“Here and There” / “Aquí y allá”
1. We took 53 young people to the Franciscan Retreat: Assisi on the Chesapeake. It was a great experience. We first went to Washington DC where we spent the day at a...
Welcome to the Franciscan weekly letters, to you, “from the heart.”
Bienvenidos a las cartas semanales franciscanas, escritas para ustedes “desde el corazón”.
Watch videos of “From the Heart” on our YouTube Channel
Mira los videos de “From the Heart” en nuestro canal de YouTube.
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St. Francis of Assisi and St. Julia / San Francisco de Asís y Santa Julia
St. Francis of Assisi and St. Julia These are the two other images that will adorn our sanctuary soon. St. Francis of Assisi, the man of God and of th...
01.5.2026 -
Peace Paz
Peace To speak on behalf of peace and to condemn war is what decent people do. To stand up for peace and to put the authors of war in their place is.....
17.4.2026 -
He Has Risen! ¡Jesús ha resucitado!
Jesus Has Risen! He Will Always Rise. For He is Alive And He is Our Salvation. May the joy and the hope of our risen Christ be yours always so that yo...
04.4.2026 -
The Holiest of Weeks La Semana más Santa
The Holiest of Weeks I think that the best spiritual guidance I can share with you, my dear sisters and brothers, is to try to be attentive as much as...
27.3.2026 -
A Spiritual Practice for Holy Week / Una práctica espiritual para la Semana Santa
A Spiritual Practice for Holy Week As we approach Holy Week we prepare ourselves to remember our Lord’s suffering and crucifixion. It is a time of l...
20.3.2026 -
Here We Go Again! ¡Aquí vamos de nuevo!
Here We Go Again! War again. More suffering again. More innocent people and children slaughtered again. Will it ever end!? It doesn’t matter what si...
13.3.2026 -
Beautifying Our Church With Love and Devotion / Embelleciendo Nuestra Iglesia con Amor y Devoción
Beautifying Our Church With Love and Devotion It is my hope that you like how our church remodel is coming along. Many have asked if it will be comple...
06.3.2026 -
Ashes On Our Hearts 💜 Cenizas en Nuestros Corazones
💜Ashes On Our Hearts💜 Let your heart lead you into Lent. Follow the way of your heart. Let your heart speak to you. Give your heart the freedom ...
20.2.2026 -
Lent: Making it Meaningful/ Cuaresma: Haciéndolo Significativo
Lent: How Can We Make it Meaningful We all know that Lent is a time of spiritual preparation and spiritual discipline. The sacrifices and the acts of ...
13.2.2026 -
We Are Blessed / Somos Bendecidos
We Are Blessed The Bishop’s Annual Appeal is about to begin again and we, at St. Julia, have already surpassed our goal! How did we do that? How did...
06.2.2026 -
Read This Face? / ¿Lees esta cara?
Read This Face? / ¿Lees esta cara? I can’t help but see so much frustration and despair in the face of this woman. I don’t know if her closed fis...
30.1.2026 -
A Simple Desire for Peace / Un simple deseo de paz
A Simple Desire for Peace that has Moved the Hearts of Thousands Un simple deseo de paz que ha conmovido los corazones de miles de personas. Lea en es...
24.1.2026 -
Happy New Year / Feliz Año Nuevo
So, here we are at the beginning of 2026.When we look back at 2025, what do we see? When we look forward to 2026, what do we hope for? Go ahead and......
09.1.2026 -
We Shall Not Ignore / No ignoraremos
We Shall Not Ignore the Holy Families. We Will Not Forget You. This picture captures the many families throughout the world who find themselves homele...
17.12.2025 -
Willingly… / Voluntariamente
Willingly, We Will Awaken to God. Willingly, We Will Respond Lovingly to God’s Invitations. In Acts 17:28 we hear: “For in Him we live, and move, ...
05.12.2025 -
A letter from the Bishop of Raleigh / Una Carta del Obispo de Raleigh
A letter from the Bishop of Raleigh • Una Carta del Obispo de Raleigh Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Immigration is not merely a matter of pub...
25.11.2025 -
Have You Seen Jesus Lately? / ¿Has visto a Jesús últimamente?
Have you seen Jesus lately? Keep looking. Keep searching. Keep longing. Keep yearning. Happy Thanksgiving! You are in my prayers and in my heart. Peac...
21.11.2025 -
Am I not here / Acaso no estoy aquí
“Am I not here, I who am your Mother?” She came to the people as a young girl with cinnamon color skin, dressed with the stars of the heavens, ill...
07.11.2025 -
Does Anyone Else Feel Like This? / ¿Alguien más se siente así?
Does Anyone Else Feel Like This, or Am I the Only One? I have to be honest, I don’t like what’s going on in this country of ours. There is much th...
24.10.2025 -
Help Me to Hang On! ¡Ayúdame a aguantar!
Help Me to Hang On! My good people, our beautiful parish family continues to grow and so do your spiritual and social needs. There is only one bit of ...
18.10.2025 -
Talk to me, Please / Háblame por favor
To Our English-Speaking People that Worship in English Hi! I try not to use the terms “English-speaking community and Spanish-speaking community” ...
10.10.2025 -
A Little Bit / Un Poco
A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That There’s a lot going on at our parish. Let me share with you what is going on: Our faith formation clas...
07.10.2025 -
Christian Maturity / Madurez Cristiana
Christian Maturity I was a middle school teacher for quite a few years. It’s by a miracle that I still have any hair left on my head. The principal ...
19.9.2025 -
Thank You! ¡Gracias!
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!! Dear Good People of St. Julia, I want to thank everyone who worked and contributed to making our Parish Festival a g...
12.9.2025 -
Young People Are Awesome Christians
Young People Are Awesome Christians On Sunday, September 7th, Pope Leo will declare that two young men, Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati are sai...
05.9.2025 -
When the Well Runs Dry / Cuando el Pozo se Seca
When the Well Runs Dry That is the title of a book that was published many years ago. It speaks about those times when we feel spiritually dry without...
22.8.2025 -
Pondering / Reflexionando
Pondering It is recorded in the Gospels that Our Blessed Mother pondered many things in her heart. Being the mother of Jesus the adult must have been ...
15.8.2025 -
STOP! Share and be present! ¡Para! ¡Comparte y sé presente!
Are We Truly In Touch With One Another? Are We Truly Aware of Each Other? Are We Present to the Other? When we are young time passes slowly. The older...
01.8.2025 -
God the Artist / Dios, el Artista
God the Artist Don’t ever stand behind or next to an artist while he or she is creating something. Artists need room, space, and not so much convers...
25.7.2025 -
A Little Rest / Un Poco de Descanso
A Little Rest on the Horizon / Un Poco de Descanso en el Horizonte My vacation time begins on July 1st but I will meet with the Dean of our Deaner...
27.6.2025 -
An Ordinary Way to Heaven
An Ordinary Way to Heaven God only knows how many times we have said and felt that life is just too hectic…too fast. How many times have we felt lik...
13.6.2025 -
Beautifying our Church / Embelleciendo nuestra Iglesia
Beautifying our Church for the Glory of God / Embelleciendo nuestra Iglesia para la Gloria de Dios Dear Good People of God, It is my hope to have th...
06.6.2025 -
50 Treasures
Fifty Treasures for the Lord On this Sunday, fifty of our children, fifty treasures, will make their First Communion. They will approach the table of ...
23.5.2025 -
Truth in Jest
Sometimes There is Truth in Jest Have you ever felt like you have nothing to say for the moment? Have you ever been in a situation where you were expe...
16.5.2025 -
Communal Contemplative Prayers / Práctica de la Oración Contemplativa Comunitaria
A Reflection on Communal Contemplative Prayer Practice at St. Julia As you know, an opportunity for communal contemplative prayer is offered at St. Ju...
09.5.2025 -
A New Beginning? ¿Un Nuevo Comienzo?
A New Beginning for the Church? Oh, Please, Lord, Don’t Let it be So! I do understand that, seen from a spiritual or even from a psychological persp...
02.5.2025 -
Pope Francis and Latin Mass / El Papa Francisco y la Misa en latín
Thank you, Pope Francis Gracias, Papa Francisco. Every pope brings his own charism, spirituality, experiences, and perspectives to the papacy, togethe...
25.4.2025 -
Resurrection Resurrección
“Resurrection” Here I am sitting in our living room watching the movie “Mission” with my brother friars. It’s a very difficult movie to watc...
17.4.2025 -
Christ’s Humility / La humildad de Cristo
Let Christ’s Humility and Peace Enter Your Heart What a wonderful way to begin Holy Week with a couple of our parishioners sharing something of thei...
11.4.2025 -
Accepting Challenges Aceptando desafíos
Good Challenges Are Sometimes Hard to Swallow I recently read an article in which there appeared a picture of a church sign that read: “Kind Atheist...
04.4.2025
A letter to the parish family • Una carta a la familia parroquial
Parish Retreats and Spiritual Formation Two weeks ago I wrote in “From the heart” that I would like to provide parish retreats and spiritual formation presentations and workshops for our spiritual growth and...
Be Not Afraid. We Go Forward / No tengas miedo. Seguimos adelante
When I asked the parish community about going forward with our Master Plan, the overwhelming answer was to go forward. So, Forward We Go! The Master Plan Committee interviewed three architectural firms and chose...
Hermanos humildes entre el pueblo
Fray Luís y yo quisiéramos compartir con ustedes la “Declaración de la visión y misión de los frailes franciscanos que ministran en la parroquia de St. Julia” que los dos hemos compuesto como parte del nuevo Plan Pastoral de cuatro años.
Renovar y mejorar
A few weeks ago, Friar Luis and I went on a working retreat to create a new Pastoral Plan for the parish. We worked diligently keeping the people of the parish in mind in all our deliberations and discernment.