Daily Reflections

About Fr. Francis Martin

Renowned Scripture Scholar

Fr. Francis Martin +August 11, 2017, was ordained to the priesthood at St. Joseph's Abbey, Spencer, MA. His priestly vocation inslcuded Scripture scholarship and in that capacity he served as Professor and then Professor Emeritus of New Testament at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., Senior Fellow at the Intercultural Forum for Faith and Culture at the John Paul II Cultural Center in D.C., visiting professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan where he also he held the Cardinal Adam Maida Chair in Biblical Studies. Fr. Francis also taught at the Gregorian University in Rome, the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem, Catholic University in Washington, D.C., Franciscan University of Steubenville), and the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C.

Fr. Francis earned his Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) from St. Thomas Pontifical University in Rome and his Doctorate in Sacred Scripture (S.S.D.) from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, also in Rome. Additionally Franciscan University of Steubenville awarded him an Honorary Doctorate. Fr. Martin was incardinated in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. where he served as chaplain of the Mother of God Community in Gaithersburg, MD.

He founded The Word Proclaimed Institute in order to make his scholarshp, preaching, and teaching readily avaliable to priests and interested lay people. In addition to over 60 scholarly articles, Fr. Martin’s publications include The Life Changer, Baptism in the Holy Spirit, The Feminist Question, The Fire in the Cloud, and Sacred Scripture: The Disclosure of the Word, Fr. Francis edited the Book of Acts in the Ancient Christian Commentary Series.The Word Proclaimed Institute also offers CD’s and audio downloads of talks given at past conferences, and a great number of daily homilies (gratis) covering several years and arranged according to the liturgical calendar. His offerings include one hour video talks on the readings for each Sunday available to all, but designed to help priests in their homily preparation. Fr. Martin has also appeared on EWTN and various radio shows. Also available gratis through the website and his YouTube channel are video series' containing commentary on the Gospels of John and Mark as well as scriptures and a series on preaching and Verbum Domini. Fr. Martin's resources are distributed on our website, via YouTube, on EWTN's website, and on Guadalupe Radio Network.

Logo

The patroness of FFMM and the image on our logo is that of “Our Lady of the Burning Bush.” The burning bush is the place of God’s revelation to Moses calling him to lead his people to freedom (Exodus 3-4.) The fiery place of revelation that gave light but was not itself consumed became for the Fathers of the Church an image of Mary who welcomed the seed of the Word in her heart and body and gave birth to the Word while remaining a virgin. She most perfectly exemplifies God’s call to His people to willingly accept the seed of the Word so that it may bear much fruit within us as well. We are all called to experience the fire that does not consume but rather enlightens, purifies, and delights.

Cornerstone Founder, Chiaroscuro Foundation

The Word Proclaimed Institute extends heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Mr. Greg Pfundstein and the entire Chiaroscuro Foundation for their generous donation to WPI as a cornerstone founder to support WPI’s efforts to assist priests, deacons, and seminarians in deepening the Scriptural foundation of their preaching.

The foundation, named for its “aspiration to reflect God’s light in an often dark world, “ is “committed to the fundamental values of life, liberty and justice.” Read more about them here.

And Thank You to all those who, like the Chiaroscuro Foundation, have so generously contributed to WPI’s vision and mission.  Your continued support is what makes our ministry possible!