| RIP: Friar Thomas Nicastro - oldest friar in the Province |
 HUDSON, NY - At approximatelly 8:15 p.m. on July 13, our brother, Fr. Thomas More Nicastro, 93, passed to his eternal reward. Fr. Tom died at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson.
At the time of his passing, Fr. Tom was the oldest friar in the Province.
Born Armand, son of Richard and Gennie (Lauricella) Nicastro, our brother was born in Brooklyn, NY on August 18, 1916. He received the habit of Saint Francis on August 24, 1935 given the name Thomas More and made his first profession of vows on August 25, 1936. Fr. Tom was admitted to solemn profession on August 25, 1939 and ordained priest on June 7, 1942.
Following his ordination he taught for one year at Saint Francis Seminary, Andover. In 1944 Fr. Tom transferred to Saint Mary of the Angels Parish in Toronto where he remained until 1946 as assistant pastor.
He was sent to Boston where he taught at Christopher Columbus High School from 1946-49. He was appointed principal and it was in this capacity that Fr. Tom proved himself an able leader and administrator serving in that position from 1949-1964.
During these years he also served as Definitor (1958-1963) and was appointed by our Minister General as Visitator for the Slavo-Byzantine Custody of Saint Mary of the Angels (1960) and Visitator for the Transylvanian Commissariat of Saint Stephen (1964). In 1964 Fr. Tom was named pastor and guardian of Saint Anthony of Padua in New York.
Fr. Tom arrived at Mount Alvernia, Wappingers Falls in 1967 "where he served as Director of Retreats and Spiritual Assistant of the Secular Franciscan Order. It was in this ministry here at Mount Alvernia that Fr. Tom displayed the depth of his talents, not only as a capable administrator, but also as a spiritual leader both to those who came to Mount Alvernia as well as the people in the surrounding communities. To further strengthen his ministerial abilities, Fr. Tom took time out of his busy schedule and commuted to Iona College (in New Rochelle, NY) for three years earning a Master of Science degree in Counseling."
After 37 years of devoted and caring ministry, Fr. Tom retired at Saint Anthony Friary, Catskill in September 2004 to continue to thank God for helping him "to fulfill successfully his ambition and dream of being a good and prayerful friar, a good and caring priest for all peoples - no matter what ministry he was involved in."
In his homily for the funeral, Provincial Minister Robert Campagna said:
"At [George] Steinbrenner's death, Yogi Berra said, 'He built the Yankees into champions and that is something not many could do.' And so it was with Father Thomas. He built Boston's Christopher Columbus High School into a first-class Catholic High School where he served as principal for 15 years. He was an exceptional administrator, retreat director and spiritual assistant to the Secular Franciscans at Mt. Alvernia where he served for 37 years. A member of the Franciscan Order for 74 years, he served the Order twice as Visitor General and the Province as a Definitor. A priest for 68 years, he served the local church in Canada and New York as a parish priest. As a mature man he returned to school to study counseling, obtaining a master's degree, so that he could better assist the many who came to Mt. Alvernia. Yogi Berra's words about George Steinbrenner certainly apply to Father Thomas; Father Thomas accomplished things that not many could do... "Father Thomas was strong, even stubborn, in his convictions. But it was all for one purpose - bringing the Gospel message, in Francis' style, as he saw and understood it, to the young in the high school, people in parishes, retreatants who came to Mt. Alvernia... "We thank God for Father Thomas, the senior friar-priest of our Province, whom we bury during this our Jubilee Year. Like so many of our founding fathers, his life's aim, as he himself expressed it, was to be a good and prayerful friar; a good and caring priest."
Two Masses of Christian Burial were celebreated for Fr. Tom; one on Monday, July 19 at St. Anthony Friary in Catskill and another on Tuesday, July 20 at Mount Alvernia Friary in Wappingers Falls, NY. His body was buried in the Friars' Cemetery there.
"Friars must remember to offer suffrages for every deceased friar of the province, professed or novice. In particular, each priest shall offer the Eucharist twice." "When news of the death of a friar is received, a concelebrated Mass in his memory should be scheduled in the friaries of the province and the foundations." On the thirtieth day after and on the first anniversary of the death of a confrere, professed or novice, the Eucharist shall be celebrated for him in the house to which he was assigned at the time of death" (PS-8, 1-3).
Heavenly Father...we commend to your mercy Fr. Tom and our brothers who have embraced Sister Death and we thank you for the gift of their lives. United in faith and prayer, through the intercession of our Immaculate Mother Mary, Our Holy Father Saint Francis and Our Holy Mother Saint Clare, keep us ever steadfast in your love as we strive for your vision of a world made new. |
| Pope Benedict speaks on Bl. John Duns Scotus |
 ROME - In his English summary of his conference at his Wednesday Audience on July 7, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI said:
In our catechesis on medieval Christian
culture, we now turn to the distinguished Franciscan theologian,
Blessed John Duns Scotus. A native of
Scotland, he taught at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Paris. Duns
Scotus is best known today for his contribution to the development of Christian thought in three areas.
First, he held that the Incarnation was not directly the result of Adam's sin, but a part of God's original plan of creation, in which every creature, in and through Christ, is called to be perfected in grace and to glorify God for ever. In this great Christocentric vision, the Incarnate Word appears as the center of history and the cosmos.
Secondly, Scotus argued that Our Lady's preservation from original sin was a privilege granted in view of her Son's redemptive passion and death; this theory was to prove decisive for the eventual definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
Finally, Duns Scotus paid great attention to the issue of human freedom; although by situating it principally in the will, he sowed the seeds of a trend in later theology that risked detaching freedom from its necessary relation to truth.
May the teaching and example of Blessed John Duns Scotus help us to understand that we attain happiness, freedom, and perfection by opening ourselves to God's gracious self-revelation in Christ Jesus.
This summary originally appeared in July 15 issue of Around the Province , a publication of the Sacred Heart Province.
The full text of the Pope's comments can be found at: Pope speaks on Duns Scotus |
| Letter of the General Minister for the Feast of St. Clare |
 ROME - General Minister Jose Rodriguez Carballo has issued a letter for the Feast of St. Clare. A selection from that letter is below: Dear Poor Sisters of St. Clare, May the Lord be with you and may you be always with Him! (Blessing of St. Clare 16)
It has been a year since we have been preparing for the celebration of the VIII Centenary of the Founding of your Order, which we will begin officially on Palm Sunday of 2011 and close on the Feast of St. Clare in 2012.
According to the project approved for the Presidents of the Federations during the I Congress of Presidents of the OSC, the theme for this year has to do with the contemplative dimension of your form of life. As we do so, we will be taking into consideration topics such as listening, silence, and conversion of life as privileged means to empower the contemplativedimension.
As usual, each year I send you this letter on the occasion of the Feast of the Little Plant of St. Francis. With it, I wish also to offer you some pointers of reflection on contemplation, solitude, and silence, so that you may, as St. Bonaventure said, follow with solicitude in the footsteps of your beloved mother... and embrace courageously him who is the mirror of poverty, example of humility, shield of patience, and title of obedience (cf. LtB 2).
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| Prayer for Vocations |
O Mary Immaculate, Patroness of the Americas
and Queen of the Order of Friars Minor,
we ask you to inspire humble and chosen souls
for a life in Christ and in the spirit of St. Francis.
With
Motherly care,
foster vocations to our Order and to our Province,
so that seraphic love, labor and sacrifice
will ever flourish in this land dedicated to your protection.
Amen.  | |
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