From the Heart of Our Minister – May 2015

Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,

PEACE to each of your hearts!

(St. Francis) was called by the Lord to a unique grace of friendship. Through his prayers he found the Rule of the Lesser Brothers, and when he lost it he returned to the mountain (as Moses had done with the Tablets of the Law) where he had found it and prayed again … there … by divine revelation and through the power of prayer, he found the lost rule. And it was confirmed for him.

Fr. Francis Sariego, OFM Cap, one of our dear Regional Spiritual Assistants, shared this wisdom with us two years ago. As we reflected on this wisdom together, we hoped that we could return to the mountain where we first embraced our Rule and the gift and commitment that was … and is … our Profession and, in so doing, remind ourselves of what it meant to truly be brother and sister to one another.

We are gratified by the response we are receiving to our upcoming Regional Retreat at the end of this month and we hope it will be a time when each of us can rest, relax and reflect on our call as Secular Franciscans and our individual and collective response to that call.

During this month set aside for particular devotion to Our Blessed Mother, let us pray to Her for inspiration and guidance. We look forward to being with you in Easton.

 T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T

Two of our Regional Fraternities will be celebrating significant anniversaries this year: Holy Cross (100 Years of Canonical Establishment) and Queen of the Universe (50 Years of Canonical Establishment)! We thank God for the GIFT of these Fraternities and for the faithfulness of each of our sisters and brothers to their Secular Franciscan vocation.

In October, 2015, our National Fraternity Council will be electing new Councillors to the National Executive Council. We ask you please to hold this Chapter in your prayers.

Although we didn’t enjoy a snowy winter in 2015, we did have some nasty weather which caused disruption to local fraternity as well as regional calendars. The “upcoming events” section of our Regional Website has been updated to reflect the changes which needed to be made.

Blessings, every good, and much love,

mattie