Charles, OFM Cap.

New Capuchin metropolitan this morning.

At supper a friar was remembering Midwest Express and how they gave you warm chocolate chip cookies on flights. He never took them because he doesn't understand "the concept" of warm cookies.

Me: "Warm cookies are good."

Friar: "You're probably one of those kids that ate the cookie dough log."

Reading the latest health update on the friars, and thinking that "Brother Fred's Comorbidities" could be a good band name.

Reading about this new Supreme Leader of Iran. This whole thing is the most barbaric, idiotic, dangerous thing in quite a while and I am saddened and afraid, but nevertheless it's always nice to see a fellow Gen Xer have a moment.

Wars not make one great

Friar: "H Mart? What's that?"

Me: "It's an Asian supermarket."

Friar: "I don't believe you. You're making this up."

"A friar who can laugh at himself is already halfway to wisdom." ~ Microsoft Copilot

group photo of about twenty-five friars of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap.) and one friar of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv.) in a grassy place with trees in the background

Whenever I get to preach on the woman at the well, I have to give credit to Fr. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv., and the retreat talk on the passage he gave us back in 2015. Whatever I got, it's from that.

This Ukrainian hot mustard I got at the Polish store is a disappointment. It's nothing compared to the stuff they make at the Ukrainian store here in the neighborhood. One time a particularly pungent batch of that made me feel light-headed and uneasy.

International Women's Day is among the things I miss from living in Italy. A day I could give women flowers (those yellow ones) without it being weird (my doctors, the pharmacists down the block, our Polish housekeepers, and so on).

7th husband's the charm! (hint: it's Jesus.) #HomilyBleat #Lent #Sabbath

"But the one who was asking for a drink of water was thirsting for her faith." ~ St. Augustine (Office of Readings) #Lent

(Ille autem qui bibere quaerebat fidem ipsius mulieris sitiebat)

Daylight Saving Time is just one more hopeless artifice of humanity in its resistance to acknowledging the darkness within. Don't give in. Let us face the ugliness in our own hearts, embrace it, and find healing. One has only to watch the news to see what happens when people don't have such courage.

Pope Boniface VIII founds the University of Rome ("La Sapienza") with the papal bull In Supremae praeminentia Dignitatis, as a Studium for ecclesiastical studies under his control, making it the first pontifical university. #InTheYearOfMyNumberOfFollowers via @wikipedia.org

At Mass I was saying how in order to appreciate Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well one has to keep in mind the biblical trope of meeting one's wife at a well.

Lady after Mass: "I got my husband at a bar. Same idea, right?"

Good question. Since he spent a lot of his religious life at home, things were probably looser. And in those days there was also the fast from All Saints to Christmas and the optional "Lent" beginning at Epiphany.

Friar 1: "I hate this statue [of Padre Pio]. He's so pale."

Friar 2: "Give him a break. He's lost a lot of blood."

Worse than that is what follows: the look your therapist gives you when you say you're jealous of your Twitter persona.

Has anyone else had the experience of meeting social media acquaintances in real life and seeing the disappointment in their eyes?

Yes! Years ago the Archdiocese of New York had such a service and I used it once before I was a friar. Very neat. A little nun asked you all these questions about prayer, influences, and so on and then said let me pray on this. Best match I've had with a director, may he rest in peace.

Plus, around here a lot of folks go to a parish church other than their own for confession anyway. 😇

Yes, I agree, and I would rather not be a spiritual director for my own parishioner. My point is that finding a spiritual director can be very hard and it's a lot to put on someone without willingness to help.

Absolutely. I tell people to run from such priests. Too many of us out there making disciples for themselves rather than for the Lord.

As a frequent penitent in my Catholic life, there are certain things I am very careful about saying in confession because of my own frustrating experiences before being a priest. One such rule I have is never tell a penitent they need a spiritual director unless I'm willing to accept them myself.

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, Titular Archbishop of Sepino, as the new Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. Archbishop Caccia, 68, has served as Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations since 2019, and succeeds Cardinal Christophe Pierre, 80.

Savior Faire has stolen my bon bons

Me, to myself, after looking up from my phone and exclaiming how in this little town in Algeria that is the current location of a certain bishop's titular see there's a restaurant called Yummy Food.

"Hmm...why don't the friars seem to find this fascinating?"

We are proud of our contribution to coffee culture, and of our simian namesakes.

We are proud to have inspired such things.

Right and just