Two by Two and More

Father Solanus Guild Reflection by Br. Gary Wegner, OFM Cap. – March 12, 2026

“Hi Yo, Silver” and the Lone Ranger was on his way to another adventure, rescuing the innocent and capturing the villains. The masked man provided me with many hours of entertainment, usually on Saturday afternoons. As Capuchin-Franciscan friars, we sometimes have referred to one of the brothers as being a “Lone Ranger”. It is generally not meant to be a compliment. To be a lone ranger is to be someone who acts independently, as though they need no one else. Ironically, the fictional Lone Ranger had his trusted friend Tonto at his side on all his adventures. The Lone Ranger was no lone ranger at all.

Christians, and by extension Franciscans, are not meant to be lone rangers. In the Gospel of Mark 6:7-8, we see that Jesus “summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts.”

Likewise, we read in The Little Flowers of St. Francis that “St Francis, wishing to be in all things conformed to his Master – who, as the Gospel tells, sent his disciples two by two into all the cities and lands whither he intended to go to prepare the way for him – after he had assembled his twelve companions, sent them forth two by two into the world to preach.”

Our devotion to Blessed Solanus Casey may lead us to mistakenly believe that he acted alone. While God worked many miracles through the intercession of Fr. Solanus, he would have been the first to acknowledge that he needed his brothers. This lesson has been reinforced for me in my role as Director of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen. Whatever we can do on behalf of individuals and families who struggle, it is because we do it together. One of my favorite photographs from the early days of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen shows Blessed Solanus, Fr. Herman and Mr. Ray McDonough, our first volunteer. Looking at the picture, I imagine a harried Fr. Herman panicking that they were about to run out of food, Blessed Solanus is assuring him that God will provide, and Ray McDonough arriving with the truck filled with barrels of food donated by merchants at Eastern Market, which the members of the Third Order would then cook and serve the hungry guests at the door.

The contributions of everyone were needed. It is no different today. Blessed Solanus was fond of saying he had “two loves – the sick and the poor.” Fr. Solanus treated both the sick and the poor with compassion, respect, and dignity. As a late employee of the Soup Kitchen was fond of saying: “poor people ought not be treated poorly.” Fr. Solanus treated no one poorly, and he did so by his faith in God and the companionship and support of Fr. Herman, Ray, and the members of the Third Order. I am not a saint (although that is the goal of every Christian), but I am also not a Lone Ranger. Whatever good I may accomplish is because the Lord has given me brothers and sisters to welcome and serve the guests who come to our door. The Lone Ranger had Tonto. Blessed Solanus had Fr. Herman, Ray, and the Third Order. On July 28, members of the families of Solanus and Herman along with the Secular Franciscan’s will be serving lunch at the Soup Kitchen.

As disciples of Jesus and friends of Solanus we have each other. “Hi Yo Silver” and away we go to serve God’s people…together.