Author: Franciscan

Good morning.

If there is one emotion that is written about the most, I would have to say it is LOVE.

We do not have to search long to find novels, short stories, cards and posters, heart shaped candy boxes, and let us not forget Feb.14th, St. Valentine’s Day.

And, oh, we sign off a letter or card with, “Love” . . .and then your name.
Carter Heyward, an Episcopal priest, theologian, and professor gives us our thought for the day. “Love is a choice – not simply, or necessarily, a rational choice, but rather a willingness to be present to others without pretense or guide. Love is a conversion to humanity – a willingness to participate with others in the healing of a broken world and broke lives. Love is the choice to experience life as a member of the human family, a partner in the dance of life.”

There is the 1955 movie called “Love is a many splendor thing.” and if we are old enough, we would have to say YES to that. But the word is used so often.

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

Hello, I hope you all had a good weekend.

We all have “Firsts” in our lives. The first car, the first date, the first dance, the first day at a new school, and it goes on and on.

Well, living here in my little apartment, is a first for me. Having been religious life for over 60 years, I have always lived with others in the community. There was always someone else around. 

I remember the first night, I felt like I finally was an adult. But it was strange like being away from home for the first time.

Our faith tells us that we are never alone. The Father is always there watching over us. 

I found an old prayer book in my desk that got covered by a pile of papers among other things. I came across the following. It really spoke to me and I hope it will to you as well.

                                                “Your Word says that You will

                                                never leave me, but right now

                                                I feel all alone, I am afraid of what

                                                lies before me. Help me to know, beyond

                                                a shadow of a doubt, that You are with me.

                                                You are my Good Shepherd. With You by

                                                my side, I need not fear. Fill me with 

                                                Your presence and Your courage as I 

                                                greet this day.”

 I don’t believe I need to say anything more. Have a blessed day!

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Good morning and happy Sunday.

Every time I write one of these meditations, I cannot help but to think how fast time is going bye. Just don’t put those Christmas decorations away, you will be needing them faster than you think. 

Well, now that is out of my system let us look at this week’s Gospel from Matthew. 

We have all hear the word of Jesus before telling us that nothing happens to us without God the Father knowing about it. Jesus tells us that every hair on our head is counted, and not a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father’s knowledge.   

Hannah Whitall Smith, Quaker-born author and evangelist adds her insight as she says, “He who counts the very hairs of our head and suffers not a sparrow to fall without him, takes note of the minutest matters that can affect the lives of his children, and regulates them all according to his perfect will, let their origin be what they will.

With this in mind, what do we have to worry about. As Jesus reminds us today, “Fear not, little children,” our Father has it all in control!

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello. I hope you all have a good weekend ahead. 

I remember growing up in the “pre – Vatican II Church.” The sermons always had elements of sin and hellfire. Punishment always seemed to find its way into many of the sermons I heard growing up. 

Yes, sin is part and parcel of our lives. But if you tell a child that they are always bad, and they should be punished for what they did, how in the world do you think this child will ever develop a good self-image of themselves?  Yes, we all sin, but we also have a Father who understands and says that it’s OK to make mistakes so long as we are able to learn from our mistakes. 

The spiritual writer, Max Lucado tells us today, “To see sin without grace is despair. To see grace without sins arrogance. To see them in tandem is conversion.”

Let us not forget that we have a God who is Father, who understands that He did not make us perfect and that being human is to error, but to learn as we go along our way. And also believe that we have a God who can overlook any of the wrongs we may have done, and at the end of the day tells us, “It’s OK, I still love you a whole bunch!!”

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello, hope all is well.

Last week, I mentioned that we sometimes become bored with what we do. They are the tasks that we have to do every day and sometimes we don’t even have to think about what we are doing.

Sometimes, that is OK. just so long that the task does not result in the harm of another, or that another has to pick up where we have left off.

Today, I opened the first notebook I used to write quotes or sayings that I may come across or may have read. This book goes back a good ten years.

i came across something from a book called “Perfect Joy” from the Franciscan Media. “Know that God speaks to you, and when God does, your assigned task, whatever it is, regardless of how modest it appears in the eyes of the world, takes on eternal importance.”

One of the saints I read, (please don’t ask which one), said that anything we do out of love for another an act done for Christ. If we were to keep this thought before us during the day, no task, no job, no act we perform goes unnoticed before God.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer 

Good morning, hope all is well.

The opening lines of our constitution states that we are all created equal and we all have a right to pursue “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

What is it that makes you happy? But remember, what you understand about happiness may not what another understand it to be. We all have our own concept of this thing call happiness. For some it may be having a powerful job in some worldwide business. For another it may be owning their own store. And for others it is making others happy. And the list can go on and on.

The Bulgarian philosopher Peter Deunow tells us this about happiness which we may not have thought of before. I know I haven’t. He says, “If you pursue happiness, you are an ordinary person. If happiness pursues you, you are an extraordinary person. Do not chase happiness; let it chase you.” 

Ah, as it is said, “The devil is in the details “  Each of us have to come up with the concept of what we understand what happiness is. Maybe it might be living our lives to its fullness as we possibly can. 

Let happiness chase you Maybe it has, but we have not recognize it.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the 

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.

Hello to you all. I hope all goes well.

I have often thought that we as believing Christians are asked and challenged to believe in some fantastic things such as angels, souls in heaven, a God who really loves us, His Son who became one of us, suffered and died for us, and rose to new life as proof that we too will one day rise as well. The list goes on and on.

What is the glue that holds all this together? What is that one thing that enables to wake in the morning and say our prayers. Is it because our mothers told us that what good little girls and boys do? Yet we do it. We come together on Sunday to pray with others and receive a little piece of bread and a sip of wine and believe that this is the Body and Blood of the Lord.

That “GLUE” is what we call FAITH. 

C.S. Lewis says to us today, “Faith begins when the soul stops demanding full understanding and learns instead to rest in the character of the faithful God who does not change with our moods and circumstances.”

Belief is something that, so many times, is hard to find. But we still say that we “believe”. We sometimes are like the desperate father whose son was possessed by a demon when Jesus told him that “all things are possible to those who believe.” The desperate father cried out, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.” (Mk 9:23). Is Jesus speaking those words to us today?

Peace and All Good, 

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the 

Franciscan House of Prayer.