Fr. Luke Joseph, CFR spent ten years at the side of Fr. Benedict Groeschel — driving him, helping him start the day, and hearing the stories nobody else got to hear. In this episode he remembers the founders of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal as he knew them: Fr. Benedict, who once told him, "Don't worry, we're all a bit neurotic"; Fr. Andrew Apostoli, who asked the young friar he'd butted heads with for years to hear his final confession; and Fr. Bob Lombardo, who laughed so hard at Mass he could barely finish it.

Chapters
00:00 "That's Not Perfection"
01:02 A Jersey Bond with Fr. Benedict Groeschel
01:56 The Accident That Slowed Him Down
02:41 "And They Were Probably Slaves"
04:11 "You're a Bit Neurotic"
04:49 Falling Asleep at the Wheel
05:37 Planning Fr. Benedict's Funeral
06:48 Priests Lined the Plaza — and a Cardinal Flew In from Rome
07:51 Air Conditioners for Harlem
08:51 Fr. Andrew Apostoli: Butting Heads and Great Dignity
09:55 "Father, Would You Hear My Confession?"
10:50 Fr. Bob Lombardo: The TV Cabinet and Whitney Houston at Mass

➡️ 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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