24 November—The subject of the email I received on Wednesday and again today was “Black Friday Deals are HERE!” I opened it anyway. And this is what I found:

Hello, P.M.!

You don’t have to wait until Black Friday to get great savings and great gifts for Christmas! Give books that inspire love, peace and prayer this season.

This week only, November 20–27. Use this promotion code to receive 40% off: BlackFriday40. (Use this code at checkout).

Your purchase supports the mission to inspire a loving world that embraces the Franciscan spirit of harmony, joy, and simplicity.

The inconsistent use of the Oxford (or, if you prefer, Harvard) comma certainly was disturbing.

But I was absolutely gobsmacked by the blatant temporal commercialism, having been under the impression that Franciscans—a.k.a. the Order of Friars Minor (OFM)—were mendicants, living a simple lifestyle of poverty and all that goes with it. Maybe that was then. Now, alas, in the 21^st century, I discover they’re merchandising like Amazon and Walmart. Tempting discount, to be sure, if only on “books that inspire love, peace, and prayer.” Do people actually buy those books? Or read them? Next thing you know, the guys at OFM will hire a Jew to be their CEO, whom they call the Minister General, and take over Disney.

[Editor’s note: I subscribe to Franciscan Media not only to keep current with the political-social-theological opposition, as it were, but also to keep abreast of the daily saints and live in love and grow in faith.]