Franciscan Spirituality

Notes from a Friar: God’s Greatest Love Song

Jim Van Vurst, OFM January 28, 2020

The Gospels are a love story. And we’re a part of it.

Painting of Saint Clare and Saint Francis of Assisi

Clare and Francis: Assisi’s Most Dangerous Citizens

Pat McCloskey, OFM July 26, 2019

Sometimes we are so attracted to the saints for our own personal reasons that we fail to see how radical they were in their day. Clare and Francis are perfect examples.

St. Maximilian Kolbe: Martyr of Auschwitz

Michelle Martin July 26, 2019

St. Maximilian Kolbe laid down his life for another man at Auschwitz, confronting evil with charity. A friar who helped a Chicago parish obtain a relic of the saint shares his story.

Saint Francis and Pope Francis: Men of peace

Pope Francis & Saint Francis: Models of Peace

Christopher Heffron April 18, 2019

The faith life of Saint Francis was never still. Though he was comfortable with solitude and prayer, he was a doer.

painting of jesus | Photo by Franck Denis/pexels

Franciscan Inspirations: Jesus on Fasting and Penance

Jim Van Vurst, OFM March 8, 2019

Early in the Gospel of Mark (2:18-22), Jesus runs into a series of conflicts with the Jewish religious leaders. One such conflict involved the law of fasting.

Notes from a Friar: Ordinary Time Is Anything but Ordinary

Fr. Don Miller, OFM December 23, 2018

We’ve finished the Christmas season and are into Ordinary Time—or as a friend of mine calls it, “Boring Time.”

Franciscan Inspirations: We Are Children of God

Jim Van Vurst, OFM October 9, 2018

We are here because of our unique history. And change, no matter how remote, alters everything. If our parents had not come together, we would not be.