In the Footsteps of St. Francis
In his youth Francis, like many young men of his age, longed to be a great knight. But not until later did he come to understand who his true King and Queen were and who the enemy was. Once he discovered his vocation to rebuild the Church through the call of Jesus from the cross of San Damiano, he and a small group of followers began to rebuild the churches of Assisi.
Over the course of his relatively brief life, the simple but joyful Gospel living St. Francis desired attracted many followers — people willing to give up all their worldly possessions to gain the pearl of great price: a life of union with the crucified and risen Jesus Christ. Francis discovered early in his conversion process that the Most Holy Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was to be his primary intercessor to enable him to achieve this intimate union, which finally resulted in Francis receiving the wounds of Jesus after a ten-day fast on Mt. Laverna.
My Own Franciscan Journey
I did not begin to understand my Franciscan vocation until decades after the initial call. My spiritual formation began as a young boy at St. Gabriel Catholic School in Glendale, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati, where I attended grades one through four. At St. Gabriel we were able to pray the holy sacrifice of the Mass before school each day.
I was in sixth or seventh grade when my uncle Eugene Scharnhorst lent me a book about St. Padre Pio. At the time I did not know Padre Pio was a Franciscan Capuchin Friar. I could see from the pictures that he was suffering greatly with what appeared to be the wounds of the crucified Christ. We formed a kind of spiritual friendship, Padre Pio and I.
Although I fell away from the practice of my faith during my high school years and early college years, I always had a strong devotion to Holy Mary and Padre Pio and would pray Hail Marys during times of trial. During a time of trial at the age of 39, I had the great blessing of seeing an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer about a local woman who reported receiving apparitions and messages of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
It was at one of these monthly apparitions that I met a woman who recommended I read The Mystical City of God by the great Franciscan mystic Sister Maria of Agreda. I bought a book about Padre Pio and discovered he was a Franciscan. From that point on I thought I had a Franciscan vocation but did not know how to fulfill it.
Profession in the Secular Franciscan Order
My initial attempt to join the Secular Franciscan Order was in 1997, but the Fraternity meetings were on Saturdays — our primary family day — so this was not a good fit. It wasn't until 2005 that I met Lori Seelhoff during practice for the St. Margaret Mary contemporary choir. She was wearing her Tau cross and I asked her what it was. She told me it was the Tau cross and that she was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order and that they met at the San Pedro Center.
I began my formation inquiry into the Secular Franciscan Order in the winter of 2005 and completed my permanent profession in the fall of 2008. During this time I had the great blessing of the assistance of Faith Libbe and John Deaton during the formation process, where many tears of joy were shed in the embrace of the Holy Spirit.
After having to leave the city of Orlando for a job in 2008, I was able to complete an initial draft of the screenplay for The Mystical City of God and formed Mystical City Media for this purpose. I was able to return to Orlando in 2010 and was elected as Vice Minister of Lady Poverty Fraternity later that year.
Since my return I have had the great privilege to assist two formation sessions of new inquirers and to host several presentations on my quest to make a documentary on the life of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary based on the visions of the great Franciscan mystic Sister Maria of Jesus of Agreda as written in her great work The Mystical City of God. I continue in my Franciscan spiritual formation until this very day and look forward to assisting many new Franciscans in discovering their vocations.
To God be the glory.