“You will seek me, and when you seek with your whole heart, you will find me.”
(Jeremiah 29:13)
Happy All Saints Day Dear Friar Suppliers,
I hope All Saint’s Day is your feast day. I am sure we are all looking forward to a big celebration in Heaven someday. If in case we don’t quite make it, we need not lose hope, because All Soul’s Day is the next. Whew! The church sure knew what she was doing when she assigned these two feast days a day apart.
Why should we pray? If God knows all our intentions, why should we pray? He already knows what we need before we ask Him. “God does not need to know what we want (for He cannot fail to know it) but rather wants us to exercise our desire for Him through our prayers, so that we may be able to receive what He is preparing to give us.” (St Augustine, LOH, vol IV, page 408.) I had to think about this for a while. What does St. Augustine mean?
True, God doesn’t need our prayers.
He knows everything and is completely happy in and of Himself. He’s a Communion of love; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And yet, God made us to need Him. That is why we all have this innate feeling inside that wants to seek happiness. Happiness is found only in God because what we are all seeking is love and God is love. Human beings seek God even though many may not even realize it. Seeking happiness is seeking God. Seeking love is seeking God.
God wants us to pray to Him, because He knows that if we don’t seek Him, we will seek happiness and love in other ways; possibly even in sinful ways.
The only way to satisfy this desire that we all have within us is to pray. When you take the time to do something, you increase your desire for it. For instance, when you work hard to prepare a delicious meal, you increase your desire to enjoy the food you prepared. When an artist works hard contemplating and painting a picture, he increases his desire to see the finished painting and experiences joy and fulfillment in his accomplishment. The work, the time, and the effort you put into something are what increase the desire.
The only way to increase our desire for God is to pray. When we put in time and effort, we actually come closer to God. The greater our desire for God, the greater will be our capacity to receive what God wants to give us. “His gifts are very great indeed, but human capacity is too small and limited to receive it.” “That is why we are told: Enlarge your desires, do not bear the yoke with unbelievers. (St Augustine) When we try to seek happiness and love without God, we bear a heavy yoke.
“The deeper our faith, the stronger our hope, the greater our desire, the larger our capacity to receive that gift, which is very great indeed. No eye has seen it; it has no color. No ear has heard it; it has no sound. It has not entered man’s heart; man’s heart must enter into it.” (St. Augustine)
“The more fervent the desire, the more worthy will be its fruit.” Notice, St Augustine says “worthy” not “plentiful.” Our prayer is not about quantity, it’s about fervor. St Augustine counsels: “Desire unceasingly that life of happiness which is nothing if not eternal, and ask it of Him who alone is able to give it.”(LOH, Vol IV. pg 408)
October delivery of food to the Friars and Sisters went well. Everyone is getting used to the new way of delivering everything to St. Crispin’s and dividing it up there. The Friars, Sister, and the volunteers who come enjoy lunch together and fraternal/sisterly time together. Charlie is usually back home by 2 pm. Exhausted, I must add, but a nap helps with that.
We do our monthly mailing here at our house on the last Tuesday of the month. We are up to 600 newsletters so the more people who come the faster we get it done. If you would like to help out, even once in a while, we would be very grateful. It’s actually fun; kind of like sitting around with a bunch of friends playing cards. It’s the company that is enjoyable. Call us if you can come and help. Charlie 631-682-7759.
Many of you send packages through the mail or some other delivery system of donated items for Haiti. We are always appreciative. However, please write on the label: DELIVER TO SIDE DOOR. Sometimes packages go missing. Also, never include checks or cash in the package; send them separately to Eileen Garbe or they may end up on a slow boat to Haiti. And one more thing: Always, send your packages to Charlie Moran at 583 S 7th St Lindenhurst, NY 11757. Not to Eilleen Garbe. Eileen Garbe, 108 N Greene Ave Lindenhurst, NY 11757, is for checks and envelopes ONLY. Thank you. It really helps us if you can remember to follow these simple instructions. I hope this is not confusing any of you. You can always call us and ask.
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Haiti Mission trip are just around the corner. Please remember Friar Suppliers when you are preparing your holiday budget. We know EVERYBODY asks for donations around the holidays because people tend to be in the “spirit of giving,” which is such a wonderful way to express our love for others, especially for those who have so little. If you don’t know what to give someone for Christmas because they already have everything they could possibly want, consider writing a check out to Friar Suppliers in their name as a donation. Please be as generous as your means will allow to Friar Suppliers; The Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Renewal, and our Haiti Mission. Remember to send us your prayer petitions, which we always forward to the Friars and Sisters, who pray for your intentions during Mass and Holy Hours.
Have a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving with your families and friends.
All for….JMJ
Joan & Charlie Moran
Eileen Garbe
