Bipeds of Brookland: Fr. Jim Gardiner

Posted by Abbott Klar Real Estate on Thursday, July 14th, 2016 at 8:21pm

Bipeds of Brookland: Fr. Jim Gardiner
Bipeds of Brookland: Fr. Jim Gardiner

Fr. Jim Gardiner remembers "a bus trip that I took to the motherhouse of what is now my community, Friars of the Atonement, in Garrison, NY. I was in the first grade. First time we ever went anyplace.  . . a couple of hours from the Bronx where I grew up.  As we were getting ready to leave, one of the priests there asked me if I had a good day. I told him I thought I had a wonderful day and he said, ‘I’m going to pray every day that you come back.”

Fr. Jim joined the Franciscan community after high school and came to DC for seminary, studying two years at CUA. “This neighborhood reminds me of my neighborhood in the Bronx because everybody has gardens, everybody shares what’s in the garden . . .You can always tell who is a visitor here because they don’t say hello to you. When you walk down the street and people say hello to you, you know they’re part of the neighborhood.”

After running a retreat center in NY, Fr. Jim came back to the Franciscan Monastery in DC. He is Director of Special Projects, organizing events like the neighborhood picnic, monthly organ recitals, and this Saturday’s Holy Land Festival (July 16th 11 am-5pm).  We “started this festival three years ago and try to make it a fun thing. There are people vending food of the Holy Land and carving olive wood and Arabic handwriting, and we have a kids’ dance group, and three workshops inside the conference room. One of them is going to be a live conversation with people in Bethlehem.”


Fr. Jim says his favorite part of the Monastery are the benches in front. He enjoys talking with visitors. “I wish people would see our entranceway as an invitation to come in, to feel welcome.”

Bipeds of Brookland: A weekly series introducing the people who make Brookland their home, one step at a time. Interview and photo by Tom Sabella.

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