In a modern environment full of technological innovation, it is no longer enough to rely solely on the written word to be able to effectively communicate important messages to the world. Audio and video are elements that must also be integrated into any website if it is to reach its full potential.
With that in mind, Bill Schmitt and I recently set out to record a short podcast that would serve to introduce some of the goals that we hope to accomplish with OFSOngoing.
You can hear our conversation by simply clicking play on the bar below.
I think its safe to say that we were pleased with the outcome. More podcasts will definitely be something you can look forward to in the future.
Please be aware that this particular podcast actually had more than one purpose. While it was meant to provide an introduction to this site, it was also intended to be used on another site that Bill is a co-host of. That’s So Second Millennium is a site dedicated to discussing and discovering intersections between science, religion, philosophy and human experience.
To hear the version of this podcast that appeared on this website, just click here.
OFS Ongoing 
Without doubt, the Angel Gabriel deserves the honor of having been named “Patron Saint of Communication.” After all, he delivered to us the most profound message in all of human history, namely, “Behold, Mary, you shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel, God with us.” And at that moment, Mary became “ . . . daughter and handmaid of the most high, Sovereign King, the heavenly Father, Mother of our most holy Lord Jesus Christ, Spouse of the Holy Spirit (St. Francis, Office of the Passion).” Furthermore, St. Francis’ favorite place on earth was St. Mary of the Angels ( Portiuncula) and he admonished his brothers to never let it slip from their hands. His love and devotion to Mary was profound.
Another Franciscan story reveals an event in the life of St. Clare which deserves some reflection. Toward the end of her life, Clare was seriously ill and was unable on the Feast of Christmas to participate with her sisters and the friars at the Basilica of St. Francis the joyful celebration of the Incarnation. Sighing, she said to Jesus, “Lord God, look at how I have been left alone in this place for You.”
Her biographer tells us that the music at the basilica began to sound in her ears and she heard the harmonious songs of the friars and even their instruments. Those familiar with Assisi know that San Damiano and the Basilica of St. Francis are on opposite sides of the city. Not only the music was heard by St. Clare, but “she was worthy to see the very crib of the Lord.”
The next morning when her sisters came to her, she chided them, “Blessed be the Lord Jesus Christ, who did not leave me after you did. In fact, I heard, by the grace of Christ, all those solemnities that were celebrated this night in the church of St. Francis (CLARE OF ASSISI: THE LADY, Armstrong, p. 306).“
In 1958, when Pope Pius XII started searching for a saint to name as patron of the world’s newest form of communication called “television”, this event in the life of St. Clare came to his mind and Pius named her “Patroness of Television” since the word ”television is a Greek one meaning “vision from afar.”
St. Gabriel, keep our ears opened to hear the communications God sends to us each day by His grace especially through the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Clare, pray that we may see God’s love, beauty, and goodness in all that He has made that we may praise Him who is “good, all good, supreme good.”
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