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Posted By Teresa Redder, on August 2nd, 2015  Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Last month our fraternity, St. Maximilian Kolbe had a Day of Recollection. Our speaker was Sr. Mary Frances OSC. The theme was “Rebuild My Church”
During this month of August we celebrate a few feast days starting with Our Lady of the Angels August 2nd “The Portincula”, then the feast day of St. Clare on the 11th and “The Assumption” on August 15th . Our Lady has a special place in our Franciscan way of life
It was the first time at least for me to hear someone give a talk about Clare beginning with Clare’s mother Ortulana. We learned about the prophecy of Clare that at one time Clare’s mother was to go on Pilgrimage and it was unheard of for a noblewomen of that time. If a noblewomen would be walking down the street, the other person would have to walk on the opposite side. It so happened that one day when Ortulana was praying before the crucifix, she heard a voice say, You will bear a Light, her name means Clare with shadowed light.
After her family returned from Perugia in 1202 Clare received the education of a gentlewoman and in her later life she described herself as “a worthless handmaid.”
When she was about 12 years old, Francis son of that merchant class which once had driven her family out, suffered his bewildering conversion. Clare in her testament wrote that before Francis had as much as one brother, sang out prophetically in French whilst rebuilding San Damiano “Come help me in the work of building the Monastery of San Damiano because ladies are yet to dwell here who will glorify our heavenly Father throughout His holy Universal Church by their holy and celebrated manner of life.
On Palm Sunday in 1212, Clare went to church in her best clothes. When the distribution of palms took place she did not go forward at that moment. Perhaps she was filled with fear understanding the meaning of the palm, a symbol of martyrdom. Clare wandered and passed through a little used door in her palazzo which some thought that only the dead alone were carried out. She ran down the hill to Our Lady Of the Angels where Francis and his brothers waited for her. Clare’s hair was cut and she received the habit of the lesser brothers. Clare was then sent to a near home in Bascia which was the home of Benedictine women. The next morning her relatives came and tried to persuade Clare with threats and every means to get her back going as far as employing violent force with poisonous promises(Legend of Clare 9)
After the death of Pope Gregory lX both Clare and Agnes (who rejected the hand of Emperor Frederick ll in order to follow her vocation) separately entreated the Holy See for a more authentic rule of life but began to write her own rule but was not successful. Around the year 1250 Clare began to write her own rule. Clare was the first women to do so. It was presented to Pope Innocent lV as Clare neared her death. The Holy Father was in Perugia along with Cardinals and came to visit Clare. When she asked for absolution from her sins, he said with tears, “Would that I had as little need of absolution as you” Finally the confirmation of Clare’s rule was signed which was endorsed by the Papal Bull.
May we as Franciscans be the Mirror as Clare was and as Francis to help rebuild the church as a family rooted in the love of Christ and Our Mother Mary Mother of the Church.
What part of Francis and Clare’s life motivates you to move to conversion? How can we be the mirror of Christ so that others will see the Jesus in us?
A quote from Benedict XVl: Do not be afraid to say “yes” to Jesus to find joy in doing His will giving yourself completely to the pursuit of holiness and using our talents in the service to others.
Peace,
Rosie
Posted By Teresa Redder, on August 2nd, 2015 August 2015
(St. Francis of Assisi)
O truly the most Christian of men,
who strove by perfect imitation to be conformed
while living to Christ living, dying to Christ dying,
and dead to Christ dead, and deserved to be adorned with an expressed likeness!
(Your) most holy soul was released from the flesh
and absorbed into the abyss of divine light …
You were borne aloft straight to heaven …
(you) merited to enter the place of light and peace
where (you) rest with Christ forever.
(Pray for your family on earth that we may share your life with God one day)
(Major Legend by St. Bonaventure, chapter 14 – adapted)
Following are daily excerpts taken from various Franciscan writings. Daily meditative phrases from the book MODELS OF FAITH.
1
His sermons were not vain and shallow but they were filled with them power of the holy Spirit (Major Legend, chpt.2) – God’s mercy, if we only let him take over, will take us much farther and higher than our own scant justice.
2
He began to preach all over with great commitment and assurance. He did not have recourse to reasoning founded on human wisdom, but based his teachings on the doctrine and virtue of the Holy Spirit, faithfully proclaiming the kingdom of God (Three Companions, chpt.54) – God’s predilection for the humblest and lowest emphasizes the point that he likes to make of upsetting men’s calculations and betraying expectations based on rank, merit, age or tradition.
3
His style was not as one preaching but as one who is conversing…he spoke clearly and respectably (Thomas of Spalato) – Self-reliance will get us nowhere…the whole process is better looked after when placed in he hands of God than when held tight in our grip as though we were bent on seeing it through at all costs by ourselves. » Click to continue reading “Daily Reflections from Fr. Francis – August 2015” »
Posted By Teresa Redder, on August 2nd, 2015  August 2015
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis and St. Clare,
The Lord give you his peace!
As Franciscans we are called by God to love. This love is a total surrender to God, manifested in how we serve God in one another, even those who are not one of us (cfr. Mark 9: 38). Our availability to respond “yes” whenever we are called by God’s will depends on how much, little, or not we are attached, subject, and ultimately controlled by persons, places, things in our life. They become the “center” and the “focus” of what we do and at times who we believe we are. Our “Center” must always be God, the Lord, Jesus!
The Franciscan Rule exhorts us to live the Gospel. The Gospel is Jesus. Jesus reminds us I have come that they may have life more abundantly. (John 10: 10) Thus, to have this life we must “Live Jesus”. This cannot be accomplished if we have other “masters” who attract, seduce, direct, control us … and diminish or even destroy our ability to know, love, and serve the Lord. St. Francis’ radical detachment from things, made him a living example of the joy and freedom of one who is no longer “slave” to his/her wants and even to legitimate needs that he/she has allowed themselves to control their lives.
No one wants to be controlled. Not even God wants to “control” us. God seeks to condition us with His loving grace so that we freely accept God’s Will. When our freedom is used for license, and we fail to be responsible and accountable, then we have created another “center” that misleads away from God. This is exactly what we do when we create “idols” in our lives. We become slaves to those persons, places, things, attitudes, and the like that keep us from being “free”. The freedom of the children of God can be lived only when we break loose from those areas of our lives that hold us down from soaring to the heights in the Spirit and God’s grace.
Everyone wants a fulfilling and good life, but too many people fail to find it because they’re looking for it in the wrong places. They look around at the world or below in themselves alone, and fail to look up at the only One Who should be our Master and Treasure. Society often promises that we can find a rewarding life by pursuing goals that seem good, such as earning more money, gaining more friends, becoming more physically attractive, and the like. Those are just empty promises that cannot really fulfill anyone, since they all succumb to the effects of the passing of time. What is based on material goods is destined to fall apart and be no more. It may take more time to realize this than we would expect. Even our Seraphic Father, who lived only forty plus years, realized this and made his life decision at the mid-point of his life. However, once he knew God’s Will, nothing was going to stop his response to “let go and let God”.
When we enter and strengthen our relationship with Jesus everyday, we can expect our lives to be fulfilled and become what God has designed for us from the beginning, and wills that we crave. Placing hope in anything less – even if it’s something good that God has created – turns into an “idolatry” that interferes with our relationship with Jesus and actually leads us away from the life that God wants us to enjoy.
Remember the words of St. John: My children, beware of idols. (1 John 5:21) The “idols” of life are the stumbling blocks to a truly good and grace-filled journey through time. There are various types of idols that are all extensions in one way or another of the main idol – the “I – doll”. This “I-doll” eventually begins to believe and create its own illusion of grandeur. The idols that control us – achievement, approval, power, money, even practices of religion, and so on – when used wrongly, can destroy the freedom, fulfillment, and joy of living as a child of God. We live an illusion that only God can release us from. What might we do to avoid this “idolatry” ? The following are reflections on how we might possibly see, acknowledge, and ultimately eliminate these “idols”, and begin to live a Christ-centered and joy-filled life…
Even when you love God, idolatry can creep into your life. Idolatry happens whenever you look to something that is not centered in/on God. Only God has the power to give you what you truly need. Reflect on your life, and honestly consider whether or not you’re hoping to derive fulfillment from things like material possessions, a successful career, an exciting relationship, or close relationships with family and friends. None of those things – or any other good things except for a relationship with God through Jesus – can deliver true and lasting fulfillment. At times, everyone struggles with idolatry in some way or other, when we have substituted things and/or persons for Jesus in your life. A revealing insight for each one of us would be to consider whom/what we spend the most time thinking about, and whom/what we invest the most of ourselves in pursuing. Anyone/thing that we devote ourselves to more than to Jesus can dangerously be an “idol” in our life.
You may struggle with the idol of achievement if you want to achieve regardless of what it does to the people around you, depend on your success getting people to like you, confuse who you are with what you accomplish, feel the need to constantly climb higher on the ladder of success, or compare yourself with others and struggle when they succeed and you don’t. Realize that you are much more than your list of accomplishments. You have great intrinsic value simply because God made you in His image and loves you no matter what. Choose to base your identity not on what you have accomplished, but on what Jesus has accomplished in/with/for you, thus connecting you to God for eternity, to the degree that you cooperate with grace in your daily life.
You may struggle with the idol of approval if you expect someone else to: complete you, take your pain away, understand you completely, heal you, make you feel good about yourself, or always be with you. No human being can truly completely do any of those things for you … but God alone. So stop relying on the approval of others to fulfill you (it will lead you to mediocrity, exhaustion, disappointment, and rejection instead). Decide to look to God alone for approval. God’s opinion of you is the only one that truly matters. Embrace the complete and unconditional love that God offers you. Remember the words of our Seraphic St. Francis: You are what You are before God. That and nothing more. Have an attitude of gratitude for what God sees good in you, and live up to it.
You may struggle with the idol of power if you have a hard time taking correction from your spouse, a friend, a teacher, a boss, anyone, because you want to be in charge. Realize that the control you think you may have in life is actually an illusion. God is in ultimate control of every situation. Since God will take care of everything you need when you trust Him, give up trying to be in charge and surrender to God’s plans for every situation that concerns you. Surrender yourself to God! Say “Yes!” When you do, God’s unlimited power will overflow into your life and transform it for the better.
You may struggle with the idol of money if you look to money to give you security, peace, or happiness; or if you’re often anxious about getting more money or holding onto the money you already have rather than being content and generous as God wants you to be. Jesus said: No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (Matthew 6:24) Attempting to serve both will divide your mind and lead to confusion, anxiety, discouragement, and the like … or even to total indifference to both. While we need this means of exchange in our daily lives, we cannot allow it to control us. Be devoted to God with a single-minded focus. Whatever you may have and gain in life use gratefully as tools to accomplish God’s purposes for your life.
What about the idol of religion? This is rather interesting, but does not mean what it initially seems to indicate. Religion is an essential part of our faith lives. It is the external expression of how we live what we profess with our hearts and minds and souls … the witness of our Faith. It is an essential in life that becomes also an “evangelizing” means of leading people to Christ. Nonetheless, you may struggle with this strange but often real idolatry if you try to earn God’s love by quantity or quality of actions, rather than by intensity of love and trust in God Who knows the heart. God’s love for you is unlimited and unconditional, and the completed sacrifice of Jesus on the cross has made it possible for you to connect with God, so you do not have to “use religion” to try to gain or keep God’s love, but “be religious” so that your life actions are in harmony with the beliefs of your heart and the God Who is its Center. Embrace the love that God freely offers you. Make your top priority spending time with God often, just to communicate in love and build a closer relationship with Him. Let the Drama of Calvary in the Mass and the Eucharist be your “hub” and Our Blessed Mother Mary your “Advocate-Intercessor-Refuge…Mother, Who leads you closer to Her Son and thus to the Father and the Spirit. Remember that what you do with God is more important than what you think you do for Him. Let your religious practices be a sincere manifestation of the inner conviction you have. Let the Mass manifest your belief in the saving grace of the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Jesus and your reception and adoration of the Eucharist manifest your belief in the Real Presence of Jesus, and so on.
You may struggle with the idol of appearance if you rely on being physically attractive to help you get what you want or if you think that how you look is who you are. Realize that even if people consider you to be physically beautiful or handsome now, your appearance will change when you are “chronologically enhanced”. If people do not think you attractive, God does. God made you to be distinctively the way you are, and made you His own. You can be truly beautiful – no matter what you look like externally – when you are a person of integrity of faith and life who lives in God’s grace and strives to fulfill His Will. Father let this chalice pass from me, but not my will but yours be done. (Luke 22: 41)
You may struggle with the idol of “my” dream if you’re constantly frustrated with God because He has not made your dreams come true, or your goals achieved. Pray for the wisdom to discern which of your dreams align with the purposes of God for your life, and which do not. Then let go of whatever dreams do not help you accomplish God’s purposes for you. Trust God to help you see what is right and true, and wait for them to be accomplished in His way and in His time. Do not just sit around and wait. Give God your best, and God will do the rest!
Our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi realized the danger material goods and money were. In themselves they were not evil: goods serve the needs of human beings, and money is a means of exchange and commerce. St. Francis saw how an inordinate desire for these things could so easily control the life of a person. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21) He sought to detach himself from them, and with him all who sought to follow his way of life. His example of radical poverty reminds us of the “idols” we easily create in life. Most times we do so without ever realizing how attached we are allowing ourselves to become.
Pope John Paul II tells us that men and women are on a journey of discovery in search for the truth and a person. Words like these sound like some philosophical theme until we examine our hearts and realize how true and meaningful they are for our lives. Our Seraphic Father St. Francis encountered that ‘Person’, Jesus, on the Cross at San Damiano who impressed His words on his heart, then he met that ‘Person’ again at La Verna, Who impressed His ‘Word’ on his body. The living image of the Crucified spoke to the world of an emptying love that accepted life to die that we might enter Life.
Every life has its disconcerting events and fears. Even the greatest of saints had their difficulties. Many went through moments of spiritual darkness and dryness. Their focus and strength was God. They continued to believe and hope in God, encouraging and empowering others to be joy-filled in the midst of their challenges as well as their successes, while they themselves cried out to their ‘absent’ and Loving God who asked that they pass through the desolation of the Cross. Our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Pope John Paul II, and many others whose lives we have come to know more intimately now that they have entered eternity, went through these moments. Faith and life walk hand-in-hand. It is our Faith that strengthens our spirit and nourishes our life. Jesus reminds us: It is the spirit that gives life … The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. (John 6:63) When we allow the Spirit of Faith to fill our minds and hearts, when we accept the words of Jesus in truth, when we live today where God and we encounter one another … we live in hope, free from fear, trusting in divine providence that clears all intimidating imaginings from our minds and hearts. The “idols” are destroyed. We are set free to be and become! Peace, joy, and serenity become a reality. And, they become ‘contagious’ for those whom we encounter.
Spiritual Children of St. Francis of Assisi live every moment of life fully! The spirit of prayer that enveloped our Seraphic Father who ‘became prayer’ encourages us to pass through whatever crucible of life we encounter. Thus we become one with the Suffering Servant Who became One with us. Let us be grateful to God for the life He has called us to live, and make our prayer You are my God…I trust in You…be my refuge…I fear nothing…(for I seek to be in You as You are within me).
May God bless you; my Our Lady guide, guard, and protect you; and may our Seraphic Father, St. Francis of Assisi, look upon each one of you, his Spiritual Children, with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M.Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on July 4th, 2015 July 2015
O loving one bear in mind your poor children for whom, without you,
their one and only consolation, there is little comfort…
they still .. tearfully cry out to you:
O father,
place before Jesus Christ, son of the Most High Father,
His sacred stigmata;
and show Him the signs of the cross on your hands, feet, and side,
that He may mercifully bare His own wounds to the Father,
and because of this the Father will ever show us in our anguish His tenderness.
Amen.
(Second Book of the Life of St. Francis by Bl. Thomas of Celano)
Following are excerpts taken from The Assisi Compilation. Daily meditative phrases based on: Words of Blessed John Paul II
1
Blessed Francis felt more pity for the man’s soul, rooted in mortal hatred, than for his body. He said to him: Brother, forgive your lord for the love of God, so that you may set your soul free, and it may be that he will return to you what he has taken. Otherwise you will lose not only your property but also your soul. – When man becomes ‘bereft of God’, he loses the meaning of his own life and in some way becomes ‘bereft’ of himself.
2
So blessed Francis said (to the Dominican who asked his explanation of a passage from Ezekiel): … a servant of God should be burning with life and holiness so brightly, that by the light of example and the tongue of his conduct, he will rebuke all the wicked. – The family is the great workshop of love … where people are taught to love … with the incisive power of experience.
3
In order to preserve the virtue of holy humility, a few years after his conversion, at a chapter, he resigned the office of prelate before all the brothers of his religion, saying: From now on, I am dead to you. But here you have Brother Peter of Catanio; let us all, you and I, obey him. – Do not separate your faith from your daily life and your daily life from your faith, as so many people do today. » Click to continue reading “Fr. Francis’ Reflection – July, 2015” »
Posted By Teresa Redder, on July 4th, 2015 
July 2015
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord grant you his peace!
Our relationship with Jesus and living in, with, and for Him each day is a wonderful experience for those who accept it. Why? Because, among other things, the “ordinariness” of our daily routine takes on an “extraordinariness” that fulfills our lives and can become “contagious”. It is up to us to keep the pace of the tempo of life and the flow of God’s gifts moving forward to envelop everyone in our path. We do not have to do hand-stands for God. When the good Lord wants something extraordinary done it is the Lord Himself Who will not only inspire it through the Holy Spirit, but will have us undoubtedly know it is from Him. Let us not forget the words of an insightful elderly friar: The saint shows his face and not his gifts. In other words: Be “ordinary” and leave the “extraordinary” secret and up to God to be manifest. » Click to continue reading “Fr. Francis’ Greetings – July, 2015” »
Posted By Teresa Redder, on July 4th, 2015 Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I hope you are enjoying the summer. Hope you get to read Pope Francis’s New Encyclical
“Praised Be You.” In the spirit of Pope Francis’s Encyclical, let us take a look at one of St. Francis’s prayers The Canticle of the Creatures and our Rule.
In the Canticle of the Creatures Francis praises God for all God’s creation, the sun, moon, stars etc. and addresses them all as brother and sister brought into being by the same Father. For Francis each creature, animate or inanimate, was a sign and reminder of God’s presence to us.
Article 18 of our Rule 18 states, “Moreover they should respect all creatures animate and inanimate which bear the imprint of the Most High, and they should strive to move from the temptation of exploiting creation to the Franciscan concept of universal kingship.” This concept of universal kinship is a unique attribute and makes the Franciscan charism different from other Orders within the Church that have a Rule of Life addressing Integrity of Creation. » Click to continue reading “Thoughts From Your Regional Formation Director – July, 2015” »
Posted By Teresa Redder, on June 8th, 2015 In order to prepare for our regional council elections taking place in March, please begin praying this prayer for leadership:
PRAYER FOR OFS LEADERSHIP
Give us, O God, leaders whose hearts are large enough to match the breadth of our own souls and give us souls strong enough to follow leaders of vision and wisdom.
In seeking a leader, let us seek more than our own enhancement — though enhancement we hope for — more than security for our own plans and vision — though security we need — more than satisfaction for our own selfish wants — though many things we desire.
Give us the hearts to choose and follow the leader who will work with other leaders to bring Your will to the agenda and help us to fulfill it.
Give us leaders who lead us to virtue without seeking to impose their own version of virtue on others.
Give us leaders who will provide for the advancement of our Order without dictating to others to achieve it.
Give us insight enough ourselves to choose as leaders those who can tell strength from power, growth from greed, leadership from dominance, and real greatness from the trappings of grandiosity.
We trust you, Great God, to open our hearts to learn from those to whom you speak in different tongues and to respect the life and words of those to whom you entrusted the good of other parts of this globe.
We beg you, Great God, give us the vision as Secular Franciscans to know where holy leadership truly lies, to pursue it diligently, to ask it to respect the integrity of every person in the entire Order.
We ask these things, Great God, with minds open to your word and hearts that trust in your eternal care.
Amen.
Adapted by Fr. Kevin Queally, TOR from “Prayer for Leadership” Published by Pax Christi USA
Posted By Teresa Redder, on June 7th, 2015  Many of you are probably aware of The Cord — a scholarly journal of Franciscan studies published by the Franciscan Institute starting in 1950. It was recently reborn as a quarterly called Franciscan Connections – The Cord.
If you’re interested in a treasure trove of Franciscan thought, you might want to visit the archive of The Core issues from 1950 to 2010 that’s available here. I’m sure you will recognize in these pages many of the authors and scholars found in our OFS our formation materials and many other books and publications.
The May/June 1998 issue (starts on page 55 of the PDF) might be of particular interest as it’s devoted to the 20th anniversary of the Secular Franciscan Rule. It provides some useful perspective on where we are now and where we were in 1998 as well as 1978.
Posted By Teresa Redder, on June 1st, 2015 
June, 2015
Peace to each of your hearts!
On this rainy, damp and somewhat chilly first day of June, it’s a little difficult to take the leap into summer, but the humidity outside reminds that summer is nipping at our heels and ready to provide us with time to rest, relax, and recreate. Hopefully, your schedule will give you an opportunity to enjoy some R&R in the weeks ahead.
Indulge in a little minute meditation and imagine yourself at the beach, listening to the sea crashing against the shore, the constant squawking and screeching of seagulls, the laughter of children around you, the sound of play, the exuberant “Yippee” of a fisherman who has caught his first fish … breathe in the fresh salty air, feel the sand beneath your toes and the soft sea breeze as it brushes across your face. No newspapers, no IPads, no tech gadgets, no cellphones to distract you, just the sea, the sand, the sights, the sounds and you … unplugged and untethered … ah, bliss and unadulterated joy! Now that you’re relaxed, consider these thoughts of our Holy Father, Pope Francis who, in his Apostolic Letter regarding the Year of Consecrated Life, has said,
We are called to know and show that God is able to fill our hearts to the brim with happiness; that we need not seek our happiness elsewhere; that the authentic fraternity found in our communities increases our joy; and that our total self-giving in service to the Church, to families and young people, to the elderly and the poor, brings us life-long personal fulfilment.
None of us should be dour, discontented and dissatisfied, for “a gloomy disciple is a disciple of gloom”. Like everyone else, we have our troubles, our dark nights of the soul, our disappointments and infirmities, our experience of slowing down as we grow older. But in all these things we should be able to discover “perfect joy”. For it is here that we learn to recognize the face of Christ, who became like us in all things, and to rejoice in the knowledge that we are being conformed to him who, out of love of us, did not refuse the sufferings of the cross.
It’s hard to be dour, discontented and dissatisfied while sitting on the beach (or up in the mountains, if you prefer)! Even if life’s circumstances won’t allow for you to travel, you can go to this place of comfort anytime in your mind’s eye, and allow the Lord to fill your heart to the brim with happiness. He has so much in store for you and asks no more of you than that you rest, relax and trust in Him.
Peace, all good, and much love,
mattie
Posted By Teresa Redder, on June 1st, 2015 
June, 2015
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
In the Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, may you enter the loving embrace of the Eternal Father Whose Holy Spirit fills us with Life and Love!
The month dedicated to God’s Love for us in the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, offers us an opportunity to reflect on the words attributed to our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi: Love is not loved. Love is not loved! One of the main elements of our Franciscan Vocation is our call to be brother and sister to one another… To love one another. We are called to remember, as St. Francis reminds the Family in the First Rule: As a mother loves her child in the flesh, how much more must we love one another in the Spirit? This kind of “love” is not some fuzzy feeling we look for, but a concrete expression that manifests itself in the way we live and treat one another, and all creation. It is expressed in how we view our vocation. Thus it conditions how we understand our relationship with those who have committed themselves with us to the Franciscan charism.
We have promised to live the Gospel life concretely. Most religious communities have based their charism on either some aspect of apostolic life or some spiritual aspect of the life of the early church. As Franciscans we have promised to live the Gospel life. The Gospel life lived by Jesus and His disciples gathered with Him while He still walked among us as a human being. His disciples followed Jesus wherever He went, they listened to His words, they spoke in His name, they even performed miracles in His name. While it took some time, and Jesus’ trust in them and patience with them, they eventually worked at making their human differences not be a stumbling block but a stepping stone for them to strengthen the bond among them. This had become so obvious, that the early church would hear non-Christians say: See how they love one another (cfr. John 13: 35; Tertullian).
There is never a time when we can say that we have “done it all”, and that there is no more for us to learn or do. We are bombarded with information all our lives. How we understand and learn from our experiences will determine how we become and are bettered or worsened. This is how information leads to formation. We process and often are assisted to build on our experiences and knowledge. For this reason the Regional Council, as all of the Councils of the Order at all levels of the various Obediences (I, II, III Regular, Secular) are constantly hammering away at the sisters and brothers of our Franciscan Family to deepen their Franciscan charism by deepening their relationship with God and their greater awareness, understanding, appreciation, and living out of our Franciscan vocation.
Our Regional Ministers together with the Councils that have ministered to our sisters and brothers in their various triennia of service to the O.F.S. Region of St. Katherine Drexel have continually urged all the fraternities to reflect upon our common vocation to the Gospel Life as Franciscans. Unfortunately, too many of our professed sisters and brothers often have a confused understanding of what it means to live our Franciscan life. Some view the Secular Order as a social club, parish society, “happy death” society. Many have acted as though the fraternity was a stepping stone for some sense of personal advancement rather than opportunity for greater service to others. Knowledge of our Franciscan charism is relegated to the obligatory formation period before profession, afterward, there is “no more need for formation”; there is nothing more distant from the truth!
The following are a few comments worthy of reflection, and there are many more that follow from these. These are not personal observations. These comments and/or observations have continually been vocalized because of some basic misconceptions some Franciscans (including to a greater degree our own Seculars) have regarding the sisters and brothers of the Secular Franciscan Order.
∙ The Secular Franciscans do belong to an “Order”.
∙ The Secular Franciscans are an effective branch of the worldwide Franciscan Family.
∙ The Secular Franciscans are expected to recognize all professed members as “family” and even those in process of acceptance as worthy of our love and support.
∙ The Secular Franciscans are not just encouraged but expected to continue their personal and collective formation through prayer, study, sharing, ministries to others, and so forth.
∙ The Secular Franciscans are called to a deeper relationship with God and one another…and so much more.
In view of the above statements and so many more we have heard concerning our Franciscan vocation, please consider the following paragraphs. They are taken from the Minister General of the Capuchin Franciscan Family (though other Ministers have written similar words to their respective obediences), and our Holy Father Pope Francis, and are offered for your reflection. Where necessary for the sake of adaptability and better understanding of their reference to our Franciscan Secular Family, some words or small phrases have been adapted. The essence of the two messages is the same; the words were adapted to our Secular Franciscan reflection.
I ask that the sisters and brothers of our Secular Franciscan Family take time out of each day to read and reflect upon the Rule and Constitutions of the Order, as well as the writings that speak of our life. The responsibility of this ongoing formation process is not left solely to the elected leaders of the Region and local ministers, but it is also the personal responsibility of each sister and brother. When you gather together for your monthly meeting, talk, dialogue, and discuss points of our Franciscan charism or teachings of the Magisterium. During the days between meetings, be excited about who we are and seek to deepen your awareness and love for the Order. Your identity and sense of belonging can be a valuable topic for discussion and dialogue in the ever present duty we have for continuing our formation, not necessarily as students in a classroom as much as sisters and brothers in a family whose roots, ancestors, hopes, fears, goals, visions are an exciting incentive that urges you to build on the information you receive and grow in the formation of your Franciscan Character.
- What, in your opinion, are the elements that make up our Franciscan identity that have the greatest priority in the current situation of our Order, in your personal life, and in the social and cultural environment in which you live? How does it affect you? How do you affect the world around you? What makes you say this?
- Regarding the sense of belonging, what are the greatest difficulties you experience in believing and feeling a sense of belonging to a “family”, the Franciscan Family? If you experience no difficulties, why? Does your biological family encourage and support you? Are family and friends a reason or an excuse for not fully living, every day, your commitment to our charism as seculars? Is there a spirit of transparency, based on trust, among the sisters and brothers? Are there other areas that affect a sense of belonging that you believe must be addressed in your own life and/or in that of your fraternity?
- What are the most important things that need to be done in your fraternity to reinforce your identity as Secular Franciscans and the sense of belonging to the Order?
Having read the above, take time, please, to reflect on the words that Pope Francis addressed to the Conference of Superiors on November 29, 2013. Let us challenge ourselves, without fear, to convert our attitudes, our mentality, and our affections to Him who, by letting us share in the charism of St. Francis, has prepared for us a path of holiness that if traveled, will bring our existence to its fulfillment.
“Wake up world! Be witnesses of a different way of doing, of acting, of living! It is possible to live differently in this world. We are speaking of an eschatological gaze of values of the Kingdom incarnate here, on this earth. It is about leaving everything to follow the Lord. You must be true witnesses of a different way of behaving. But in life it is with difficulty that everything becomes clear, precise, and precisely drawn. Life is complex, made of grace and sin. We all err and must recognize our weakness. A religious (also a Secular Franciscan) that recognizes himself (or herself) as weak and a sinner does not contradict the witness he/she is called to give, but rather reinforces it, and this does good for all. What I expect then is witness, I want … this special witness” (Pope Francis with the Superiors General, 4 January 2014).
We speak of our Franciscan charism as being a call to the Gospel Life. The Gospel Life is one lived in proximity to others and with others and for others. Like any life, it is prone to change and challenges. The only way we can grow through the gifted experience of our Franciscan vocation is by loving it enough to live it each day with an open heart and mind.
In the spirit of our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi, let us take that first step on our daily pilgrim journey. As Saint Francis said to his first followers as he lay dying, I have done my part, now you must do yours . We are our St. Francis’ “backup plan”. He expects us to continue the mission to continue to make the Gospel come alive in the world. As we move forward on our pilgrim journey, we will touch the lives of many according to how we live our own. May our Heavenly Mother Mary accompany us on this journey. May She lead all people to Our Lord Jesus Christ Her Son. With Mary as “pilgrim mother” on the journey with us, let us live and accept the challenge to join the band of Gospel pilgrims who journey through life to Life.
May God bless you; Our Lady guide, guard, and protect you; and our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi watch over each one of you, his Spiritual Children, with loving care. In the Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I pray that Jesus bestow on all of you and your loved ones…
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
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Dear Sisters and Brothers,
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