6 July 2018 Issue 1134

First Feastday of Solanus NearsSolanus Casey, beatified last year, will be honored with his first feastday on 30 July. To

mark the occasion, the friars will hold a nine-day novena leading up to the actual feast.

Each day of the novena focuses on a particular area of Solanus’s life and ministry.

“It was through many small gestures of love and kindness as the doorkeeper of St.

Bonaventure Monastery that Solanus showed great holiness and brought multitudes of

people into closer communion with God,” said Richard Merling, vice-postulator and

director of the Solanus Guild.

“In a special way, Solanus exemplified the teachings of the founder of the Franciscan

order, St. Francis of Assisi,” said Michael Sullivan, provincial minister.

On Sunday, 29 July, St. Bonaventure Monastery will celebrate a mass presided by Allen

Vigneron, Detroit’s archbishop. The liturgy will be live streamed at 1:30 pm ET.

A reception will follow the liturgy.

Ecumenical Advocacy Daysby Robert Woytypka

In the company of Michael Carsten OSF of the Troubadours of Saint

Clare fraternity of SE Michigan, I participated in the 16th annual

Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington DC. We gathered to enter

into the reality of and the need to respond to “A World Uprooted:

Responding to Migrants, Refugees, and Displaced People,” this year’s

EAD theme. We had three days to pray, prepare and share and one day

to meet with our reps in the halls of the House and Senate office

buildings to advocate for our brothers and sisters suffering within and

beyond our borders.

Scripture, I was told (our Protestant brothers and sisters straight-up

know their Bible), contains some 90+ references to “welcoming the stranger.” One of the keynoters framed it

this way: to leave one’s home is, if not the norm, then a persistent characteristic of the human journey,

demonstrated vividly in the story of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis. To leave one’s home under duress, under

the threat of violence or the reality of oppression or, in these last decades, because of the loss of one’s home

due to climate change, is another persistent narrative. These realities persist, so why does the response

change? Congressman Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri gave the closing address, and he pointed out that in the

Bible three groups are continually held up as vulnerable and in need of compassionate care: strangers,

widows, and orphans. In the U.S. we have organized ourselves to sustain a commitment to two of these

groups; indeed, we consider that this commitment transcends faith. But for the stranger – why the confusion,

why the advances and retreats?

In the workshops we saw how macro factors link up to create conditions that no person, family, village or

nation can address on its own, and why suffering people have to depend on the human family to help them.

To name a few, past and present U.S. support for oppressive regimes in Central America drive emigration, and

then migrants are stigmatized — or worse when they seek refuge among us. The Pacific island nation of

Tuvalu is at high risk of disappearing owing to rising sea levels and changing conditions. Salt water is

permeating what small growing areas there are on the islands, and rising ocean temperatures are killing the

coral reefs, which mean fish stocks are shrinking. The sigh nearly of despair that came from the Presbyterian

minister who represented the Tuvalu people stays with me. After the current administration withdrew from

the COP22 climate compact, they resolved to no longer take U.S. aid – which in total, for all nations and for all

causes, comprises less than one per cent of the annual federal budget. Carsten told us “You have to be us in

your country.” Globally, he asked that we help modify the UN convention on the rights of refugees to protect

people feeling their homes because of climate change.

We Saw You at St. Anthony’s Centennial CelebrationFriars and friends gathered at St. Anthony Retreat Center in Marathon WI on 10 June

to celebrate the laying of the cornerstone, 100 years ago. A procession and prayer

blessing of the 1918 cornerstone included descendants, who brought rocks with

family names on them. It was a beautiful day, and the staff was especially pleased

that friars traveled north for the event.

Beatification Mass Earns an “EMMY”The broadcast of the Beatification Mass of Solanus Casey was recognized with an

EMMY Award from the Michigan Chapter of the National Academy of Television

Arts and Sciences for outstanding technical achievement. The award recipients

were broadcast producers Corporate Optics and Ford Field.

We Saw You at the Run/Walk for the Hungry in Milwaukee

Romero Will Be CanonizedAfter a 38-year-wait, it is now official. Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, murdered

in 1980 for speaking out against military oppression, will be made a saint at a Vatican

ceremony Oct. 14. Pope Francis, the first pontiff from the Americas, announced the

decision May 19 during a meeting with cardinals in Rome.

The cause for Romero had languished for decades under John Paul II and Benedict XVI,

who expressed unease with his connection to liberation theology and his vocal

denunciations of government killings and kidnapings.

Less than two years after his election as pontiff, Francis placed Romero firmly on the

sainthood track, formally decreeing in February 2015 that the archbishop was assassinated as a martyr for the

Catholic faith. He then authorized his beatification, the last step before sainthood, in May of that year.

6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan Wilichowski (B)Tien Dinh (B)

7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Preuss (B)

8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris L'Esteve (B)

9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PR Zoom ConferenceOPCC Video Conference

Provincial Council, Mt. Calvary WIRichard Merling (B)

10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MJ Groark (B)

11 . . . . . . . . . . Solanus Center Video/Zoom Conf

13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Randolph Graczyk (B)

14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Solanus Fary (N)Kateri Tekakwitha (F)

15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Zywiec (B)Michael Sullivan (B)

16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HR Video ConferencePR Zoom Conference

! Kelly Van Ermen (daughter of SLS alumnus Peter Van Ermen)

died recently.

! Nola Wolf (sister-in-law of Joe Wolf) died recently.

! Donald Diederich (brother-in-law of Ray Meier) died recently.

! Former friar Peter Stierman recently underwent surgery for a

ruptured colon.

! Glenn Gessner was recently hospitalized for internal bleeding.

! Bill Cieslak is recovering from hip surgery. He is grateful for the

"wonderful prayerful support."

Candidates AcceptedThe Inter-Provincial Admissions Board has accepted four

candidates for the postulancy program.

For the St. Joseph Province:

Ashwin Kumar, Jacob Schultz and Emmanuel Yesudasan.

For the Province of Mary, Mother of the Good Shepherd:

Christopher Udomoviæ

These candidates will begin their postulancy at Saint Conrad

Friary in Milwaukee on 19 August and will be officially received

on 26 August at the St. Francis Capuchin Center.

Anthemby Leonard Cohen

The birds they sang

At the break of day

Start again

I heard them say

Don't dwell on what

Has passed away

Or what is yet to be

Yeah the wars they will

Be fought again

The holy dove

She will be caught again

Bought and sold

And bought again

The dove is never free

Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in

We asked for signs

The signs were sent

The birth betrayed

The marriage spent

Yeah the widowhood

Of every government

Signs for all to see

I can't run no more

With that lawless crowd

While the killers in high places

Say their prayers out loud

But they've summoned up

A thundercloud

And they're going to hear from me

Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in