They turned on the machine and slowly, gradually the earth’s rotation slowed down. This was a science fiction movie so don’t be alarmed.

One night during dinner I asked my Capuchin Brothers if they had seen the movie, but nobody seemed to recall or knew anything about it. But I saw it. I wouldn’t make up such a story.

I clearly remember that the slowing down of the earth’s rotation caused things to start rising into the sky. People were lifted up and kept going until they were out of sight.

In the Old Testament there were two people who were taken up to Heaven while they were still alive. They will come back to earth to die before the Lord returns on Judgment Day.

We know Jesus and His Mother went up. The Liturgy says they are leading the way to Heaven and we hope to follow them when our time comes, when God is ready for us.

Thank goodness for gravity, when it works correctly, because it keeps us here on earth to help the poor and comfort the sick and the sorrowful.

Gravity also slows us down and encourages people to patiently wait for God to call us. That call will come soon enough. When He’s ready for us.

In the meantime, we need to tell others about Heaven, where there is no gravity, nothing to keep us attached to the material things of this world.

(Backyard Galaxy is a weekly series featuring reflections from Fr. Michael Suchnicki dealing with God, thoughts from the friary backyard and on our Milky Way Galaxy.)

It was a beautiful morning about an hour before sunrise. I looked at the Eastern sky and there was beautiful Venus.

The planet looked like a little piece of glass reflecting the sun. I really wanted to go there that morning, but we human beings will never make the trip. It just too hot, hundreds of degrees. The entire planet is covered with lava from underground volcanic activity.

I knew that Mercury was out there somewhere, the closest planet to the sun, but I didn’t know where to look that particular morning. Mercury is a little bigger than earth’s moon. It should be a dead planet, but scientist have found some activity on its surface. It’s also extremely hot.

Next is our home, Earth. We have a magnetic field and thank God for that, because it’s like a shield and protects us from radiation waves coming from Brother Sun. The waves bounce off our magnetic field and go out into space.

Of the first four planets, we are the only one with a moon. Plus we are in a perfect orbit around the sun. We have four seasons and all the oceans we will every need. God picked the right place for Adam and Eve and the human race to begin their journey.

I haven’t forgotten Mars, the fourth planet from the sun. It’s like a desert covered with rocks. If there is any life on Mars, it’s underground. The sun’s radiation waves destroyed its atmosphere a long time ago.

See how much God loves us. Life here on earth didn’t begin by chance. Someone created the best place for fragile humans. The other planets in our Solar System are meant for us to explore and enjoy.

However, stay away from Mercury and Venus, and be careful when you visit Mars.

(Backyard Galaxy is a weekly series featuring reflections from Fr. Michael Suchnicki dealing with God, thoughts from the friary backyard and on our Milky Way Galaxy.)

Those words brought back the memory of what happened to me at the Samaritan House ten years ago. I had almost forgot.

One of our homeless ladies staying with us came by and asked if I could give her some money, thirty dollars. Now I had that much in my office, but I needed to check with her case manager and see if it was alright to give her the money, because her case manager knew her situation better than I did.

The lady said she needed it tomorrow. I put the money in an envelope and gave it to her in the morning. Her case manager said it was alright.

That evening she checked out of the shelter. We had no idea where she went. We just wanted her to be safe.

The next week when I was walking across our parking lot to the main building, along comes this big, dark limo. She was in the back seat. The driver stopped the limo, she rolled down the window, handed me an envelope, thanked me, and the car headed down Larimer Street.

There was five hundred dollars in the envelope. I remember telling her she didn’t have to do that, but she insisted.

I’m convinced that our homeless men, women and children are not only sent to us by God, but I believe some of them are angelic beings in disguise. They test our willingness to help strangers, the homeless. They test us to see if we will be as generous as we should be.

I just ask God to forgive me for all those times I wasn’t as kind and giving as I should have been.

Under “the tree in the middle” I read what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount.

(Backyard Galaxy is a weekly series featuring reflections from Fr. Michael Suchnicki dealing with God, thoughts from the friary backyard and on our Milky Way Galaxy.)

For four weeks the postulants joined the post-novitiate house in San Antonio, Texas to participate in classes, prayer and work in preparation for their year long journey at the Novitiate. The main project? Work on a half-mile trail through the grounds of the newly acquired friary. The trail would be a place for spiritual walks, prayer and personal reflection. The plan is to include the Stations of the Cross, which are currently being built by Brother Jason Moore. The now-novices worked hard in the mornings, gathering rocks, shoveling gravel and dirt. The hope is that the trail can be a long-lasting means of prayer for both our visitors and our men in formation. 

While its not a seven-mile trail like the one depicted in the Road to Emmaus story of Luke, the trail would provide enough length to hopefully encounter Jesus. As we continue this project, the hope is that many people can come to pray, meditate, and find Christ; to encounter Jesus in their longing and yearning, to find clarity and truth in their hope for the Risen Lord. 

All through scripture we hear countless stories of people encountering Jesus on the road. Both men and women had encountered Christ in powerful ways. Blind men were given sight, faith was restored in the crowds and the men that encountered him on the road were suddenly asked to take up their crosses and follow after. For much of Jesus’ life, those ministry moments happened while he was on the go; on the roads and trails. Walking in those days not only got you from place to place, but it represented a learning opportunity, a time of discovery and change; a chance to venture into new territory. For many, traveling proved to be a life-changing experience, certainly if one happened to run into Jesus as was seen in the life of St. Paul for example. 

Everywhere Jesus went, he met someone who happened to be on the exact same road, waiting for him in the hopes of seeking some kind of newness in their lives. In the Gospel of Luke, there is a story that describes Jesus, James, and John walking on a road, traveling from village to village. During their journey, they encountered a man who sought so badly to follow Jesus. Moved with zeal, this man cried out to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” (Luke 9:57) In this story, Jesus invites this man and others to himself, he invites them to continue wayward on the trail by saying “follow me.” 

“Walk in the way of love. . . ” | Ephesians 5:1

In the Gospel of Luke, two men were walking toward Emmaus and they encountered Jesus without even knowing it was him. Saddened by the news of his death, distraught, spiritually confused and probably questioning everything they had come to believe, these guys went on a seven-mile walk to Emmaus so that they could confirm the news of his resurrection. Still, they encountered Jesus on the trail and they felt that their hearts were burning within them; completely filled with a flame of faith that had come from the presence of the risen Lord among them. (Luke 24:32) 

In Matthew, when the two blind men who were sitting at the roadside begging had heard that Jesus was approaching, together they shouted out to him, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” They had encountered Jesus on the roadside. We are told that Jesus was moved with compassion and healed them. (Matt 20:30-34) Perhaps these experiences of Jesus on the trail shed light on the reasons why these people were on the trail in the first place. It was a place of conversion, a place for prayer, recollection, and it was symbolic of “beginning again”.

Scripture is filled with metaphors on the trail because it marked the direction toward spiritual perfection, eternal salvation, justice and righteousness. It was where one found God while at the same time fending off the snares and traps of the enemy. The psalms are rich in this regard, as the psalmist writes, “teach me your ways, O Lord so that I may walk in your truth.” (Psalm 86:11). 

“Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.” | Psalm 119:35

In all of these accounts, the symbolism of one being on a trail perhaps points us to one’s personal longing for change and desire to encounter Jesus or to encounter something far greater than what is already known. It marked a journey toward something new, and as we’ve seen its constantly used as a metaphor in our spiritual life. This journey begins when we are driven by a hope that longs for the truth. The two on the road to Emmaus hoped for things to be different, they hoped and wondered about the news of Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead. They sought the truth. The blind men sought to see, yes, but also to see things differently. They said, “have mercy on us!” 

The beauty too is that as we long to encounter Jesus on our journey, indeed, we will. As we enter onto the trail with the desire to find Jesus, to find the truth, we are also yearning to find clarity, to discover and to begin again with a renewed sense of our identity. We go there to walk and to pray; to be transformed. Jesus asks us the same question that he asked the two blind men, “What do you want me to do for you?” Perhaps the trail is where that question starts to be answered. Like the blind men, we can say to Jesus, “Lord, we want to see!” (Matt 20:32)

He also left us the most precious gift, The Eucharist, His Body and Blood. As far as I know, we are the only ones in the entire universe who have this wonderful gift.

In one of Pope St. John Paul’s books, the Sign of Contradiction, he writes about looking at Earth from the moon. He was inspired by the picture one of the astronauts took of our beautiful planet from the surface of the moon.
He wrote that the Earth is filled with the Eucharistic. Our Lord’s Body and Blood is everywhere on Earth, so He calls our home, The Eucharistic Planet.

As I write this, the thought came to me that if there is intelligent life out there, I’m sure God would want us to share the Eucharist with them after we tell them about Jesus. Maybe that’s the Lord’s plan. Perhaps they know nothing about their Creator, His Son, and the precious gift He left us.
But, will we ever get to those other planets that might have intelligent life in far off space ?

We have a lot of work ahead of us. First, we have to take care of Earth. It’s been through a lot. Yet, she is as beautiful as ever.

She’s full of colorful flowers, glorious snows, stately trees, great mountains, blue oceans and so much more. Earth is also overflowing with wonderful, peaceful people, who don’t want to fight or hurt each other any more.

From the moon and the tallest mountain on earth, we can see that the Body and Blood of Jesus is everywhere on earth.

We are truly the Eucharistic Planet.

(Backyard Galaxy is a weekly series featuring reflections from Fr. Michael Suchnicki dealing with God, thoughts from the friary backyard and on our Milky Way Galaxy.)

Happily though, as with many of the St. Joseph parishioners, the friendships Kevin Rupp and his wife Joyce had built with the Capuchins go on.

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“When they greet you, you feel like you’re part of the brothers, that is what is so special to me,” Kevin Rupp said, testifying to the lived reality of the order’s charism to be “little brothers” not only to each other, but to all.

Kevin Rupp, 58, has played the organ at St. Joseph’s for 42 years. Starting out as a choir member and substitute organist at age 18, over the years he became the fulltime organist and church liturgist. Eventually, he also became the parish office manager. He wears those many hats today. While his relationship with the friars grew after joining St. Joseph’s in 1978, growing up in Hays, his life was never without their presence as they ran the parish school, the local Catholic high school, campus ministry at Fort Hays State University, and a seminary in nearby Victoria, Kan.

“The people here grew up with the Capuchins all our lives. They were just part of our lives,” Kevin Rupp said.

Although Kevin Rupp grew up attending a neighboring parish, both he and Joyce were baptized by friars at St. Joseph’s. Five friars concelebrated their wedding at the parish. “That was very special,” Kevin Rupp said.

Joyce Rupp, 54, grew up attending St. Joseph Church, its parish school and Thomas More Prep-Marian High School. Her parents and a grandfather had volunteered or worked with the Capuchins in the parish, the schools and at the local Catholic hospital. While many of the friars were friends of the family, Joyce Rupp said Fr. Mike Scully is perhaps the closest.

“I’ve known him since I was 3 years old. He’s one of the finest men I’ve ever known,” she said, adding that he was the main celebrant at her and Kevin’s wedding.

Although the Capuchins turned over the running of St. Joseph Parish to the Diocese of Salina, Kan., in 2013, they continue with other ministry in Ellis County.

“Their presence is less frequent at St. Joseph’s now but their spirit is still there,” Joyce Rupp said. “The people are always happy to see them when they return.”

Staffed by four friars and open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day but Sunday, the center, which includes an inviting lobby and a 100-seat chapel, primarily exists to offer Mass, the sacrament of reconciliation and the chance to seek counsel from a priest.

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“We want to be there for people who are seeking advice or the sacraments or who want to talk a little bit, that’s the biggest thing we offer,” said Capuchin Fr. Curtis Carlson, the center’s director. “The best thing is bringing God’s presence into people’s lives or helping them see where God already is present and assisting them in their relationship with God. Being able to talk one-on-one with a spiritual leader is vital to people. They appreciate and seek it out.”

Among the center’s advocates is Colorado Springs Bishop Michael Sheridan. “When I learned that my predecessor, Bishop Hanifen, had arranged for the Capuchin friars to start a ministry of confessions and Masses at the Citadel Mall, I was very, very pleased,” he said, noting that the initiative reminded him of a downtown chapel the friars had in St. Louis when he served there as a priest.

“The friars provide a much-needed ministry, especially in these times when the mercy of God is emphasized by Pope Francis,” Bishop Sheridan continued. “Many people take advantage of the presence of the friars at the mall. I pray that they continue with us for many years.”

The friars are aided by a group of some 60 volunteers who take turns welcoming visitors, manning the lobby’s front desk and assisting

people with referrals to parishes or resources such as Catholic Charities. Visitors may help themselves to free Bibles, prayer cards, rosaries, religious medals, and informational pamphlets available in both English and Spanish.

A dramatic increase in ministry numbers over the last 10 years show the center has grown in popularity and, rather than being a curiosity that people unexpectedly encounter, has become an intended stop for the scores of those who use it regularly.

“The majority of visitors are those who make this their weekday Mass; others come now and then but regularly enough that we know them. Some come in who are shopping and decide to join us,” said Fr. Carlson. “We help the mall because we’re a destination for many people who then perhaps go get something to eat or do shopping before continuing with their day.”

Figures from the 2008-2009 liturgical year compared with those of 2018-2019 show more than a 68 percent increase in confessions/private counsel, a nearly 76 percent increase in Lenten confessions and nearly an 8-fold increase in attendance for special Masses outside the regular Mass times, such as holy days of obligation.

“We liked the idea of the mall because it’s the modern marketplace,” Fr. Carlson said. “St. Francis of Assisi himself and the early friars would, over the years, preach in the marketplace and the town square, as that was where the people were. This is a modern version of that.”

First located in a tiny mall space that seated just 15 people, after a year The Catholic Center moved temporarily into a nearby spot with room for a 90-seat chapel. In 2004 the center moved further down the corridor to its present site. Mass is offered twice on weekdays (12:10 p.m. and 6 p.m.) and once on Saturdays (12:10 p.m.). The center is closed on Sundays.

Because the center is not a parish, Sunday Mass, baptisms, weddings and funerals are not offered. Two of the friars speak Spanish and can hear confessions in Spanish. A Spanish-language Mass is offered at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays. Typically just one friar is on duty during the day and another during the evening.

“On Ash Wednesday and all during Holy Week we double up because of the number of people coming in,” Fr. Carlson said. “All during Lent it’s even busier yet – then there will be a couple dozen people waiting in line [for confession or counsel] at any given time.”

During Holy Week and holy days of obligation, it’s not uncommon to see long lines of people patiently waiting for confession or a private session with a priest. “I’ve even seen priests come to confession here,” former volunteer coordinator Debbie McMonigle said after the noon Mass Feb. 21. “It’s nice to have confession available any time you need it.”

That day, a young couple and a Mom with several youngsters were among those waiting to meet with a priest, more than 30 people attended the noon Mass, and people of all ages stopped in to pray in the chapel and/or to browse the lobby items or ask questions at the front desk.

Current volunteer coordinator and administrative assistant Karen Zecha said the Center is special. “I tell everybody it’s a sanctuary,” she said. “It’s peaceful, holy ground. You’re welcome to come in anytime and be with Christ.”

With the eventual rise of Thomism – the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas – in the late Middle Ages, and the later crowning of Thomism as the primary theology of the Church following the Council of Trent and the First Vatican Council, Franciscan theology has been largely forgotten by everyday Catholics. Yet, for many centuries it was actually the Franciscans who held the widest influence in medieval theology. In order to better understand the uniqueness of Franciscan theology, it might be helpful to contrast it with Dominican theology, or Thomism.

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Dominican theology is centered around the idea of atonement, that the Incarnation happened as a result of original sin and the primary reason for Jesus Christ is expiation for the sins of humanity. This approach, weighted toward law and redemption, is rooted in the Western (Latin) Fathers, particularly St. Augustine and St. Anselm. While St. Augustine certainly lauded the love and goodness of God, his primary focus is the sinfulness of man. This is what we learned in catechism class, God created everything good, but sin and the fall from grace happened hot on the heels of God’s work. We are sinners in need of redemption. As we sing every Easter Vigil in the Exsultet: “O wondrous fault that earned us so great a redeemer.”

Franciscan theology, which was influenced by the Eastern (Greek) Fathers, sees an alternative way of looking at these events. Impacted largely by Athanasius, Basil and Pseudo-Dionysius, Franciscan theology viewed the Incarnation as too momentous an event to be initiated by sin. This pointed insight is brought out in the theological writings of Franciscans such as St. Bonvanture and Bl. John Dun Scotus.

According to this alternative view, the emphasis is not on the sinfulness of man, but on the goodness and glory of God reflected throughout his creation. According to Scotus, Jesus was not an after-thought, a last minute rescue plan devised to save fallen humanity. Instead, the Incarnation was intended from the beginning, regardless of original sin. The Franciscan school moves sin out of the forefront and places Christ at the center of God’s creation, revealing a God who is passionately in love with humanity.

Much more could be said on this amazing topic. Countless books have been written on Franciscan theology. Perhaps this short article might serve as a starting point to digging deeper into the Franciscan understanding of God and creation.

It is necessary to renounce human superiority so that the divine power of Christ’s cross can be seen. We must insist on this point because there is still a need for it. The majority of believers have never been helped to grasp this mystery, which is the heart of the New Testament and of the kerygma and which changes one’s life.

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But what is the sign and proof that we really believe in Christ’s cross and that the “word of the cross” is not just a word, an abstract principle, a fine piece of theology or ideology, but truly the cross? The sign and proof is this: that you take up your cross and follow Jesus. The sign is to suffer with him, to be crucified with him, to complete in one’s sufferings what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. The Christian’s whole life must be a living sacrifice like Christ’s. It is not only a question of a passively accepted suffering but a suffering that is also active and lived in union with Christ.

Just as Mary was close to her crucified son, so the Church is called to be close to the crucified of today: the poor, the suffering, the humiliated, the insulted. How can the Church stay close to these? In hope, like Mary. It is not enough to pity their sufferings or even to try to alleviate them. This would be too little. Anyone can do this, even those who know nothing of the resurrection. The Church must transmit hope, proclaiming that suffering is not absurd, that it is meaningful, because there will be a resurrection after death. She must give the reason for the hope that she has.

(The above is an excerpt from Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa’s sermon to the Papal Household given on the third Sunday of Lent 2020.)

“I grew up attending St Joseph’s Church, which was a Capuchin parish for over 100 years. Every morning from the time I was in first grade I went to daily Mass. There was always a Capuchin celebrating it,” the 62-year-old priest said. “I was deeply impressed by their love for God, their holiness and the way they celebrated the Mass. Since first grade I wanted to be just like them.”

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He attended a discernment program run by the Capuchins while attending high school and after graduation entered a Capuchin-run college in Pennsylvania.

“I had never been away from home before, I lasted less than two months,” Fr. Toepfer said. “I was very homesick and my sister was sick with cancer. I felt a strong pull to be at home to be with her on her journey. So I didn’t stay.”

Instead, he attended Fort Hays State University and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from the University of Kansas. Meanwhile, his beloved sole sister succumbed to the cancer. It was a painful loss deepened by his feelings of personal disappointment.

“I thought I’d failed as a Capuchin – maybe God wants me to be a diocesan priest,” he recalled. “So when I was a senior at KU I interviewed with the archdiocese of Kansas City. They accepted me for the seminary.”

He attended St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana and was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in his home parish on May 24, 1986.

“I served in Kansas City and in Topeka, both in parish work and campus ministry. I enjoyed priesthood very much but I felt God was calling me – that he had something to say to me about my vocation. So I did an eight-day silent retreat in my fifth year of priesthood and there it became clear to me God was calling me to be a Capuchin.”

Since joining the order, he has served at a homeless shelter in Denver, in campus ministry in Kansas, in AIDS ministry in Toronto, Canada, as a parochial vicar in Denver and Colorado Springs, and as pastor at Annunciation Church in Denver. He has also served in Hispanic ministry at a parish in Aurora, Colo., and as associate director of Hispanic ministry for the Colorado Springs Diocese. Since 2012, he has served as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Colorado Springs. For the last several years, he has also been involved with postulancy formation.

I’ve enjoyed all the ministries I’ve done,” Fr. Toepfer said. “I love being a friar, I love being a priest. The different ministries I’ve had have allowed me to use my gifts as a priest and a friar in particular ways.”