Senior Friars

March Madness! ~ Do you have any idea what it is like to spend a Saturday with between 650 and 800 kids? Let’s do the math: 10 kids on a team, 20 kids on a court and 80…

Fr. John Bok with a parishioner Thank you! ~ We wish to thank everyone who participated in our recent online survey. We received some 600 completed surveys and are grateful for the opinions, insights and ideas shared…

The St. Anthony Shrine choir We need a Savior to be born into our world and into our hearts. ~ Guardian Br. Norbert Join Shrine Guardian Br. Norbert Bertram, OFM, and the Franciscans at…

Fr. Jim Van Vurst, OFM One sure sign of growing into maturity is the willingness and ability to “take responsibility for our choices in life.”  Obviously, all of us are influenced by many circumstances, some of which are…

Will You Remember Our Retired Friars? ~ Do not cast me aside in my old age; as my strength fails, do not forsake me –Psalms 71:9 Nurse Michelle taking Br. Josef’s, 77, blood pressure during one of…

Fr. Jim Van Vurst The other day I came across a list of qualities both positive and negative that we see as criteria for “success” or “failure” in most people’s lives.  I thought they provided a simple and…

Fr. Joe Rayes, OFM In 1987, Fr. Joe Rayes, OFM wrote a book called Living Religious Vows, but what impressed people the most was that he lived what he preached.  Fr. Joe was a passionate man…

“Let all creation bend the knee, to the Lord” ~ The beautiful hymn, Jesus the Lord, by Roc O’Connor, SJ, has been sung by many choirs and soloists but this rendition by bassist Br. Gabriel Balassone, OFM,…

“Yahweh” ~ It is amazing how the revelation given us by God in the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, says so much in so few words. In fact, though Genesis is 50 chapters long,…

Friars Frank Jasper, Al Hirt, and Jeff Scheeler toast the release of St. Anthony’s Quad Beer Mission Fundraiser at Urban Artifact ~ On February 28, 2017, Mardi Gras, the St. Anthony Quad Beer was released to the…