A community in mission
inviting other men to consider
joining them to “fall in love with
the service of God.”
For more information
please contact:
Xaverian Brothers
4409 Frederick Avenue
Baltimore MD 21229
Vocation Minister
On the web at:
www.XaverianBrothers.org
or email:
vocations@xaverianbrothers.org
Enter #198 at VocationMatch.com
CARDINAL FRANCIS GEORGE, O.M.I., archbishop of Chicago, seated with the members
of the Franciscans of the Eucharist. With men’s and women’s sections, this new reli-
gious community is part of the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels. Lombardo (stand-
ing) has served as an advisor to the young adults who founded the order.
“Father Bob is very authentic,”
says sister Alicia Torres, a novice
in the Franciscans of the Eucharist.
“He says things exactly as they are.
it’s all about the Lord. it’s not about
us and what we want to do.”
In the footsteps of Francis
Preaching, living simply, and service
to the poor are Lombardo’s goals,
ones he adopted from his inspira-
tion, saint Francis of Assisi. “To
saint Francis, Christianity was not
a philosophy but a way of life,” he
says. “The bottom line is he actu-
ally lived it. He practiced what he
preached. And he was known for
being very kind.”
Like saint Francis, Lombardo
also traded a life of relative ease for
one of service to those with very
little. As a senior at notre dame, he
was working as an R.A. in the dorms,
planned to get married, and was
preparing for a career in account-
ing. Then one day he was called to
the infirmary because a student from
his floor had come down with spinal
“
I’m here
to take care
of people in need
and to faithfully
preach the gospel.”
meningitis. Lombardo was with the
young man when he died.
“When something like that
happens, it gets you thinking,” he
says. What it got Lombardo think-
ing about was serving the poor as a
priest. After two years as an auditor
for Price Waterhouse in new york,
Lombardo realized the pull toward
the priesthood wasn’t going away.
84
VISION 2013