New hopes, new horizons: 5 friars reflect on reassignments

After the 2026 Provincial Chapter in St. Louis this summer, the new Provincial Administration gathered to review the province’s needs and prayerfully discern which brothers possessed the qualities needed to serve in those areas. As new assignments emerged, brothers from across the province began a familiar Franciscan ritual dating back to St. Francis’ time: packing boxes, saying goodbye and setting out for places both new and familiar.

Some are moving hundreds of miles away. Others are returning to familiar places, leaving leadership positions or embarking on entirely new ministries. Whether it is their second assignment or their 11th, each friar is gifted with the opportunity to begin again.

Despite their different destinations, many describe a common experience: trusting God's call, wherever it leads.

Learning and listening

Br. Angel Vázquez, OFM, loves the idea of a fresh start.

“It’s what brought me closer to saying yes to my vows,” he said. “Every few years I get to meet new people, live in new places, try new ministries and learn new skills.”

He's moving from Cincinnati’s Roger Bacon High School, where he worked as a counselor, to serve a Latino community in Oceanside, California, reconnecting with his Puerto Rican roots.

As a trained barber, Br. Angel has learned that ministry sometimes means creating space rather than filling it. While cutting a man’s hair in Philadelphia, he was asked to set aside the small talk and simply sit in silence. The man later thanked him, explaining he had been having the worst day of his life and needed quiet more than conversation.

“I know very little, and it’s best to stay silent and observe before I act,” Br. Angel said.

Sent on the journey

At 76, Br. Gino Correa, OFM, is preparing for his 11th provincial assignment in 50 years of ministry. He will travel 1,390 miles from Maryland to San Antonio, where he has been appointed guardian at San Miguel Friary. For him, the trip is a fitting metaphor for Franciscan life itself.

He leaves a ministry of forming postulants just as another class begins its own Franciscan journey.

“Postulants discover themselves in a collage of humanity that has little in common and yet are drawn to one another and eventually with others by the One who draws all of creation to Himself,” he said. “We all discover (sooner or later) that the Creator can be quite unpredictable and full of surprises (not all pleasant) with the way God draws.”

For Br. Gino, the confidence to make that journey comes from knowing he has been sent. He describes itinerancy as one of the gifts of being Franciscan.

“You know and trust that you have been sent by the faith that others have in you, and that you will arrive and be with those whose hope, like yours, is that this will be a new beginning, a new chapter in our shared life,” he said.

Receiving the gift of place

The destination may be familiar, but Br. Jud Wieksnar, OFM, is approaching it with fresh eyes. A native of Western New York, Br. Jud leaves Cincinnati for a return to Holy Peace Friary at Mt. Irenaeus in West Clarksville. He leaves behind nearly 30 years of ministry in Spanish-speaking parishes, stepping instead into a ministry of welcome, reflection and hospitality at Mt. Irenaeus.

“When you return someplace, you can assume it'll be the same as it was before,” he said. Yet much has changed, including the absence of Fr. Dan Riley, OFM, whose presence still shapes life at the Mountain more than two years after his death.

“The Mountain is moving in new directions, but also staying with things tried and true in the past,” Br. Jud said.

As he returns, he is eager to discover not only how the Mountain has changed, but how he has changed, too.

“Every community has its gifts,” he said. “The key is being open to receiving them.”

Br. Ed Tlucek, OFM, works in the St. Francis Breadline during a visit to New York City. After three years on the Provincial Council, he is now guardian of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Friary in Pulaski, Wisconsin. “From the Tenderloin of San Francisco to the outreach ministry in Boston, coast to coast, we friars are living out our call to respond with generous hearts to the needs of God’s people. We are building the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe on solid rock.” (Photo by Emily Marcelli, OSF)

Fraternity and stewardship

After serving for three years on the first Provincial Council of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Br. Ed Tlucek, OFM, is moving from one form of service to another.

For Br. Ed, this reassignment is less about moving from Cincinnati to Pulaski, Wisconsin, than it is about returning from provincial leadership to local fraternity and parish ministry. Assigned to St. Anthony Shrine in Cincinnati and responsible for regions that included New York City and northern New Jersey, he came to cherish the friars he accompanied.

“One of my greatest delights was meeting friars across the province,” he said. “They trusted me with their stories and confided in me,” he said. “I am deeply grateful.”

Now serving as guardian, the leader of the local friary community, Br. Ed hopes to foster the same spirit of trust and belonging.

“I promise these men my attention and care,” he said. “I look forward to hearing about their lives and what matters to them.”

Following where we are called

Br. Bill Short, OFM, is returning to the United States after nine years leading the Collegium S. Bonaventurae in Rome. With gratitude for the people and places that shaped him abroad, he reflects on a ministry that has included international service, leadership, scholarship and teaching, all connected by a common thread.

“The one thread, I suppose, is obedience to the ministers we have chosen to lead us in our Franciscan life,” he said. “I have tried my best to respond when they have asked me to live and work in situations I would never have imagined by myself.”

As friars settle into new ministries across the province, Br. Bill hopes the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe will continue to grow in fraternity while supporting the global Franciscan family.

For brothers beginning new chapters, he finds inspiration in words attributed to St. Clare of Assisi:

“Go without worry, for you have a good escort for the journey.”