Sung in English, Italian and French (with subtitles throughout), student friars of the Istituto Teologico Sant’Antonio Dottore – Padova (Padua, Italy) recently released a new song, which they composed in praise of Franciscan Vocation. READ MORE
“Oh Most High and glorious God,
enlighten the darkness of my heart.
Give me right faith, certain hope,
perfect charity and profound humility.
Oh Lord, give me sense and discernment
in order to carry out Your true and holy will.”
Amen
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If you feel called to discern if life as a Franciscan Friars Conventual is God’s Will for you, contact our Province Vocation Director, Br. Nick Romeo, OFM Conv., at vocations@olaprovince.org. Consider joining him at the upcoming Summer Discernment Retreat. Sign up soon.
On July 2, 2021, Our Lady of the Angels Province Minister Provincial – the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. (center top) traveled to our Franciscan Friars Conventual Interprovince Postulancy, in the St. Bonaventure Friary of St. Bonaventure Province (Chicago, IL), to celebrate the welcoming of the eight new Postulants of the 2021-2022 Class. Two of these new Postulants are of our province – Connor J. Ouly and Marvin Paul Fernandez.
Joining in the celebration were several friars from all four of the USA Provinces, including Postulancy Director, Fr. Paul Schneider, OFM Conv., of the St. Bonaventure Province (top left) and Postulancy Associate Director, Fr. Joseph Bayne, OFM Conv., of our own Our Lady of the Angels Province (top right). The Postulancy is the first stage of formation for men entering our Order. For the most part, this is a one year stage before being invested in the habit of our Order and beginning the second stage of formation at our Interprovince Novitiate (Arroyo Grande, CA). Please pray for these men and their journey of discernment, as well as for an increase in vocations. For more information on Vocations for our province, contact Br. Nick Romeo, OFM Conv. at vocations@olaprovince.org.
Left to Right: Our Lady of the Angels Province Postulant – Connor J. Ouly, Postulancy Associate Director – Fr. Joseph Bayne, OFM Conv., our Minister Provincial – the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. and Our Lady of the Angels Province Postulant – Marvin Paul Fernandez.
Our Lady of the Angels Province student friar Fabian Adderley, OFM Conv. has begun his Apostolic Year of Formation, with our friars of St. Bonaventure Friary, in Toronto, ON (Canada). This friary is one of our three of our Province Delegation of St. Francis of Assisi friaries, in Ontario, Canada. Friar Fabian will be assisting at the two main ministries there – Franciscan Church of St. Bonaventure and at St. Clare Inn.
Friar Fabian has been living in the Post-Novitiate San Damiano Friary (San Antonio, TX), finishing his university studies and actively ministering in the area, since 2018, when he completed his time in the Novitiate. Born in the Bahamas, friar Fabian began his formation journey as a Franciscan Friar Conventual with our province in 2016, when he entered our Postulancy, in Chicago, IL. He professed his Simple (First/Temporary Vows) on July 16, 2018, renewing them on June 1, 2021, just before he left San Antonio. The Apostolic Year of Formation is one of the last stages of formation for a friar of our province. Last year, we had three friars in this stage, who are currently on their Solemn Vow Retreat, in preparation for their July 30, 2021 Profession of Solemn Vows.
Although they are still under limited attendance COVID protocol in Canada, at the morning Mass on July 2, 2021, Fr. Dennis Mason, OFM Conv., pastor of St. Bonaventure Church, was able to introduce friar Fabian to the congregation, who also served as lector at the Mass:
This ministry is staffed dedicated lay staff & volunteers, under the Spiritual Direction of Our Lady of the Angels Province Secretary, & Rector/Director of The Shrine of St. Anthony – Fr. Richard-Jacob Forcier, OFM Conv. One of the tools used for the evangelization efforts of this unique ministry is their YouTube Channel. On it, viewers will find several “playlists” of interest, including the newest installment by Our Lady of the Angels Province friar & Assistant General (CFF) of our Order, Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv.
In his most recent series of reflections, Friar Jude will delve into an individual reflection on each of the 150 Psalms.
“Pray for our men making ready to profess Solemn Vows. Yesterday began their three-week retreat in preparation for consecrating their selves (and the rest of their natural lives!) to God in obedience, without anything of their own, and in chastity.”
{From FranciscanVoice.orgFacebook Page}
In this photo are all of the CFF friars on their Solemn Vow Retreat, at the El Tesoro de los Angeles Retreat House in Woodland Hills, CO,including our own three Our Lady of the Angels Province friars who will profess their Solemn Vows on July 30th: friar Tim (2nd from left – front row), friar Franck (2nd from right – front row), and friar Rich (far right – top row).
Left to Right: Our Lady of the Angels Province friars – Fr. Adam Keltos, OFM Conv., Friar Tim Blanchard, OFM Conv., Friar Franck Sokpolie, OFM Conv., Friar Richard Rome, OFM Conv., Fr. Tim Kulbicki, OFM Conv.
June 19/20, 2021: Our Lady of the Angels Province Minister Provincial, the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. preached at all of the Masses at St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr Basilica Parish in Chicopee, Massachusetts, on the weekend of June 19-20, 2021 to introduce Fr. Brad Milunski, OFM Conv. (pictured at center) as the new pastor. Friar Brad was Principal Celebrant of all the Masses, including the Polish liturgy. Friar Brad is looking forward to this return to pastoral ministry after his last assignments as leadership in Formation Houses.
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June 25/26, 2021: Our Minister Provincial joined our New York City friars and the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Assisi at the celebration of the 25th Jubilee of religious profession of Sr. Dorcas Cordilia Munthali, FMSA. Several Our Lady of the Angels Province friars were on hand, while Fr. Raphael Zwolenkiewicz, OFM Conv., who serves as the pastor of Most Holy Trinity – St. Mary Parish in Brooklyn, was the Principal Celebrant of the June 26th trilingual liturgy. Friar James expressed our Province’s congratulations and esteem for all that the Franciscan Sisters mean to us, as collaborators in mission.
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June 27/28, 2021: On the 28th of June, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore invited the Minister Provincial and Vicar Provincial (Fr. Michael Heine, OFM Conv. – at right) to a private tea in his residence for discussion of recent matters of consequence. Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore – Most Reverend Adam J. Parker (at left) – joined the meeting. Mindful of Friar James’s affection for tea, the Archbishop delighted in using the century-old silver tea service of his famed predecessor Cardinal Gibbons, whose portrait hung over the amicable scene.
The CFF Postulancy Formation Team introduces the new postulancy class as of Thursday, July 1, 2021. This new year, we are happy to announce that we have postulants from all four of our Provinces served by the Conventual Franciscan Postulancy – USA, including two men for our province:
Postulants of our Province and our Province Delegation:
Connor J. Ouly (22) is from Steelton, PA, USA and is currently living in New York, NY, finishing up his undergraduate in Voice/Opera at the Juilliard School. Connor became interested in the Franciscan Friars Conventual due to a love of Saints Joseph Cupertino and Maximilian Kolbe. He is greatly attracted to the deeply fraternal and community driven life of the Conventuals, as well as our dedication to serving the poorest of the poor in simple but necessary ways, such as parish, school, and hospital work. In addition to music, his interests lie in other art forms such as film, drama, and the visual arts. He hopes to discern God’s will in this Postulancy year amongst his formators, brother postulants, and under the mantle of the Immaculate. Connor is of the Our Lady of the Angels Province (USA).
Marvin Paul Fernandez (27) is from Ottawa, ON, Canada. He was born and raised in the northern province of the Philippines, until 2011, when his mom sponsored him to come to Canada. He works with Ottawa Public Health (OPH) as a Clerk for the COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic. He decided to enter the Postulancy Program of the Franciscan Friars Conventual because he was inspired by the work that the Friars do in his home parish and in the greater community. He hopes that entering the program will deepen his relationship with Jesus, his Lord and his God, and to know more of the lives of Saint Francis and Saint Anthony, his patron saints. Marvin is of the Our Lady of the Angels Province Delegation of St. Francis of Assisi (Canada).
Postulants of the other Provinces (USA):
Israel Garcia Alderete (21) is better known by the nickname his grandmother gave him; “Chico.” He is the youngest brother of Arturo, Jr., and Melissa. Since 2011 he and his family have lived in San Antonio, Texas. Israel recently graduated from Gloria’s Barber College. He enjoys playing the guitar, engaging in sports (especially soccer), and doing any type of physical activity. He has been impressed by the lives of the saints, especially St. Giorgio Frassati and St. Francis of Assisi. Entering the friars’ formation process is a way that Israel believes he can give himself to the will of God and serve God’s people, especially the marginalized. “My hope is that Franciscan life can be a beautiful way to learn more about God and to grow as a person. I’m excited to meet the other brothers and deepen my faith through community, prayer, and service.” Israel is of the Our Lady of Consolation Province.
Andre Miller (20), born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has completed his second year of college at the Central New Mexico Community College in Business Administration. He and his younger brother, Brandon, live with their parents and three unique dogs: Oreo (an old, blind, and deaf Chihuahua), Nin o (the friendliest Golden Retriever), and Bella (the most restless Texas Heeler mix). His mom is from Mexico City and his dad is from L.A. “We love to travel and learn about cultures, traditions, languages and the enjoy the local food.” Andre enjoys playing the guitar, reading, and taking advantage of the Sandia Mountains to be outdoors (fishing, hiking, camping). He also takes time volunteering almost daily at a Catholic Worker House. “The time spent with the less fortunate has developed a deep fulfillment, which I credit for my desire to be Franciscan and say ‘yes’ to postulancy. I am an instrument in the work towards peace and justice even when it might seem impossible to accomplish.” Andre is of the Our Lady of Consolation Province.
Colden Fell (25) was born in Monroe, Louisiana and is the son of Patrick and Lisa Fell. He is the oldest brother of Tyler and Jacob Fell. Colden has been living in Gonzales, Louisiana since 2006. He was homeschooled from second grade through high school and graduated in 2014. After high school, he attended River Parishes Community College where he graduated in 2017, with an associate degree in General Studies and Humanities. While he attended college, Colden started working at a local grocery store; Harvest Supermarket. During his time at Harvest, he has been able to move up from grocery store stocker to unloading the trucks and is now making the orders and is warehouse manager. Colden, along with his family, were part of non-denominational churches and eventually made their way into the Catholic Church. His mother is the director of the RCIA process and Colden is involved in children’s ministry at his parish. He became drawn to the Franciscan Friars because of their service to the poor and the sick. Colden is of the Our Lady of Consolation Province.
Eric Rewa (29) is from Grand Rapids, MI. He has a background in teaching at the secondary level both from his bachelor’s degree in history and social science from Central Michigan University and from his last two years which he spent substitute teaching at public and Catholic schools in the Grand Rapids area. His experience with the Franciscan Friars Conventual dates to the time he spent at Mundelein Seminary (2016-2018) studying for his home diocese. While he was there, he had the opportunity to go to daily Masses and Holy Hours in the chapel at Marytown, which is conveniently next door to the seminary. On top of that he joined the chapter of the Militia Immaculata at the seminary where he got to learn more about Franciscan spirituality through reading and reflecting upon the writings of St. Maximilian Kolbe. These experiences, along with visits with the friars, helped to draw him toward the Franciscan Friars Conventual, as a place where he can find the vocation that God has prepared for him. Eric is of the St. Bonaventure Province.
Paul Utterback (34) is from Crawfordsville, IN. He is an only child. His parents are both retired: his dad from the local police force and his mom from a factory. He has been teaching for the better part of the last decade, starting off with English at a secondary school in Malawi (where the Zambian friars were instrumental in his “reversion” to the faith), and then middle school English, when he returned to the United States. “I also worked evenings at the public library, so between teaching English and moonlighting at the library, you might say that I am rather bookish! Waugh, O’Connor, Tolkien, Chesterton, Lewis, and others have been good friends along my Christian journey. Literature, essays, poetry, and music have been staples of our young adult group at St. Bernard Catholic Church. On the less cerebral side, I enjoy CrossFit, running, tennis, hiking, board games, coffee (or a pint) and good conversation, travel (if possible, on a train!), films, playing the piano, singing, and listening to music. I am grateful to the friars for their patience and unfailing charity; Br. Joseph Wood first visited me in response to my vocation inquiry when I was 16. Now, 18 years later, Fr. Hans Flondor and the witness of service and fraternal charity from dozens of friars on three continents have helped bring that journey to a close—Deo Gratias!” Paul is of the St. Bonaventure Province.
Jessy Cuevas (35) was born in Los Angeles to a Catholic family. It was not until he was seventeen that he began to have thoughts of becoming a priest. In 2015, he began to attend priestly discernment meetings at a local parish. One night, the Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Los Angeles attended a gathering and gave all in attendance his personal phone number. He eventually contacted the Director and began to meet with him monthly. After months of attending discernment meetings and private meetings with the Vocation Director, he was encouraged to apply to the college seminary belonging to the Diocese of Los Angeles. He applied and was accepted in the Fall of 2016. Jessy completed his undergraduate degree in the Fall of 2019 butd did not apply to the major seminary in Camarillo, California. “I had desired to become a Franciscan ever since I began to know the life of S. Padre Pio. I met with the Vocation Director of all three Franciscan branches and felt God leading me to the Conventuals. The first Conventuals I met were those living in the friary in Hermosa Beach, California. I met Father Paul Gawlowski and Father Victor in early 2020 and would later begin my theological studies while living in the friary in Castro Valley. I now find myself in the postulancy program and I could not be more excited.” Jessy is of the St. Joseph of Cupertino Province.
Please keep these men in your prayers as they continue to discern their call to our Franciscan life.
If you feel called or if you want more information on discerning life as a Franciscan Friar Conventual, contact our Province Vocation Director – Br. Nick Romeo, OFM Conv. at vocations@olaprovince.org.
Consider signing up for our Summer Discernment Retreat, July 29 – August 2, 2021.
These three friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province have spent the last 5-7 years completing the stages of Formation required by our Order, in preparation for their profession of Solemn Vows. They have answered God’s Call to serve His people through the work of the varied ministries of our province. Our friars serve in parishes, schools, shrines, universities, and even as diocesan leadership. They are pastors, social workers, counselors, educators, psychotherapists, scholars, chaplains, and nurses. Our friars also serve on boards of universities, outreach facilities, service organizations & social justice groups. All of our friars bring forth individual God given gifts to share with our confreres in community, as well within the ministries we serve. Friar Franck, Friar Rich and Friar Tim will add their own personal gifts, passions, talents and love of Christ, to our community. The Solemn Vow Liturgy will be livestreamed at 11:00 a.m., from Saint Louis Church, in Clarksville, MD. The link to view is: https://www.youtube.com/stlouisvideos/live
Friar Franck Sokpolie, OFM Conv.: Born in West Africa, Friar Franck spent some time in Europe before moving to the United States with his family about 16 years ago. After completing one year of college, he joined us as a Postulant when he was just 18 years old. After his time spent in the postulancy and novitiate, Friar Frank Professed his Simple Vows in July 2016, and moved into our St. Bonaventure Friary – Post Novitiate, in Silver Spring, MD, where he spent four years, majoring in Philosophy, French and Francophone Studies, at The Catholic University of America, in Washington, DC. This past year, he served his Apostolic Year of Formation with the parish and school community of our pastoral ministry, at St. Anne Catholic Church, in Columbus, GA.
Friar Richard Rome, OFM Conv.: Born in Norfolk, VA, prior to joining our province, Friar Rich earned degrees in History, the Classics & Supply Chain Management. As an older vocation, after his time in the postulancy and novitiate, he Professed his Simple Vows in July 2018, and moved to St. Bonaventure Friary, in Silver Spring to continue his studies in Theology and Philosophy. During that time, he spent his summer visiting and serving with our friars in the Shamokin, PA area. He returned there to serve his Apostolic Year of Formation in May 2020, as the Director of The Franciscan Center (Coal Township, PA), a ministry of the friars of Mother Cabrini Friary (Shamokin, PA). The Franciscan Center works to assist those living in the coal region to create s sustainable and promising future in the area.
Friar Timothy Blanchard, OFM Conv.: Born in Albany, NY, Friar Tim joined our province in 2014, at the age of 19. After his time in the postulancy and novitiate, he Professed Simple Vows in July 2016. and moved to St. Bonaventure Friary, where he studied a variety of interested including Communications, at The Catholic University of America. Friar Tim’s communications knowledge came in handy while he served these last eight months with our friars of the Toronto, ON area. His Apostolic Year of Formation was spent assisting in their varied ministries, including those of The Franciscan Church at St. Bonaventure and that of St. Clare Inn; community, care and shelter for homeless women with mental health issues along with support for their healing journey.
August 2, 2021: On the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels, two friars of our Custódia Provincial Imaculada Conceição do Brasil (Immaculate Conception Custody in Brazil), Frei Jesus Rodrigues do Amaral, OFM Conv. (left) and Frei Ricardo Elvis Arruda Bezerra, OFM Conv. (right) will profess the Solemn Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, at Paróquia São Pedro e São Paulo (St. Peter and St. Paul Parish), in Paraíba do Sul (Rio de Janeiro).
NOTE: The Professions will be livestreamed on YouTube!
Rebuild My Church[1] Peter Damian Fehlner’s Appropriation and Development of the Ecclesiology and Mariology of Vatican II
Seventh in a Series
by Edward J. Ondrako OFM Conventual University of Notre Dame
I began this series with an Augustinian insight that It sometimes happens that something present is not seen by persons who see other things that are in plain sight; aorâsia (Greek) or caecitas (Latin) City of God: 22, 19). I think that “hiddenness” may architectonically hold together Fr. Fehlner’s life works as a metaphysician-theologian because the development of his life’s thought has a signature engagement with premodernity and modernity. He did not use the term post-Christian culture as I do, but he warned in many ways about a post-Christian culture as I have defined it. I intend to ignite a desire to read more of his essays[2] where his Franciscan theology and philosophy demonstrate the harmony of faith and reason with the conviction of personal experience lived to prepare for life forever with the Trinity. Fr. Fehlner’s Franciscan inspired vision of God has massive intrinsic and extrinsic value for a new world order, its many religions, ways of competing thinking, and cultural and political forces that are hard at work to attack and destroy practices and norms that have traditionally stood unchallenged and presupposed in this land of liberty. Just before he died, Fr. Fehlner confirmed what I had written as true.
Overview “I’m running out of steam,“ Fr. Fehlner replied to plans for further publishing. I realized that we would have to be content with what he left us as engagement with the deep thinking of his entire life. After he died, one modern philosopher and work with whom I thought he had significant commonality on secularism was Charles Taylor. A Secular Age[3] is Taylor’s two band theory of the constitution and nature of modernity. “Scotus and Newman in Dialogue”[4] is Fr. Fehlner’s study of history and extensive commonality with St. John Henry Newman. Fr. Fehlner differs from Taylor, a Catholic. Taylor is a historicist, by which I mean one who focuses on the interpretation of historical events by natural laws without incorporating the supernatural. Yet, Taylor is not hostile to traditional forms of Christianity even as he does not think that the claims of Christianity which might be true can be proved. Even if the claims are proved, Taylor adds that it might not make a difference because in its premodern form, Christianity is no longer viable. There is a gap between Taylor and Fr. Fehlner but fruitful comparisons in their thought on the secular, secularity and secular age have promise.
Can a bridge between Taylor and Fr. Fehlner be built? Taylor’s double band of assumptions are a complex weave of scientific and ethical thought that is allergic to the non-rational while attempting to correct by relinking reason and feeling, thought and desire to compensate for the perceived lack of integration in practices and forms of life that are no longer felt.[5] Taylor’s frame serves as a default which shapes our involuntary responses to our social reality, and influences why we may choose one way to think about the world and to reject another. Our thinking may reflect the laws of physics, or the weight of the information surge on our ethical behavior that is fighting to be relatively independent of natural laws, or recognition of our social world as made up of greed and a kind of runaway narcissism, all of which point to purely rational entities seeking how to construct a thoroughly rational society. Taylor’s is thinking after the pattern of the Enlightenment.[6]
Fr. Fehlner reads history with a spousal vision which is to read with a biblical vision. Christ’s self-giving love is spousal and his love dismantles every lie. Recognition of the sacrificial love of Christ the Bridegroom explodes confidence in myths that hide pride and deception. Fr. Fehlner adds that the Spirit of truth guides us to all truth. Ours is an increasingly complex universe and we cannot be intellectually lazy but have the duty to think about what is true, what is false, and to make judgments. Fr. Fehlner is like Taylor the realist up to a point, but Taylor’s shift of perception, concept and action explains his view of a new order of things. For Taylor, the ubiquity of modernity challenges any effort to control it and invites a rational response to accept it. While Taylor does not attack modernity but recognizes the goods modernity has delivered, he is the philosopher accountant who makes credit and debit columns, and concludes what is worth it and what is not. He leaves up to everyone to decide what has come and what is gone and how to weigh losses and gains. That is how Taylor sees the rotation of the axis of the world as constructing a new world, amounting to nothing less than a visible revolution.[7] Readers and researchers have to decide about constructing the bridge between Taylor and Fr. Fehlner.
Summary What has happened of late in this land of liberty? Tearing down monuments that remind of military champions of the unspeakable institution of slavery is one thing. Decapitating a statue of Christ as in Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Miami is quite another. The pastor extended the olive branch of reconciliation and invitation to the community to pray for peace. Ken Starr is candid: there simply is no peace for American culture is at war with itself.[8] Starr identifies the sentiment behind the increasingly venomous attacks on faith as the “harm principle.” He means that in the view of millions of secularist Americans, religion is now a bad thing because they reason that religious beliefs and practices inflict harm on individuals.[9] True believers are harming no one, Starr answers.
I have favored Hegelian inspired thinking because Fr. Fehlner and Cyril O’Regan were of one mind. E.g., to the “Protestant Aquinas” the afterlife is a fiction. Rebuild My Church enlarges on Fr. Fehlner’s Scotistic touch in reply. Many Hegelian caveats from O’Regan fill the notes. Fr. Fehlner was always open to new ideas. He took time to evaluate critically, to employ the art of spiritual discernment, thought deeply,[10] and made good judgments. For more than fifty years, Fr. Fehlner exemplified the intersection of cultures and epitomized human life that was dialogical after the Second Vatican Council. I was ordained a priest during the initial euphoria after the Council. When the euphoria began to wane, he demonstrated how to revive ecumenical and interreligious dialogue. The art of understanding ideas was around the promise of truth which worked because of his driving Bonaventurian conviction: the work of Christ in history goes forward never backward. Another image is of the Franciscan ship riding heavy on rough and smooth seas along with the ships of every other religion and culture. Fr. Fehlner studied history as the great teacher that exposes every claim to use dialogue to hide historicism and positivism which misrepresents the shared zones of meaning that overlap among religions and cultures. Fr. Fehlner and O’Regan heard expressions of belief being shouted down and kept “charity for all.”
Mary Immaculate, for St. Francis of Assisi, was the woman among all women in the world who had no equal.[11] Mary, memory of the Church, was Fr. Fehlner’s intuition along with Popes St. John Paul II[12] and Benedict XVI. Fr. Fehlner’s golden years were spent in prayer, reading, writing, and learning to pray, as a response to a word spoken first by God who wants us to be in communion with him. Slowed by arthritic knees, energy and time, these limits turned his thoughts to the resurrection.
Fr. Fehlner loved the works of St. J. H. Newman and the poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins. “The Wreck of the Deutschland,” (1875) captures the terror of a stormy sea that is heading for a certain shipwreck. The faith of the Franciscan nun held terror at bay knowing of God’s mercy before meeting her Judge. “Duns Scotus Oxford” (1879) tells of the one ”who of all men most sways my spirits to peace. Of reality, the rarest veined unraveller; a not Rivalled insight, be rival Italy or Greece; Who fired France for Mary without spot.” “The Blessed Virgin Compared to the Air We Breathe” (1883) was Franciscan inspired Mariology for: Mary Immaculate “mothers each new grace that does now reach our race.”[13]
Be thou then, O thou dear Mother, my atmosphere,
my happier world, wherein to wend and meet no sin;
Above me round me lie fronting my forward eye
with sweet and scarless sky; stir in my ears,
speak there of God’s love. O live air of patience,
penance, prayer; World-mothering air, air wild,
wound with thee, in three is lead, fold home,
fast fold thy child.
Study Questions
Charles Taylor’s two band theory of modernity: displacement and forgetting; and misremembering (repackaging of doctrine) was spawned in modernity. Thoughts?
Hegel and Heidegger are misremembers who we invite to dinner but may be dangerous because they look so much like Christianity.[14]Compare with the Marian principle in Duns Scotus and his gift as the “rarest veined unraveler” to GMH. Neither St. Thomas nor Aristotle rivalled him.
With a Scotistic touch, Fr. Fehlner is a rememberer who used memory to be productive, to reformat the tradition, to fortify and to persuade. He forgot in a manner sanctioned by the Holy Spirit. The Scotistic touch is in the poetry of GMH: “Mary mothers each new grace,” i.e. the mercy of God passes through the hands of the Mediatrix of all graces. Thoughts?
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[1] E. J. Ondrako, Rebuild My Church (Hobe Sound, FL: Lectio Publishing, LLC., 2021). [ISBN 978-1-943901-19-0]. [2] J. Isaac Goff, is the general editor for Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner’s Collected Essays that are in progress and forthcoming in nine volumes by 2022. See J. I. Goff., Collected Essays (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2021-2022). [3] Ibid., Taylor, A Secular Age. [4] P.D. Fehlner, “Scotus and Newman in Dialogue,” in The Newman-Scotus Reader, E.J. Ondrako, ed., (New Bedford, MA: Academy of the Immaculate, 2015, canonization issue, 2019), 239-389. This is a jewel of originality. [5] Ibid. Renewing Nouvelle Theologie. [6] A Catholic Christian is ever alert to a rationalist component in history. The temptation is to apply it in interpreting the Gospels. St. Augustine’s battles with the rationalists in the City of God are many. An example of rationalism is also present in ancient Islamic interpretation of the Qur’an such as 18:29, from the Matazila rationalists, in distinction from the Ashariyya predestinationists. Compare Whately’s influence on the young Newman at Oxford in the 1820’s to Benedict XVI’s caveat about the dictatorship of relativism. Newman and Benedict target rationalism. [7] Ibid., O’Regan, “Renewing Nouvelle Théologie.” [8] K. Starr, Religious Liberty In Crisis, 165. [9] Ibid., 165-166. Starr is clear that his “harm principle” does not mean the horror of sexual abuse by members of the clergy and the result of the terrible erosion of the moral authority of important institutions and inflicted profound psychological damage on countless victims. [10] Protagoras, for example, is a masterpiece among Plato’s Socratic dialogues which touches on the debate about the meaning of virtue from antiquity. It offers a rich depth of insight into the will which is crucial to Scotistic thinking about the primacy of the will. [11] St. Francis of Assisi, Antiphon for the Office of the Passion (Off Pass). [12] Pope St. John Paul II, Encyclical Redemptoris Mater. [13]The Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins, Fourth edition (Oxford; Oxford University Press, rpt. 1990). [14] Cyril O’Regan, “Renewing Nouvelle Theologie,” in Church Life Journal; McGrath Institute for Church Life; University of Notre Dame (January 22, 2019).
Fr. Edward J. Ondrako, OFM Conventual
Research Fellow Pontifical Faculty of St. Bonaventure, Rome
Visiting Scholar, McGrath Institute for Church Life
University of Notre Dame
June 17, 2021
Connor J. Ouly (22) is from Steelton, PA, USA and is currently living in New York, NY, finishing up his undergraduate in Voice/Opera at the Juilliard School. Connor became interested in the Franciscan Friars Conventual due to a love of Saints Joseph Cupertino and Maximilian Kolbe. He is greatly attracted to the deeply fraternal and community driven life of the Conventuals, as well as our dedication to serving the poorest of the poor in simple but necessary ways, such as parish, school, and hospital work. In addition to music, his interests lie in other art forms such as film, drama, and the visual arts. He hopes to discern God’s will in this Postulancy year amongst his formators, brother postulants, and under the mantle of the Immaculate. Connor is of the 
Marvin Paul Fernandez (27) is from Ottawa, ON, Canada. He was born and raised in the northern province of the Philippines, until 2011, when his mom sponsored him to come to Canada. He works with Ottawa Public Health (OPH) as a Clerk for the COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic. He decided to enter the Postulancy Program of the Franciscan Friars Conventual because he was inspired by the work that the Friars do in his home parish and in the greater community. He hopes that entering the program will deepen his relationship with Jesus, his Lord and his God, and to know more of the lives of Saint Francis and Saint Anthony, his patron saints. Marvin is of the 
Friar Franck Sokpolie, OFM Conv.: Born in West Africa, Friar Franck spent some time in Europe before moving to the United States with his family about 16 years ago. After completing one year of college, he joined us as a Postulant when he was just 18 years old. After his time spent in the postulancy and novitiate, Friar Frank Professed his Simple Vows in July 2016, and moved into our St. Bonaventure Friary – Post Novitiate, in Silver Spring, MD, where he spent four years, majoring in Philosophy, French and Francophone Studies, at The Catholic University of America, in Washington, DC. This past year, he served his Apostolic Year of Formation with the parish and school community of our pastoral ministry, at St. Anne Catholic Church, in Columbus, GA.
Friar Richard Rome, OFM Conv.: Born in Norfolk, VA, prior to joining our province, Friar Rich earned degrees in History, the Classics & Supply Chain Management. As an older vocation, after his time in the postulancy and novitiate, he Professed his Simple Vows in July 2018, and moved to St. Bonaventure Friary, in Silver Spring to continue his studies in Theology and Philosophy. During that time, he spent his summer visiting and serving with our friars in the Shamokin, PA area. He returned there to serve his Apostolic Year of Formation in May 2020, as the Director of The Franciscan Center (Coal Township, PA), a ministry of the friars of Mother Cabrini Friary (Shamokin, PA). The Franciscan Center works to assist those living in the coal region to create s sustainable and promising future in the area.
Friar Timothy Blanchard, OFM Conv.: Born in Albany, NY, Friar Tim joined our province in 2014, at the age of 19. After his time in the postulancy and novitiate, he Professed Simple Vows in July 2016. and moved to St. Bonaventure Friary, where he studied a variety of interested including Communications, at The Catholic University of America. Friar Tim’s communications knowledge came in handy while he served these last eight months with our friars of the Toronto, ON area. His Apostolic Year of Formation was spent assisting in their varied ministries, including those of The Franciscan Church at St. Bonaventure and that of St. Clare Inn; community, care and shelter for homeless women with mental health issues along with support for their healing journey.
