NewsNotes: January 25, 2024

What is Tommy Piolata Looking For?

Our brother Tommy Piolata published a reflective article in the January edition of First Things magazine. Entitled, YouTube and the Yearning for God, he sorts out (and helps us sort out): what are we looking for?

   Confession: Last year, just before Lent, I was hijacked by YouTube.

   I started watching YouTube “shorts” — videos lasting no more than 60 seconds. One after the other, I watched them. Mind-numbing, at best. Eventually, I snapped out of the seeming hypnosis. I felt strange, disappointed, even guilty. No longer in the narcotic quicksand, I finally regained consciousness, some sense of “self” and “being."

   . . . What was I looking for? Nothing in particular, except for perhaps some mindless entertainment. Yet the algorithm caught me, enticed me to keep “looking.” Reflecting on this experience has led me to wonder what the “conveyer belt” might be doing to younger generations growing up with screens in hand, swayed by artificial images, beguiled by questionable social media “influencers,” and bombarded by publicity, short videos, and half-baked information. What does the hijacking do?

Meanwhile, in the midst of doing his work for the double doctorates at England's University of Durham  and Rome's Antonianum, Tommy's engaged in preparing for a workshop coming up in March, sponsored by Durham.

The Franciscan Tradition: Retrieval and Innovation

   2023 marks two significant Franciscan anniversaries – the 800th anniversary of the inauguration of the Regula Bullata (the Rule of St Francis properly so-called) and the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the English Capuchin province – while 2024 will see several others, including the 800-year anniversaries of St Francis receiving the stigmata and the first Franciscans’ arrival in England, and the 750th anniversary of the death of St Bonaventure.  The aim of this conference is to explore the riches and diversity of the Franciscan tradition in both theological and historical terms, and its significance for the world today.

Our Province is one of the Symposium Sponsors, along with the Provinces of Australia and Ireland/Great Britain.

Speakers will include our Franciscan friends Margaret Carney, OSF, Mary Beth Ingham, CSJ, and William Short, OFM. You can see the draft program here which includes a scheduled presentation from Tommy in the afternoon session of Tuesday, March 23:  Bonaventure on the Circularity of Divine Life and the Procession of the Holy Spirit.

Chinatown's Weddings Galore

Tom Betz reported on quite the wedding ceremony at Philly's Holy Redeemer Church on New Year’s Day 2024.

20 couples were married! For some it was their first time to wed.  Most couples, however, had been married in China but had not celebrated their marriage in the Catholic Church.  The bridal procession began a procession of 20 flower girls and ring bearers, all dressed in 100% identical outfits. They were followed by 20 brides and grooms in white bridal gowns and dark suits for the men. The church was over-filled with brides and grooms,  their families and church members.The ceremony was in the context of a Catholic Mass. The couples all pledged their lives and their love in the house of God, and they asked God to bless their futures. Father Joseph Jin, Chinese pastor at Holy Redeemer, presided.  Tom, as Holy Redeemer’s chief pastor, assisted him at the Mass.

After the ceremony, the couples and their families enjoyed a wedding banquet at Ocean City Restaurant.

Each of the couples received a certificate of Papal Blessing - the grand work of the planners for the event. As Tom wrote: "It was a BIG deal at our parish, and the people worked hard. I found out how to do it and entrusted it to them, and they did it -- to my surprise and delight."

And the weddings made front page news in the community's Metro Chinese Weekly.

An OFM Ordination in PNG: Kill the Pig!

Thanks once again to our confrere Tage Danielson who reported on his January excursion to celebrate a friar's ordination to the priesthood:

   On Wednesday, January 10, the friars of Madang traveled to St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish in Ulingan, about an hour and a half drive north from our friaries, for the priestly ordination of Franciscan friar Walter Kalana, OFM (right, before the ordination). He was ordained a priest by our brother bishop Don Lippert.

   The Mass took place outdoors, with the sanctuary under cover of a permanent shelter, and many temporary shelters were constructed to protect the hundreds of people who attended the Mass from the hot sun. Nearly 30 priests concelebrated. In attendance were many Franciscan Friars, Franciscan Sisters, Holy Spirit Sisters and more. Busloads of people traveled to the coast from Mendi to witness the occasion, as Br. Walter completed his diaconate year serving with our confrere Sunny Manjakunnel at Mendi's Cathedral.

 

   It was a joyous affair with vibrant singing and dancing, and a nice lunch afterwards. After lunch, people presented gifts to Bishop Don, including a live pig, which he gifted to the friars in Madang. We transported the pig in the back of the truck home to Padre Pio. That night, Paul Mombea, Lucas Tamshong and Ben Barag went to work, and the pig is now in the freezers.

 

   Walter is a happy priest, and it was a wonderful day to be there to support him and to see the Franciscans of various congregations come together in prayer. The Church is alive in PNG! Deo gratias!

And thanks be to you, too, Tage!

(R) Victor John, OFM, after the Mass. He's a new missionary in PNG from Pakistan. Tage and he were together in the Phillippines last year for a mission course.

The Ordination site: Notice the shelters! The big sign is in front of the permanent shelter.

The pig . . .

Handing on the Word of God in DC

Our brothers Sam Roberts, Kevin Campos, Tim Rubeling, Joseph Liu and Phil Paulson (seen here with guardian Brian Stacy and our Provincial Minister) were commissioned for the Ministry of Lector during Mass at Cap College on Tuesday, January 16th at Cap College in DC. They each received a customary book of Scripture as a charge to proclaim the Word of God through their work in the community and through the celebration of Mass and other liturgical rites.

Take this book of Holy Scripture and be faithful in handing on the Word of God,
so that it may grow strong in the hearts of his people.

Who knew?
New Baltimore Had a "First Big Snow"?

Mark Pattock shared photos on his personal Facebook page of New Baltimore's "first big snow" of January 6th and followed a few weeks later with the "cold, snowy, wintery, blustery morning" of Sunday morning, January 21st . . .

But to warm our hearts, fortunately, he had a nice shot of his Christmas sanctuary before winter got too serious . . . 

Potpourri

There were fellow Capuchins who attended the SEEK24 conference in St. Louis, MO, from January 1-5, 2024. The conference, it was written, drew close to 20,000 young Catholics to the metro area. Our Sunday Visitor reported that "the Archdiocese of Baltimore had one of the largest groups attending with more than 200 students making the trip." In reference to St. John Paul II’s 1999 visit to St. Louis, this year’s SEEK conference took up the theme, “Be the light.”

John Zimmer, FOCUS vice president of apostolic development, said that "our annual SEEK conference, held during the Christmas season, is a time for us to show our gratitude to God for sending His Son to save us from our sins.”

Though photos posted here were found on the website of the St. Mary Province, I think I recognized that some of our own brothers were there, too! The friars wrote, "This conference gathers thousands of young people of faith from all around the country for a time of prayer, presentations and talks, and entertainment, and is always a wonderful opportunity for these young people to encounter the Lord."  

And, they offered this photo and caption:  If you can't tell, the friars had a great time talking and praying with those who stopped by our booth!

Our brothers of the Custody of St. John the Baptist in Puerto Rico were on their annual fraternal retreat the week of January 8 . . .

. . . and the parish of San Francisco in San Juan has begun their campaign for a major restoration of the church. David Maldonado serves as pastor there.

Pittsburgh's Port held their first Portrait Drawing event of 2024 on Saturday, January 20th (and I'm still trying to figure out what that head is doing beside the designated model? Is it a cheat sheet?) . . . .

We never reported that the Province of Australia elected new leadership back in November, though you may have read about it in BICI. Robert Stewart, former Director of Novices in Santa Ynez, CA, was elected the new Provincial Minister, and his vicar is former two-term Provincial Gary Devery. Ben Johnson, Thomas McFadden and Eldridge D'Souza round out the Council.

And here is the Province photo taken at that Chapter . . .

Pablo Lopez visited his family in Pageland, South Carolina, during his Christmas break. He was able to spend a week with them, and Pablo shared these lovely remembrances of his time with them on his Facebook page. In the photo are his mom, Maria Concepción, and his dad Jorge. His younger sister, Valeria, was also in the shots along with her son, Pablo's six-year-old nephew, Julian.

Have you looked at our General Curia site in these months?  The banner photo on the homepage included a few familiar faces in the collection of friars . . . .

Another Year, Another Centenary

On Friday, January 5, 2024, at La Verna in the Tuscan province of Italy, the opening celebration of the eighth centenary of the Stigmata of St. Francis (1224-2024) was held, similar to the events of last year for the crib at Greccio. All the General Ministers were there (Massimo Fusarelli, OFM; Roberto Genuin, OFM Cap.; Carlos Trovarelli, OFM Conv.; Amando Trujillo Cano, TOR) along with Secular Franciscan Minister, Tibor Kauser, OFS, and Frances Marie Duncan, OSF, President of the International Franciscan Conference of the Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order Regular -- along with numerous friars, Sisters and laity of the Franciscan Family.

Throughout the year 2024, the Franciscan world is celebrating the 800th anniversary of the Stigmata, and TOR Franciscan schools in the USA (the University of Steubenville and St. Francis University, Loreto, PA) are planning an academic  convocation in September to mark this event:

While still in the planning stages, the website calls for the submission of  paper proposals on various topics relating to Francis' mystical experience. You might want to mark your calendar . . . .