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Communications
Spiritual Resources – Seasonal Reflections
AUGUST 2010
St. Edith Stein
Dear friend of the missions!
August can go very quickly. Before you know it, it will be September and things will get more serious and intense for most everybody. So, take it easy! Do restful things and prayerful things. It will help renew you.
This month has some wonderful feasts. The feast of the Transfiguration is on Aug. 6. For the Franciscans, there are four feasts that we observe in a special way: Aug. 2 is the feast of Our Lady of the Angels and the Portiuncola pardon; St. Dominic on Aug. 8; St. Clare on Aug. 11, and Aug. 15 is the birthday of St. Anthony.
The solemnity of the Assumption is Aug. 15. The solemnity is celebrated even though it is Sunday. There is a wonderful tradition on this feast of Mary: blessing flowers, herbs and spices on that day. This custom was a way of celebrating that Mary is the first fruits of the harvest of salvation. The octave of the Assumption (Aug. 22) is the feast of the Queenship of Mary, though this year it is not observed because it is a Sunday.
Perhaps, on Aug. 23, the feast of St. Rose of Lima, you could pray especially for our mission in Peru. Please continue to pray for peace and the victims of war and violence, especially in this month that we remember the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
All the friars are very grateful for your generosity and prayers. You really do have a profound influence on the lives of many people. We always remember you and your intentions.
God bless you!
Fr. Russell Becker, OFM
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August2010.pdf (PDF) |
JULY 2010
Thomas and Martha
The month of July has two feasts of people who are very interesting and who are often used as bad examples when we are discussing how we should be as disciples.
• July 3: The feast of St. Thomas the Apostle
• July 29: The feast of St. Martha, who in the tradition is called one of the “equals of the apostles”
For the most part, when we hear their names we think of Thomas’s great doubting and Martha’s being “busy about many things.”
Fr. Russell Becker, OFM
Secretary for Missionary Evangelization
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July2010.pdf (PDF) |
JUNE 2010
Sacred Heart
Dear Friend of the Franciscan Missions!
On June 21, I hope that the beginning of summer will also be the beginning of a more restful time.
There are a lot of special feasts in the month of June. June 6 is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is June 11, followed on June 12 by the Immaculate Heart of Mary. St. Anthony’s feast is June 13 (it is on a Sunday this year so many places will celebrate it the next day. We all pray for you in a special way on all the days they set aside for St. Anthony: Saturday, Sunday and Monday! The Solemnity of St. John the Baptist is June 24, and the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the patrons of the Church of Rome, is on June 29. Pray especially for Pope Benedict during this month and for the entire Church. June 20 is Fathers’ Day. Pray for all our fathers, grandfathers, godfathers, and stepfathers, also those who have served in fatherly capacities – those who are living and those that have died.
The Year for Priests ends on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. Still, keep priests in your prayers and pray for more vocations for clergy, religious and lay ministry in the Church.
As we keep St. Anthony’s feast, pray for those who are hungry, that bread and other food may come to the poor. Thank you for your generous support of our missions, your prayers and generosity make a big difference. Be assured of our prayers.
Fr. Russell Becker, OFM
Secretary for Missionary Evangelization
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June2010.pdf (PDF) |
MAY 2010
Washed in the Blood of the Lamb
During the Paschal Triduum and the Easter Season, there are numerous references to the blood of the Lamb.
Reading the Book of Revelation, the following passage appears, and is also a part of the Liturgy of the Word for the Solemnity of All Saints: "Then one of the elders asked me, 'Who are these people dressed in white? And where have they come from?' I said to him, 'Sir, you should know better than I.' He then told me, 'These are the ones who have survived the great period of trial; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'" (Revelation 7: 13, 14)
Fr. Russell Becker, OFM
Secretary for Missionary Evangelization
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May2010.pdf (PDF) |
APRIL 2010
Proclaiming the Joy of the Resurrection
The celebration of the Resurrection is the center of the Christian life. Each Christian tradition celebrates in a different — yet similar — way.
Often, the Orthodox Church celebrates Easter on a different Sunday than the Roman Church because they follow a different calendar. This year is one of the times when we both celebrate Easter on the same day.
The Orthodox celebration of Easter is a wonderful way for us to look at the Mystery of Easter from a little bit different perspective and get some deeper insight into the Mystery.
Fr. Russell Becker, OFM
Secretary for Missionary Evangelization
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April2010.pdf (PDF) |
MARCH 2010
The Annunciation of the Lord
Today is the beginning of our salvation, the revelation of the eternal mystery: the Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin as Gabriel announces the coming of grace.
Together, with him, let us cry to the One who bore God: "Rejoice, O Full of Grace, the Lord is with you!" (Byzantine Hymn for the Feast)
March 25 celebrates the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. This is one of the great festivals associated with the Incarnation Cycle. As the liturgical year unfolds, there are many celebrations that keep the mystery of the Incarnation before us (Christmas, Presentation of the Lord, Birth of John the Baptist, many feasts of Mary, but the first and foremost festival of the Incarnation cycle is the Annunciation).
These are celebrations of God keeping faith with humanity. This faithfulness always restores hope to us even in the most hopeless of times. (We always need a little Christmas!)
Fr. Russell Becker, OFM
Secretary for Missionary Evangelization
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March2010.pdf (PDF) |
FEBRUARY 2010
Lest Lent be a scary thing!
For many people, Lent is a little terrifying. We set out on Ash Wednesday to take a really good long look at ourselves and try to see ourselves as we really are — not as we do when we are prepared to take a look and we come up with good excuses for our mistakes and learn to pass over or ignore our failures.
Fr. Russell Becker, OFM
Secretary for Missionary Evangelization
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February2010.pdf (PDF) |
JANUARY 2010
What's in a Name?
After Vatican II and the renewal of Biblical studies, many translations decided to use the name Yahweh to refer to God in the biblical texts where the word appeared, so that readers would understand the text was using the name God revealed to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). In the Hebrew Bible, the word never had any vowels with it just the consonants: YHWH.
Fr. Russell Becker, OFM
Secretary for Missionary Evangelization
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January2010.pdf (PDF) |
