Queen of Peace Franciscan Fraternity

08/18/2026

Something to contemplate. "a new commandment I give you that you love one another as I have loved you." Jn. 13:34-35

Originally posted by Fr. Dan Reehil:
More than a million people were murdered at Auschwitz. The man who ran it was once an altar boy.

Fr. Dan Reehil tells this story carefully, and so should we, because it is the hardest thing the Gospel asks anyone to look at.

Rudolf Höss was born in 1901 into a devout Catholic family. He served at the altar. His family made the pilgrimage to Lourdes. His father expected him to become a priest. At eighteen he went to a rally in Munich, heard Hi**er speak, and in Fr. Dan's words his heart was captured. He rose fast. By the war he was Commandant of Auschwitz, and he worked on the gas that killed thousands of people an hour.

Hold that. Do not move past it quickly. Those are real people, and nothing that follows undoes a single one of them.

During the war Höss had a house of Jesuits in Krakow rounded up and brought into the camp. Their superior, Fr. Władysław Lohn, was out when the soldiers came. He came home to neighbours telling him: they took your men.

So he went to Auschwitz and broke in.

He was found inside, still in his habit, praying with his priests. They dragged him in front of Höss, who was so bewildered by the nerve of it that he threw him out alive. Somewhere in those same barracks a prisoner was praying daily for the guards. Number 16670. Maximilian Kolbe.

After the war Höss was condemned to hang at Auschwitz. He was held by Polish guards, in a country he had helped destroy, and they treated him with plain human dignity. He said later that their kindness was what broke him.

On Good Friday 1947 he asked for a priest. Nobody could find one who spoke German. So he gave a name: Fr. Lohn.

They found Fr. Lohn in a convent chapel, kneeling in front of the image of Divine Mercy.

He went. He heard the confession of a lifetime and absolved him. The next day he brought the Eucharist, and the Commandant of Auschwitz knelt down in the dirt to receive it. Four days later he was hanged.

What he said before he died was this: I met Jesus in prison, and He extended His mercy to even me, the worst sinner ever.

Fr. Dan calls it what it is. Scandalous mercy.

You have something you are certain is past forgiving. It is not bigger than this.

👇 One word if there is something you have never dared bring to confession: OPEN.

08/17/2026

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08/17/2026

"The bishop underscored that “this means that Christianity cannot, in essence, be democratic,” and that truth is not “produced by consensus.”

BISHOP MUTSAERTS ASKS POPE LEO TO FOCUS ON SOULS, NOT SYNODALITY IN OPEN LETTER

Bishop Robert Mutsaerts called on Pope Leo to ponder the actual 'fruits' of the Synod on Synodality and ask whether it has led to more conversions and priestly vocations and deeper piety among the faithful.

Fri Aug 14, 2026 - 6:31 pm EDT

(LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Robert Mutsaerts, auxiliary bishop of s-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) in the Netherlands, wrote an open letter to Pope Leo XIV imploring the pontiff to consider the “fruits” of the Synod on Synodality and whether this process has truly helped to bring souls closer to Our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the August 13 open letter published on his blog, Mutsaerts, while stressing his fidelity to the Petrine office, emphasized several concerns, namely whether listening to thousands of bishops, priests, religious, and lay faithful during the Synod on Synodality has led more people to conversion, to more priestly vocations, to deeper piety among the faithful, and ultimately drawn individuals closer to Christ.

The Dutch bishop highlighted how, historically, synods and “listening” were always considered a means to the end of the salvation of souls and implored the Holy Father to refocus his pontificate on proclaiming the clarity of Our Lord rather than overly focusing on “listening.”

Fruits of synodality

“Whoever judges the Synod on Synodality solely on the basis of its own objectives can easily write a positive story. There was listening. There was speaking. Thousands of people were consulted. Bishops, priests, religious, and lay people gathered. There was talk of community, participation, and mission. A new ecclesiastical vocabulary even emerged: synodality, listening, discernment, participation, conversation in the Spirit, setting processes in motion,” Bishop Mutsaerts wrote.

The bishop continued:

"But one can also view the same history from a completely different perspective. Let me just ask the uncomfortable question: What has all this actually yielded? Not: how many meetings were organized? Not: how many reports were written? Not: how many people participated? But: has faith become stronger? Has Christ been proclaimed more clearly? Has Catholic identity deepened? Have more people come to conversion? Is Sunday Mass better attended? Are there more priestly vocations? Has catechesis become more powerful? Has greater reverence for the Eucharist emerged? Has the moral teaching of the Church become clearer? Has missionary courage increased?

When one asks such questions, it is impossible to consider the Synod a success."

The Church is not ‘democratic’

A bit later in his letter, Mutsaerts noted that while synods have existed since the time of the Apostles, classical synodality was a “means to an end,” that is, the salvation of souls. In contrast, the ongoing process of synodality “threatens to become an end in itself.”

“The Church is not a conversation but a received reality. For the Church does not begin with our dialogue. It begins with Christ. That sounds self-evident, but it has far-reaching consequences. Christ did not set up a discussion group. He called apostles. He gave them authority. He sent them out to proclaim, baptize, and teach: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,'” he wrote.

“The direction is fundamental in this regard. Faith does not arise because the Church first inventories what people believe and then distills a common conviction from all those experiences. Faith is received. Paul constantly uses words such as receive, hand down, and preserve for this. The Church possesses Revelation not because she conceived it, but because she received it,” he added.

The bishop underscored that “this means that Christianity cannot, in essence, be democratic,” and that truth is not “produced by consensus.”

“Not because democracy as a form of government is bad, but because truth does not arise by a majority vote. If tomorrow 90 percent of Catholics were no longer to believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, Christ would not be any less truly present,” he wrote. “If 80 percent reject a certain moral doctrine, that doctrine does not automatically become untrue. Truth is not produced by consensus. That constitutes the first major area of ​​tension surrounding the synodal project.”

Overemphasis on affirming people instead of calling them to conversion

Mutsaerts also criticized the fact that the synodal process has focused more on affirming people in their beliefs and experiences rather than calling them to repentance and conversion.

“The Church does not exist primarily to affirm people in what they already are. It exists to bring them to Christ,” the bishop said. “The first words of Jesus’ public preaching are not: ‘Tell Me first how you feel about the current church structures.’ But “Repent and believe in the Good News.” That is considerably less bureaucratic. And considerably more radical.”

“The Church of the Martyrs did not change the Roman world by organizing listening meetings on the question of how Romans could experience the Christian community more inclusively. She proclaimed Christ. Peter proclaimed Christ. Paul proclaimed Christ,” His Excellency added. “(Saint) Francis proclaimed Christ. (Saint) Dominic proclaimed Christ. (Saint) Francis Xavier proclaimed Christ. (Saint) John Mary Vianney proclaimed Christ. (Saint) Mother Teresa proclaimed Christ. (Saint) John Paul II proclaimed Christ. They undoubtedly listened to people. But listening was never the endpoint. The endpoint was conversion to Christ.”

Indeed, one of the main criticisms of the Synod on Synodality and its implementation has been its overemphasis on “listening” while seemingly failing to call participants to conversion.

In May, a clear example of synodality’s hyper-focus on “listening” emerged when Synod Study group 9 released a heretical report that scandalously endorsed testimony from two homosexual activists associated with heterodox Father James Martin without qualification, claiming that “sin, at its root, does not consist in the (same-sex) couple relationship” but in “a lack of faith in a God who desires our fulfillment.”

Several other prominent Catholic clerics and thinkers have also repeatedly slammed the process of synodality. During a July interview, Cardinal Raymond Burke delivered an especially forceful critique of the Vatican’s ongoing focus on synodality, calling for it to be halted and subjected to rigorous study.

“We have to insist that this whole synodality business stop,” the cardinal declared. “And there be a very serious study done of the whole matter because we’re talking about the very life of the Church and we’re talking about the salvation of souls.”

Prayer for Pope Leo’s pontificate to bring ‘clarity’ to Church

Mutsaerts concluded his letter by charitably imploring Pope Leo to focus on the salvation of souls amid the confusion of our world.

“I hope and pray that under your pontificate it may once again become visible with great clarity that the Church is not called to endlessly discuss itself, but to proclaim Christ; not to reflect the spirit of the age, but to lead the world toward eternal life,” he wrote.

“Precisely from the successor of Peter, the faithful may expect that, amidst the confusion of our time, he strengthens the brothers in faith. That he reminds us that the truth proclaimed by the Church is not a possession over which we can dispose at will, but a precious treasure that we have received and must pass on intact,” he added.

Mutsaerts continued:

"My prayer to you is therefore simple: give us clarity. When the world speaks with uncertainty, let Peter speak clearly. When the Church grows weary of internal discussions, point us back to Christ. When we lose ourselves in processes and structures, remind us of our mission. When we become afraid to proclaim the Gospel in its fullness because it might offend modern man, remind us of the words of Peter himself: ‘Lord, to whom shall we go?’ Your words are words of eternal life."

The bishop offered his prayers that Leo’s pontificate be characterized by a renewed focus on “what ultimately forms the heart of every true ecclesial reform: Christ, conversion, holiness, the Eucharist, evangelization, and the salvation of souls.”

“For once all synods have concluded, all documents have been written, all committees have been dissolved, and our own names have been forgotten, only the question that truly matters remains: have we brought the people entrusted to our care closer to Jesus Christ?” he wrote.

“May Saint Peter intercede for you. May Our Lady, Mater Ecclesiae, keep you under her protection. And may the Lord grant you the wisdom, courage, and paternal determination to lead His Church in truth and love,” he concluded.

To read Bishop Mutsaerts’ full open letter to Pope Leo XIV in English or the original Dutch, click here:

https://vitaminexp.blogspot.com/

08/15/2026

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08/14/2026

From the Letters of Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, priest and martyr.

Apostolic zeal for the salvation and sanctification of souls

The burning zeal for God’s glory that motivates you fills my heart with joy. It is sad for us to see in our own time that indifferentism in its many forms is spreading like an epidemic not only among the laity but also among religious. But God is worthy of glory beyond measure, and therefore it is of absolute and supreme importance to seek that glory with all the power of our feeble resources. Since we are mere creatures we can never return to him all that is his due.

The most resplendent manifestation of God’s glory is the salvation of souls, whom Christ redeemed by shedding his blood. To work for the salvation and sanctification of as many souls as possible, therefore, is the preeminent purpose of the apostolic life. Let me, then, say a few words that may show the way toward achieving God’s glory and the sanctification of many souls.

God, who is all-knowing and all-wise, knows best what we should do to increase his glory. Through his representatives on earth he continually reveals his will to us; thus it is obedience and obedience alone that is the sure sign to us of the divine will. A superior may, it is true, make a mistake; but it is impossible for us to be mistaken in obeying a superior’s command. The only exception to this rule is the case of a superior commanding something that in even the slightest way would contravene God’s law. Such a superior would not be conveying God’s will.

God alone is infinitely wise, holy, merciful, our Lord, Creator, and Father; he is beginning and end, wisdom and power and love; he is all. Everything other than God has value to the degree that it is referred to him, the maker of all and our own redeemer, the final end of all things. It is he who, declaring his adorable will to us through his representatives on earth, draws us to himself and whose plan is to draw others to himself through us and to join us all to himself in an ever deepening love.

Look, then, at the high dignity that by God’s mercy belongs to our state in life. Obedience raises us beyond the limits of our littleness and puts us in harmony with God’s will. In boundless wisdom and care, his will guides us to act rightly. Holding fast to that will, which no creature can thwart, we are filled with unsurpassable strength.

Obedience is the one and the only way of wisdom and prudence for us to offer glory to God. If there were another, Christ would certainly have shown it to us by word and example. Scripture, however, summed up his entire life at Nazareth in the words: He was subject to them; Scripture set obedience as the theme of the rest of his life, repeatedly declaring that he came into the world to do his Father’s will.

Let us love our loving Father with all our hearts. Let our obedience increase that love, above all when it requires us to surrender our own will. Jesus Christ crucified is our sublime guide toward growth in God’s love.

We will learn this lesson more quickly through the Immaculate Virgin, whom God has made the dispenser of his mercy. It is beyond all doubt that Mary’s will represents to us the will of God himself. By dedicating ourselves to her we become in her hands instruments of God’s mercy even as she was such an instrument in God’s hands. We should let ourselves be guided and led by Mary and rest quiet and secure in her hands. She will watch out for us, provide for us, answer our needs of body and spirit; she will dissolve all our difficulties and worries.

08/03/2026

What have we given up for the love of Jesus?
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08/02/2026

Originally posted by Totus Tuus:

Our Lady of Las Lajas

While Our Lady of Guadalupe's tilma (1531, Mexico) is one of the greatest acheiropoieta wonders—made without hands, no human paint, no brush strokes, Mary pregnant with the Savior.

Our Lady of Las Lajas (1754, Colombia) takes the miracle even further and deeper—literally!

During a fierce storm in the Guaitara River canyon, indigenous woman María Mueses and her deaf-mute daughter Rosa sought shelter in a cave. Rosa suddenly cried out, "The Mestiza is calling me!" and spoke for the first time—pointing to a glowing image that had appeared on the rock wall.

This is Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Las Lajas (Our Lady of the Rosary of the Slabs/Rocks): Mary, crowned as Queen, tenderly holding the born Child Jesus in her arms. He reaches out a cord to St. Francis, while she offers a rosary to St. Dominic. Her mestiza features are strikingly similar to Guadalupe's.

But the clothing is essentially the same heavenly attire:

1.) A warm, rich red tunic embroidered with golden flowers (symbol of royalty and beauty).

2.) A deep blue mantle flowing richly, edged in gold and adorned with stars—echoing Guadalupe's iconic royal garments as the Immaculate Conception and Queen of Heaven.

The real jaw-dropper? This isn't painted on the rock—it's miraculously in the rock!

German geologists bored core samples from multiple spots:
No paint, no dye, no pigment whatsoever on the surface.
No brush strokes—even under close inspection.

The vibrant colors are the natural hues of the rock itself, perfectly transformed and penetrating several feet deep (up to 4 feet or over 1 meter into the stone). If you scraped away the surface, the same image would continue underneath!

Defying chemistry, geology, and physics, exposed to the elements for over 150 years with zero fading—it's like God signed His masterpiece directly into creation.

Many call Las Lajas the "continuation" or "twin sister" of Guadalupe: where Mary once announced "I carry Him," here she joyfully presents the born Savior: "Come to Him through my Rosary!"

Our Lady of Las Lajas, pray for us. Amen! 🙏

07/31/2026

Originally posted by Fr. Henry Liguori:

Today is the feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. He’s famous for the development of what’s known as the spiritual exercises—a month long retreat to ground (or re-ground) you in your faith—especially if you have a big life decision or transition to make. They’re not only the foundation of the spirituality of the Jesuits but have influenced countless other Saints too—like Mother Teresa, Edith Stein, Francis de Sales, and Teresa of Avila—to name a few.

One of the darker (and less talked about) steps of his exercises is a meditation on hell. Ignatius tells you to ask God for the grace to not only imagine hell, but to give you an interior sense of the pain of the damned…to know what it’s LIKE to be in hell. I had a cup of coffee with a priest recently who shared with me that his spiritual director had him “next-level” that meditation—not just thinking about hell, but imagining what his hell would be like.

He envisioned himself balancing on top of a tall pillar. It went down to a gray earth, which spread out endlessly in all directions, meeting a gray sky. All he could say was “alone.” When a cold wind blew him off, his one hope was ending it all before hitting the ground, but he’d only find himself alone on top of the pillar again.

That was one intense cup of coffee!

Ignatius is blunt about his motive for this meditation: when it comes to our biggest temptations, if the love of God isn't enough to move us to do the right thing, fear of hell can serve as a solid backup motivation. He'll take it. But more importantly, what he was really after was for us to see—in detail—what exactly Jesus has saved us from. Because a man who has really seen that spends the rest of his life grateful.

But if I may be so bold as to add to Ignatius (yeah I know…that’s REALLY bold), I think if you meditate on what hell might be for YOU it can also shine a light on your recurrent vices, and the motive behind them all.

So often when we fall into sin, we’re not going for a reward, but a relief. We’re running from something we recoil at deep down inside—our deepest fear and our personal hell—but WITHOUT grace.

Do you fear the hell of isolation like the priest I was talking to? When you sin, you’re probably compromising your values to make people like you…because you’ll do anything to avoid your hell, after all.

If the hell you imagine centers around pain, it could be that most of your sins center around sensuality.

Maybe the “fix” for your recurrent sin isn’t that ongoing wrestling match with yourself. Maybe it’s inviting Jesus into the emptiness you’ve spent your life trying to outrun.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us.

God bless you,

Chris Stefanick
Real Life Catholic

05/22/2026

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05/13/2026

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