St. Jerome

The man single handedly translated a huge amount of the scriptures from Hebrew and Greek into Latin, without computers, typewriters, or even a decent desk lamp. So he was a little cranky! Who wouldn't be. Thank you, Jerome, for all that hard work. Thank you, Lord, for Jerome, and all the rest who work so hard to help us enter Your Word and Your Word enter us. Peace and Good!

Angels

Peace and Good! Today we celebrate Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. St. Francis had a great devotion to St. Michael. Are angels still a part of our lives in the 21st century. I think so. The feast reminds us of two things: we are part of something much bigger than ourselves, and that the service of love is part of the fabric of the universe. The angels we celebrate are always presenting as serving: serving God, and serving us. What an amazing thing, if you think about it. Thank God for angels and flowers and galaxies and rocks. God bless!

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

Peace! First of all, it is Saint Pio, not Saint Padre Pio. Just a semantic preference of mine.
But he is a great saint, and I am proud to be his brother, but ask his assistance. He had the external marks of the crucified Jesus not to make him better but to witness to the world of God's power and the reality of the love shown on the cross. That's not always easy to believe, which is why we are given men and women who are God's mercy writ large. Saint Pio, pray for us!

The Cross, the WTC and Mater Dolorosa

Peace! What connections to make here!
We honor the cross as the instrument of salvation, but have to remember that it originally was a sign of power: human power, coercive power--the Power of Rome to impose her will on the world and punish those who opposed that will. The cross was the call to obedience, but was only transformed by the true obedience of Love of Jesus Christ. And it remains the symbol of the presence of God in the midst of the evil we encounter in this world, and of our call to obey as Jesus did. Thus, the WTC, 9/11, calls us to two things: to believe God is still in a world where such evil (and others, as Darfur) exists, and to respond in obedience to the Gospel message. Someone sent me an email for 9/11 calling us not to forget, and to work so that "those who want to destroy us are...destroyed." Is that the message of the cross? Yet, today's feast of the Sorrowful Mother reminds us that the suffering caused by evil is not forgotten by God, and that the triumph of Good will wipe away all tears. It's not always easy to bring it all together, which is why God gave us Mary as our example. Mater Dolorosa, ora pro nobis!

Peter Claver

Peace! There are friars who worked against the worst of slavery, but I wish the Franciscan response had been stronger. Still, the important thing is to answer the call now. First of all to pray for peace, and to do what we can for it. Ah, but that is the question, and the need for contemplative prayer. God bless!

Labor Day

Pax et Bonum! Francis saw work as a normal part of human life, and so wanted it to be part of the life of the friars...not pretensions to some sort of nobility, even of a religious type! There are, of course, may different types of labor, but all can be directed to the love of God and the love of others if done with love, care, and joy. Not always easy, but Francis said we should do our best and let Jesus fill in what's missing. God bless!