{"id":2101,"date":"2015-12-24T09:37:31","date_gmt":"2015-12-24T09:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/?p=2101"},"modified":"2025-09-28T05:12:46","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T05:12:46","slug":"christmas-message-from-fr-jack-rathschmidt-ofm-capuchin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/?p=2101","title":{"rendered":"From Fr. Jack Rathschmidt, OFM Capuchin: &#8220;St. Francis at the Crib&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Besides his many roles with the Capuchins, Fr. Jack has been associated with my parish for as long as we&#8217;ve lived in Croton. Which is back to 1982!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He sent this around today. Love the image below his note. &#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>St. Francis at the Crib<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">My Friends,<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">May the Peace of Christmas fill you with hope.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In the Capuchin Franciscan tradition, the crib is one of the two great images of God that draw us to ongoing conversion. Rooted in the vulnerability of God, the crib reminds us that God chose to be dependent and weak, unable to feed or dress himself, unable to walk or talk. He is simply presented to us as a gift so that we might remember God&#8217;s enduring and unending love for us. No matter where we wander, or even if we turn away, God waits for our return and presents Himself to us year after year as a child needing our love.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">As you celebrate Christmas this year with the threat of world wide terrorism and the fear that accompanies it, I pray you will not fail to be vulnerable and available to your families, friends and enemies. The Gospel is very clear and demanding. Unless we become like children we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. (Mt 18:3) Especially during this Holy Year of Mercy, let us be unafraid to follow the example of Jesus who continually makes Himself available to us even unto death.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">God will strengthen us in our resolve. We have only to let God do God&#8217;s work.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Love and prayers,<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">(Br) Jack<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div>&nbsp;<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/6a00d834525a2f69e201b8d1883cf5970c-500wi.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11632\" title=\"Francis at the crib\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/6a00d834525a2f69e201b8d1883cf5970c-500wi.png 500w, https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/6a00d834525a2f69e201b8d1883cf5970c-500wi-225x300.png 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div><br>&nbsp;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Besides his many roles with the Capuchins, Fr. Jack has been associated with my parish for as long as we&#8217;ve lived in Croton. Which is back to 1982! He sent this around today. Love the image below his note. &#8230; St. Francis at the Crib My Friends, &nbsp; May the Peace of Christmas fill you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2101"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11633,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101\/revisions\/11633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}