The following is a testimonial from Bill Wallwork, supporter of the Franciscan Friars, the Jamaica Mission, and the Revival School Project. If you arrive early enough at the Franciscan Mission of Mary Gate of Heaven Catholic Church in…

Fr. Colin King, OFM with a few of the young children he wants to be able to educate in the new and expanded school. A Jamaican man who gave a gift for the Revival Infant School at a…

  Advent 2022 The first Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2022, starts the new Liturgical Year—a new journey of faith and spiritual preparation. Advent is a wonderful opportunity to reexamine where we have been and where we want to…

St. Anthony’s Kitchen serves breakfast to many children before they go to school. Photo by Colleen Cushard So many of us count on St. Anthony’s intercession throughout the year. We primarily think of this very popular saint as…

Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year and begins on Sunday, November 28. While Advent is meant to be a time of joyful anticipation of the birth of our Savior, it is often overshadowed by the hustle and…

Temporary professed friars: Br. Raphael Ozoude, Joshua Richter, and Matt Ryan This summer, three temporary professed friars from the Province of St. John the Baptist left St. Joseph Interprovincial Friary in Chicago for three very different ministerial assignments.…

Sunrise at St. Anthony Shrine and Friary Friars devoted to St. Anthony Dear Friends, As we started to prepare for the Solemn Novena to St. Anthony back in late March of this year, I asked some of the…

Lots of smiles in Jamaica Right before Thanksgiving this year, I visited Fr. Jim Bok, OFM, Fr. Colin King, OFM, and Br. Steve Dupuis, OFM, in Jamaica. It was November and still in the 90s and as humid as…

Candles and prayers in the grotto at the St. Anthony Shrine. My mother was always praying to St. Anthony. I remember as a child, she called on him for help all the time and with six kids, she…

Friar Works Co-Director Colleen Cushard I love my job! ~ Usually when I got a call from Julia, I would hang up afterwards laughing and shaking my head.  One of our longtime supporters, she was a feisty…