theCapuchin JourneyCapuChin Mission and developMent offiCe

spring 2012

Plus: A Friar at West PointPadre Pio Shrine in ManhattanOur Lady of Hope in Central America

CYFM in BostonYouth program grows and spreads the Good News to more youth in Province

Province Mission

Living the Gospel according to the Rule of St. Francis of Assisi, the friars of the Province of St. Mary proclaim God’s reign through: • Service to others and mutual service to our

brother friars.

• Embracing and supporting the needs of the diverse communities among whom we live and minister.

• Responding to the needs of our time through our service to the under-served of our church and society, the economically challenged and the shunned and forgotten.

Provincial Minister’s Letter

Spreading the Good News in the Province and the world

Easter is a time for hope, renewal of spirit, and rekindling our faith.

The Capuchin Franciscan Order’s mission has always focused on spreading the Gospel to those who have lost faith and to those who have yet to encounter Christ. As part of this mission, our Campus Youth and Family Ministries (CYFM) is expanding its youth program by adding the Boston metro area to the communities they serve. Until recently, CYFM was only serving New York State due to its limited resources. But thanks to the generosity of donors, the hard work of volunteers, and the Boston Archdiocese’s warm welcoming, CYFM now ministers to Boston youth.

In this issue, you will have the opporutnity to read more about this exciting new ministry in Boston. You will also read about the outreach some of our individual friars are doing, like Br. Carlos Hernandez who does ministry work at our country’s top military academy, West Point; Br. Jim Donnegan who is working with the Vice Province of Our Lady of Hope in Central America; and Fr. Claver D’Souza, who continues to work with Japanese survivors of last year’s devastating tsunami and earthquake in Iwaki City, Japan.

With Easter Sunday upon us, let us take time to rejoice at our Lord’s resurrection and be grateful for all the blessings we have in our lives. On behalf of the Province of St. Mary, I would like to thank each and every one of you for your support and for being part of our Province. May God bless you and your loved ones with peace and every good thing.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Francis J. Gasparik, OFM Cap.Provincial Minister

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VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2© 2012 Capuchin Mission

Association & Development Office

Editor in ChiefDina V. Montes

PublisherFr. Francis Gasparik, OFM Cap.

Design/Art DirectionDina V. Montes

PhotographyGeorge MartellBr. Celestino AriasDonna Smith Kresel

Capuchin Communications OfficeJohn Shento, OFM Cap.Donna Smith Kresel

Contact us:210 W. 31st StreetNew York, NY 10001news@capuchin.orgwww.capuchin.org

The Capuchin Journey is our way of letting you

know how the Province of St. Mary fulfills its

mission. You, as part of our community, share

this vision of service to those in need. Through

this magazine, we want you to know how we

use the resources you so generously provide. We

hope this magazine shows you the work we do

and how valuable your contributions are to our

ministries. Please feel free to contact us with your

comments and suggestions.

Magazine of the Capuchin Franciscansof the Province of St. Mary

Capuchin Journeythe

IN THIS ISSUE:

FEATURES

4 Easter Reflection

6 One-Year Update: Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami 7 Padre Pio Shrine 8 St. John the Baptist Church

10 CYFM in Boston

14 Our Lady of Hope Vice Province

16 A Friar at West Point

DEPARTMENTS

5 News Briefs

19 Province Directory

On the cover: Br. Lake Herman, former CapCorps Volunteer Cara Annese, and Br. Erik Lenhart speaking about CYFM on the air of The Good Catholic Life, a Boston radio program (Photo: George Martell, Pilot New Media). Students at Pope John Paul Catholic Academy in Boston during a February retreat (Photo courtesy of Caitlin Romano).

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Easter is a time of great joy and gladness, not simply because we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead, but because we have been raised up with him. Easter is like Christmas times a thousand. God has not only sent his son to live among us, but by his life, suffering, death and resurrection, he offers us a place at the eternal banquet.

No one says this more clearly than the great doctor of the church, St. Chrysostom, who tells us to pay close attention to the miracle of water and blood flowing from Christ’s side after the Roman soldier pieces his side with a sword. Chrysostom writes:

“Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. … Since the symbols of baptism and the Eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the Church.”

At the very moment of Christ’s death, when the world thought they had rid themselves of Jesus forever, the church was born.

Many years ago, while visiting our mission in Honduras, with the late Fr. John Connor, OFM Cap, I experienced the saving waters of Baptism in a new way. Fr. John very much wanted me to visit a young couple who were friends of his. Julio was a delegado de la palabra, a delegate of the word, who each Sunday when a priest was unable to visit

his village for mass, would lead the community in a service of the Word of God. Julio and his wife Maria had five small children, including a set of twins who were newly born. More important, Maria’s sister had been killed in a tragic bus accident and Maria and Julio gladly took her three children into their home as their own.

When we arrived at their small home (only about 30ft by 30ft) we were greeted at the door and ushered in. Before we could protest they were feeding us tortillas and eggs. Only later did I realize that we were served the last eggs they had. Shortly after eating, Maria asked me to repeat my name. When I said Juan, she jumped up, picked up one of the new born twins and gave him to me. His name was Juan and she wanted me to bless him.

Instead he blessed me. Because babies rarely wear full diapers in the developing world, little Juan, surely anxious because of the awkward way I was holding him, urinated all over me. Maria could hardly suppress a smile and then, very gently said, “Finally, Padre, you are baptized,” and she was right. Experiencing both the simplicity and joy with which they lived, I was very touched by their hospitality and faith. Indeed, I was baptized again that day and ever since Easter has meant much more to me. It does not take wealth and worldly power to have a rich life. Faith lived on a daily basis, despite its struggles, makes Easter a daily event and brings us joy beyond words.

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“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die”

John11:25-26

An Easter ReflectionBy Fr. John “Jack” Rathschmidt, OFM Cap.

Custody of Japan Chapter 2012The Custody of Japan held

its 2012 Chapter, providing an opprotunity for all the Capuchin Fransciscans to come together in Japan and elect the new Superior and two Councilors, who perform leadership duties for the Custody. The event was held February 6 -10 at St. Clare Retreat House in Yonabaru, Okinawa, Japan.

Fr. Wayne Berndt was elected as

Superior Regular, Fr. Claver D’Souza was elected as First Councilor, and Fr. Denis Baptist Fernandes was elected as Second Councilor. There was much fraternal sharing in small groups, plus presentations and reports on friars’ respective ministries.

The Custody of Japan was estab-lished after World War II by three Capuchin Franciscans who had been taken prisoners in Guam by Japanese forces during the war. After being released, the three friars who had been held in Okinawa, stayed in the country and became the foundation for the Capuchin mission, which later expanded to mainland Japan. Cur-rently, there are 18 friars who minister in Japan throughout nine parishes, of which six are in the mainland and three are in Okinawa.

Vice Province Our Lady Star of the Sea Chapter

In February, the Vice Province Star of the Sea held their chapter at St. Fidelis Frairy in Agana Heights,

Guam, in which new leadership was re-elected. Fr. Joseph English was

elected Vice-Provincial, Fr. Patrick Castro was elected First Councilor and Fr. Michel Dalton was elected Second Counsilor. The Vice Province of Our Lady Star of the Sea covers Hawaii and Guam. The Vice Province was formed in 1939 when 11 friars from the Province were sent there on official mission. Today, the Vice Province of Our Lady Star of the Sea includes 19 friars that minister in seven parishes in Guam and Hawaii, teach and do outreach with the poor and those in need.

SAVE THE DATE: Church of Good Shepherd 100th Anniversary Gala Banquet

Join the Church of Good Shepherd on May 5, as it celebrates 100 years of serving Manhattan’s neighborhood of Inwood with a special gala at the VIP Country Club in New Rochelle, New York. Tickets are $110 per person, and tables can consist of either 10 or 12 guests. The event will include a full cocktail hour ahead of

the dinner. The Church of Good Shepherd is

currently in the process of creating a souvenir journal to include all parishioners and friends of Good Shepherd Church. You can participate by considering an advertisement in the journal, which will be distributed at the event for the guests to keep and cherish for years to come.

Gala tickets are available at the parish office, online and through the mail. For more information, visit www.goodshepherdnyc.org, or call (212) 567-1300.

CYFM Accepting Applications for Capuchin Outreach Program

The Capuchin Youth & Family Ministries (CYFM) is currently accepting applications for its Capuchin Outreach Program, an initiative in which high school

students spend a week during their summer break reaching out to the poor and sick. Participants stay at the CYFM retreat center in Garrison, New York. During the day, participants engage in service at various sites around the Hudson Valley, options include manual labor (Habitat for Humanity), while others involve more personal interaction at nursing homes and hospice care centers. The participants return to CYFM in the evening to continue to build up community with one another and build their relationship with God. For more information or to receive an application, visit www.cyfm.org or call 845-424-3609, ext. 225.

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News Briefs

Fr. Claver D’Souza, Fr. Wayne Berndt, and Fr. Denis Baptist

Fr. Francis Gasparik, Fr. Patrick Castro, Fr. Joseph English, and Fr. Michel Dalton

It’s been a year since a devasting earthquake and tsu-nami claimed more than15,000 lives and left eastern Japan reeling from the devastation and nuclear reactor accidents that followed.

Although much time has passed, thousands of Japanese families and individuals, especially the elderly, continue to live in temporary housing after being displaced by the Fu-kushima nuclear reactor meltdown.

Following the disaster, Capuchin Franciscan Friars from the Custody of Japan supplied clean drinking water, food, toiletries and household items to survivors. With the help of CARITAS Japan, the friars continue to support survivors by providing counseling to survivors and have established the support center “Momino ki,” Japanese for fir tree in Eng-lish, the symbol of Fukushima. It serves both as a counsel-ing center and a place of refuge for individuals and families with children.

“On an average, 30 individuals visit our center every-day. Since the New Year, there are also children who visit the centre,” said Fr. Claver D’Souza. “We have planned out a program for the volunteers who are willing to help listen to the victims’ feelings and frustrations. Usually the volunteers visit the temporary houses and sit with the resi-dents and talk to them.”

Volunteers also coordinate activities like origami, bingo, and cooking classes on soba (Japanese noodles), which help provide relief, happiness, and a sense of community and normalcy to survivors.

The area around the Fukushima plant continues to have high levels of radiation. Many of the displaced who live in temporary housing were owners of homes, shops and busi-

nesses, but they do not know when – or if – they will be able to return to their villages and towns.

“I am grateful to all our brothers of the Capuchin Order, the benefactors, friends, and relatives from all around the world who are helping us financially and praying for us everyday,” Fr. Claver said. “It is a great joy for us as Capu-chin Franciscans to bring a smile to the suffering brothers and sisters in Fukushima. We know the area of our activity is limited. Our enthusiasm and resolve to help the disaster victims has not diminished, rather it has doubled. We our-selves have no idea when Fukushima is going to be blessed as the name itself means ‘an island of blessings.’”

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Capuchins Continue to Support Survivors of Japanese Tsunami and Earthquake

Top: Volunteers from the Momino Ki Center. Above: Survivors taking part in arts and crafts activities, which volunteers coor-dinate. These activities help provide relief, normalcy and sense of community to survivors who have not been allowed to return home and continue to live in temporary housing.

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Architect renderings of the Padre Pio Shrine at St. John the Baptist Church in Manhattan. The renovation is scheduled to be com-pleted by September 23rd, in time to celebrate the Feast of Padre Pio.

The Padre Pio Shrine at St. John the Baptist Church, which has been home to the relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, an Italian saint popularly known as Padre Pio, is undergoing a renovation that will provide more space for the hundreds of visitors who visit the shrine each month.

It’s an exciting new development for the shrine that has been made possible by the generous support and devotion to Padre Pio. The new shrine will provide more room for churchgoers and will be surrounded by lit candles, producing a beautiful atmosphere for meditation and prayer for visitors. The new shrine will also have an oil lamp that will be blessed and oil from the lamp will be sent to Padre Pio Shrine supporters.

The new shrine’s construction is currently underway, and scheduled to be completed before the Feast of St. Padre Pio on Sept. 23rd, in time to celebrate the blessed saint from Pietrelcina.

St. Pio of Pietrelcina was a Capuchin Franciscan priest from Italy who was canonized as a saint by Pope John Paul II in 2002. Padre Pio is internationally known for helping the suffering and the sick, and for his stigmata, which first appeared in 1918. During World War II, American soldiers stationed in Europe would often make the pilgrimage to visit him and brought home stories of Padre Pio, who was said to have the ability to read the hearts of the penitents who flocked to him for confession and to bring both sinners and devout souls closer to God.

After his death in 1968, prayer groups devoted to Padre Pio flourished in the United States. Fr. Armand Dasseville,

a Capuchin Franciscan friar at St. John the Baptist Church, was the first president of the national Padre Pio Prayer Group of the United States. Fr. Armand helped foster recognition and devotion to Padre Pio in New York and the country by authoring published works on the blessed saint.

In 1970, Padre Pio’s secretary and friend, Mary Pyle,

helped secure relics of Padre Pio for St. John the Baptist Church. These relics include a cloth that was used to absorb the blood from his sacred stigmata, which still bears the stain, and a fingerless woolen glove worn by Padre Pio. St. John the Baptist opened the shrine in 2002, after Padre Pio’s canonization, and has housed these relics ever since. St. John the Baptist Church is hopeful that the new shrine will accommodate visitors who visit the Midtown Church to honor and pray to Padre Pio.

Padre Pio Shrine Shrine to Capuchin Saint Undergoes Renovation

HOW YOU CAN HELP

St. John the Baptist Church has launched a capital campagin to fund the new shrine and is $500,000 away from its goal. If you would like to support the new Padre Pio Shrine, visit sjbnyc.org or call (212) 564-9070.

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Located next to Penn Station, one of the busiest trans-portation hubs in New York City, St. John the Baptist Church serves as a spiritual center for many New York tri-state area residents who commute to work in midtown Manhattan. It also supports families in need through its community outreach programs and is home to the shrines of Our Mother of Perpetual Help and Saint Padre Pio, which houses many relics from the canonized Italian saint and is currently undergoing renovation (see page 7).

Established in 1840, St. John the Baptist Church serves Manhattan’s west Midtown section, the commercial center of New York City. The 172-year-old church is a popular destination for Midtown office workers wanting to at-tend mass during the work week and find spiritual solace from the city’s bustling noise. The church offers four daily masses during the weekday that are well attended by de-voted parishioners and has vibrant music ministry that per-forms during Mass on Saturday and Sunday mornings. On

average, St. John the Baptist Church receives 700 to 1,000 churchgoers a week.

“We primarily serve as a commuter parish,” said Fr. Tom Franks, O.F.M. Cap., pastor of St. John the Baptist Church. “But we do have a core group of parishioners. Some of them are retirees from Brooklyn and Queens who use to come to St. John the Baptist while they were work-ing. They continue to make the trip to Midtown and con-sider St. John the Baptist their parish.”

It’s easy to understand why many former parishioners who once worked in the area would travel the distance to be part of the parish at St. John the Baptist. The church has a strong commitment to the surrounding community and administers outreach programs for parishioners and city families in need. These programs include the Bread of Life Food Pantry, which provides fresh and packaged food to more than 800 New Yorkers every week, and food and clothing drives throughout the year.

St. John the Baptist ChurchA Spiritual Center in Midtown Manhattan

Opposite Page: The Lady of our Perpetual Help proces-sicion in Midtown Manhattan. This page, left to right: The entrance to St. John the Baptist Church, which has the larg-est outdoor religious symbol in New York City, the 11 foot tall “Christ in the City.” Fr. Thomas Franks, pastor of St. John the Baptist, distributing food at the Bread of Life Food Pantry, which is housed at St. John the Baptist Church and helps feed 800 New Yorkers every week.

St. John the Baptist Church is also supportive of groups that help those fighting addictions by providing building space on the church’s grounds to organizations like Alco-holic Anonymous and Debtors Anonymous, which coordi-nates weekly meetings for its members.

The church grounds are also home to Downey Side, a national adoption agency devoted to recruiting families for older children whose ages range from seven to 17. The organization was started by Fr. Paul Engel, OFM. Cap. in 1967, and under his management, continues to connect youth with permanent homes and loving families.

St. John the Baptist also provides a rich parish life for its church members. It has many prayer and religious groups for the devoted, including the Father Solanus Guild, the Edith Stein Guild, the 2000 Hail Mary group, and the Secular Franciscans, a group of lay people who dedicate their lives to the spirit and vision of Francis of Assisi in their daily lives. The Secular Franciscans are an official Order within the Catholic Church that was estab-lished by St. Francis of Assisi himself early in the thir-teenth century. St. John the Baptist Church has three Secu-lar Franciscans groups, a

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Music Ministry Director Releases New Collection of Music

This summer, Laurence Rosania, director of music ministry at St. John the Baptist Church, will release a new collection of liturgical music entitled Works of the Heart, which embraces themes of compassion, social justice, and human rights. Much of the music from Works of the Heart was composed and first performed at St. John the Baptist Church in Manhattan. Also included in the collection is a much anticipated Spanish bi-lin-gual version of his most well-known work – The Supper of the Lord /La Cena del Señor.

Rosania is an internationally known composer and performer of liturgical music. He has performed at the Basilica of St. Peters in Rome and on the ABC Family show, “Sun-day Mass.” For the past six years, he has served as director of music ministry at St. John the Baptist Church, where Rosania and the music ministry perform every Saturday and Sunday morning during Mass.

A percentage of the profits from the music collection will be donated to international human rights and relief organizations. To purchase the CD, visit www.ocp.org.

Laurence Rosania

Continued on page 18

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CYFM Takes BostonYouth program in New York expands to Massachusetts city in an effort to reach more youth than ever before.

The instructions were simple. Sara, a high school teenager attending a Capuchin

Youth and Family Ministries (CYFM) retreat, was to walk blindfolded through a small area covered with plastic thumbtacks, with her best friend acting as her eyes and guiding her with verbal directions.

“To the left Sara, now go straight,” the friend shouts. Things go well for the first two minutes and Sara is able to avoid stepping on a tack. But then all 15 students in attendance at the CYFM confirmation retreat at Blessed Mother Theresa Church begin shouting different directions – “Go right!” “No, go left” “Go back, back!”

Although her face is partially covered by the blindfold, Sara’s panicked face is clearly visible. Her shoulders tense up as she stands still trying to make sense of it all. “This is so confusing!” she screams.

It is an exercise that Br. Lake Herman, O.F.M. Cap. and Cap Corps Volunteers, who organize and host CYFM’s youth retreats, have done many times to show how difficult it is to maintain one’s faith in a world where youth are constantly bombarded with different messages. What is different this time, is that the retreat is taking place in Boston – outside of CYFM’s usual territory of New York State.

For the first time in its more than 30-year-history, CYFM is branching out of its usual turf and serving the Boston metro area in an effort to reach more youth across the Province of St. Mary. Since October, CYFM had held four youth retreats in the Boston area, including the confirmation retreat at Blessed Mother Teresa Church, that have reached more than 200 youth. In April, it will have an all-girls retreat in

which more than 140 young women are scheduled to attend.

“We hope to become a regular fixture among the schools and parishes in the Boston area,” said Tom Brinkmann, CYFM Director. “We want to provide Boston youth our dynamic and highly effective retreats within the Capuchin charism.”

The Boston Catholic community has greeted CYFM’s expansion with open arms. CYFM was featured in the Good Catholic Life, a Boston Catholic radio program in February and local parishes have enthusiastically requested CYFM’s services in strengthening the faith of their youth through retreats.

Based in Garrison, New York, CYFM offers a variety of retreats and service programs to teenagers of the Mid-Hudson Valley, hosting them both on their property and at nearby schools and parishes. With the help of Cap Corps Volunteers (young adults who devote a year of service to CYFM), every year it is able to offer more than 90 youth retreats to junior high, high school, and college students inspiring more than 5,000 young people to live their Catholic faith.

Two years ago, the staff and Capuchin friars grew eager to share their expertise and successful youth ministry across a greater geographical region and incorporated an itinerant ministry - a traveling ministry that would reach Capuchin communities across the Province - into the CYFM Strategic Plan .

Boston was seen as a natural first choice of the strategic plan due to the city’s strong Capuchin Franciscan presence. The metro area is home to two Capuchin Franciscan friaries, as well home to former Cap Corps Volunteers and Cardinal Séan O’Malley, a

Top, clockwise: Students at Pope John Paul Catholic Academy in Boston during a February retreat. Br. Lake Herman, Cara Annese and Br. Erik Lenhart speaking about CYFM on the air of The Good Catholic Life, a Boston radio program. Young parishioners of Blessed Mother Teresa Church in the Boston community of Dorchester performing a “thumbtack walk,” a lifeskill building exercise used at CYFM retreats.

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Top to Bottom: Br. Erik Lenhart speaking to Pope John Paul Catholic Acad-emy during the retreat. Angela Cortese, a Cap Corps Volunteer, with students at Pope John Paul Catholic Assembly. Young parishio-ners from Blessed Mother Teresa Church in Dorchester, Massachusetts doing a group exercise.

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SAVE THE DATE: CYFM Annual Dinner 2012

Capuchin Youth & Family Ministries will hold its 18th Annual Awards and Senior Recognition Dinner on Saturday, May 5 from 6:00 – 11:00 PM at the Chalet on the Hudson in Cold Spring, New York. Join us as we recognize some of the outstanding volunteers who are a part of the ministry of CYFM.

Honorees include:Deacon Brian O’Neill (St. Anastasia Parish, Harriman,

New York) will receive the Franciscan Award, which recognizes people who further among us the charisms of St. Francis of loving generosity and service.

Millie Cobb (St. Peter Parish, Haverstraw, New York) will receive the Bonaventure Award, honoring leaders in Religious Education and Spiritual Development of youth.

Jeff Smith (St. Pius X Parish, Middletown, Connecticut) and Rosemary Thorn (St. Columba, Hopewell Junction, New York) will receive the Solanus Casey Award, which recognizes adults in youth ministry for outstanding advocacy of and service to youth through CYFM and in a parish.

For sponsorship or to purchase tickets, please contact Judi at 845-424-3609.

Capuchin Franciscan friar who became Cardinal in 2006 and serves as Archbishop of Boston.

During the planning stages between the Boston archdiocese and various parishes, CYFM found many willing and enthusiastic friars and laypeople dedicated to bringing retreat ministry to Boston. Kelly Hughes, a Cap Corps Volunteer who was chosen as Itinerant Ministry Liaison at the start of her Cap Corps service, helped spearhead CYFM’s expansion into Boston and met with representatives of the Boston Archdiocese and pastors from Boston parishes before the first retreat was planned.

“The overall feeling we received was that there was a great need for youth ministry,” Hughes said. “This is something new to them and they were a little skeptic about our retreats. But after they saw us in action during our initial Boston retreat, they were excited to have us.”

Another integral part of CYFM’s expansion into Boston was ensuring that there would be sufficient volunteers to prepare and deliver new retreats without compromising the strong retreat ministry that exists in Garrison. The Cap Corps Volunteers, young adults who dedicate a year of service to CYFM, are primarily responsible for running these retreats, and so CYFM integrated expansion of the Cap Corps Volunteer

Program into their strategic plan.Br. Lake, CYFM chaplain, is confident that CYFM’s

retreats in Boston will help evangelize local youth. Each year, CYFM touches the lives of thousands of young people and their families through its ministries. During all CYFM retreats, Cap Corps Volunteers teach the Gospel in a tangible way, through story, personal accounts and journeys, and group exercises like the thumbtack walk. The end result of these lessons is to have teens integrate the Catholic faith into their everyday life.

“We hope retreatants move beyond information about God to formation in the Gospel and transformation in the world. We want them to have vibrant, transformative encounters with Christ.” Br. Lake said.

With more retreats planned for the future, CYFM staff and volunteers are confident that the Boston expansion will be successful in spreading the Gospel to youth.

“We have a wealth of experience and a variety of youth retreats, leadership training, and service programing,” said Br. Lake. “We’re here to serve the Boston community and we want to meet their needs.”

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Our Lady of Hope Vice ProvinceCentral America Vice Province Serves Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador

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Left: The Capuchin Franciscan Friars from the Our Lady of Vice Province.

Although I am a member of the Province of St. Mary of the Capuchin Order, I am cur-rently living and working in the Vice Province of Our Lady of Hope, which covers the three countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. My current assignment is in Guatemala City, working as the director of the Obra Social El Martinico (Spanish for The Martinico Social Project, named after the neighborhood where the project is located), a set of social projects run by the friars here, including a medical and dental clinic and educational courses in carpentry, tailoring, and basic computer use in a section of the city that has a high level of poverty.

The Vice Province of Our Lady of Hope was formed by several provinces. Four differ-ent provinces of the Capuchin Franciscan order founded four distinct missions in different parts of Central America. Friars from Catalonia, Spain established the mission in Costa Rica; friars from the Province of St. Joseph (Midwestern U.S.) started the mission in Nica-ragua; friars from Andalucía, Spain founded the mission in Guatemala and El Salvador; and friars from the Province of St. Mary founded the mission in Honduras.

Later, friars from Poland arrived in Guatemala and El Salvador to help with the mission in these countries. In 1982, the missions were combined in order to form a single jurisdic-tion, the General Vice Province of Our Lady of Hope, covering all of Central America. But in 2000, that Vice Province was split into two: the Vice Province of Our Lady of Hope, which covers Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, and the Vice Province of St. Felix of Cantalice, which covers Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.

Through the years, many friars from the Province of St. Mary have lived and worked among our brothers in Central America. I came to Central America the first time as a part of that formation experience, and in 2009 I was sent here again, this time to live and work with the friars here on a full-time, indefinite basis.

Much of the work here in Central America is focused on parishes. Many of our parishes are very large territorially, such that there are many chapels within the parish boundaries in addition to the main parish church. One of our parishes has more than 50 chapels within its parish boundaries. We have two parish schools, one in Ocotepeque, Honduras and another in Quetzaltepeque, Guatemala.

Our Vice Province also has social outreach ministries that include the Casa de María in Ocotepeque, Honduras, a home for the elderly poor and a rehabilitation center for malnour-ished children; a medical and dental clinic in Chiquimula, Guatemala; and the Obra Social El Martinico in Guatemala City. Near San Salvador, we recently opened the Centro de Es-piritualidad Capuchina (Capuchin Spirituality Center), which serves as a place of retreat and prayer for the friars and for other groups within the church. Continued on page 18

With notable alumni that include two U.S. Presidents, numerous famous generals and 74 Medal of Honor recipients, the United States Military Academy at West Point is nationally recognized as the leading military development institution in the country. It is also home to a strong Catholic campus ministry program that is staffed by priests and religious men, including Capuchin Franciscan Friar Carlos Hernandez.

For the past six years, Br. Carlos has served at the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Chapel at West Point, helping develop the faith of Catholic cadets at the military academy. West Point has chaplains of every faith that include Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths, which Br. Carlos believes is crucial in a military academy

“I think it’s important to have Christians and people of faith and good will in our military,” Br. Carlos said. “The

alternative wouldn’t be good and history has proven that to us. The greatest atrocities have been committed when people who do not have good morals have risen to power.”

The United States Military Academy at West Point, popularly known as “West Point,” is located along the Hudson River in New York State. The academy’s admission process is selective with prospective students required to receive Congressional nomination. Once they graduate, students at West Point are obligated to serve eight years in the U.S. Army.

Br. Carlos helps develop West Point students’ faith through fellowship groups, service projects, prayer, and bible study. He also works directly with student Catholic groups that include United Catholic Fellowship, Catholics Seeking Christ, and Knights of Columbus. Each of these groups has approximately 50 students in each, with some

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A Friar at West PointBrother Carlos Hernandez Provides Spiritual Guidance at the Country’s Top Military Academy

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students being members of more than one Catholic student organization.

Commitment to community outreach and charity work is strong among cadets. Through these Catholic organizations, students perform community outreach during their free time that includes visiting Rosary Hill Nursing Home and the Nursing Home Care Unit of the V.A. Castle Point campus. Last year, during their Spring Break recess, 13 cadets joined Br. Carlos in traveling to Honduras and volunteering at a Capuchin Franciscan parish, Our Lady of Lourdes in Choloma, where cadets helped clean and paint the church hall.

“It’s a true testament of their faith and the cadets were able to experience the greater universal church in a different culture,” Br. Carlos said about the trip. “They gained an appreciation for how people in less developed countries have to live by working and worshipping with them.”

Born in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba , Br. Carlos moved to Sleepy Hollow, New York with his family when he was five

years old. After graduating from Archbishop Stepinac High School, he attended SUNY Stony Brook in Long Island, before transferring to Pace University in Pleaseantville, New York, where he graduated with a degree in accounting and business administration. Through his home parish of St. Teresa of Avila in Sleepy Hollow, Br. Carlos became a volunteer youth minister with the Capuchin Youth and Family Ministries (CYFM) program. It was through CYFM that he befriended Capuchin Franciscan friars and became acquainted with many West Point officers and cadets who organized their Catholic retreats at the CYFM grounds in Garrison, New York. The West Point officers invited Br. Carlos to regular gatherings of Tuesday night Troops Encounter Christ (TEC) and asked for his help in organizing retreats for cadets.

These events led Br. Carlos to enter the formation process to become a Capuchin Franciscan in 1996. One of his first ministries as a friar was working for CYFM, which he did for three years before becoming a campus minister at West Point in 2006.

Br. Carlos is happy to be part of the spiritual development of the young men and women who will be tomorrow’s military leaders. Over the years, he has kept in touch with many of former cadets, who took part in the academy’s campus ministry programs and are now military officers with their own families.

“The faith that I find in the cadets and the Catholic community at Most Holy Trinity at West Point is an inspiritation,” said Br. Carlos. “To know that they will be the ones leading our military and our country gives me a sense of hope for the future and our country.”

Opposite page: Br. Carlos Hernandez with cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point. This page, from left to right: Br. Carlos during a Spring retreat. Students from West Point, SUNY New Paltz, Marist College, Christiandom Col-lege, and Cap Corps Volunteers during a retreat.

“I think it’s important to have Christians and people of faith and good will in our military. The alternative wouldn’t be good and history has proven that to us.”

-Br. Carlos Hernandez

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male, female, and mixed gender group. In all, there are more than 300 Secular Franciscan members at St. John the Baptist.

Through its many ministries, St. John the Baptist Church continues its mission, in the spirit of the Capuchin Franciscan Order and the tradition of the Catholic Church,

to be Christ in the city and assist the spiritual, social and personal development of the members of the parish, the community of Midtown Manhattan and the people of the New York metropolitan area. With its many ministries and committed parishioners, it will continue to be a spiritual center, where individuals can seek peace, holiness, and sanctuary.

When I came to Central America in 2009, I was origi-nally assigned to Choloma, Honduras. There, I worked with the youth ministry, the social outreach groups of the parish, and with Cristo TV, the parish television channel. At the beginning of this year, I was sent to Guatemala City in order to be the director of the Obra Social El Martinico. El Martinico includes a medical and dental clinic staffed by 15 doctors, four dentists, five psychologists, a lawyer, a nutritionist and a biochemist. In general, the patients pay a small fee for the consultation (between US$3 and US$10, depending on the type of specialist which the patient is seeing at the time), half of which goes to the professional who collaborates with the clinic, and the other half of which goes to the maintenance of the clinic. The doctors who collaborate with the clinic include doctors from various specializations that range from gynocology to neurology. As a result, the clinic is able to provide ac-cess to a wide range of specialists to people who have little in the way of financial resources. In addition, the clinic is equipped with a laboratory to conduct diagnosts and tests like blood analysis, mammograms, X-rays, and EKG ex-ams, so as to provide a variety of tests at a token cost that is accessible to the poor.

For the past 30 years, El Martinico has also provided education courses for adults on tailoring and carpentry. These courses last two years and students who complete them receive a certificate from the Guatemalan Ministry of Education to be tailors and carpenters. Four years ago, El Martinico added a computer lab to its facilities and now provides computer classes that teach students basic pro-grams like Windows, word processing, spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations.

We also have two television channels, one in Ocote-peque, Honduras and another in Choloma, Honduras, which broadcast as closed-circuit, public-access channels on the local cable systems in each of those two places; the local cable systems have given us access to a channel on their system free of charge, and we provide the program-ming. This has given us a greater opportunity to spread our charism to the people here, and to provide access to daily and Sunday Mass for those who are unable to ar-rive at the parish church because of illness or infirmity. In Ocotepeque, we also have a radio station, which has given us the opportunity to broadcast the Mass to the people who live in more remote villages of the area.

In all the areas in which the friars work here in the Vice Province of Our Lady of Hope, the friars look to be among the poor and the marginalized, to be where others do not wish to be, so as to know and to proclaim the presence of Christ among the poor. The Obra Social El Martinico pro-vides a great opportunity for this type of evangelization, to aid and to walk with the poor and the humble as a way to embrace the leper as St. Francis did 800 years ago. From this experience, we are able to reflect upon the wonderous ways in which Christ continues to move within us today.

Vice Province, continued from page 15

Top: Novices from Our Lady of Hope Vice Province learn-ing a new huymn from a musician at San Jose Parish. Bot-tom: A doctor and patient at Obra Social El Martinico’s medical clinic, which is supported by Our Lady of Hope Vice Province.

St. John the Baptist, continued from page 9

Province DirectoryNew YorkSt. Joachim Friary

61 Leonard Street

Beacon, NY 12508

Phone: 845-838-0000

St. Lawrence Friary

180 Sargent Avenue

Beacon, NY 12508-3992

Phone: 845-831-0394

St. Michael Friary

225 Jerome Street

Brooklyn, NY 11207

Phone: 718-827-6090

St. Joseph The Worker Friary & Parish

510 Narragansett Avenue

East Patchogue, NY 11772-5132

Phone: 631-286-7921

Capuchin Youth & Family Ministry

781 Route 9D; PO Box 192

Garrison, NY 10524

Phone: 845-424-3609

St. Fidelis Friary

7790 County Road 153

Interlaken, NY 14847-9648

Phone: 607-532-4423

St. Joseph Friary & Parish

34 South Chestnut Street

New Paltz, NY 12561-1914

Phone: 845-255-4892

Capuchin Vocation Office

34 South Chestnut Street

New Paltz, NY 12561-1914

Phone: 845-255-5680

Capuchin Mission & Development Office

210 West 31st Street

New York, NY 10001-2876

Phone: 212-564-0759

Blessed James Haddad Friary

93 Park Terrace West

New York, NY 10034-1382

Phone: 212-304-0169

Good Shepherd Friary & Parish

608 Isham Street

New York, NY 10034

Phone: 212-567-1300

Our Lady of Sorrows Friary & Parish

213 Stanton Street

New York, NY 10002

Phone: 212-475-2321

St. John the Baptist Friary & Parish

210 West 31st Street

New York, NY 10001-2876

Phone: 212-564-9070

St. Conrad Friary

30 Gedney Park Drive

White Plains, NY 10605-3599

Phone: 914-761-3008

Sacred Heart Friary & Parish

110 Shonnard Place

Yonkers, NY 10703-2228

Phone: 914-963-1357

St. Clare Friary

110 Shonnard Place

Yonkers, NY 10703

Phone: 914-423-2392

MassachusettsSan Lorenzo Friary

15 Montebello Road

Jamaica Plain, MA 02130-2352

Phone: 617-983-1919

St. Francis of Assisi Friary

46 Brookside Avenue

Jamaica Plain, MA 02130-2370

Phone: 617-522-6469

ConnecticutSt. Pius X Friary & Parish

310 Westfield Street

Middletown, CT 06457-2047

Phone: 860-347-4441

New HampshireSt. Anne – St. Augustin

Friary & Parish

383 Beech Street

Manchester, NH 03103-7290

Phone: 603-623-8809

MaineFriar Residence

24 North Raymond Road

Gray, ME 04039-7724

Phone: 207-657-7075

VermontSt. Peter Friary & Parish

134 Convent Avenue

Rutland, VT 05701

Phone: 802-775-1994

CaliforniaSan Lorenzo Friary

1802 Sky Drive-Post Office Box 247

Santa Ynez, CA 93460Phone: 805-688-5630

FloridaBlessed John XXIII Friary

7171 128th Street North

Seminole, Florida 33776-4306

Phone: 727-397-0011

Star of the SeaVice ProvinceSt. Fidelis Friary

135 Chalan Kapuchino

Agana Heights, Guam 96910

Phone: 671-472-6339

Custody of JapanSt. Francis Friary & Parish

1 Aza Oroku

Naha City, Okinawa

Japan 901-0152

Phone: 011-81-48-521-1098

19

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Living the Gospel . . . Making a Difference

If you are asking yourself these questions maybe God is calling you to consider the Capuchin Franciscan way of life.

The Capuchin Franciscans are inspired by the life and ideals of St. Francis of Assisi, dedicated to serving those in need, living a simple lifestyle together and drawing closer to the Lord through common and private prayer.

If you are a Catholic man between the ages of 18 and 40 and are considering a life dedicated to the service of God and others, please visit www.capuchin.org/vocations, or call Br. Tim Jones, Vocation Director, at (718) 827-6990.

• Are you looking to understand God’s Will in your life?

• Are you looking for fulfillment?

• Are you looking for a life of brotherhood, prayer and service to the poor?