries to be conquered, no ideologies to be imposed, no people to be dominated. here are only children, women and men to be loved.” What a high bar to be reached. But its up there, all we need to do is to do is try to create a world where that bar would be able to be reached.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, osf and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello, hope all is well. 

Have you found yourself running through life that those you pass become more like a blur? If you are asked if you saw this on or that one, you would not even remember. Live is like that sometimes.

The spiritual writer Leo Buscaglia says, “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 life around. “

There is that old saying, “slow down and smell the roses.” I would think that is something we all need to do. There is so much we miss as we go through our day.

Someone once told us that half the joy of going somewhere is the journey itself. And it gives us an opportunity to make someone’s day just a bit more blessed because we said “hello” or smiled.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, osf and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.