Friar Suppliers

Posted By admin on August 1, 2010

Dear Friars, Sisters and Friar Suppliers,

Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!

I hope you are all enjoying the summertime with plenty of time to rest, relax and enjoy the hot weather. Vacations, barbecues, family reunions, beach days, bike rides, baseball; it is just such a great time for having fun. It is very easy to get caught up in all this “summer fun” and forget why we are truly here; to know, love and serve God. We are never on vacation from God. God is like a bright light. If we get too far away from the light, we quickly lose our way in the dark. During the summer, instead of taking a “vacation” from our daily prayer and donations, God should be always first in our plans, especially now that we have a little more time. We can go frequently to daily Mass and adoration. We can read spiritually uplifting books. We can make a pilgrimage to a shrine. Most importantly, we can pray constantly by keeping our minds and hearts fixed on God throughout our day no matter what we are doing. Making little acts of faith, hope, and love keeps us centered on God. Offering Him our “will” frequently throughout the day makes us humble, available and usable for whatever God needs us to do. We also have to remember not to take a “vacation” from those who need us. We might think we deserve this much-needed summer vacation, but we cannot avoid those who need us even if it requires a sacrifice on our part. These are opportunities to merit that we do not want to waste. We can visit the sick or help a neighbor. If we are going to the beach or a movie, we can bring along someone who does not get the opportunity. We can share our fun, our picnics our time, and our love with those who have less. We can praise and thank God for each and every beautiful summer day and give joy to everyone around us.

July food shopping, packing and delivery went well with much thanks and appreciation to all those who helped:
Thank you, Noreen for typing this letter. (She doesn’t know that I added this.)
Thank you Coughlin Family for stuffing all the envelopes and mailing this newsletter each month and usually at a moment’s notice.
Thank you packers: Mike and friends, Chris, Rebecca, Thomas, Ben, Suzanne, Peter, Kristine, Dominic, Alison, Dianne, John, Rick, and Sr. Veronica., Dave. It was a job well done.
Thank you faithful Friar Suppliers for your generosity and commitment to the friar Suppliers. The Franciscan Friars and Sisters are very grateful for all of our help.

Announcements:

Congratulations: Br Ignatius, Br Dismis, Br Nicholas, Br Gabriel Joseph, Br Justin, Br Felice on your profession of final vows on Sunday, Aug 2. We pray for each of you in your vocations as Franciscans. Thank you for answering the “call.”
Please pray for Nancy Black, one of our Friar Suppliers. Nancy does a lot of volunteer work for the Friars and their shelters in the Bronx. Nancy had a heart attack on July 20th, and is recuperating. If you would like to send her a card, her address is: 4030 Clark Street, Seaford, NY, 11783.

On Friday, August 6th, the Fatima Pilgrim Virgin Statue will be here at our home, 583 South 7th Street, Lindenhurst, for all to venerate beginning at 6 pm. “America Needs Fatima” will present an audio-visual presentation on the 1917 miraculous Fatima apparitions followed by the recitation of the rosary. There will also be a wide selection of fine religious articles available for purchase. All are welcome. Please RSVP if you would like to come. (631-226-6060).

The Polish Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, PA, will begin at 6 am on Thursday, August 5th, at St. Peters and Paul Church in Great Meadows, NJ. This is a four-day walking pilgrimage through countryside, farms and parks, camping at night along the way. The pilgrimage is very well organized and great fun especially for youth. For information go to www.Franciscanfriars.com and click on Polish Pilgrimage link at the bottom of the page.
Have you checked out our website? www.Friarsuppliers.com .
Check out these three websites. They are great Catholic resources for the whole family:
www.familycatechism.com
www.familylandtv.com
www.familycatechesis.com

Friar Supplier Annual Picnic is Sunday, September 12th. More information will be forthcoming in the September’s newsletter.

August food-packing will be on Saturday, August 14th, @ 10 am. Please call if you plan on attending.

***** IMPORTANT REMINDER *****
Please write all checks out to “Friar Suppliers” only. The bank will not deposit or cash the check written out to anything other than Friar Suppliers.

Please remember to mail your August donation and your prayer intentions to Friar Suppliers before August 15th. Send to:
Eileen and Rich Garbe
108 No. Greene Avenue
Lindenhurst, NY 11757-4153

Jesus, We trust in You,

Joan and Charlie Moran
Rich and Eileen Garbe

If you belong to any organizations and you would like me to come and speak about Friar Suppliers or our recent Haiti trip, please call me. There is so much need, and I need as much publicity as possible. So please call me at 631-226—0015. Thanks, Charlie

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Posted By admin on July 29, 2010

I recently received an email from a very nice lady in Georgia. She wanted to know how, being so far away, she could help the Friars. It is difficult to feel very involved when you are so far away from the action. The Friars are here in the New York area as well as being in London, Honduras, Texas, New Mexico, Northern Ireland, Ireland and Nicaragua. If you are traveling to any of these places let them know when you will be in the area (check the website which is linked in the sidebar) and arrange to visit. If you can not be close to the Friars then rest assured you can still help.

Did you know that St. Theresa of Lisieux is the patron saint of missionaries in spite of the fact that she was never a missionary and only left France one time to visit Rome? She had a missionary’s heart and prayed for the missions and often sent letters to missionaries. Her patronage to missions is a reminder that even the smallest of gestures from far away keep the kingdom of God thriving.

So please if you want to help the first thing you should do is to pray for the Sisters and the Friars. Even if can only manage one Hail Mary a day that is enough. Any prayers or sacrifices you can make in their name would be deeply appreciated.

Secondly, as always, we are in need of donations to cover the food expenses. Certain times of the year donations typically go down and summer is one of those times. Your donation can have great spiritual benefit if tied to a sacrifice so consider giving up a Starbucks or evening out for the Friars and Sisters.

Another way to help is to just keep in touch. The Sisters and Friars love to hear from us Friar Suppliers. The addresses of all of the convents and friaries are on their website here just pick one and send a letter. If you have children have them draw a picture or write a letter as well. The Friars and Sisters love to hear from the kids and if they have time someone will respond (in Friar time so it might take a while ).

There are some needs that are ongoing. With the winter coming up Friars and Sisters usually need socks, cardigans, gloves and hats. They can always use stationary supplies; pads, envelopes, pens, stamps. Pre-paid phone cards are always appreciated since they give those far from home the opportunity to call their moms. We all know how important it is to call mom once in a while. Toiletries such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste and the like are also always appreciated. if you stay in a hotel this summer you can take the small samples you don’t use and send them along.

If you would like to help out in this way please just send your items to one of the friaries. I promise they will get used and be deeply appreciated.

Thank you so much for taking time to read here and comment. I also appreciate the emails. Forgive me if it takes a while to respond since I am a homeschooling mom of seven my days are pretty full.

God bless.

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Posted By admin on July 1, 2010

When we first planned this trip I kept saying to myself how can it be any worse than the last time we e there. Haiti never was in “good shape”. I remember looking at the TV in January and recognizing the different places that I had been to and grew to love. As we started to plan this trip I started thinking of all the places that I wanted to revisit and see what these places looked like now. The worst place that I revisited was St Louis roi de France parish. The school that we had rebuilt in 2004 was completely gone. The only thing left of the school was the Grotto that my son Peter had built and the Statue of the Blessed Mother that Lorraine Turan and a group of her friends had donated! The Pastor took the statue out of the Grotto and put it into his makeshift Church – a tent- because he lost all the Beautiful Statues that he had in his Church. He also lost another school, his medical clinic, the Grotto where we did the food handout last year and the Rectory for him to live in! The devastation was every where! Fathers’ biggest problem is that different parishioners want different things fixed first! Some want the schools, some the Church some the Grotto and some the Medical Clinic so all 4 projects are going on at the same time – but at a pace slower than a snails’ pace. The Pastor is 60 years old. He figures that he will never see all the projects’ completed in his life time. It was very hard for me to leave him without promising him the world!
I know when I wrote about our trip last month we had 12 “Apostles” coming on the trip but by the time we went, God sent us 2 more “Apostles”. If you remember we needed a welder. Leslie Smalls a welder, by trade, came. All week long I called him my “Angel”. Jesse was the other angel that was sent. He is an engineer and he came to design desks for the school. In our clinic we had Marianne Scheryl, Patty O’Neil, Patty Decker, Sr Marianne- a Felician Sister, and Marie Leddy. They treated about 50 patients a day. Father Leandre, the head of the order of St Theresa of Liseaux, had set up a makeshift tent and 3 tables to put the medicine that we brought with us. A lot of the people that they treated had different diseases that ever our nurses had trouble figuring out what to for. There was one lady that had been bleeding for a week so we sent and paid for her to go to a Doctor to be x-rayed and given the proper medicine. She was very grateful. Another lady had a growth coming out of her head. Thanks to the internet the nurses discovered it was from bathing in dirty water. We were able to get her the medicine she needed so that it would go away. My motto is “Happiness is just a credit card swap away” and thanks to everyone we were able to make a difference.
Also on the trip Charlie Cicio, Tom Schaeffer, Jesse Hornblum, Joe Mennona, Joe Recinello. The CFR’s that went on the trip were Fr Richard Roemmer and Br Pierre Toussaint. The other Charlie, Tom and the 2 Joe’s worked on the Church with Leslie. When we first arrived at Carrefour, where we were staying, we went to the Church to see how bad it was. I stood there saying to myself “Can these guys ever fix the Church?. The main supporting beams had bent and all 7 sets of beams need to be put back together through welding. The ceiling was about 80 feet high so it was a huge project. All of the sheet metal had to be taken off the roof so that the welding work could begin. They needed to straighten out the entire main supporting beam before the roof could be put back on. My job on the trip was “the shopper” I would go with Br Pierre Toussaint ( he speaks some Creole), and one of the Brothers of St Theresa and we would go and try and find all of the tools that we needed. Shopping in Haiti is not like going to Home Depot! You could count on spending 3 hours in every store you went into. We needed 60 feet of scaffolding to do the welding work, we needed acetylene gas and propane plus countless other things that we realized that we had forgotten to bring. We had brought with us 42 pieces of luggage so we thought we really had everything! The procedure in every store is about the same. You tell them what you want, they tell you that they do not have it, you readjust your list and pray that there is something in stock that you can use in stead of it. Next it goes to the cashier who adds your order up, calls for authorization to put it on the credit card. Then your order is given to another person who re-adds up the figures to make sure that they didn’t make a mistake and then the wait begins! They then give the list to the 10 men who go and look for what you need and you just pray that they have it in stock. In one store I fell asleep on a stool waiting for the order to be pulled! After that they help you load it into your truck- just so that it takes longer and they hope that you will give them a tip for the GREAT service, which I always did. Our hope each day was that we could find everything in one store-( that rarely happened). On one of our trips our truck would not start. My heart started to pound because we were 2 hours from where we were “only a credit card swipe away” I was very careful spending your money and we truly made a difference. The people of St Therese are very familiar with all of us because of all the barrels that we send to them. They even have some of barrels in there homes. We saw them wearing the sandals we send, I saw Father handing out the rice and beans that we send, we saw the slippers and I spoke with the Brother who runs the hospital in Fontaine and he thanked me over and over for all the medical supplies.
The only sad note is that all the money that was collected from different organizations is not making it to the people. We spoke to the Montfort’s and the Missionaries of Charity and they both claim that no help is getting to the people. Fr Leandre said that the only help he has received is from “Friar Suppliers” It makes me so proud when I think that I have the best Catholics working with me. You give, and give and give so freely so that together we can help the poor of Haiti. Together we will continue to make a difference. Father has given me about 10 different projects to work on. I have not even opened the separate letters he gave me. I need time to think about this whole trip.
We took well over 1000 pictures and will definely have a DVD for the trip, hopefully by the picnic. Tom Schaeffer is in charge of that, so pray for him.
If you have any questions please call me. If you would like me to come speak at your K of C, Rosary or altar Society or any Church organizations please call me. I still need help in the months to come and I need to spread the the dire need of Haiti to all Catholics.

Yours truly in Christ,

Charlie Moran

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Posted By admin on June 30, 2010

Checks payable to: FRIAR SUPPLIERS

***Send to: Rich and Eileen Garbe
108 No. Greene Ave. July 1, 2010
Lindenhurst, NY 11757-4153

Dear Friars, Sisters and Friar Suppliers,

May our Lord give you His peace!

I am sure you are all waiting to hear about the missionary trip to Haiti. With all of the prayers everyone was saying, Charlie describes the trip as “amazing” and said, “We really make a difference in the lives of those we meet.” In Charlie’s letter, and in future letters to come from the various participants, you will read about how each missionary was effected and how your love, prayers and donations helped so many people.

My big question to the group was “Did they notice any changes since the earthquake? Was there construction going on? Were demolished buildings being removed? Did they see any signs of renewal as a result of all the millions of dollars that were donated to Haiti since the earthquake?” Nothing, absolutely nothing is going on. People are still living in makeshift tent cities everywhere. The barrels that Friar Suppliers have been sending, and the work our Friar Supplier missionaries did while they were there, is the only help that these people have received since the first responders left in February. Charlie will tell you about the remarkable work they accomplished in only one week.

Our Friars and Sisters are all very busy this summer; home visits, pilgrimages, mission trips to Sudan, Honduras, England, Haiti, Australia, Germany, and France. They run a summer camp for inner-city kids, homeless shelters, outreaches, food handouts, and pro-life work. There is no such thing as the lazy, hazy days of summer for the Friars and Sisters. We do not know how they keep track of everyone. They are always coming and going and doing such great work. If they had to take time to beg for their food as well, they would never be able to serve the poor in all their different ministries. The Friar Suppliers respect their vow of poverty and help them by doing the begging for them, so that they are free to work and pray.

August 1, will be the annual celebration for those Friars making perpetual vows. It will be at Our Lady of Good Council, 90th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue, NYC at 2:30 pm. God bless Brothers Dismas, Ignatius, Nicholas, Gabriel Joseph, Justin, and Felice. We offer our prayers and congratulations for the brothers making final vows.

There will be an excellent retreat given by Fr. Benedict Groeschel this July 23, 24 and 25, at Kellenberg HS Retreat Center. This is an incredible opportunity to spend a weekend with a living saint. Do not procrastinate; sign up right away. Fr. Benedict is not getting any younger. Cost is $160 and includes room and food. If you want to commute, the cost is $110. The final Mass on Sunday @ 9 am is open free to anyone who cannot make the retreat. To register, or for information, call the promoters, “Catholic Lay Preachers”, John Moreno@ 516-799-4358 or e-mail laypreach@optimim.net.

Donations for June were down a bit. We know everything slows down for people in the summer as their schedules change and vacations get planned. Please do not forget Friar Suppliers. These are so many ways that we are helping the Friars and Sisters with all their food and grocery necessities. Money is always spent very carefully and wisely. Charlie’s expert shopping skills makes every dollar stretch as far as it can go. Please continue to be as faithful and as generous as your means allow.

*****IMPORTANT*****
Please write all checks out to “Friar Suppliers” only. The bank will not deposit or cash the check written out to anything other than Friar Suppliers.

Please make sure that you send your donation to Eileen and Rich Garbe, 108 No. Greene Avenue, Lindenhurst, NY 11757-4153. Make sure the address is correct “108 No. Greene Avenue. Neighbors are calling us.

Also, do not send the check to Joan and Charlie at 583 So. 7th Street. Eileen Garbe does all the bookkeeping and banking at 108 No. Greene. Do not worry; Eileen gives Charlie a report of all donations every month. He sees who gives and knows exactly how much he can spend each month. All donations are recorded as soon as they come in. So please send your checks to Eileen Garbe at 108 No. Greene Ave.

Our annual Friar Supplier Picnic will be, Sunday, September 12th. Mark your calendars. Bring your family and food to share for a day of fun with the friars, Sisters and Friars Suppliers.

Thank you, everyone, for your faithful commitment to Friar Suppliers.

Thank you all our volunteers who helped in June, Eileen, Rich, Angelica, Dianne, Susan, Mary, Sara, John, Charlie, Mary, Andrew, Julianne, Dave, Mike and crew, Br. Luke Joseph and Brothers.

YOUTH 2000 Major Event will be at Kellenberg HS July 17-19 for all teens and young adults. For information and registration, go to Youth2000.com or franciscanfriars.com, click on events, click on Youth 2000 Great Event or call the Youth2000 office at 1-718-349-1157.

Our next food-packing day will be Saturday, July 10, 2010, @ 10 am. Please call if you plan on coming.

Please remember to mail your July donation to Friar Suppliers along with your prayer intentions before July 15th.

Jesus, We trust in You,

Joan and Charlie Moran
Rich and Eileen Garbe

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Posted By admin on June 1, 2010

PLEASE NOTE FOOD PACKING DATE CHANGE:
SATURDAY, JUNE 12th – Please call if you plan on coming. P.S- June 12 is also Joan’s Birthday!!She’ll be____

Dear Friars, Sisters and Friar Suppliers,

Glory and praise to our God.
Coming up during the month of June is the beautiful feast of Corpus Christi, where we celebrate and honor the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is one of my favorite feasts of the year – partly because I was born on Corpus Christi. We, as Catholics, have so much to be thankful for because we have the living presence of Jesus Christ present in the bread and blood. He is here with us 24/7, present at every mass, and living in every tabernacle in every Catholic Church. So often we take this for granted. So many Catholics are completely unaware of His true presence, and many no longer believe. How sad! Poor Jesus, passed by, overlooked, forgotten, ignored; but, we Friars, Sisters, and Friar Suppliers rejoice in His presence and rush to comfort Him, love him, and keep Him company whenever we receive Him or make a holy hour, or simply adore him for a moment in our mind and heart throughout the busy day.
I cannot imagine our world without the presence of the Body of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Just think about how terrible this world would be without the True Presence. Our world is broken in so many ways from sin. Yet, in the little places and churches, where He is present, there is peace, comfort, joy, love, silence, mercy. We cannot live without Him!
Another thought to consider, is without a priest, there would be no presence of Jesus Christ. The priesthood is the second greatest and most important gift to the world. That is why Satan tries so hard to destroy it. It is such a tragedy that the priesthood is hardly respected and so unappreciated in our world today. By our prayers, love, and example we must work to change this. The “year of priests” is about to come to a close. Think about how much our priests have suffered this year throughout the world. Pope Benedict has called the church to do penance in reparation for our sins within the church. We need to repair the church, the priesthood and the Body of Christ. How can we best do this?
1. We must love the Holy Eucharist with our whole hearts and souls.
2. We must love, defend, protect and affirm our priests always.
Thank you all very much for your generous and faithful contributions to Friar Suppliers. We are so grateful that we have been able to supply for the needs of the Friars and Sisters.
Thank you to our two generous donors for the second hand refrigerators. One went to the sisters at San Damiano Convent., and the other one went to the Hermitage upstate — which the Friars call “the farm”. Thank you, faithful Friar Suppliers!
As you have read before, we are always ready to accept used refrigerators, washers, freezers dryers, cars, and vans since these appliances and vehicles break down so frequently.
In May, we also helped the Friars with their food needs for the ordination dinner that took place. We donated 200 lbs. of chicken for that reception!

In June, we will be donating a lot of the food for the Sisters’ profession of vows: 35 lbs of turkey, 35 lbs. of ham, 10 lbs. of Swiss, 10lbs. of American cheese and various salads.
Thank you all so much. We could never do this without each and every one of you contributing.

I cannot thank often enough the many volunteers who help each month. Thank you, Kayla, Laura, Marion, Lisa, Theresa, Eileen, Liz, Jill, Will, Roseleen, Robert, Christian, Rocia, Eileen, Sophia, Dianne, John, Sr. Faustina, Amanda, Heather and Fr. Terry for showing up to pack the food and label the mailing envelopes, and do whatever needed to be done.
Thank you, Coughlin Family for always stuffing the envelopes with these newsletters and delivering them to the post office. You always get it done even when it might be inconvenient.
Thank you, Dave and Mike, and his “meeting” friends for always being there to empty and load the van.
Thank you, Charlie Cicio, for all the donated supplies you bring from “Island Harvest.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Catholic Writers of LI will hold its first full-day conference at the Seminary of Immaculate Conception, 440 West Neck Road, Huntington, NY, on Saturday, June 19th, 2010, from 8:45am – 5 pm, entitled, The Word Made Flesh: A Day of Encouragement and Enrichment for Catholic Writers. All are welcome. The keynote speaker, Rick Hinshaw, editor of the LI Catholic, will receive the Catholic Writers Guilds Lily Award for Meritorious Achievement in Catholic Arts and Letters. Signed copies of good Catholic books and other prizes will be raffled off, and proceeds will benefit Catholic Relief Services. Other speakers include: award-winning author and publisher, Josephine Nobisso; author, composer, and Kellenberg Memorial teacher, Alexander J. Basile; retreat leader and host of Among Women podcast, Pat Gohn; and author and seminary rector, Msgr. Peter Vaccari; and Msgr. Charles Fink, Director of Spiritual Formation for the seminary, will be the homilists. The event emphasizes connectedness in the Body of Christ and supports professional networking. Mass, rosary, and buffet lunch are included. June tickets: $35 for adults and $25 for students. Meal head-count closes June 15th. Walk-ins $45 for adults and the $35 students. For more information, contact Lisa Mladinich at lisamladinich@optonline.net or call her at (631)421-6119
“Catholic Lay Preachers Evening of Recollection” will be on June 22, at the Kellenberg HS Retreat Center. Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR, will be the guest speaker – 6 pm Holy Hour; 7 pm Dinner; 8 pm Conference by Fr. Andrew; 9 pm Mass. Call for a reservation (516)799-4358. Cost is $25/person. Pay at door. Many of our Friar Suppliers attend. It is a beautiful evening. Try to come if you can.
RETREAT – Given by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, entitled, Catholic Teaching on the Here After, will be in July 23-25, at Kellenberg HS Retreat Center. Cost is $160/person to stay, $110/person to commute (includes meals). Call (516)799-4358 to register.
YOUTH 2000 Major Event will be at Kellenberg HS July 17-19 for all teens and young adults. For information and registration, go to Youth2000.com or franciscanfriars.com, click on events, click on Youth 2000 Great Event or call the Youth2000 office at 1-718-349-1157.

Our annual Friar Supplier PICNIC will be Sun. Sept. 12. Please mark your calendars and save the date.

Our next food-packing day will be Saturday, June 12, 2010, @ 10 am. PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE DUE TO HAITI TRIP!!! Please call if you plan on coming.

Thank you dear Friar Suppliers for all your help. Be assured of the prayers from all the Friars and Sisters. They pray for your intentions every day. Please remember to mail your June donation to Friar Suppliers along with your prayer intentions before June 15th.

Jesus, We trust in You,
Joan and Charlie Moran
Rich and Eileen Garbe

PS Please pray for our missionaries while they are in Haiti June 17th -23rd

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Posted By admin on May 1, 2010

Dear Friars, Sisters and Friar Suppliers,

O come, bless the Lord, all you who serve the Lord. Psalm 134.
Wow! Here it is May already! Do you think we can finally, and confidently, put our snow shovels away?
Before we all laugh at the silliness of this, I would like to draw an analogy here when we think about our obstacles to trusting God.
Most of us do not let go of our snow shovel and put it away until we are absolutely sure that the snow storms have past. We tend to hang on to what we know from our own experience or lack of experience. We try to use our own experiences and knowledge of the weather before we say, “Okay Lord, go ahead and let it happen as you plan.” We feel secure because we have that “snow shovel” if we need it.

When storms of life are brewing, we know that our Lord is there asleep on the cushion in the stern of the boat. Mark 4:35-41 When a storm came, the apostles woke Jesus and held tightly to the helm of the boat. Lord, don’t you know that we are about to sink? They held on to the helm just in case. Just like we hold on tight — We really don’t trust our Lord completely, do we? “Do you not have faith?” he asked.
Have you ever noticed that to weather the storms of life we all use “snow shovels” differently? We all find it so difficult to trust God. Some of us avoid them or hide from them; they run when a storm is coming. Some of us give the shovel to someone else. Some of us try to do all the snow shoveling ourselves, no matter how deep the snow gets. Some of us suffer silently while waiting for the snow to melt.
Where is our trust in God? Why do we insist on keeping the snow shovel handy? “They (the apostles) were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even the wind and sea obey?” Mark4:41
We have such a good and awesome God who loves and takes care of us better than we ever can! What good is a flimzy snow shovel going to do when we hold it up to measure against the awesome power of God? We look pretty pitiful don’t we? I think it is time we give God the snow shovel. He will do a much better job than we can at shoveling the “storms” of our life away. Yes, this May, it is time to put our snow shovels away. P.S. My snow shovel is so big that I cannot even lift the darn thing. It is time to get rid of it. Yes, Lord, here it is take mine.

Friar Suppliers is going along very smoothly, with much gratitude to all of you who so faithfully donate each month. It is amazing how God works. Whenever Charlie worries about whether we will have enough money to buy all that the Friars and Sisters need, or we worry if there will be enough help to pack all the food, or some months we worry about which Friary or convent will be available that month to bring the food to. That is when we are tempted to pick up the “snow shovel” of distrust. Miraculously, God always comes through by inspiring all of you to help. You are all in God’s magnificent plan. Do you see how important you are? Do you see how God can use each of us when we put away our “snow shovels” of distrust and allow Him to take over? Our little “Friar Supplier” community is proof of what can happen when we trust in God. Let us give Him thanks and praise. God is so good!
Have you checked out our website yet? www.friarsuppliers.com It is awesome!
Do we have your e-mail address? If you are not receiving any e-mails from us like this newsletter, send us your e-mail when you send your check and remind us to put you on our e-mail list. On Saturday, May 15th, three of our Franciscan Friars of the Renewal will be ordained to the priesthood at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. If you would like to send them cards, prayers and congratulations, they are:
Fr. Isaac Spinharney, CFR
Fr. Albert Osewski, CFR, and
Fr. Charles Riche, CFR. Please mail cards to:
St. Felix Friary, 15 Trinity Plaza, Yonkers, NY, 10701. We are so proud of and happy for these three men who are generously giving their lives in service to God, His bride the church and we God’s children. Please remember them in your prayers.

We have another proud day to announce on June 5th, @ 11 am. Three of our Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal will profess their perpetual vows at St. Adelberts church, 420 East 156th Street, Bronx, NY. These faithful, joyful sisters are:
Sr. Miriam Therese, CFR; Sr. Elizabeth Marie, CFR; and Sr. Catherine Mary, CFR. YOU ARE ALL INVITED to attend the sisters’ vows. If you would like to send them cards, prayers and congratulations, mail them to: San Damiano Convent, 1661 Haight Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461.Sr Lucille has personally invited all of the
Friar Suppliers
Catholic Lay Preachers will be having an evening of recollection on Tuesday, May 18th, at Kellenberg HS:
6 pm – Holy hour with Our Lord
7 pm – Delicious dinner
8 pm – Awesome conference – guest speaker:
Fr. Cletus (OL of Lourdes, Mass.)
Speaking on “Forming a Catholic
Conscience”
9 pm – Holy sacrifice of the Mass

$25/person – reservations required. Call John Moreno @ 516-799-4358.

Charlie and I look forward to this night every month. It is the best date ever – time with the Lord, a delicious dinner, pleasant conversation with other Catholics and fellow Friar Suppliers, inspirational talks, and a Eucharist Celebration. Is there anything better? Spread the word and try to come.

Requests:
Often we (Friar Suppliers) get requests for items we cannot purchase, but are needed by the Friars, Sisters and other communities. So we put the requests out to all of you and wait for Divine providence to supply. If you have a car, minivan or van that is still running and you would like to donate, please call us.
The Apostolate for Family Consecration, AKA Catholic Familyland, are in great need of donated vehicles. Call us if you have a vehicle to donate whether it be now or in the future.
Visit them on-line and check out their many Catholic resources and events. They are a wonderful apostolate that our family has been spiritually fed by for many years. We are very grateful to them.
www.Familyland.org
www.Familyland.TV
www.Familycatechism.com

Charlie and the Friars are going to Haiti again on June 17th for a week. If you feel God is calling you to go, give Charlie a call. Read his Haiti letter which is enclosed.

Thank you dear volunteers for help with the foodpacking in April; Rocio, Rosaleen, Angelika, Angelica Montes, Angelica, Masiello, Lisa, Theresa, Thomas, Hannah, Rebecca, Kayla, Laura, Marion, Chris, Eileen G., Richie, Robert, Christian, Elizabeth, Willy, Jillian, Eileen K, Dave and all the brothers and Sisters who showed up to help.

Please remember to mail in your donation and prayer intentions by May 15th. Our next food-packing day will be Saturday, May 22, 2010,
@ 10 am. Please call if you plan on coming.

Thank you and May God bless you!

Jesus, We trust in You,

Joan and Charlie Moran
Rich and Eileen Garbe
Mothers Day Flowers
As most of you know Charlie and I own the Evergreen Florist where our house is attached. Our florist pays for all of the overhead associated with running “Friar Suppliers” With Mothers Day coming up we would appreciate it if you were going to order flowers that you would call us. We are a1800 Flowers, FTD and Teleflora Florist. We carry all the specials you will see on T.V. I have enclosed a pink flyer with pictures and prices. We would really appreciate it. So many of you helped at Christmas, it really made a difference especially in this difficult economy
Thank You, Joan and Charlie

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Posted By admin on April 15, 2010

This Sunday, April 18th at Kellenberg HS there will be a Communion Breakfast sponsored by the CFR’s to raise money for the St. Anthony’s men’s shelter in the Bronx. Fr. Groeschel is the celebrant and speaker. Admission is free. Donations are requested for St. Anthony’s. Mass is at 10 AM. RSVP 1-718-665-2441. All are welcome.

~Joan Moran

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Posted By admin on April 3, 2010

Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR
Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal
1 Prier Manor Road
Larchmont, NY 10538

914-632-3743

Email to Charlie Moran @ evergreenflorist@earthllink.net

March 25, 2010

The Friends of the Friar Suppliers,

I just received from Charlie Moran a great deal of information about what we were able to send down to help Haiti. He was able to send donations of many barrels of rice, beans, medicine, clothing, etc. I would also be making an appeal on EWTN for continued help for Haiti. Everybody relates to the immediate emergency of the earthquake, but the mess left behind will be there for years. If you can help The Friar Suppliers with a donation to help ship the supplies or to purchase rice and beans, it would greatly be appreciated. You can be assured that the things needed are given to people who need it the most.

I am always grateful for any support you give to The Friar Suppliers. It is real work of God and it is blessed. I am deeply grateful to Charlie and his family for working so hard. I am offering three Masses for all The Friar Suppliers before and after Easter. God bless you all!

Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Benedict

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Posted By admin on April 2, 2010

Whenever we have room in our monthly letter we like to talk about people who help us monthly.
This month I’d like to talk about John McDonald. He and his wife Mary live in Amityville, New York. Normally on Saurday’s John and his wife are on the abortion line praying for the lives of the unborn. Almost 5 years ago John, with his wife’s permission, decided to come to help us on Friar Saturday. As most of you know who come to help us pack know that it gets a little confusing to say the least. The first time John came he looked around and say that therer was a need in carrying the meat, vegetables and fruit from our store refrigerator to the kitchen. This is not an easy job as the boxes of chopmeat are 80lbs and the boxes of chicken are 40 lbs. Never mind the 50lb bags of onions and potatoes. John decided that very quietly he was going to do the job that most of the other people that come really do not want to do. Carry in all the items. Each month when I talk to Eileen Garbe and Chris Volpe they always ask if John will be there. They say that he is there “calming force”. And you would never believe that John is over 70 years old!! John John for all your muscle each month . The whole kitchen crew Loves You!

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Posted By admin on April 1, 2010

Dear Friars, Sisters and Friar Suppliers,

Our hope is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Let us rejoice in the Lord for our salvation is at hand. Alleluia!

Our blessed mother is the perfect model of all virtue. Meditating on her life gives us plenty to model after.

During Holy week, we meditate on the passion of Christ. Mary, too, experienced the passion. She completely submitted to the will of God. Did she know what was coming that week? Of course she did. Why didn’t she kick and scream and try to stop Jesus from allowing the crucifixion? She didn’t try to talk Him out of it or protect Him like a mother would instinctively try to do. Why? Because she knew, that she also needed salvation. This was her greatest suffering. Mary was human like us. Even though she was born without sin, she still had the capacity to sin and had to choose just like us to avoid sin. She needed redemption from the cross, just like all of us. That is why she was able to place her will in the hands of God and allow her son to be crucified. Think of the humility that this act of will takes. Ask yourself, “Can I do this? Can I allow Jesus to die for me?”. The only way that I can accept this wonderful gift is if I show my gratitude and love by doing the same as Mary, by accepting the suffering that comes with the cross.

Holy week is in many ways more beautiful than Christmas. Celebrating it with the Friars and Sisters makes it even better. If you live near enough and can possibly go, we encourage you to attend the various services turning the triduim on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter vigil on Holy Saturday at St. Adelbert’s Church, 420 East 156th Street, Bronx, NY, 10455. All are welcome.

I particularly love Holy Thursday night. After the mass of the Last Supper, everyone processes with candles into the gym next door where our Lord is reposed in the tabernacle surrounded by flowers. There we remain with our Lord as if we are in the garden of Gethsemane with Him.

Our food-packing day on March 20th, went well. We had few people available to help, but as always, the job gets done. Thank you to our volunteers for helping: Rosaleen, Rosio, Mary M., Chris, Paul, Paul, Jr.; Christopher, Dominique, Kayla, Laura, Christian, Robert, Charlie, Julianne, Mary D., Andrew, Sr. Monica, Lisa, and Dave.

I also want to thank Lois Schrader, and her friends and Kim and Matt for all the help packing food and supplies for Haiti.

We are still shipping food and supplies to Haiti almost weekly. The most amazing thin is that it is all getting there. We will continue for as long as God sends us the resources to do it.

The sisters of Our Lady of Guadalupe Convent called us at the beginning of March in need of a washing machine. Life was getting very difficult for them without one — maybe even desperate. So Charlie and I went shopping and purchased a washer through Friar Suppliers at a Sears Appliance scratch and dent store. We got them a washer for $300.00 after the rebate and some wheeling and dealing. It was originally $464.00. The fun part was getting it into the basement at the convent, hooking it up and getting the broken washer up the stairs and out to the curb. It took Charlie and myself and about eight sisters to do it. There were lots of laughs. Afterwards we celebrated Sr. Clare’s Birthday with homemade chocolate cake that the sisters made. It was a fun evening. (Friar Suppliers has its perks!)

Divine Mercy Sunday is April, 11th. See our enclosed flier for our annual Divine mercy Day of Grace devotions and fellowship. We hope you will all come if you live near enough to Centereach. If you live to far away, pray with us this day and know that Friar Suppliers are united in prayer.

“Catholic Lay Preachers” has a wonderful evening of recollection planned for April 20th at Kellenberg HS retreat center: 6 pm Holy Hour, 7 pm dinner, 8 pm inspirational talk by Fr. Brian McNamarra, 9 pm Mass. The cost is only $25/person for a very enjoyable and inspiration evening. There are many Friar Suppliers who come. Please join us. Call John Moreno for a reservation at 516-799-4358. Everyone is invited.

Again, and again, and again, we cannot thank you enough for your donations to Friar Suppliers. Our funds are a bit low now because of the washing machine and we know that extra food will be need for Easter celebrations and Community retreats coming up. So, if you can send a few dollars extra this month, it would be most appreciated.

Please remember to mail in your donation and prayer intentions by April 15th. Our next food-packing day will be Saturday, April 17th,
@ 10 am. Please call if you plan on coming.

Come for the graces on Divine Mercy Sunday. Hope to see you all there!

Thank you and May God bless you!

Have a Happy and Holy Easter!

Jesus, We trust in You,

Joan and Charlie Moran
Rich and Eileen Garbe

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