December 2004___________________________

May the Lord give you His peace! For all of you who have been trying to reach me via telephone, thank you for your patience! We are working on a solution to help you contact me. I am often told that the vocation phone number is always busy during my scheduled phone times. Keep trying! DO NOT take the busy signal as some sign from God that we were not meant to connect!! We are literally flooded with inquiries which is a great problem to have. Once a year, we friars go on a personal solitude retreat. I will be on my retreat from Dec. 5-12, therefore, I will not be available on the phone during these dates. Please pray for me as I will be for you! I will be on retreat at my favorite retreat spot, the Maronite Monks. Dec. 4th will be the awesome Catholic Underground in Yonkers. The featured artist this month is a great musician and an old college friend, Martin Doman. As you may know, the Catholic Underground continues to be a great event working towards the new evangelization. If you are able to come, bring your family or friends. Pass the word! Dec. 12th will be the Solemnity of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of our community. We will have a special Mass and consecration at our newest friary, Most Blessed Sacrament in Newark, NJ. True devotion to Our Lady is very important, especially if you are discerning a religious vocation. She was always so open to God's will. Her intercession helps us to be more like her in this regard. I remember how my own discernment deepened when I entrusted my vocation to Our Lady. We will be having our annual Live Nativity with real animals in the parking lot across the street from St. Crispin's Friary in the South Bronx on Dec. 18th at 2 pm. Pass the word and dress warm! As you may know, Christmas was a very special time for Saint Francis. He started the tradition of setting up the Nativity scene. Many friars will be evangelizing at the Nativity scene in St. Patrick's Cathedral during the week of Christmas. We will also have our annual pro-life procession on the Feast of the Holy Innocents (Dec. 28th) at the Church of the Holy Innocents in Manhattan. Check the Pro-life link on our "Events" page for more details coming in the near future. After the pro-life procession we will gather on the steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral to evangelize and sing Christmas Carols. It would be great to meet you there... Thank you for your patience in contacting me, God bless you, Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR  Saint Joseph Friary 523 W. 142nd Street New York, NY 10031                                  Archive eLetters (212)281-4355