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June 2007 |
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May the Lord give you His peace! On April 28, 2007, we celebrated our twentieth anniversary. Twenty years is a very short period of time in the history of the Church. See below for some photographs of the event. We are just getting started! This year I will focus on various aspects of the CFR way of life in particular. |
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This month I would like to comment on our efforts of evangelization. Pope Paul VI wrote a powerful document about evangelization in the modern world (see below). Pope John Paul II repeatedly called for a "new evangelization." Our community is a response to that call. The friars were deeply moved by the now famous words of JPII at the World Youth Day in Denver (Aug 15, 1993): |
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 "Do not be afraid to go out on the streets and into public places, like the first Apostles who preached Christ and the Good News of salvation in the squares of cities, towns and villages. This is no time to be ashamed of the Gospel (cf. Rom 1:16). It is the time to preach it from the rooftops (cf. Mt 10:27). Do not be afraid to break out of comfortable and routine modes of living, in order to take up the challenge of making Christ known in the modern 'metropolis'. It is you who must 'go out into the byroads' (Mt 22:9) and invite everyone you meet to the banquet which God has prepared for his people. The Gospel must not be kept hidden because of fear or indifference. It was never meant to be hidden away in private. It has to be put on a stand so that people may see its light and give praise to our heavenly Father (cf. Mt 5:15-16)." |
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Like Saint Francis and the early Capuchins, we strive to evangelize through preaching, witness of life and personal encounters! Cardinal Egan, during our recent 20th Anniversary Mass, preached to us about the franciscan sermon of walking the streets in our cross-shaped habits. This happens in so many ways: parish missions, youth retreats, street evangelization, etc. |
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N.B. The official "two-week visit" for those men who have visited and are hoping to join us as Postulants in September 2007, will be July 16-30, 2007. It is not too late, please let us know soon! |
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God bless you,
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 Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR Saint Joseph Friary 523 W. 142nd Street New York, NY 10031 (212)281-4355 (212)234-8871 fax Archive eLetters |
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There are three basic elements to the CFR way of life, likened to a three-legged stool: prayer, fraternity and apostolate. Our founders wanted to recapture the importance of the apostolate in the religious life. From a deep prayer life flows our brotherhood in community. Out of our prayer and brotherhood we are strengthened to serve in the apostolate. Our apostolate is two-fold: hands-on work with the poor and evangelization. On first meeting many people they often ask, "What do you guys do?" Prayer is first, the apostolate flows from our prayer.
+ Inspiring address to youth in Brazil from Pope Benedict XVI, May 10, 2007 [
+ Evangelii Nuntiandi / On the Evangelization of the Modern World 
Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI. This is an must read! The Pope offers some much needed balance regarding scripture scholarship, a very nice answer to the Da Vinci Code style attacks on Jesus and the four Gospels. See chapter 2 for a comparison between Satan and some modern scripture scholars. Also, he beautifully uses St. Francis as an example of the Beatitudes in chapter 4: "The saints are the true interpreters of Holy Scripture"! This is some of the most moving writing I have read about St. Francis. No exaggeration! [
We are praying for you and your discernment everyday, especially on Wednesdays. Let us set our hands to the plow in the Lord's vineyard and not look back! "The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be
rewarded according to his own labor"