April 5 Vincent Ferrer b 1357 d, 1419

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

i'm only about two and a half weeks behind in my saints entries qua blog. been writing alot more than typing. short stories mostly. quasieautobiographical, of course - both a history dump and an emotional dump. there are some advantages to little sleep, one being lots of awake time :) for writing, reading [bio "MICK" aka michael collins; george carlin; andrew greeley; patterson; and clancy. a lot of stories there. and an HBR re: leaders and what leaders expect and how to deliver expectation. then there's the work reading, learning/looking for policies and procedures. when something goes wrong, the first question, how should it go? and the answer to that is in the policy/procedure - and when there is none that addresses that.... ooops.... even more room for improvement....]

vincent ferrer, famous - within church and in his era and in the history of europe's 14th c. because the history of europe may not BE the history of the church but it is inseparable... and as much as we want separation of church and state as a political maxim, there is no such separation for individuals, groups, and, thus, for the body politic...

vincent ferrer, famous for 'building up' and strengthening our Church. whatever we do either makes us better or not; makes our family better or not; makes our community better or not; makes our church better or not - - inseparable; inescapable - - even the denial of affiliation is an act, negative to self, family, community, and church; weakening each and all.

vincent ferrer - - preaching, missions, teaching, confessor, adviser.... and a partridge in a pear tree. we are each more than one participant in our own life as well as the life of others. son. father. executive. teacher. mentor. volunteer. knight. communicant [not qutie daily but an aspiration - charles boromeo parish, beautiful church in the modern american style.

y'all should know alot about vincent ferrer already. no, not just from the movie The Saint.
Vincent Ferrer, dominican. born in valencia spain - yes a bit of geopolitical history does you some good in knowing, understanding, appreciating st vincent. he was 17 when he entered the monastery near his home. [i was seventeen when i went into st stanislaus koska novitiate in lenox ma.... each of you are past 17 - and your discerning of your vocation is how? where? what?]

vincent ferrer made his entrance into the lives of many through the academic portal. soon after his final vows, he was commissioned to deliver lectures on phliosophy. see, the church honors the pursuit of truth along many roads. acutally, the discipline of philosophy is a precursor to the study of theology; maybe a sine qua non.....

upon being sent to barcelona [being sent, superiors, obedience, faith, trust....], he continued his scholastic studies and devoted himself to preaching. contstant study. pursuit of the mastery of the medium - preaching; too bad our priests aren't that committed to study or the talent of preaching.

he was assigned to teach at Lerida in Catalonia - he received his doctorate. yes, credentials are important. not only are they tickets to opportunities, tickets without which opportunities are less accessible. and, while doing his "work" i.e., his study and teaching and preaching, vincent ferrer 'perfected himself in the Christian life.' who we are, Catholic, is inseparable from what we are, e.g, student/executive. therefore, our efforts at anything is emeshed in our perfecting our Catholicity - our closeness to Jesus and our living in a way that perfectly emulates him. [of course you wince with the expectation of perfection. that's the pernicious anti catholic atmosphere you encounter. pursuit of perfection is our purose, why we are created - to know love and serve God in this world and be with Him forever in heaven. like the country song i heard again yesterday while driving thru west virginia and virginia; if you have a dream, a dream is so great that it seems unattainable, dream it anyway. if you don't go for the gold, not are you not likely to get the gold ring, you're not likely to be happy in whatever second class effort you're making.]

1394 [a time of two, more, ?, popes] Vincent Ferrer was Master of the pope's palace at Avignon. Vincent Ferrer, from this high platform tried to end the schism.... unsuccessfully.... ok, he flopped, and flopped big time... and still, remembered as building up the church? and canonized? what's that about?

vincent ferrer, with the pope as benefactor could have had/done anything in the church. e.g., he turned the red hat and asked to be appointed apostolical missionary - a visa to preach and teach anywhere....

vincent ferrer, after failing to bring the big wigs under one big tent, pursued his vocation - to evangelize.... nearly every province in Spain. and he went to france, italy, germany, flanders, england, scotland, and Ireland. in addition to the persuasion of his preaching, vincent ferrer was helped along with God's not so invisible hand, the power of miracles.

vincent ferrer lived to see the election of Pope Martin [my only Gavin side cousin's name] V.

i love you
dad