Discovering My People Again: A Reflection by Fr. Adrian Peelo

Fr. Adrian Peelo with Seán Cardinal Brady, Retired Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, and the Choir and Schola of Mission Santa Barbara Parish.

In March of this year, just before the feast of St. Patrick, I accompanied the St. Barbara Parish Choir and Schola on a tour/pilgrimage to Ireland (March 8-18). It was strange to find myself a pilgrim in my own native land and I was surprised at how I could so easily give myself to the experience together with my fellow travelers from the United States.  

What struck me and moved me most as we visited the holy sites associated with St. Patrick was the lingering holiness and rich spirituality that still pervades this small island.  His mission to the Irish nation began in A.D. 432 and despite a golden age of flourishing and four hundred years of destruction and devastation, the echo of his message lives in the very ether of Ireland.  Unlike in Italy or Spain one is not overwhelmed in Ireland by vast churches and cathedrals. There is an unpretentious beauty in the ruins of monasteries and friaries; in simple country churches and roadside shrines, ancient cemeteries, shrouded, silent, peaceful. Weather-beaten Celtic crosses have stood as sentinels of heroic witness for centuries with monastic round towers pointing heavenwards, insisting to be recognized as beacons of an enduring faith.  “ I pray to God to give me perseverance and to deign that I be a faithful witness to Him to the end of my life for my God.”  (Confessions of St. Patrick)

I discovered my own people again through the eyes of my American fellow travelers: the lilting northern accents and the gnarly dialect of my native Dublin.   The warmth and good nature of ordinary folk anxious to help and who laugh easily. A waiter in Armagh leaned in at the dinner table and asked, "Will you have a wee drop of soup, Mam?" to an astonished member of our group who looked back at him in total wonderment. "Mam" was really all she heard. There was great hilarity as things became clearer and two cultures embraced in kindness, courtesy and laughter. I was proud. “That's right, there's free beer in Irish paradise. Everyone's jealous.” (Overheard in the bar after dinner in Armagh).

St. Barbara Choir and Schola were wonderful wherever they sang, whether before the Cardinal in Armagh Cathedral or in the humble setting of Multyfarnham Abbey, the contemplative house of the Irish Franciscans. "Your singing has lifted my spirits" said a beaming Cardinal Sean Brady, Emeritus Archbishop of Armagh, St. Patrick’s own diocese. "Wherever you go in Ireland,  lift the spirits of the people with your beautiful voices," he said with obvious delight. And that they did. In St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin a young woman sitting beside me in the pew and who had come on a break from work whispered as the choir's short lunchtime recital came to a close, "Just what I needed, so beautiful."

The New World came to lift the spirits of the Old, returning with the gift received by so many children of Patrick long, long ago. In time, as poor immigrants they crossed the Atlantic Ocean to bring the precious hope of the Gospel in desperate times.  Their children came back with the hundredfold and it was a privilege for me to stand in the breach of such mystery. 

Cardinal Brady and Fr. Adrian Peelo watching the performance of the Choir and Schola of Mission Santa Barbara Parish at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, Ireland.

Fr. Adrian Peelo is a Franciscan friar of the Irish Province. He has been living in California while ministering with the friars from St. Barbara Province for many years. He is currently Pastor of Mission Santa Barbara Parish.

Franciscan Friars
Office of Vocations
1500 34th Ave.
Oakland, CA 94601
Phone:  (408) 903-3422
Email:  vocations@sbofm.org
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/SBFranciscans.Vocations
Twitter:  www.twitter.com/SBFranciscans
Website:  www.sbfranciscans.org

Easter Greeting from Br. James Seiffert in Vietnam: Chúc Mừng Phục Sinh!

“Chúc Mừng Phục Sinh!” -that is,  “Happy Easter!”  in Vietnamese.  I have been at the novitiate in Dalat Vietnam now for several weeks.  Dalat is about an 8-hour bus ride north central from Saigon.  It is situated in a mountainous area, where the climate is temperate rather than tropical.  It's delightful being here with the cool temperatures and the abundance of a variety of flowering plants and pine forests.

In former days, Dalat was the resort town for the French colonists.  You can still see the French influence by the architecture and the many gardens that can be found in the area.  The novitiate has its share of beautiful gardens with a view of the surrounding mountains as well.   


My days are spent with the community of novices in prayer, work, and some English classes.  I have spent time doing all kinds of work that I have never done before!  I have worked on the farm with planting, feeding rabbits, chickens, and pigs.  The novitiate is  largely supported by its various nurseries, which employ some 60 workers  These are flower nurseries, whereby the flowers are sold to various businesses in the area.  I am always amazed at everything the novices are able to  do-- from building a hermitage by themselves to maintaining the grounds and novitiate buildings. 

This Easter has been especially significant for me in that I renewed my vows at the novitiate here  in Vietnam.  It has caused me to reflect on how I have responded to the Lord's call.  A lot of my response has been to let go of control and to surrender to what God has invited me to.  I am truly thankful for the life-changing and life-giving experiences I have had so far a friar living here.


Br. James Seiffert is a temporary-professed friar with the St. Barbara Province. He currently is on a mission assignment, staying with the friars in Vietnam. Br. James joined the Franciscans in 2012 and made his first profession of vows in 2014. To read about his life journey prior to joining the Friars, go to http://sbvocations.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-faith-journey-of-br-james-seiffert.html

Franciscan Friars
Office of Vocations
1500 34th Ave.
Oakland, CA 94601
Phone:  (408) 903-3422
Email:  vocations@sbofm.org
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/SBFranciscans.Vocations
Twitter:  www.twitter.com/SBFranciscans
Website:  www.sbfranciscans.org

Brother Keith Warner's Vocations Story

Bro. Keith Warner, OFM is a member of the St. Barbara Province. He currently works at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA and serves as Director of Education and Action Research at Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship (http://www.scu-social-entrepreneurship.org). In this video, he shares his vocations story and how the Franciscan social justice and intellectual tradition have influenced his journey as a Friar.

Peace and all good!

Franciscan Friars
Office of Vocations
1500 34th Ave.
Oakland, CA 94601
Phone:  (408) 903-3422
Email:  vocations@sbofm.org
Facebook:  www.facebooks.com/SBFranciscans.Vocations
Twitter:    www.twitter.com/SBFranciscans
Website:  www.sbfranciscans.org

Vocations with Br. Michael Perry, OFM

In discernment you'll need to arrange opportunities to spend time with us.  You can join us for evening prayer or our community Mass.  You can eat and laugh with us at dinner.  You can spend a weekend with us.  You can visit our ministry sites with other friars.  You can spend time recreating with us.  We like to have fun!  It will be in the context of sharing your life with the friars that you'll be able to discern your desire to live in fraternity as a Franciscan friar.  For additional resources, on discerning if you are called to live in fraternity, read our blog post:  The Lord Gave Me Brothers.

Enjoy this wonderful video with our Minister General, Br. Michael Perry, OFM regarding vocations to religious life.

Br. Michael Perry, OFM, our Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, discusses the importance and effectiveness of personal invitation and organically developed discernment communities to help foster vocations to the religious life.

Peace and All Good,
Bro. Scott Slattum, OFM

Franciscan Friars
Office of Vocations
1500 34th Ave.
Oakland, CA 94601
Phone:  (408) 903-3422
Email:  vocations@sbofm.org
Facebook:  www.facebooks.com/SBFranciscans.Vocations
Twitter:  www.twitter.com/OFMvocation
\Website:  www.sbfranciscans.org