Greetings to All:
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ “And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me! ’”- Isaiah 6:8
Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ, blessed is His name now and forever. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, I write to you today with much joy in my heart, to deliver a great piece of news… one that brings great joy and peace to my heart and mind, and one which certainly gives greater joy to our God in Heaven.
As most of you know very well, I have wrestled these past ten years (and maybe longer, for it has been 29 years I have served the Lord and have always felt I had a special place in the Lord’s heart, and a vocation to fulfill for His Glory; from the time of my baptism He created in me a new life, and the seed He planted then began to sprout when I was age 3, and my father and I prayed together in my room for the first time) with accepting a calling to religious life, more specifically to the priesthood.
For all these years, I have been startled, since the initial “call” from Jesus on September 6, 1993, that wherever I would go – a store, the street, a church, a Catholic bookstore, etc. – people would ask me, “Are you a priest?” Of course, in a sense, as St. Peter had written, we the Church, the chosen people of God, are all as believers in Jesus Christ a royal priesthood (cf. 1 Peter 2:5-10), so in some ways I could answer (although misleadingly) “yes.”
However, some of us are called to a more specific priesthood within the Church:
“[Christ] gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up… There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men…” (Eph.4:11-12; 1 Cor. 12:5-6) The calling to serve the Lord, preach the Gospel, and serve the Body of Christ in this way is a blessing.
For the past 7 months, I have been looking more closely at the Capuchin
Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, of the Sacred Stigmata of St. Francis
Province. I have felt a bond with these brothers and priests during my various visits with them. They are diverse in background, involved in various missions and serves to the community, the Church and our Lord, and they are all such holy men – so “normal,” so human… so approachable! On the weekend of February 21-23, I attended a discernment retreat in Wilmington, Delaware and the Spirit moved …
of course it was disturbing to feel that MAYBE, just MAYBE I would have to renounce my comfortable life for the sake of the call.
But even Mary wrestled with confusion (Luke 1:29), but she nevertheless did not give into such fears, instead embracing the calling she was destined to fulfill:
“I am the Lord's servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38)
The Lord knows us better than we know ourselves!!!
O LORD , you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD .
You hem me in-behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [1] you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD ,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139)
When He calls us to live out His will, it is not only for His greater glory, but it is for our best. Because in this way, He can use us best as instruments of His will.
I have led an extremely adventurous, exciting life… I have traveled the world, met lots of different people, speak several languages (learning more each day), and have done more than most people do in their entire lives, what I have accomplished in nearly three decades on this earth.
All this, is thanks to the Lord, for making me the person I am and giving me the blessings He has given to me.
But none of this compares to the glory that awaits me in Heaven where I will dwell with my Heavenly Father for all eternity! None of the joys I have lived on this earth compare to the outpouring of LOVE the Lord gives me daily. My ROCK, my JOY, my STRENGTH and my SALVATION!
Why did He choose me? Why has He been so evident in my life? How come I have the gift of Faith that eludes so many?
I am very pleased to announce to you all today that I have decided to follow God’s calling into religious life with the Capuchin Franciscan order, as a brother, and a priest.
When I attended the retreat February 21-23, I was so content there, so at peace. So much so that it disturbed me. I needed to work this out with the Lord as I returned to New York. Finally, upon coming home, I said, “YES!” to God… it was more than the generic, “Yes, I’ll follow Your will” thing; this time, it was, “YES! I will become a priest, Father!”
A great weight has been lifted off from me. There is great peace in the
decision. Finally I have a way to continue my ministry, to preach the Gospel, to help my brothers and sisters in need, to devote my life to worshiping the Lord – deepening my prayerlife, growing in my faith, and hopefully serving the God who has chosen me to do great things in His Holy Name!
The call to religious life demands a lot of sacrifice. I remember how my father had once said to me, 10 years ago, "Well, if you want to serve God you can always become a Protestant minister and marry..."
I could only reply, "WHAT?!? And preach HERESY?!?"
For no matter how "good" many Protestant churches are, they are only a fraction of the Truth which Jesus Christ promised to deliver unto His Church (John 16:13).
Jesus, who said He would remain with His Church until the end of the world (Matthew 24:20; John 14:18), is a man of His word... who am I to doubt Him?
I have dialogued and debated with so many of these men who live not according to the Spirit, but according to their boastful, prideful flesh. It is sad that many are deceived by their lies, but when they attack the Church, they attack not the Church, but the image of the Church they wish to present.
My brothers and sisters, I urge you, go to Jesus... He will show you the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Never can a Protestant Church boast such saintly men and women -- martyrs and doctors of the Church -- such as Polycarp, Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Ambrose, Antony of the Desert, Athanasius, Martin of Tours, Hilary of Poitier, Basil, Cyril of Jerusalem, Patrick of Ireland, St. John Chrysostom, Francis of Assisi, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, Augustine of Hippo, Francois de Sales, Pope Gregory the Great, Jerome, John of Damascus, Cyprian of Carthage, Pio of Pietrelcina (died in 1968), and countless others.
The Church, though plagued with sinners as well (aren't we all?) boasts so many brilliant men and women of God that sadly (look at John Calvin and Martin Luther...) other churches have not had.
But we must remember, Christ called sinful, weak, cowardly men to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth, with all power and authority (cf. Matthew 16:18, 28:18-19; John 20:22-24). It is the Holy Spirit dwelling within His people giving us strength, and as Jesus said, "
by their fruits" we would know who is of God (cf. Matthew 7:16).
But without getting into apologetics in this letter (such is not my intent), I cannot put my trust in the traditions of men who cannot interpret Scripture correctly, ignore most of it when it doesn't fit their theology, or deny the Eucharist...
For as St. John the Apostle's pupil Ignatius of Antioch (an early martyr, Church Father, and brilliant saint) wrote, "
Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . . They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes " (
Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2–7:1 [A.D. 110]).
Indeed, the heretics of the early 2nd Century, like the Protestants of our day, are "pershing in their disputes" and constant "protesting."
It is our job as believers in Christ to retain the Unity of the Body of Christ
(John 17). And as Ignatius of Antioch also wrote, "
In like manner, let all reverence the deacons as an appointment of Jesus Christ, and the bishop as Jesus Christ, who is the Son of the Father, and the presbyters as the sanhedrin of God, and assembly of the Apostles. Apart from these, there is no Church ." (
Epistle to the Trallians).
"
I reckon you happy who are so joined to him as the Church is to Jesus Christ, and as Jesus Christ is to the Father, that so all things may agree in unity! Let no man deceive himself: if any one be not within the altar, he is deprived of the bread of God. For if the prayer of one or two possesses such power, how much more that of the bishop and the whole Church ! He, therefore, that does not assemble with the Church, has even by this manifested his pride, and condemned himself. For it is written, 'God resisteth the proud.' Let us be careful, then, not to set ourselves in opposition to the bishop, in order that we may be subject to God ." (
Epistle to the Ephesians)
I have an enormous responsibility ahead of me, to feed the sheep of my Lord Jesus Christ, and bring back those who have gone astray, for "
there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent" (Luke 15:7).
Does this offend you? Who can accept this teaching, and this call? (Cf. John 6:60-61)
Christ did not ever once water-down the Truth for the benefit of others, rather, it is up to US to conform to the image of God in which we were made: "
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).
Indeed a tall order, but let us rejoice always, and remember, "
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).
"
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord " (Romans 8:31-32, 38-39).
So please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I continue in my walk with the Lord. I in turn shall bring your prayers before the Father and in unity let us all glorify His holy name.
"
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me " (Colossians 1:28-29)
I am honored to be called to serve in this special, blessed way and I urge you all to continue to seek God's will in YOUR lives, knowing that God is always present and desires nothing more than your love and devotion. For He spends all day thinking about YOU!
All praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In His Holy Name,
TIM
). Granted, the discernment process is stricter (I cannot tell you how those 8 hours of taking the psychological exam to enter the order were the closest thing to 
