St. Bonaventure University will honor four outstanding Buffalo community members with the 2016 Gaudete Medal on Thursday, April 28, 2016, at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo. John G.,’88, and Suzanne Berger, Jack Connors and Fr. Joseph Bayne, O.F.M., Conv., will receive Gaudete (pronounced gow-DAY-tay) honors for their selfless contributions to society at the event chaired by Greg Bruno, ’74, of Williamsville.
“The purpose for Gaudete, which in Latin translates to ‘rejoice,’ is to recognize brothers and sisters who are successful in their careers and exhibit the Franciscan spirit of service, love and joy in all their daily endeavors. This is what we define as the Bonaventure spirit and what makes our community so special,” said Bruno.
The celebration will begin with cocktails at 6 p.m. and continue with dinner at 7 p.m., followed by the medal presentations. For information concerning tickets, sponsorship and event advertising, contact Monica Mattioli at mmattiol@sbu.edu, or visit www.sbu.edu/gaudete.

The honorees are:
John, ’88, and Suzanne Berger – John G. Berger Jr. serves as a partner at Lawley Benefits Group, where he has been since 2009 and leads the financial, underwriting and reporting unit. He serves as a member of the board of directors and committees for several Western New York organizations such as the St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute Advancement Committee, where he is a 2015 Signum Fidei Society inductee. John and Suzanne Berger were corporate co-chairs of the 2015 Catholic Charities of Buffalo Appeal and served as the chair couple for the 2014 Lasallian “Bright Futures” Dinner and Auction. The Bergers reside in Williamsville, where they are parishioners of St. Gregory the Great parish. John Berger received his bachelor’s degree in finance from St. Bonaventure in 1988.
Jack Connors, president and publisher of Business First, is a lifelong resident of Buffalo. He began his esteemed journalism career at the Buffalo Courier-Express and is the founding editor of Business First. Connors currently serves as the chairman of the board of trustees of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, treasurer of the Library Foundation of Buffalo and Erie County and as a member of the Workforce Investment Board. A graduate of Canisius College and SUNY at Albany, Connors resides in Hamburg with his wife, Maureen. They have three grown children, two of whom — son Darcy, ’09, and daughter Maura, ’05 — are St. Bonaventure graduates.
Fr. Joseph Bayne, O.F.M., Conv. (Our Lady of the Angels Province friar), a native of Baltimore, serves as the executive director of The Franciscan Center, Inc. of Buffalo. Since 1990, Fr. Bayne has worked to help at-risk teenagers transform their lives and re-enter family life or independent living through goal-setting. His work also includes helping men, women and children in crisis situations through outreach, counseling and referrals. Among many other things, he dedicates much time and energy serving as Chaplain to the Buffalo Fire Department, the Town of Hamburg Police Department and the Erie County Emergency services. In 1980, Fr. Bayne received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. Hyacinth College and Seminary in Granby, Massachusetts. He also attended St. Anthony-on-Hudson Seminary, where he was ordained a priest in 1985.

About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, we believe in the goodness of every person and in the ability of every person to do extraordinary things.  St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them. Named the #5 best college value in the North by U.S. News and World Report, we are establishing pathways to internships, graduate schools and careers in the context of our renowned liberal arts tradition. Our students are becoming extraordinary.

The Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv., Minister Provincial, celebrates Mass with the friars of Convento e Paróquia São Sebastião, in Araruama, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil (on March 31, 2016)

Friars, Postulants, and Apirants for whom Fr. James celebrated Mass in Portuguese at our Church of Saint Sebastian in Araruama

Over 100 lay associations of Catholic families, living in voluntary poverty, engage themselves in the Church’s social mission. In Araruama, Friar James visited with Anderson and his wife Aparacida (pictured with their six daughters and neighbors) who oversee a therapeutic farm for the rehabilitation of youth with alcohol and drug abuse problems.

Fr. Cláudio Vieira Pereira, OFM Conv. and Fr. James at the cloister of the Poor Clares of Rio de Janeiro, whom they visited on Divine Mercy Sunday.

On Divine Mercy Sunday, the Minister Provincial celebrated Mass in Portuguese for the nine postulants and aspirants at our Custody’s St. Bonaventure Formation House (Convento e Casa de Formação São Boaventura) in Petrópolis, Brazil. He was joined by the Custos (Custódio Vicar), Fr. Ronaldo Gomes da Silva Pároco, OFM Conv.

Excerpt from an April 6, 2016 letter to the friars, by Fr. James:
Having returned yesterday from our Custody in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I can happily report that Our Lord’s Easter Rising is being mirrored in the upbeat accomplishments of Rio’s new Vicar-Custos (Ronaldo Gomes da Silva Pároco) and his administration… My week with the Rio friars affirmed their resilience on several levels – fraternal, economical, formational, canonical, administrative, and apostolic.  A spirit of optimism prevails, as next year’s Custodial Chapter looms.
The year 2016 marks the 70^th Anniversary of the Order’s presence in Brazil… Rio stands as the first implantatio Ordinis in all of South and Central America, where we now have fraternities in 15 countries.  The Order will convoke a Congress in July to commemorate the Order’s 70^th Anniversary on this continent.  Preparations for the Congress are well underway.  The Custos and his Definitory are working with the Assistant General for FALC (Federación Conventuales America Latina) to cover every detail.  There will be 80 invited friars from all over the world converging on Rio, including the Minister General and his General Definitory.  The friars took me to the Regina Coeli Spirituality Centre, where we shall be hosting the Congress.  The facility is simple and homey, with a welcoming Mother Superior (“Irma Aparecida”) whose heart is as big as herself.  Our Franciscan Congress will take place less than a month before the Rio Olympics.
…Since the friars were celebrating the Easter Octave, they organized a fraternal day of relaxation at “Leisure Island,” a resort owned by one of the parishioners in Araruama.  We had the whole park to ourselves for swimming, boating, enjoying the small zoo replete with flamingos, black swans, toucans, araras (macaws), ostriches, and peacocks.
…After years with a dearth of vocations, the Custody is now enjoying a resurgence of new vocations.  The recent decision of the new Vicar-Custos and his Definitory to re-open the formation house in Petrópolis is proving to be farsighted.  We now have 9 aspirants and postulants in Petrópolis.  I celebrated Mass for them on Divine Mercy Sunday.  During their one year of aspirancy and three years of postulancy, our students attend the Catholic University in Petrópolis,… the former “Imperial City” of Brazil… the students often use the formation community’s single computer to access websites of the Order.  Among their favorite discoveries was a photo of Bishop Gregory Hartmayer (of Savannah) throwing out the pitch at a Georgia baseball match.  (Bishop) Gregory now has rock-star and sports icon status among our Brazilian aspirants and postulants!
At one point during my visit, (Friar) Ronaldo took me to meet a gentleman named Anderson who founded a lay Catholic community.  The commune, named “Divina Cruz,” comprises several families, who live in voluntary poverty, and engage in farmwork and therapeutic care for young adults fighting addictions.  Anderson and his wife Aparecida have six daughters.  Prayer, work, community, charity, service, and poverty are the hallmark of their Catholic lives. Joy radiates.
…In terms of future development and financial solidarity, the friars have been seeking ways to exercise good stewardship under the careful scrutiny of the Custodial Bursar (Pároco e Ecônomo Cust), Friar Ariel who has a fine working relationship with the Province Treasurer.  One of our financial initiatives includes the Order’s property in Andrelandia, where we now have paying tenants renting some of the facility of our former St. Bonaventure College and Seminary.  For some years the friars were absent from Andrelandia.  In the past three months, we have undertaken the re-establishment of our presence at the site, with an experimental “hermitage” fraternity.  The local folks in Andrelandia have been thrilled to welcome back the friars.  They have an enormous esteem for the late missionary friar from Massachusetts, Fr. Martin de Porres Ward, OFM Conv.  I had no time to visit Andrelandia on this trip, but heard all about it, and shall stop there during my canonical visitation later this year.
…On my last day in Rio, two of the friars and I visited with a benefactor businessman, to discuss future development projects that have some realistic possibilities.  The friars are trying to work towards financial self-reliance at the same time as they are discerning the needs of the local Church, and ways in which our Franciscan charism can be put at the service of the greater community.  To say that I was impressed by this visionary outlook would be an understatement.
No visit with the Brazilian friars would be complete without their taking the Minister Provincial to visit the Poor Clare nuns in Rio.  The legendary Mother Pacifica has been the Abbess there for 46 years.  She still rules the roost, albeit with a velvet glove… Before I left, the nuns said a prayer together – and sang – for all of the friars of the Custody and Province.  With the likes of Mother Pacifica and the Poor Clares supporting us, is it any wonder that the Friars of Rio are on the upswing?
Your brother James ~ 6^th April 2016

Friar Nicholas Swiatek, OFM Conv, and his Kindergarten teachers at the End of Year party.

Fr. Nicholas Swiatek, OFM Conv. is currently serving the parishioners of Our lady of the Assumption, the Akabane Catholic Church, in Kita-ku, Tokyo-to, Japan. He recently send a “Happy Easter” letter to one of our friars, with a few updates on his ministry there. He speaks of his pastoral duties, such as marriage preparation, Religious Education classes and talks such as the Saint of the Month presentations to the women’s club, a talk on the Year of Mercy, St. Maximilian’s origination of the Militia of the Immaculata, as well as writing articles for the parish newspaper. He spoke of the March 11th, 5th Anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the Fukushima area of Japan and how there is till a very long road to recovery for the people of the area. Anniversaries are very important to the Japanese people and often the news is filled with memorials and Buddhist prayer services or the Prime Minister offering perspective, speaking of politics and current events. US political election drama is often in the news, as well but mostly it is news of the severe and sometimes tragic weather of the area. He is strengthened by the presence of about 15 “hardy parishioners” at the 6:30 a.m. Mass each day, which he concludes with the Office of Readings and Morning Prayer of the Church before heading to his breakfast. Another source of great joy are the students. He has 45 kindergartners headed to 1st grade on April 8th with 125 of them moving onto the next level of kindergarten. Periodically he gets to teach the older students some English, as well. He says that Tokyo is gearing up for the 2020 Olympics with lots of preparations for logistics as well as for the athletes. He finds it interesting that they are refurbishing many old buildings and the landscape is always changing.
At the parish Easter Vigil, they celebrated 15 baptisms and on Easter Sunday, 8 children received their First Eucharist. Just as we on the East Coast celebrate the revelry that surrounds the Springtime National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., (commemorating the March 27, 1912, gift of Japanese cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo City to the city of Washington), so do the people of Tokyo look forward to each April and not only those beautiful blossoms but all of the bounty of their gardens. It is a great joy for Friar Nicholas to see his garden blossoming bounty of sweet peas, leeks and leaf lettuce. He will come visit the US in May and extends his thanks to all of his confreres who remember him on his Names Day. Prayers are always helpful and forever needed.
Please keep Friar Nicholas and all of our friars serving over seas, in your continued prayers.