Hey, I'm Brother Mark Mary with the Franciscan Friars the Renewal, and this is Ascension Presents.
So I couldn't be more excited to introduce this new
collaboration between Ascension Presents and the Franciscan Friars the Renewal
and as I was thinking about the best way to get this thing started
It hit me, like, why waste time talking about what we're gonna. Let's just do it!
So to begin, I'm gonna need you to join me on a little journey
And we're gonna go down to Guatemala, and there we are seated around an ordinary Guatemalan breakfast table.
There's myself, two other friars, and two American tourists. Now the three friars, we're all down there studying Spanish.
We're just about to begin our our mission in Honduras.
But before doing that we just need to brush up in the espanol, you know.
Then there's the two tourists and their names are Timmy and Tommy.
Timmy and Tommy are down there just doing their American tourist thing just enjoying the country.
And as we're there eating our breakfast, our, you know, tortillas and coffee Timmy and Tommy start talking.
Apparently in this small Guatemalan town there's like the world's greatest nacho restaurant and
Timmy and Tommy went there in the night before, and they're going on and on and on talking about how great these nachos were.
And they're like, "Oh, the chips were so crispy, and the cheese was so cheddary, and the the lettuce was so fresh."
Here's the thing: I love nachos.
Like if I was going to be stranded on some deserted island for the rest of my life
and I can have one food. You know what it would be ‒
Nachos!
But there they are Timmy and Tommy going on and on about the nachos.
"Oh the tomatoes were so red, and the ground beef was so ground."
Because here's the thing.
Right, I love nachos.
But I've also got this vow poverty, and I love that too! And one of the expressions of this vow poverty is
that I don't just go to restaurants and buy nachos because I want to.
I feel like I've been called to live this life, like,
Total, kind of radical dependence on God and His Providence!
So when like I want something I just ‒
I pray and ask and trust that God will provide
You know, what's best for me according to His Will, so going to this restaurant buying nachos
It's out of the question, but there they are Timmy and Tommy on and on they go talking about these nachos.
It's like, it becomes like this movie.
Where you see like you got the good angel
And you got like the bad angel demon on one shoulder and the little demons talking, whispering
in my ear, he's like "Hey. Don't worry about it. It's only nachos. What's the big deal? You've been working hard
you deserve it." And this little angel over here is whispering, like,
"Hey, no. Trust God! He is the best of fathers right? He's taking care of you! Has he ever let you down? Don't worry about it!
Just trust Him!!!"
So in my heart there's like this internal struggle going on
And then all of a sudden, it hits me ‒ The inspiration ‒ What I need to do.
We wrap up dinner, do the dishes, I go to my room. I close the door, and I begin to pray:
"Father, Son, Holy Spirit."
"Father, Lord, You're the BEST! You're the BEST of fathers!"
"I know You hear my prayer! I know You love me!"
"So here's the thing Lord, I..."
"I could really go for some nachos right now. And I know You're Lord! I know You're mighty!"
"I know You're mighty, and I know You can provide nachos!"
"Lord, if you could provide nachos. If it's Your Will, Your Will, but please"
"Please, please Lord. Let it be Your Will! Your Will! But please."
"Amen! Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen."
So I go to school, learn my grammar, learn my vocab, yadda yadda yadda.
Now, we're back. It's dinner time.
Same table. Same cast and crew ‒ myself, the other friars, Timmy and Tommy.
And we're there, and we're just making small talk when the abuela, like the the grandmother who had been giving us hospitality
She starts bringing out dinner.
And what do I see?
I see chips,
and I see melted cheddar cheese, and I see black beans, and I see ground beef, and I see lettuce, and I see tomatoes and
Immediately, right, my my mouth starts watering and my beard
starts wagging like I'm a dog, and I think my heart starts beating super fast, and I get super excited
and then I hit the pause button.
I say to myself. This is way too big of a deal!
This is way too big of a deal for me to decide on my own.
I need somebody else to confirm that what I think I'm seeing is in fact what I'm seeing.
So as the grandmother comes, and she comes right in front of me, puts the plate down. I asked her.
I said, "¿Como se llama esta plato?"
Like what do you what do you call this dish?
And she says, "Oh, Nachos!"
Hey, hey, hey, hey hey!!!
Hey taste and see that the Lord is Good y'all!!! And I loved it!!!
And I ate every little chip, every little nacho, every little bean, rice, piece of cheese, lettuce, tomato.
Loved it All, and I love this story!
And I wanted to start off with the story for a couple of reasons.
First of all, I love telling this story, especially in a group, because it always moves some generous
soul to go and buy me nachos.
The gift that keeps on giving, right.
Secondly, because I think it gives this perfect sort of introduction to what we're hoping to do with Ascension Presents and the Franciscan Friars the Renewal.
We've been given as friars this great sort of Franciscan privilege.
This great front-row seat to God's action in the world here and now.
So what we're going to do is ‒ myself and other friars
We're gonna be sharing these stories. Giving sort of a witness to the different ways in our own lives and lives of those we've come across.
We've encountered that the Lord is Alive and Good and Father and Worthy of our Trust!!!
So what we're gonna do is we're gonna journey together.
"Poco a Poco" ("Little by Little")
Episode by episode we're gonna laugh together, we're gonna cry together.
But most importantly, we're gonna grow in the sort of confident love
that God is a Father, that God is Good, that God is Alive, and God is Active!!!
So to make sure you don't miss any of the little stages of the journey, make sure you subscribe.
Check out every video as it comes out, and if you want to let us know like what you want us to talk about
Drop us a little line in the comment.
We'll check those out.
And we'll do our best to respond. So thank you for tuning in, and we look forward to seeing you next week!