Brother JR: are you/is he OK? And a thank you

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Still pray for the men in formation and the children.
Miss you!
 
May God bless you Brother JR, and the brothers of your order and the men and their children to whom you minister.
Amen.
 
Hoping you and your brothers had a most blessed Easter BrotherJR. May God strengthen your community as you minister to His children.
Amen.
 
My dearest friends and family. Allow me to say that I pray that the Immaculate may lead you to her Risen Son.

Thank you for your continued concern for me and for your prayers.

At the risk of sounding as if I were whining, which I am not, allow me to catch you up on my health.

Because of diabetes, I suffered a stroke that left my right leg without any sensation and a weak right arm. Driving is very difficult. One of the brothers usually drives me. That does not mean that I don’t go where I’m needed. I still run Project Joseph for the Archdiocese of Miami, teach religious education to grades 5 and 6, train men to minister to other men and train our brothers. I’ve been doing some writing too. Check out our blog at franciscansoflife.com .

I use oxygen, because I also have stage three COPD. There are four stages to COPD. Stage four has a mortality rate of about six weeks. A person in stage three can live from five week to five years, maybe long with good nutrition. I do the best I can with nutrition. As most of you know, we’re a very poor community. We do not charge for our services, nor the cost. We depend on donations that come to us through PayPal via our bog site and our website at franciscansoflife.org . Don’t get them confused. One is org and the other is com.

I had an awesome Holy Week. I had the opportunity to attend mass in my hometown on Palm Sunday. Since my health is unpredictable, the brothers do whatever than can to get me up to see my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter in Virginia. I went for Christmas and again for Holy Week. Of course, Brother Bernardo always travels with me. He is my primary caretaker. Without him I can’t dress and undress. He even has to scrub me down in the shower, which is quite funny when he applies baby shampoo to my head. I haven’t smelled this good since I was three.

I’m back in Florida. On the 29th of this month, the brothers and I are running a workshop to train men to mentor to dads in unexpected and unwanted pregnancies.

Our brothers are also involved in hospital ministry. They visit the sick and take Holy Communion to them. Brother Leo has years of experience in hospice care. He’s as gentle as Downy Fabric Softener. He spends time with those who are terminally ill, their families and their healthcare providers. He’s a great listener, which is what you most need in hospice ministry.

Besides the hospital and Respect Life, the brothers aid the immigrant poor. Usually, we provide them with directions to resources that they don’t know exist. It’s a horrible feeling to arrive in a new country and not know where to find a dentist who won’t charge you more money than you children are worth, just to take care of a cavity. There is an elderly couple where the husband is disabled. The wife’s salary is not enough to pay their rent. We raise funds for that rent every month, along with our own rent. Remember, our Constitutions say that we may not own our houses. If anyone has some extra pennies and you want to get rid of them, send them our way. Very often, people do not give you a donation, because they think that $1.00 is not enough. But that dollar is often what we need to ride on the city bus.

The number of men inquiring about our community has dropped. Please pray that the Lord will send us more brothers. There are many men and women in crisis pregnancies, may people who are dying in hospice and many immigrants who don’t have a friend in the world.

We’re finding that as we serve these people, we are always asked about our way of life. People are intrigued because we’re not priest. This is a great opening to talk about the need to surrender one’s existence to Christ, which is the life of the religious brother. He is a man who closes his eyes and falls back into the arms of Christ, the first-born of many brothers and sisters.

Thank you for having me and please continue to pray for us and the babies who lives we try to save. We hope that we save their souls too, not just their lives.

franciscansoflife.com/2017/04/17/
franiscansoflife.org
 
Dear Brother,

I’m so happy you are in good spirits and got to attend mass in your hometown. Too bad I didn’t know. I live down the street and would have loved to meet you (with your permission of course). A Blessed Easter Season to you!

Well wishes,

CF
 
Brother,you are so lovely…
And very blessed to have Brother Leo and also such enthusiasm to keep doing all that service for others.
And with a baby shampoo delicious scent! Loved that !🙂
We remember you.
Holding you and yours in our hearts and prayers!
And keep praying for us.
Thank you for the update!!
 
How wonderful hearing from you, Brother.

I’m sure I am not the only one missing your much needed gentle (key word) guidance and presence on CAF.

Prayers for you, and don’t forget to pray for us too. God bless you and your brothers.
 
Thank you for the update, Brother JR. Praying for you and your intentions.
 
If anyone has any contact with Bro. Jay, can they give him a heads up about the changes that are coming to CAF. I would hate to have his invaluable and informational posts lost, due to his infrequent posting these days.

I learned so much about the Church, teachings, traditions, etc., thru him.

I hope they do not become lost
 
Marie5890 said:
If anyone has any contact with Bro. Jay, can they give him a heads up about the changes that are coming to CAF. I would hate to have his invaluable and informational posts lost, due to his infrequent posting these days.

I learned so much about the Church, teachings, traditions, etc., thru him.

I hope they do not become lost
Click to expand...
He knows, I’m sure.
If you look at the top of the threads there is a tab called THREAD TOOLS.

You can pull up the thread you enjoyed and simply print it out, or cut and paste it into your own personal files.
 
Brother Jay, thank you for all you meant for many of us and what you still mean.
So many times you stretched a hand in times of trouble,so many explanations when we were twisting like pretzels to understand,so much of St Francis learning and orders,and that super special " Because it is the loving thing to do".
Thanks for being there for us.
Heartfelt thanks and hoping somehow you will stick around.And if you do not,all the best.
Hope you and your brothers and your family are all right and sending you tons of love and many,many thank you,Brother!
 
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