Fr. Luke Joseph, CFR grew up on the Jersey Shore with a Jewish father and a Catholic mother — and no religion at all. In this testimony he shares the questions that haunted him in high school, the recurring dream of falling through space, and the cry from his gut — "something's got to change" — that turned out to be his first real prayer. From punk shows and youth group, to hearing "Behold the Lamb of God" at Mass, to an accidental four days in Assisi that led him to St. Francis and the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.

Chapters
00:00 "First I heard the Gospel"
00:13 An unplanned four days in Assisi
00:41 Housesitting, a small TV, and Fr. Benedict Groeschel
01:14 Jewish father, Catholic mother, no religious upbringing
01:53 The poster in the high-school cafeteria
03:00 "I can't see the whole ocean"
03:23 The recurring dream of falling through space
04:14 His first real prayer: something's got to change
04:34 Youth group, Christian punk, and hearing the Gospel
05:25 "Behold the Lamb of God" — coming into the Church
06:07 Receiving the sacraments and finding his destiny

➡️ ABOUT THIS PROJECT
This year marks 800 years since the death of St. Francis of Assisi. To mark the anniversary, we're travelling to friaries across the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal to sit down with the friars and hear, in their own words, what St. Francis means to them — how they first encountered him, what drew them to the Franciscan life, and what the Poverello continues to teach them today.

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