God does not give us graces or talents or virtues for ourselves alone. I do not wash my feet to make them more beautiful than my face.
T
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Sunday, March 27, 2022
A Tribe Of Devils
If you go into the desert merely to get away from people you dislike, you will find neither peace nor solitude; you will only isolate yourself with a tribe of devils
T
Friday, March 25, 2022
Sunday, March 20, 2022
The Sickness Of Spiritual Pride
The sickness of spiritual pride is most dangerous when it succeeds in looking like humility. When a proud man thinks he is humble his case is hopeless. He thinks his own pride is the Holy Ghost.
T
Saturday, March 19, 2022
Embrace Sacrifice
Set me free from the laziness that goes around disguised as activity when activity is not required of me, and from the cowardice that does what is not demanded, in order to escape sacrifice.
T
Friday, March 18, 2022
Thursday, March 17, 2022
How To Pray
I cannot teach anyone how to pray. All I can do is teach my brothers and sisters how to allow God to teach them how to pray.
T
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Christian Maturity
We bring who we are with us on our journey to Christ. We find it easy to project on others what we perceive as being "evil." Christian maturity means being able to discern the difference between evil and good in the world (and within our own hearts.)
T
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Are We Missing God Right In Front Of Our Eyes?
Who is it that we pass by in our headlong pursuit of God? Did you notice that person lying, huddled and frightened by the side of the road? Or did you ignore that bum, that tramp, that drug addict, that prostitute, that unwed mother, because they would hold you back from being the first one there to hug the neck of the Lord?
T
Monday, March 14, 2022
The Way Of The Contemplative And Mystic
The way of the Contemplative and mystic is the way of mystic language, language like the Song of Songs. It is the language that speaks of lover and beloved, bride and bridegroom. The way of the mystic is the way of poetry and metaphor and allegory. BE NOT AFRAID, for Voluntas Dei abscondita est ubi pacem invenimus (Hidden in God's will is where we find peace.)
T
Sunday, March 13, 2022
Giving Away Love And Money
Giving away money does not show love. Giving away love shows love. Giving away both love and money is Christian.
T
The Portiuncula Chapel To Begin Building In 2022
The Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage and Retreat Center spent this past week digging up the old foundations of my Great-Great-Great Grandfather Johnny Burkhard's old Barn, Garage, Chicken Coops, Tobacco House, and my Great-Uncles house foundation to come up with the stones to build our little Adoration Chapel. We still need an additional 100 stones and are asking our Monroe County, Ohio neighbors to drop off any extra cut sand stones they may have lying around their homes onto the property adjacent to the Immaculate Conception Cemetery on Ozark-Eddy Bridge Road .....
Around my Great Uncle Dutch Martin's homestead...
Clearing next to the cemetery to pour the footer.
Remnants of the old garage where we found around 20 cut sand stones.
Remnants of the old barn where we found nearly 40 cut sand stones.
We piled around 200 stones in the field next to the house while we searched for more.
Our biggest surprise was the number of giant cut stones we found in the old Tobacco House!
Once again, adding to the pile getting ready to run them to the building site.
Spreading the stones out so the Stone Mason's can see them all and decide which one's should go where.
After we realized we were probably around 200 stones short to complete a 20' X 20' chapel, down the bulldozer went into the basement of Uncle Dutch's foundation to dig up all the field stones in the foundation so that we can mix both the cut sand stones and the field stones together to make it look beautiful!
We are begging the good people of Monroe County, Ohio who may have one or two cut stones on their property to please drop them off in the pile of stones next to the Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Ozark, Ohio so that we can complete our project.
Thank you and may God bless you all !!!!
T
Saturday, March 12, 2022
The Stations Of The Cross Originated From The Franciscans
FUS students praying at the outdoor Stations of the Cross on the
campus of the Franciscan University of Steubenville
The emperor Constantine permitted Christians to legally worship in the Roman Empire in 313 after 250 years of persecution. In 335, he erected the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at the site where Jesus’ tomb was believed to have been. Processions of pilgrims to the church, especially during Holy Week, began soon after its completion.
Devotions to the Way of the Cross began in earnest after 1342, when the Franciscan friars were given custody of the holy sites in the Holy Land. The Franciscans have been closely identified with the devotion ever since; for years, Church regulations required a set of the stations to be blessed by a Franciscan when possible.
T
The Stations Of The Cross
In every Catholic Church, you will notice usually hanging on the side walls 14 images, pictures or sculptures related to the Passion of Christ. These are the 14 steps Jesus went through before his death on Calvary. Also known as the Way of the Cross, or Via Crucis, this devotion is very popular during the season of Lent, as people meditate on the Passion and Death of Christ. This practice started during the 14th century by the Franciscan Monks, and St. Leonard of Port Maurice preached frequently about this devotion in the 18th century. Finally Pope Clement XII in 1735 gave the final guidelines, fixing the number of Stations at 14, commemorating the events related in the Gospel and from early tradition. Usually the Stations are erected on the walls of the Church, 7 on each side, but they may be placed outdoors too, as one can see in Church gardens and Retreat Houses. Most of the time, the Stations are prayed in the Church, with the people staying in their places, and genuflecting between each Station. "The Cross bearer and the two candle holders should face the Stations so that they too can meditate on the sufferings of the Lord while gazing upon the Stations ." Father Timothy Davison
The customary 14 Stations are as follows:
1. Jesus is condemned to death
2. Jesus accepts His Cross
3. Jesus falls the first time.
4. Jesus meets his mother Mary.
5. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross
6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.
7. Jesus falls the second time.
8. Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem
9. Jesus falls the third time.
10. Jesus is stripped of his garments.
11. Jesus is nailed to the Cross.
12. Jesus dies on the Cross.
13. Jesus is taken down from the Cross.
14. Jesus is laid to rest in a tomb.
T
Solitude, Silence And Stillness
Solitude, silence and stillness help us connect to God, but He doesn't intend that we hoard them. Rather, we are to share them with the world, The genius of the Franciscan movement is that it balances quiet meditation with preaching. Intimacy with God builds up a foundation through which we discover intimacy with our brothers and sisters.
T
Walking In The Footsteps Of Jesus
The way of St. Francis is the frightening way of Communion, but we never really know it until, like Francis, we see ourselves by walking in the footsteps of Jesus.
T
Friday, March 11, 2022
A Serene Clarification Of Who I Am
Photo taken in the back yard of the Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage
Unlike an obsessive love for another human being, which can result in a loss of self-identity, the total love of God brings with it a strengthening of our sense of self, a serene clarification of who I am.
T
Thursday, March 10, 2022
Wednesday, March 09, 2022
Guard the Silence Of Your Hearts
The more we guard our silence, the easier it is to pray, especially when we guard the silence of our hearts
T
Tuesday, March 08, 2022
Monday, March 07, 2022
Be Alone With God
Contemplatives down through the ages have learned how to be alone with God. Forget the books, the daydreaming, the Soaps, the Cell Phones, EVERYTHING and simply dwell in His presence; silent, empty, expectant, and completely still.
T
We Must Quiet Our Body, Mind, Soul and Heart.
When we pray the Our Father we are speaking directly to God. In Contemplative Prayer God speaks to us. But first we must quiet our body, mind, and soul and most especially our heart if we are going to hear Him speak to us.
T
Sunday, March 06, 2022
Contemplative Prayer
Contemplative prayer means silence. It is impossible to enter into God's holy presence if we cannot be silent both internally and externally.
T
Do You Want To Be Filled By God?
Do you want to be filed with God? There is no room for Him unless we first empty ourselves to make space for Him. The more we empty ourselves the more room He has to enter. Once we humble ourselves we completely empty ourselves through humility. Only then will He be able to fill us completely.
T
Saturday, March 05, 2022
Want To Know Our Secret?
Want to know our secret at the Portiuncula? We pray. then we pray some more. And when we're done doing that, we pray some more. Once you learn to love prayer then you will begin to FEEL prayer. Then you will BECOME prayer.
T
Ordinary Time Means Ordinary Lives
Most of our days are just like the Liturgical Calendar: "Ordinary Time." How do I transform ordinary time into extraordinary time? We see that ordinary time becomes extraordinary time when lived in God, the the ordinary becomes the extraordinary.
T
Friday, March 04, 2022
The Journey Of St. Francis
St. Francis' journey began on the plain just below Assisi, with the lepers, with those people and things you and I dismiss in our headlong pursuit of the stone monuments and churches high up on the hill within the walled city of Assisi. A leprosarium outside the walls in the Middle Ages. A hospital for the Germans during World War II. And, ironically, a hiding place for Jews all at the same time. Where did your journey with Francis Begin?
T
Wednesday, March 02, 2022
God's Gift of Music
Today we are flooded by a non-stop barrage of well-produced, expertly marketed, musical trash that does everything but uplift the soul. Rather than glorifying God, popular culture glorifies banality, ugliness and violence. This is what we have done with God's gift of music.
T
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
Pray, Pray, Pray for Kyiv
Please go to a quiet place in your home or office and join me in prayers that God will pour out His wrath upon the Russian 40 mile long convoy that is moving toward Kyiv and miraculously stop the convoy in its tracks! In Jesus' name I pray...
T
The Face Of God
Solitude doesn't just go "POOF!" and God suddenly pops up in front of you. It's simply that most of the time we are so busy being busy that we don't or can't recognize His presence. The discipline of solitude simply opens us up to recognizing that He is right there with us all the time.
T