Browse Fr. Groeschel’s CDs and DVDs
Born: July 23, 1933-Jersey City, NJ
Died: October 3, 2014-Vigil Feast of St. Francis
– Founder: Community of Franciscan Friars of Renewal (CFR)-1987
– Priest and Psychologist
– Director: Trinity Retreat House-Larchmont, NY
– Taught Pastoral Psychology@ St. Joseph’s Seminary-in Dunwoodie
– Popular Writer, Preacher, Retreat Master, and Evangelization on Catholic television
– Greatest Joy: Serving Poor and Underprivileged
– Founder: St. Francis House/ Good Counsel Homes
– Chaplain: Children’s Village in DobbsFerry (14 Years)
– Tirelessly provided food, clothing, and assistance to people in need
Siblings:
1) Fr. Groeschel (himself)-Robert Peter Groeschel
2) Edward Joseph Groeschel, Jr
3) Marjule Groeschel Drury
4) Robin Groeschel
S) Gerard “Garry” Groeschel 6) Mark Groeschel
Robert Peter Groeschel was born in 1933, in New Jersey. As a young boy he saw a nun bringing food every day to a poor widow. Robert followed the nun and looking through the window, thought the woman looked like a witch from a fairy tale. Young Robert was frightened, but was impressed by the nun’s actions. He felt the call to the priesthood and in the eighth grade memorized a poem about a monk who served Jesus in the poor: The Legend Beautiful, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The theme of this poem would become the theme and motif of his life. When he was 18, in 1951, he entered the Capuchin order, and in 1959 was ordained a priest.
In 1960, he became chaplain of Children’s Village, a home for emotionally disturbed children in Dobb’s Ferry, New York. In 1967, he founded St. Francis’ House in Brooklyn to help adolescent boys who could no longer stay at Children’s Village. In 1973, he co-founded Trinity Retreat House for troubled priests. Meanwhile, his education continued as he received a master’s degree in counseling in 1964 and a Ph.D. in psychology in 1971.
In 1980, he helped Fr. John Harvey set up Courage, a ministry for Catholic men struggling with homosexual attraction. In 1985, he co-founded the Good Counsel Home for homeless pregnant women. In 1987, Fr. Groeschel and seven fellow Capuchins founded the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal whose mission includes living a radically poor life, about 3 hours of prayer per day, serving the poor, and evangelization. Today, there are 115 Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and 31 Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal. The friars in New York run two homeless shelters, a food pantry, a medical clinic, a teen outreach program, provide weekly lunch in Harlem, etc.
Fr. Goeschel was involved in the civil rights movement. He stood up for the unborn, and was once arrested while praying outside an abortion mill. He supported Catholic colleges that try to faithfully live and impart Church teaching. He taught at various colleges and gave numerous retreats. One retreat was given to Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity in India, after which he helped her establish her order in New York.
But that’s not all: Fr. Groeschel also wrote over 45 books, including The Courage to be Chaste, Arise from Darkness (about depression), After this Life (a meditation on death and the afterlife) and recorded more than 100 audio and video series. Through it all, he had a wonderful wry sense of humor. For example, when someone once expressed fear of an impending major catastrophe or chastisement, he replied, “I wouldn’t be so optimistic.”
St. Vincent de Paul said: “If you love the poor, your life will be filled with sunlight, and you will not be frightened at the hour of death.” Fr. Groeschel once wrote, “I wish to witness that this is true.” A memorial card distributed at Fr. Groeschel’s funeral said: “A Faithful Son of the Church; A Loving Father to the Poor; An Ardent Preacher of the Gospel; A Dedicated Follower of St. Francis.” Though Fr. Groeschel would no doubt want us to pray for his soul, and we should, it’s hard to think that Fr. Groeschel has not already heard the words: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you covered me; sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.” (Mat 25:34-37) Fr. Groeschel served the suffering in person: trying to meet not just their physical needs, but their emotional and spiritual needs as well.
Bishop Sheen once wrote, “Judge the Church not by those who barely live by its spirit, but by the example of those who live closest to it.” (Love One Another, 1947, p. 147) Fr. Groeschel was surely one who lived closest to it. Fr. Groeschel spent Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter not with his family, but serving meals and giving food to the poor. Let us give thanks for, and take inspiration from, the life of Fr. Benedict Groeschel who worked tirelessly to bring the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ to each one of us.