Pope Francis Homily for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

The following comes from Salt and Light:

Pope Francis gives his Homily for Mass on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and 22nd World Day of Consecrated Life. Feb. 2. 2018. Full Text:

Forty days after Christmas, we celebrate the Lord who enters the Temple and comes to encounter his people. In the Christian East, this feast is called the “Feast of Encounter”: it is the encounter between God, who became a child to bring newness to our world, and an expectant humanity, represented by the elderly man and woman in the Temple.

In the Temple, there is also an encounter between two couples: the young Mary and Joseph, and the elderly Simeon and Anna. The old receive from the young, while the young draw upon the old. In the Temple, Mary and Joseph find the roots of their people. This is important, because God’s promise does not come to fulfilment merely in individuals, once for all, but within a community and throughout history. There too, Mary and Joseph find the roots of their faith, for faith is not something learned from a book, but the art of living with God, learned from the experience of those who have gone before us. The two young people, in meeting the two older people, thus find themselves. And the two older people, nearing the end of their days, receive Jesus, the meaning of their lives. This event fulfils the prophecy of Joel: “Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions” (2:28). In this encounter, the young see their mission and the elderly realize their dreams. All because, at the centre of the encounter, is Jesus.

Let us look to our own lives, dear consecrated brothers and sisters. Everything started in an encounter with the Lord. Our journey of consecration was born of an encounter and a call. We need to keep this in mind. And if we remember aright, we will realize that in that encounter we were not alone with Jesus; there was also the people of God, the Church, young and old, just as in today’s Gospel. It is striking too, that while the young Mary and Joseph faithfully observe the Law – the Gospel tells us this four times – and never speak, the elderly Simeon and Anna come running up and prophesy. It seems it should be the other way around. Generally, it is the young who speak enthusiastically about the future, while the elderly protect the past. In the Gospel, the very opposite occurs, because when we meet one another in the Lord, God’s surprises immediately follow.

For this to occur in the consecrated life, we have to remember that we can never renew our encounter with the Lord without others; we can never leave others behind, never pass over generations, but must accompany one another daily, keeping the Lord always at the centre. For if the young are called to open new doors, the elderly have the keys. An institute remains youthful by going back to its roots, by listening to its older members. There is no future without this encounter between the old and the young. There is no growth without roots and no flowering without new buds. There is never prophecy without memory, or memory without prophecy. And constant encounter.

Read the rest here.

Benedict XVI Explains Mother Teresa's Fame

The following comes from Zenit.org:

Why was Mother Teresa so famous? Because she lived for and in the love of God, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope made this reflection during a luncheon that he offered for the poor on Dec. 26 in the Paul VI Hall.

The event was held to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, founder of the Missionaries of Charity. Several members of the congregation from communities around Rome assisted the Pontiff in the luncheon, which was attended by 350 people and 150 religious.

The Holy Father addressed the participants, stating, "To those who ask why Mother Teresa became as famous as she did, the answer is simple: because she lived humbly and discretely for and in the love of God."

"She herself said that her greatest prize was to love Jesus and serve him in the poor," Benedict XVI continued. "Her diminutive figure, her hands joined in prayer or caressing the sick, a leper, the dying, a child, was the visible sign of an existence transformed by God."

He acknowledged that "in the night of human pain she made the light of divine love shine and helped many hearts to find the peace that only God can give."

The Pope affirmed that "Blessed Teresa of Calcutta showed charity to everyone without distinction, but with a preference for the poor and abandoned: a luminous sign of God's paternity and goodness."

Christ's face

He added: "In all people she was able to recognize the face of Christ, whom she loved with her entire being.

"She continued to encounter the Christ she adored and received in the Eucharist in the streets and lanes of the city, becoming a living 'image' of Jesus who pours the grace of merciful love onto man's wounds."

"In Blessed Teresa of Calcutta we all see how our lives can change when we meet Jesus," the Pontiff affirmed, "how they can become a reflection of the light of God for other people."

"Her mission continues through those who, here as elsewhere in the world, live the charism of being missionaries of charity," he added.

The Holy Father expressed gratitude to the religious for their "humble and discreet presence, hidden to the eyes of mankind but extraordinary and precious to the heart of God."

He continued, "Your life witness shows man -- who often searches for illusory happiness -- where true joy is to be found: in sharing, in giving, in loving with the same gratuitousness as God, which breaks all the logic of human selfishness."

Benedict XVI concluded, "Know that the Pope loves you and carries you in his heart, gathering you all together in a paternal embrace."

Blessed Artemide Zatti and Pope Francis

The following comes from the Salesian News Agency:

Fr Juan Edmundo Vecchi, 7th successor of Don Bosco, in his Letter, “The Beatification of Brother Artemides Zatti: a sensational precedent” employed a testimonial by Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio, today Pope Francis, who had occasion to know the new Blessed. We reprint a section from Fr Vecchi's Letter (ACG 376).

It will be worth our while to listen to one who has experienced the efficacious intercession of Artemide Zatti precisely with reference to the vocation of the consecrated layman, and kindly made it a point to tell us of his experience. He is His Eminence Cardinal Giorgio Mario Bergoglio, now Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who was Provincial of the Jesuits at the time of the following testimony. 

I quote from the text of a letter written to Fr Cayetano Bruno SDB, dated: Buenos Aires, 18 May 1986.

“Dear Fr Bruno: Pax Christi! In your letter of 24 February you asked me to write something about my experience with Bro. Zatti (who became a great friend of mine) concerning the vocations of Brother confreres. […]

We had a great dearth of lay confreres.  I take as an example the year 1976, when I first got to know of the life of Bro. Zatti. In that year our youngest lay confrere was aged 35; he was an infirmarian and four years later died of a tumour on the brain. The next youngest was aged 46, and the next after that was 50.  The others were all of venerable age (though many still continued to work as best they could despite their 80 years). This demographic picture of the lay confreres in our Argentine Province led many to think that the situation was irreversible and that there would be no more vocations. Some, in fact, wondered whether the lay confrere had any longer any relevance among the Jesuits, because – looking at the facts – it seemed that he would soon be extinct. Moreover efforts were being made in various places to outline a ‘new image’ of the lay confrere, to see whether by this means a stronger appeal could be made to young men to follow this ideal.

On the other hand the Father General, Fr. Pedro Arrupe S.J., insisted strongly on the need of the vocation of the lay confrere throughout the Society, going so far as to say that the Society would not be the Society at all without lay confreres. The efforts made by Fr Arrupe in this area were great indeed. The crisis was not one of only a few Provinces, but was general throughout the Society (in respect of lay confreres).

In 1976, and about September as far as I recall, during a canonical visitation of the Jesuit mission in northern Argentina, I stayed for a few days at the residence of the Archbishop of Salta. There, as we were chatting together after a meal, Mgr. Pérez told me about the life of Bro. Zatti; he also gave me a biography to read. His example, that of a complete lay religious, made a deep impression on me.  At that moment I felt that I must ask God, through the intercession of that great Brother, to send us some lay vocations for the Jesuits.  I made novenas and got our novices to do the same. […]

At Salta on various occasions I had felt inspired to recommend to Our Lord and Our Lady of Miracles an increase in vocations in the Province (this in general, and not specifically in brother vocations, as I did with Bro. Zatti). Furthermore I made a promise that the novices would make a pilgrimage on the feast of the Lord of Miracles if we reached the number of 35 novices (a number we reached in September 1979).

I come back to the request for lay vocations. In July 1977 the first young brother entered (he was aged 32, as a matter of fact). On 29 October of the same year came the second (he was aged 33)”.

And the letter goes on, detailing year by year a list of 16 other lay-brothers who entered between 1978 and 1986. The letter then continues:

“From the time we began to pray to Bro. Zatti 18 young lay-brothers entered and persevered, with another five who left during the novitiate or juniorate: a total of 23 vocations.

The novices, students and lay-brothers have several times made the Novena in honour of Bro. Zatti, asking for lay vocations.  I myself have done the same. I am convinced of his  prayers and intercession for this intention, because the numbers involved make it a rare case in our Society. As a mark of our gratitude, in the 2nd and 3rd edition of our Booklet of Devotions to the Sacred Heart, we have included a Novena asking for the canonization of Bro. Zatti.

Another interesting point is the quality of those who entered and are persevering. They are young men who want to be the kind of lay-brother that St Ignatius himself wanted, without them having to be spoon-fed.  For us the vocation of the lay-brother is very important.  Fr Arrupe used to say that without them the Society would not be what it is meant to be. They have a special charisma which is nourished by prayer and work. And they are a benefit for the whole body of the Society.  […] They are hard workers, pious, happy and level-headed, of manly bearing and well aware of the vocation to which they have been called. They feel a special responsibility to pray for the young Jesuit students who are preparing for the priesthood. They display no inferiority complex for the fact that they are not priests, nor do they have any idea of applying to become deacons, etc.; they know what their vocation is and that is how they want it to be. This is helpful, and a very good thing.

These have been the general lines of my relationship with Bro. Zatti on the question of Lay-brothers for the Society.  I repeat that I am convinced of his intercession, because we have prayed so much through him as our advocate.

And that is all for the moment.

Affectionately in the Lord and his Most Holy Mother,

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J.”

This is a wonderful stimulus for us too to ask for the intercession of Artemide Zatti for an increase in good and holy vocations of Salesian Brothers.

Pope Francis With Priests, Religious and Seminarians in Cuba

Prayer and the Taizé Community

Pope Francis: Consecrated Life Requires Sacrifice

(CNA/EWTN News) Pope Francis warned consecrated men and women against reducing their religious live to a “caricature,” calling them to instead embrace a life of obedience, which in turn leads to wisdom.

This was the central theme of the Pope's homily for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on Feb. 2, which coincides with the World Day for Consecrated Life.

Addressing the congregation gathered in Saint Peter's Basilica on Monday evening, the Holy Father reflected on the Gospel account of Mary and Joseph presenting the Child Jesus in the temple.

Pope Francis described Mary’s arms as the “ladder of God’s condescension” upon which the Son of God “descended” becoming like us, “in order to ascend with us to the Father, making us like himself”, according to Vatican Radio’s translation.

Recalling the image of Mary entering the Temple with the Child Jesus, the Holy Father observed that “the Mother walks, yet it is the Child who goes before her.  She carries him, yet he is leading her along the path of the God who comes to us so that we might go to him.”

“For us too, as consecrated men and women,” the Pope continued, Jesus “opened a path.”

Throughout his homily, Pope Francis emphasized the theme of obedience which reoccurs in the Gospel, and its significance for consecrated men and women.

“Jesus came not to do his own will, but the will of the Father”, he said. “In the same way, all those who follow Jesus must set out on the path of obedience, imitating as it were the Lord’s ‘condescension’ by humbling themselves and making their own the will of the Father, even to self-emptying and abasement” (cf. Phil 2:7-8).

Progress for a religious person means following the path of Jesus who “did not count equality with God something to be grasped”, the Holy Father continued: “to lower oneself, making oneself a servant, in order to serve.”

This path, which “takes the form of the rule” is “marked by the charism of the founder”, he said. “This path, then, takes the form of the rule, marked by the charism of the founder.”

“For all of us, the essential rule remains the Gospel, this abasement of Christ, yet the Holy Spirit, in his infinite creativity, also gives it expression in the various rules of the consecrated life, though all of these are born of that sequela Christi, from this path of self-abasement in service.”

The wisdom which consecrated persons attain through the law is “not an abstract attitude, but a work and a gift of the Holy Spirit, the sign and proof of which is joy.”

Turning to the Gospel account of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, Pope Francis said that this “wisdom is represented by two elderly persons, Simeon and Anna: persons docile to the Holy Spirit.”

Their wisdom, the Pope continued, was “the fruit of a long journey along the path of obedience to his law, an obedience which likewise humbles and abases – even as it also guards and guarantees hope – and now they are creative, for they are filled with the Holy Spirit.”

“The Lord turns obedience into wisdom by the working of his Holy Spirit,” he continued. 

Read the rest here.

Modern-Day Hermits: Answering the Call to Solitude, Prayer

The following comes from The Catholic World Report: 

When Sister Mary Diana, 83, of Springfield, Oregon, became a consecrated hermit almost 40 years ago, she was among the first in the US. “There were some, but not like what you’ve got now,” said Sister Mary Diana, who lives with Sister Mary Magdalene, 89, who was also among the country’s first hermits.

If the ease with which hermits and hermitages can be found on the Internet is any indication, more and more people are discerning the call to a life of prayer and solitude with God.

To what does Sister Mary Diana attribute the increase in hermitic vocations? “Let’s hope it is out of pure love of God, and wanting to spend time with him every day of your life.”

One reason for an increase in the hermitic life is the fact that when Canon 603 was promulgated in 1984, it allowed bishops to accept within their own dioceses hermits who were not affiliated with religious orders.

Canon law allows men and women like Maria, who is now in her 60s and who spent the better part of her adult life raising children, the opportunity to discern whether they have a call to the hermitic life.

It was disappointing to Maria to learn that most Catholic women’s religious orders would not accept her because of her age. Becoming a hermit, however, will give her the chance to partake in the religious life.

Maria, who lives on the Gulf Coast, thinks the increase in hermits may also be a sign of the times. “The call was answered in the early Church when there was heresy and persecution,” she said. “The world had become so wicked; people could not exist in it anymore.”

She said it may also be indicative of the loss of religious orders. “Maybe the Holy Spirit is renewing the hermitic life to bring back the orders we need.”

Sister Mary Diana agreed that some may be turning to the hermitic life because of the culture’s moral decay. “You cannot do anything politically because the cards are stacked against you,” she said, but added that prayer, on the other hand, is always a good option, because it is always successful.

Is the hermitic life lonely?

Although it would be easy to imagine the hermitic life as a lonely one, Sister Mary Diana cheerfully dispels that idea. “How could you ever get lonely in the Lord’s presence?” she asks.

The sisters, who attend a Byzantine Catholic parish, have no structured schedule at all—which is a common feature of Eastern Catholic hermits—but pray and stay close to the Lord at all times. The Lord, however, brings people to them, according to Sister Mary Diana.  She described one day in which she and Sister Mary Magdalene had a strong desire to pray.  Soon after they began praying, a man showed up at the door and became part of their prayer. This person was going through a difficult time, so the sisters stopped what they were doing and ministered to him.

Several years earlier, after they built their first hermitage in another area of Oregon, the sisters offered a cabin for retreats to anyone who wanted to spend time alone in nature with God. “There was no advertising, but people found us,” said Sister Mary Diana. “It became a steady stream of them. We didn’t charge anything. Whatever they wanted to give was up to them.”

When it comes to communicating with people, however, the sisters partake of very little in the way of technology. The only reason they have a phone is because Sister Mary Magdalene has serious health issues. “No radio, TV, newspapers,” said Sister Mary Diana.  “I hear kids talking about iPads and Google. I don’t know what they are and have no wish to know what they are.”

Brother Martin, of the Hermits of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel in Christoval, Texas, said that although he does get lonely sometimes, “There are probably people in cities who rub elbows with people every day, and they are intensely lonely.” He added that being in a location where God is placed first and the fact that he has hermit brothers around keep things from being completely solitary.

The brothers have become like a family to him.

The hermitic life and the call to evangelize

A hermit in prayer. (Photo: Hermits of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel)

In living the life of a hermit, Brother Martin said he imitates Christ.  “In the hermitic life one retreats from the world, much like Christ did when he went off for 40 days in the desert to pray or when he went to lonely places to pray,” he said. 

Some may wonder how the solitary life fits in with the call to evangelize. “Believe it or not,” said Brother Martin, “Protestants seem to identify more with what we do—intercessory prayer. We get a lot of Protestant visitors. They see it in the element of the praying Church. When people come they are evangelized by the place. When people come, they experience the beauty of nature, and Christian art.”

“Protestants seem to understand [the hermitic life] better than most Catholics,” he said. “When [Catholics] see monks, they think we don’t do anything for anybody, but when a person does a good thing, it affects everybody. It’s the Communion of Saints.”

Maria also said that a big part of the hermitic life is praying for the souls of others. “The deeper into Christ’s heart you go, the more elevated you become. It’s like being on a mountaintop, and you can see the whole world writhing in sin, and you feel sorry for the world, and pray for the world.”

As part of their vocation, the brother hermits also make time for guests to the hermitage. “Brothers take turns interacting with visitors,” said Brother Martin. “We show them around. We try to be friends with people.”

In many ways, the hermitage sounds similar to a traditional religious monastery. The difference, however, is that in a hermitage, the hermits live in separate dwellings, and pray some of their prayers privately.

To support themselves, the brother hermits make different kinds of bread, as well as jellies, apple butter, and chocolate fudge. The hermit brothers take the money and divide it by 12—that is their yearly budget.  People also donate, and help with the construction of the hermitage.

People buy the hermits’ wares from their website, through the catalog the hermit monks produce, or at the hermitage gift shop.  Some of the hermits go to a particular location to sell wares.

The hermits must stick to a strict schedule, and, according to Brother Martin Mary, it is physically demanding.  The hermits rise at 3:30 am each day, and when they are not using that time to pray, they are taking care of the large hermitage, gardening, caring for the goats and chickens, tending the grounds, and digging ditches.  There is time allotted for a siesta during the day, but he said that many times they do not end up getting around to it. Bedtime for the hermits is 8:30 pm, if the work for the day has been completed.

Brother Martin Mary said what visitors find most surprising about life in the hermitage is the schedule.  He said it brings a lot of peace to him and the other brothers. “We’re happy and we are fulfilled [through] surrendering of self-will and obedience,” he explained.

Although Maria is discerning whether she has a call to the hermitic life, she, like Brother Martin, sticks to a strict schedule called an horarium. Some of her daily activities include prayer, daily Mass, lectio divina, meditations, study, physical exercise, household chores, and gardening. “It’s a very intensely busy life,” she said. “But it is all centered in silence and solitude, so you grow to the point where you can hear and discern God’s word.”

When it comes to technology, Brother Martin and the other hermits, like Sisters Mary Diana and Mary Magdalene, have no access to radio, TV, or newspapers. However, since the brothers sell their homemade goods online, they must have access the Internet in order to maintain the website and keep up with sales. During those moments, a hermit brother is not allowed to access the Internet himself, but must do it with his superior present or in union with everyone else.

“That way, we don’t get into any trouble,” said Brother Martin Mary.

The brothers’ superior keeps abreast of current events, and informs the other hermit monks of any life-threatening weather situations or major news events. For example, on 9/11 Brother Martin Mary’s superior showed him and the other hermit monks pictures of what occurred on the computer.

Maria, who has not taken any private or public vows, still has access to a cell phone and the Internet, but may have to give those up at some point if she decides to pursue the hermitic life.

Recognizing the call

Prior to becoming a hermit, Sister Mary Diana was a cloistered Dominican nun for 20 years, which she describes as a beautiful vocation. Like Mother Teresa, though, she says she experienced a “call within a call,” in which she discerned she was being called to life as a hermit.

“A seed was planted when I was in the monastery,” she said.

Sister Mary Diana said that although there was not much resistance from her superior and the other nuns at the Dominican monastery when she revealed she was being called to the hermitic life, there was a little misunderstanding at first.  “They felt they werecontemplative,” she said. “But then they understood.”

Brother Martin Mary, who has been a hermit for 12 years, said, “I felt like [the calling] was deep inside me, looking for a life of prayer…believing that it was a way of life. Prayer was something that was helpful to me a lot. I was growing through prayer. I realized that it was the road I need to continue on for the rest of my life.”

Brother Martin Mary was raised Catholic, going to Mass on Sundays.  When he went to college, however, he quit going to Mass.

Through the influence and intercession of his mother, who had left the faith and then returned herself, he started practicing his faith again.

When he made the decision to become a hermit, he met some resistance from his family.  “I am an only child, and to think about a celibate vocation cancels out grandchildren for my parents—that was already hard enough to take,” said Brother Martin Mary.

For his dad, the disappointment also extended to Brother Martin Mary’s abandoned career choice. “In college, I was on my way to med school,” he said. “I had taken the MCAT, started on applications. It was hard to swallow for my dad. I had gone from being a doctor to a shaky idea [of being a hermit.].”

“What was sure for me was if I went to med school, it would be another eight years, 24 hours a day—I wouldn’t have the time to pray a rosary, go to Mass,” he said. “I was seeing that as a reality. If I go down this route, I could lose my vocation.”

He said it was also hard for his mom to give him up.  He said the fact that his mom was such a woman of prayer, she was able to overcome that. His father did as well, eventually.

In 1996, Maria started saying the Divine Office, and the more she said the Office, the more she started to hunger for a religious order. “I approached a number of them, and I was told I was too old,” she said.

Maria also had several impediments, though: a minor child, duties to family, and student loan debt.

“I joined an email list in order to find out about vocations for older women,” she said. She was reading posts about religious orders when she came across a post in which someone identified himself as “semi-hermitical.” She did not know what that meant, so she contacted the author of the post, who turned out to be a superior over hermit monks.  His order had no corresponding women’s order. “It was kind of an eye-opener, that such a life existed,” she said.  From there, she went on a quest, reading everything she could about hermits.

As soon as her impediments were taken care of, she sought an orthodox spiritual director.

Maria grew up as a fundamentalist Christian in heavily Catholic St. Louis, Missouri, where she regularly saw nuns and priests. She converted to the Catholic Church in 1992 after being vehemently anti-Catholic most of her life. Before her conversion, she said, she faced an interior struggle. “I could see this beauty inside the Church, and would be attracted to it, and think I was going to Hell for it.”

“In the ’70s, I became very ill, and on many occasions, the Blessed Mother actually came to me in various ways, and brought me comfort,” said Maria. “At that point, I dropped the anti-Catholicism…I stopped hating the Catholic Church.”

How does one know he or she is on the right path? Maria said for her, it was after years of study, years of saying the Divine Office, and spiritual direction.

If you think you may have a calling to the hermitic life, Maria said, “Don’t give up. Read everything you can.” She said books such as Poustinia by Catherine Doherty and the early works of Thomas Merton have really helped her in the discernment process.

According to Maria, there is a lot of prejudice against the hermitic life. “Most people don’t realize it exists,” and then there are others who “probably have a negative, knee-jerk response to it.”

“My goal is to discern, step by step with my spiritual director, what God wants,” said Maria.

A Time of Grace: the Year of Consecrated Life

The following comes from the Salesian News Agency:

The Year of Consecrated Life will begin tomorrow, Saturday 29 November, the eve of the first Sunday of Advent and the beginning of the new liturgical year. It will end on 2 February 2016, World Day of Consecrated Life. One year ago, on 29 November 2013, when he announced the holding of this special year, speaking to the Superiors General of institutes of men, Pope Francis said about consecrated persons, "They are men and women who can wake up the world."

The Year of Consecrated Life coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium and the Decree Perfectae Caritatis.  For the Salesian Congregation it has an additional value since it coincides largely with the Bicentenary of the Birth of Don Bosco.

The opening ceremonies will begin tomorrow, Saturday 29 November with a prayer vigil in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major at 7.00 p.m. Italian time, and will continue with the celebration of the Eucharist at 10.00 a.m. on Sunday 30 November in Saint Peter’s Basilica.

Both celebrations will have a strongly Marian character. The Mother of God is the model and patron of consecrated life in its various forms (religious Institutes, Secular Institutes, Ordo Virginum, societies of apostolic life, new institutes). “In Mary the Church is all who journey together: in the love of those who go out to the most fragile; in the hope of those who know that they will be accompanied in their going out and in the faith of those who have a special gift to share. In Mary each one of us, driven by the wind of the Spirit, fulfils our own vocation to move out!" (CIVCSVA, Rejoice, 13).

The two celebrations will take place in the heart of Rome, in communion with all the dioceses of the world, where there will be prayer meetings to implore the grace of the Holy Spirit who gives life and renews the Church.

Nuns in Exile

The following comes from the DW site:

In the early 1950s, the communist regime in Czechoslovakia removed hundreds of Roman Catholic nuns from their convents and sent them to the village of Bílá Voda. For decades they could only practice their religion in secret. Twenty-five years after the "velvet revolution," the village of Bílá Voda has decided to address the legacy of the past.

Light of Love

Light of Love from Imagine Sisters on Vimeo.

Download the Study Guides: imaginesisters.org/filmguide

Presented by Lighthouse Catholic Media and Imagine Sisters, in association with the Institute on Religious Life, Our Lady's Rosary Makers, and the Laboure Society. Created by Lumen Vere Media and Altius Studies. Please thank them for their incredible support!

This film is free to view, download, and distribute thanks to our generous sponsors. Please share what you have seen on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media source!

Did you find this film helpful? If so, please consider making a tax deductible donation so we can continue to produce material like this: imaginesisters.org/support-imagine-sisters/

Have questions about this film? Please view our FAQ: imaginesisters.org/lightoflovefaq/
For more information about sisters and the vocation to consecrated life: imaginesisters.org

Father Benedict Groeschel: ‘A Heart for the Poor’

The following comes from the NCR:

“St. Vincent de Paul said: If you love the poor, your life will be filled with sunlight, and you will not be frightened at the hour of death,” Father Benedict Joseph Groeschel, a founder of the Community of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, once wrote. “I wish to witness that this is true.”

Those words encapsulated the remarkable priestly ministry of Father Groeschel. He lived and worked in a small converted garage, even as he maintained a tireless pace as a popular preacher, counselor and author who expressed himself with the accent and edgy humor of a New Jersey native.

Now, following his death at the age of 81 on Oct. 3, the vigil of the feast of his patron, St. Francis, those same words sustain his community and the many souls he touched in his rich and fruitful life.

“He had a heart for the poor. While he was brilliant, wrote 46 books and was on television, his love for the poor kept him rooted,” Father Glenn Sudano, a co-founder of the Franciscan Friars, told the Register, expressing both sadness at his friend’s death and “gratitude for his life.”

“If there is anything he would want to go with him to heaven, it is that he served Jesus in the poor.”

Father Groeschel died after an extended illness. He had worked primarily in the New York area, serving as the first superior of the Friars of the Renewal after their founding in 1987, and also as the long-time director of the Office for Spiritual Development of the Archdiocese of New York, among other duties. 

He also was the author of many popular books, including Spiritual Passages: The Psychology of Spiritual Development and Arise From Darkness: What to Do When Life Doesn't Make Sense.

Iconic Presence on EWTN

But he drew greatest national and international attention through his work with the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), hosting a live weekly show beginning in the 1980s, and often appearing on the network.

Michael Warsaw, the chairman and chief executive officer of ETWN, expressed sadness at the news of Father Groeschel’s death, remarking on the decisive role he played as a presence on the network, and as a supporter, during the rocky early days of EWTN. 

“Like Mother Angelica herself, Father Benedict was an iconic presence on EWTN. His gray beard and Franciscan habit were known to network viewers around the world and he had a profound impact on the lives of countless individuals who knew him only through his television and radio presence,” said Warsaw, who is also the Register’s publisher.

“In many of the most difficult days in the history of EWTN, Father Benedict was a strong and vocal supporter of Mother Angelica.”

Doug Keck, EWTN’s president and chief operating officer, worked with Father Groeschel for many years and attested to the priest’s influence. “He contributed the deep wisdom of Catholic spirituality and the ability, similar to Mother Angelica, to reach people where they were hurting,” Keck told the Register.

“Our audience loved him: He had the likability factor. But he was a man on a mission: He stood up for the truth of the faith when others didn’t, but he taught the truth in love.”

EWTN’s chaplain, Father Joseph Mary Wolfe of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word, who first met Father Groeschel more than 25 years ago, said the priest served as a model for his own vocation and was “a father to our community at the beginning of our community’s life.”

“When he began visiting EWTN in the 1980s, I was usually his chauffeur, and it was a workout to keep up with him, even in his 70s,” Father Wolfe told the Register.

“He would do his series and then visit or counsel people. He didn’t sleep much; he spent himself for others. He was and remains a model for me of sacrificial generosity.”

Drawn to the Priestly Life

Born in Jersey City, N.J., in 1933, the future Franciscan priest attended Catholic elementary and high school, before he entered the province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order in Huntington, Ind., in 1951. He was ordained in 1959.

In one of his many humorous stories told in books and public forums, he recalled the first time he was drawn to the priestly life and to service of the poor.

As a young child, he said he saw a nun bringing food every day to a poor widow. He followed the nun, and looked in the window to see a woman, who looked like a witch in a fairy tale. Frightened, he ran away to church, but he realized that he wanted to do the same. 

After ordination, Father Groeschel’s first priestly assignment was to serve as the interim Catholic chaplain at Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. His service to troubled children placed in the residential program led him to pursue graduate studies in psychology. But he sought to combine his chosen discipline with a distinctively Christian compassion for those in need.

In 1967, he opened St. Francis House in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, as a new residential program designed to help adolescent boys prepare for a successful adult life. He was inspired to do so when two boys from the Children’s Village had no place to live. After struggling to find a suitable location, he found the right building on his birthday. 

Joseph Campo, the longtime director of St. Francis, recalled the priest’s great love for the boys in the program, and said that he “naturally saw the good in people” and they responded to that. 

In 1970, he received his doctorate in psychology at Columbia University, and would teach pastoral psychology for almost 40 years at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers. 

Trinity Retreat House

In 1973, Cardinal Terence Cooke of New York appointed him the founding director of Trinity Retreat house in Larchmont, N.Y. At the facility on the shores of Long Island Sound, he provided a respite for priests and religious.

There, Father Groeschel counseled priests thinking about leaving their vocation, and others struggling with addiction or depression. 

Trinity Retreat became a hub for a range of Catholic leaders and groups who sought the priest’s counsel.

Sister of Life Mother Agnes Mary Donovan remembers visiting Trinity at the invitation of Father Groeschel, two months after the Sisters of Life was founded in 1991. 

“He took us on a hike on the shore of Long Island Sound. When we got to the end of the trail, he pulled me over, and said, ‘Sister, this will be a difficult undertaking, but I will be there for you,’” Mother Agnes told the Register.

“It turned out that whether it was 10pm or 4am, I could call Father to find help for a sister in distress or a troubling situation — apostolically or for the community. He always answered the phone and followed up.”

Looking back, the superior general of the Sisters of Life said the priest played a decisive role in the survival and success of her order, which has thrived over the past two decades, drawing many vocations to advance its apostolate.

“It was in no small part thanks to his wisdom that we are still here,” she said. “The friars are very close to us. We are often serving the same people, and they will provide for sacramental needs of women we are serving, or those who come on our retreats. They are a vital part of our ministry.”

Inspiration in a Time of Confusion

In 1974, Cardinal Cooke asked him to direct the Office of Spiritual Development for the archdiocese, and he attended to a range of education forums, including weekly afternoons of recollection, which were designed to revive and inspire the faith of Catholics in a time of confusion and uncertainty.

During the turbulent years in the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council, Father Groeschel was troubled by some of the policies and practices of his Capuchin province, and disturbed by what he viewed as a piecemeal approach to the faith that lacked a deeper prophetic witness.

The example of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta inspired his spiritual path, stirring a deep desire to be closer to the poor. And as he saw young women flock to her order, he concluded that young Catholics were yearning to embrace a life of distinctive sacrificial witness to Christ’s love for the poor.

“An invitation to conduct a retreat for the Missionaries of Charity in India was the beginning of Father Groeschel’s long relationship with that community and his deep friendship with its founder,” noted the official obituary of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. 

In March 1987, he met with seven other Capuchin Franciscan friars and with their agreement asked Cardinal John O’Connor for permission to establish the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and the New York archbishop approved that request. Later, he was elected the order’s first community servant.

Father Sudano was part of the small group of Capuchins who began the renewal in spring of 1987, and he still can recall the first time he heard Father Groeschel preach in the 1970s.

“Storms were brewing, and the barque of Peter was taking a lot of water. He would speak candidly about the need for renewal in the Church and for personal renewal, but with a tremendous humility, focus and verve,” recalled Father Sudano. “It was the Catholic faith in its fullness, there was nothing provincial or marginal in his approach.”

A Radical Witness

Father Andrew Apostoli, another of the co-founders, recalled that Father Groeschel “had courage and deep concern for the Franciscan way of life.”

In the mid-1980s, Father Apostoli said, Father Groeschel saw religious communities “weakening because they had lost their way in the spiritual journey by adapting many secular ways and values.” He knew that “when we began the community he would be criticized, but he still went forward with what he truly believed God was calling him to.”

Father Sudano said the eight Capuchins who ultimately founded the Friars of the Renewal had not intended to leave the Capuchins. 

“Our desire was to be a reform group within the order. After three years of fraternal dialogue, it became evident that the province didn’t know what to do with us.”

As the group considered their next step, Father Groeschel pointed to “a small group of third order Franciscans living in the South Bronx in a radical way,” recalled Father Sudano. “He told me, ‘We should do something like that.’”

Today, there are 115 brothers and priests in the Friars of the Renewal, and 31 sisters of the Community of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal.

“We have 15 friaries. There are two houses in England, two in Ireland, two in Central America and seven in the U.S., in New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Texas,” said Father Sudano.

The friars are quite active in the New York area, especially the South Bronx where they work extensively with the poor in various ways, running two homeless shelters for men, one for men actively working for healing and recovery; a food pantry; a neighborhood youth outreach started by Father Groeschel to help youth learn their Catholic faith; a free medical clinic; weekly lunch in Harlem; and in Yonkers an outreach to the Latino community.

The friars also conduct prayer vigils at abortion businesses and sponsor evenings of music, prayer and fellowship for young adults.

Sister Lucille Cutrone, who serves as superior of the Community of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal, told the Register that her community could not have been formed “without the gifts of Father Benedict’s vision. His heart was very much like St. Francis: he loved God, he loved the Church, he loved religious life and he loved the poor.”

Said Sister Lucille, “I’ll never forget one of our first Christmas celebrations at our shelter in the South Bronx. We were very few then, just a few friars and sisters and the homeless men. Father Benedict was singing Christmas carols with them and joyfully handing out the most beautiful gifts to the men who were so deeply moved.

“They didn’t expect to receive anything and there was Father Benedict, making them feel like they were the most important people in the world. And they were.”

Near-Fatal Car Accident

On Jan. 11, 2004, Father Groeschel was hit by a car, in a near-fatal accident that shattered his left arm and put him in a coma for days. The accident left him in a permanently weakened condition, but after an extended recovery, he returned to his work.

Campo from St. Francis House remembers visiting his friend in the hospital after the accident.

“He couldn’t speak much, but I was holding his hand and talking to him. He could see I was crying. 

“When it was time to leave, I looked at him. He turned and looked at me and managed to say, ‘Joe, coraggio, — courage in English,” said Campo.

  

“He is the one we thought was dying and he told me to have courage. And you know what, I did after that.”

In 2012, Father Groeschel retired from public life, following a minor stroke, and was welcomed by the Little Sisters of the Poor in Totowa, N.J. 

In September of that year, Father Groeschel stepped down as host of EWTN’s Sunday Night Prime, after he made statements in the Register suggesting that a minor is “the seducer” in “a lot” of sexual abuse cases, and that many abusers on their first offense should not go to jail “because their intention was not committing a crime.”

He subsequently apologized for the comments, as did his religious community, the Register and EWTN, who stressed that the priest’s physical health and mental clarity were both declining, noting that these comments did not reflect his life’s work.

Father Groeschel’s death on Oct. 3 came in the wake of a recent fall that affected the same arm that had been shattered after he was hit by the car. 

His physicians believed he was too weak for surgery and sent him home.

Following St. Francis

Father Groeschel’s death occurred as his community celebrated the vigil of the feast of St. Francis, founder of the Franciscans, whose feast day is Oct. 4.

Father Apostoli noted that Father Groeschel died late in the evening of Oct. 3, the same date St. Francis died during vespers.

“I see it as a blessing that he died on the feast of St. Francis to whom he was so dedicated,” he said. “After all, through his leadership and under his guidance a new Franciscan family came into existence — the Community of Friars of the Renewal.”

Details for Father Groeschel’s wake and funeral will be forthcoming.

“He poured himself out for others no matter what the cost — and sometimes the cost to him was very great,” said the Community of the Friars of the Renewal in a statement.

“To have known him was to have been helped by him and even loved by him.”