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Posted By Teresa Redder, on July 1st, 2026 JOYFUL GOSPEL LIVING (June 2026)
“Living for God in Christ Jesus.”
At their Annual Plenary Session in Orlando, FL (June 10-12), the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) consecrated the USA to the Sacred Heart of Jesus after concluding a 9-day novena to the Sacred Heart. Bishop O’Connell visited Sacred Heart Parish (Mount Holly, NJ) on May 31st to lead us in this beautiful consecration. On June 3rd, our parish started the novena at our daily 7:00 and 8:30 AM Masses.
As the USA prepared to observe the 250th anniversary of Independence Day, the bishops likewise offered a focus for Catholics called “We Hold These Truths.” Although St. Paul wrote this weekend’s epistle to the Romans, it also speaks powerfully to the truths for all who believe in Christ today. What would our country be like if we truly lived for God in Christ Jesus?
In the news and special TV broadcasts for America’s 250th, we hear about both familiar and unknown stories about the founding of our country. Many of the earliest settlers to the colonies came to seek refuge from religious persecution, including Catholics. The bishops opened a doorway for us to explore living in Christ Jesus at this link:
https://www.usccb.org/weholdthesetruths
The America 250 video series offers five episodes of how Catholics contributed to the history of the US:
- Episode 1: Catholics and the Founding
- Episode 2: Immigration
- Episode 3: Devotions and Liturgy
- Episode 4: Healthcare
- Episode 5: Chaplains
It is never easy to live for God in Christ Jesus because the world’s ways are not always God’s ways.
At the bottom of the link for “We Hold These Truths,” there are links for resources to participate in 250 Hours of Adoration and 250 Works of Mercy. In the resource for the works of mercy, the bishops tell us:
“As the United States of America commemorates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, the U.S. bishops will consecrate the country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. All Catholics are encouraged to join the bishops in praying for the unity and healing of our country. One opportunity for parishes and individuals to participate is by contributing to a collective 250 Hours of Adoration and 250 Works of Mercy. The seven Corporal Works of Mercy come to us directly from the Scriptures in the Gospel of Matthew. Rooted in our lives of faith, the actions that Jesus calls us to in feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick and imprisoned, burying the dead, and giving alms are central elements of our Catholic identity. Pope Leo XIV instructs in Dilexi Te, ‘As we contemplate Christ’s love, ‘we too are inspired to be more attentive to the sufferings and needs of others, and confirmed in our efforts to share in His work of liberation as instruments for the spread of His love’ (no. 2).”
Here were some suggestions for how to serve:
- Assist women who face a crisis pregnancy;
- Donate to food pantries and clothing closets;
- Participate in a community beautification program;
- Raise money for an overseas development project;
- Sponsor a refugee family;
- Tutor children;
- Volunteer at homeless shelters.
Where is God calling us to live for Him in Christ Jesus? Where will we find Jesus when we show mercy?
One of my favorite activities as an OCIA catechist is to share perspectives on Catholic Social Teaching (CST) with people who are in formation to enter the Church. As Catholics, our living for God is grounded in both Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Magisterium. The USCCB website has excellent resources to reflect on social teaching:
https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/seven-themes-of-catholic-social-teaching
Living in a democracy, we value the truths that our founding leaders captured in the US Constitution, an enduring blueprint for liberty and justice for all. Through the lens of CST, it is Jesus who encourages us to live our faith more deliberately. As the 4th of July approaches, there is an opportunity for us to look farther than just fireworks and historical commemoratives. As our country moves on toward the Tricentennial, how will we shape a better future that begins with the consideration of the life and dignity of the human person?
On the bishops’ link for the Seven Themes of CST, the first theme reminds us “that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society.” In his first encyclical on artificial intelligence, Pope Leo XIV took great care to address the potential for both the good and the harm of society when technology rapidly advances and fails to consider the life and dignity of human beings.
Image by Br. Mickey McGrath, OSFS, for USCCB Catholic Social Teaching
I have enjoyed exploring the “More” links for each of the seven themes because there is always a beautiful artwork by local artist Br, Mickey McGrath, OSFS, Scripture references that reinforce the theme, an insight into our Catholic tradition, a CST short video, and a downloadable prayer card for each theme. Prayer helps us greatly to live in Christ Jesus, as we see in the Life and Dignity Prayer:
“God of all life, help us to appreciate the great gift that is human life formed in Your image, a reflection of Your holiness. Help us to recognize You in all whom You have created: children not yet born, families affected by poverty and war, people of different abilities, people from other lands, and all who are victims of hatred and racism. Help us to bear witness to the dignity of all whom You have created, regardless of stage of life, or wealth, or ability, or color, or creed, for every person is fully equal in your loving eyes. Share with us Your holy knowledge that we are all Your children, each bestowed with inherent dignity. May Your justice reign forever! Amen.”
So, let us choose to live for God in Christ Jesus by seeing Him in those whom we encounter:
“Whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me.”
Teresa S. Redder, OFS
Saint Katharine Drexel Regional Minister
Posted By Teresa Redder, on July 1st, 2026 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
July 2026
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.
(Prayer to St. Francis from the End of the Second Book of the Life of St. Francis
by Bl. Thomas of Celano)
Excerpts from Franciscan Sources – Assisi Compilation #107- #110
Daily quotes from sayings of Pope St. John XXIII
107 – HE CORRECTS IDLE WORDS AMONG THE BROTHERS AT THE PORTIUNCULA
1 – When our most holy father Francis was staying at the church of Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, it was his daily custom after the meal to work at some task with his brothers to avoid the vice of idleness. Thinking of himself and his brothers, lest they lose, because of use less and idle words after prayer, the good they earned with the help of the Lord during the time of prayer, he ordered the brothers to ob serve avoid falling into useless and idle words. – We are not on earth as museum keepers, but to cultivate a flourishing garden of life and to prepare a glorious future.
2 – And he established the following: If any brother, while walking or working at something, utters any useless or idle word, he must say one Our Father with the Praises of God at the beginning and end of this prayer, with this condition: if perhaps he is the first to notice it and accuses himself of what he did, let him say the Our Father for his own soul together with The Praises of God as was said.- I have looked into your eyes with my eyes. I have put my heart near your heart.
3 – But if another brother corrected him first, he is bound to say the Our Father in the way mentioned for the soul of the brother who corrected him. If after being corrected, he offers an excuse, refusing to say the Our Father, he is bound to say two Our Father’s, as above, for the soul of the brother who corrected him, whose testimony, or perhaps that of another brother, will prove that it is true that he said that use less or idle word. He shall say the Praises of God, as mentioned, at the beginning and end of that prayer loud enough and clear enough for the brothers staying there to understand and hear, and while he is saying them, the brothers must be quiet and listen.
– Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams.
4 – If one of them keeps silent about this, he shall be bound to say one Our Father in the same way with the Praises of God for the soul of the brother who spoke. When any brother enters a cell, a house, or any place and finds a brother or brothers there or anywhere, he should always earnestly praise and bless God.
– Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential.
5 – It was the custom of the most Holy Father always to say those Praises, and it was his fervent wish and desire that the other brothers be similarly careful and devout in saying them.
-The family is the first essential cell of human society.
108 – HE SENDS THE BROTHERS ON MISSION FROM THE PORTIUNCULA; HOW HE DECIDES TO GO TO FRANCE; HIS DEVOTION TO THE BODY OF CHRIST; BROTHER SYLVESTER CASTS OUT DEMONS AT AREZZO; CARDINAL HUGOLINO SENDS HIM BACK FROM FLORENCE
6 – At the time of the general chapter celebrated in that same place, in which the brothers were sent for the first time to regions overseas, when the chapter had ended, blessed Francis staying in that same place with a few brothers, said to them: “Dearest brothers, I must be a model and example to all the brothers.
– A peaceful man does more good than a learned one.
7 – If therefore I send my brothers into far distant countries where they will endure toil, shame, hunger, and many other types of need, it seems to me to be just and good that I also go to some far distant region, especially so that the brothers may be able to bear their needs and trials more patiently when they hear that I am also undergoing the same thing.”
– Men are like wine, some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age.
8 – And he said to them: “Therefore go and ask the Lord that He may allow me to choose that region which will give more praise to the Lord and for the profit and salvation of souls and good example to our religion.” It was the custom of our most holy father to pray to the Lord, and to send his brothers to pray, not only when he was going to a faraway region to preach, but also when he went to nearby regions, so that the Lord might direct his heart to go wherever it seemed best to God. The brothers, therefore, went off to pray and when their prayer was finished they returned to him.
– The feelings of my smallness and my nothingness always kept me in good company.
9 – He said to them: “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, of his glorious Virgin Mother and of all the saints, I choose the region of France, in which there is a Catholic people, especially because of the other Catholics of the holy Church. They show great reverence to the Body of Christ, which pleases me very much. Because of this, I will gladly live among them.”
– See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little.
10 – Now blessed Francis had such reverence and devotion to the Body of Christ, that he wanted it written in the Rule that the brothers in the regions where they stay should take care and be concerned about this, and should admonish and preach about this to clerics and priests, so that they place the Body of Christ in a good and fitting place; and, if they did not do so, he wanted the brothers to do so. – It is now for the Catholic Church to bend herself to her work with calmness and generosity.
11 – In fact one time he wanted to send some brothers through every region with pyxes and wherever they found the Body of Christ placed illicitly, they were to place It honorably in them. Out of reverence for the most holy Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, he wanted it placed in the Rule that, wherever the brothers find the written words and name of the Lord by which the most holy sacrament is confected, not well kept, or carelessly thrown around in some place, let them gather them up, honoring in the words the Lord Who spoke them.
– Every Christian must be convinced of his fundamental duty of bearing witness to the truth in which he believes.
12 – Many things are made holy by the words of God, and the sacrament of the altar is celebrated in the power of the words of Christ. Although he did not write this in the Rule, particularly because it did not seem good to the brother ministers that the brothers should take this as a command, nevertheless, the holy father wanted to leave the brothers in his Testament and in his other writings his will about these things.
– Christ’s flock is made up of sheep that not only listen to their shepherd, but are also able to recognize his voice.
13 – He also wanted to send other brothers throughout every region with good and beautiful wafer irons for making hosts. When blessed Francis had chosen from those brothers the ones he wished to take with him, he said to them: “Go, in the name of the Lord, two by two along the way, decently, in the greatest silence from dawn until after terce, praying to the Lord in your hearts.
– It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father.
14 – And let no idle or useless words be mentioned among you. Although you are traveling, nevertheless, let your behavior be as decent as if you were staying in a hermitage or a cell because wherever we are or wherever we travel, we have a cell with us. Brother Body is our cell, and the soul is the hermit who remains inside the cell to pray to God and meditate. So if the soul does not remain in quiet and solitude in its cell, a cell made by hands does little good to a religious.”
– The true and solid peace of nations consists not in equality f arms, but in mutual trust alone.
15 – When they arrived at Arezzo, there was a great scandal and war night and day throughout almost the entire city, because of two factions who had hated each other for a long time. Blessed Francis heard all the noise and cries night and day; since he received hospitality in a hospice in a neighborhood outside the city, it seemed to him that the demons were overjoyed by this and were inciting the people to destroy their city with fire and other dangerous means.
– Born poor, but of honored and humble people, I am particularly proud to die poor.
16 – Moved by piety over that city, he said to Brother Sylvester, the priest, a man of God, of great faith and admirable simplicity and purity, whom the holy Father venerated as a saint: “Go in front of the city gate and in a loud voice command all the devils that they all leave this city.” Brother Sylvester got up, went in front of the city gate crying out in a loud voice: “Praised and blessed be the Lord Jesus Christ. On behalf of Almighty God and in virtue of holy obedience of our most holy father Francis, I command all the devils that they all leave this city!” Through the mercy of God and the prayer of blessed Francis, it so happened that, without any preaching, shortly afterwards, they returned to peace and unity.
– Here I am at the end of the road and at the top of the heap.
17 – Since blessed Francis was not able to preach to them at that time, once preached to them later, he said to them in the first words of his sermon: “…You bound and sold yourselves like animals in the market because of your wretched state. You betrayed yourselves into the hands of the demons when you placed yourselves at the will of those who have destroyed and continue to destroy themselves, and want to destroy you and the whole city. But you are wretched and ignorant people and ungrateful for the favor of God who, although unknown to many of you, at one time freed this city through the merits of a most holy brother, Sylvester.”
– I am able to follow my own death step by step. Now I move softly towards the end.
18 – When blessed Francis reached Florence, he found there Lord Hugolino, the bishop of Ostia, who later became pope. He had been sent by Pope Honorius as a legate for the Duchy of Tuscany, and Lombardy, and the Marches of Treviso as far as Venice.
– Authority is mainly a moral power; therefore it must first call upon the conscience.
19 – The Lord Bishop greatly rejoiced at his arrival, but when he heard from blessed Francis that he wanted to go to France, he prohibited him from going, telling him: “Brother, I do not want you to go beyond the mountains, because there are many prelates and others who would willingly block the religion’s interests in the Roman Curia.
– I live by the mercy of Jesus.
20 – The other cardinals and I, who love your religion, can protect and help it more willingly if you stay within the confines of this region.” But blessed Francis said to him: “Lord, it is a great shame to me, if I remain in these regions when I send my brothers to remote and far away regions.” The Lord Bishop, however, said to him as if rebuking him: “Why did you send your brothers so far away to die of hunger and to so many other trials?”
– Do not walk through time without leaving worthy evidence of your passage.
21 – In great fervor of spirit and in the spirit of prophecy, blessed Francis answered him: “Lord, do you think or believe that the Lord sent the brothers only for these regions? But I tell you in truth that the Lord chose and sent the brothers for the benefit and salvation of the souls of all people in the whole world and they should be received not only in the land of believers, but also in that of non-believers.
– I want to throw open the windows of the Church so that we can see out and the people can see in.
22 – As long as they observe what they promised the Lord, the Lord will minister to them in the land of non-believers as well as in the countries of believers.” The Lord Bishop marveled at his words and admitted that he spoke the truth. But the Lord Bishop did not allow him to go to France. Instead blessed Francis sent Brother Pacifico there with other brothers, and he returned to the valley of Spoleto.
– Prayer is the raising of the mind to God. We must always remember this. The actual words matter less.
109 BEFORE A CHAPTER AT THE PORTIUNCULA HE TALKS ABOUT BEING A TRUE LESSER BROTHER WHEN INSULTED
23 – Once when the time for the chapter of the brothers was approaching, to beheld at the church of Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, blessed Francis said to his companion: “It seems to me that I am not a Lesser Brother unless I have the attitude I will tell you.”
– Never hesitate to hold out your hand; never hesitate to accept the outstretched hand of another.
24 – And he said: “The brothers come to me with great devotion and veneration, invite me to the chapter, and, touched by their devotion, I go to the chapter with them. After they assemble, they ask me to proclaim the word of God and preach to them as the Holy Spirit instructs me.
– Before everything else, fidelity to the Church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.
25 – “After the sermon, suppose that they reflect and speak against me: ‘We do not want you to rule over us. You are not eloquent and you are too simple. We are very ashamed to have such a simple and contemptible prelate over us. From now on, do not presume to call yourself our prelate.’ And so, with insults, they throw me out. “It seems to me that I am not a Lesser Brother unless I am just as happy when they insult me and throw me out in shame, refusing that I be their prelate, as when they honor and revere me, if in both cases the benefit to them is equal.
– It often happens that I wake up at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope.
26 – If I am happy about their benefit and devotion when they praise and honor me, which can be a danger to the soul, it is even more fitting that I should rejoice and be happy at my benefit and the salvation of my soul when they revile me as they throw me out in shame, which is profit for the soul.
– Christ’s Church is, above all, the spiritual temple where every Christian knows he has his place.
110 – HE IS CONSOLED AT THE PORTIUNCULA BY SISTER CRICKET
27 – One time during summer blessed Francis was at that same place, and he stayed in the last cell next to the hedge of the garden behind the house, where, after his death, Brother Raineri, the gardener, stayed. It happened that one day, as he came down from that little cell, there was a cricket within on the branch of the fig tree next to that cell, and he could touch it. Stretching out his hand, he said:“Sister Cricket, come to me.”
– Every person has the right to life, to bodily integrity.
28 – The cricket immediately climbed onto the fingers of his hand, and with a finger of his other hand, he began to touch it, saying: “Sing, my Sister Cricket.”It obeyed him at once and began to chirp. This consoled blessed Francis greatly and he praised God. He held it in his hand that way for more than an hour. Afterwards he put it back on the branch of the fig tree from which he had taken it.
– If God created shadows it was to better emphasize the light.
29 – And in the same way, for eight days constantly, when he came down from the cell, he found it in the same place. And daily he would take it in his hand, and as soon as he told it to sing, touching it, it sang.
– You and I have one thing in common: money. You have a lot and I have nothing at all. The difference is I don’t care about it.
30 – After eight days, he said to his companions: “Let us give permission to our sister cricket to go where she wants. She has consoled us enough; and the flesh might vainglory from this.” As soon as it had received permission, the cricket went away and never appeared there again.
– Whoever has a heart full of love always has something to give
31 – His companions admired how obedient and tame she was to him. Blessed Francis found so much joy in creatures because of love of the Creator, to console him in his inner and outer self, that the Lord made even those that are wild to people become tame to him.
– I live by the mercy of Jesus.”
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on July 1st, 2026 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
July 2026
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis of Assisi,
The meeting between Saint Francis of Assisi and Lucchesio and Buonadonna, often called Buona, occupies a treasured place in the Franciscan tradition. Whether every detail of the account has come down with complete historical precision or through the loving memory of the early fraternity, its spiritual truth has shaped the identity of the Secular Franciscans for more than eight centuries. In this encounter we see Francis discovering that the Gospel life entrusted to him was not intended only for friars living in community but was also meant for ordinary Christian men and women living in the world. It was a moment that expanded the horizons of the Franciscan movement and revealed that holiness is possible in every state of life.
Lucchesio was a successful merchant from Poggibonsi in Tuscany. Like many prosperous merchants of his time, he had been deeply involved in business, trade, and the pursuit of wealth. His wife, Buona, shared his life and responsibilities. Their marriage reflected many of the ambitions common to the growing merchant class of medieval Italy. Success, financial security, social standing, and careful management of possessions occupied much of their attention. Yet beneath outward prosperity there remained a spiritual hunger that material success could never satisfy.
The age in which they lived was one of remarkable change. Commerce was transforming society. Towns were growing rapidly, wealth was becoming concentrated in new social classes, and people increasingly measured success by possessions and influence. At the same time, many Christians longed for a more authentic Gospel life. They admired the apostles and desired a simpler faith rooted in prayer, charity, and trust in God. Francis himself had experienced this longing after his conversion. Having abandoned wealth and status, he had embraced Lady Poverty and discovered an unexpected freedom. His joyful witness became impossible to ignore.
When Lucchesio and Buona encountered Francis, they were not simply meeting another religious teacher. They were meeting someone whose entire life testified to the possibility of radical trust in Christ. Francis possessed no wealth, sought no earthly honor, and exercised no political power. Yet people sensed an extraordinary authority in him because his words and actions were perfectly united. His poverty was not misery but freedom. His humility was not weakness but strength. His joy was not superficial happiness but the fruit of intimate friendship with God.
One of the remarkable aspects of the encounter is that Francis did not ask Lucchesio and Buona to abandon their marriage or separate from one another. In medieval spirituality, there could sometimes be an assumption that those who desired greater holiness should leave ordinary life for the monastery or religious community. Francis recognized something different. God had called this husband and wife together. Their marriage itself could become a path to sanctity.
This insight reveals Francis’ profoundly evangelical understanding of vocation. Holiness is determined not primarily by one’s external state in life but by faithful response to God’s call. Every baptized Christian receives the invitation to follow Christ. Some are called to priesthood, others to religious life, still others to marriage or the single state. None of these vocations is spiritually inferior. Each becomes holy through generous love.
Francis therefore did not attempt to make Lucchesio into a friar or Buona into a Poor Clare. Instead, he helped them become more fully what God had already called them to be. This approach demonstrated extraordinary wisdom. He understood that grace perfects rather than destroys the responsibilities God has already entrusted to us. Grace builds on nature (Thos.Aquinas). The glory of God is the human person fully realized (St. Iraeneus).
The conversion of Lucchesio and Buona illustrates that authentic conversion always begins in the heart before it transforms external circumstances. They did not merely adopt new religious practices. Their entire way of seeing the world changed. Wealth became a means of serving the poor rather than increasing personal comfort. Their home became a place of hospitality instead of self-protection. Their marriage became a partnership in discipleship rather than simply a shared household.
Francis understood that possessions themselves are not the ultimate problem. The greater danger lies in allowing possessions to possess the human heart. Lucchesio gradually learned to hold material goods with open hands. Detachment allowed generosity to flourish. Charity replaced selfish accumulation. Simplicity replaced restless ambition.
Their transformation reminds Christians that conversion is rarely an isolated event. Rather, it unfolds gradually through countless daily decisions. Every act of forgiveness, every generous gift, every patient sacrifice, and every moment of prayer shapes the heart into the likeness of Christ. Francis encouraged precisely this daily conversion rather than dramatic displays of holiness.
Equally important was the effect of this encounter upon Buona herself. Too often medieval history focuses primarily upon male figures while overlooking the indispensable witness of holy women. Yet Buona was not merely the wife of Lucchesio. She freely embraced the Gospel life alongside her husband. Their vocation became mutual. They encouraged one another toward holiness.
This mutual sanctification reflects the deepest meaning of Christian marriage. Husband and wife are not simply companions through earthly life. They become fellow pilgrims helping one another reach eternal life. Every sacrifice offered for the other’s good becomes an act of worship. Every forgiveness granted becomes participation in Christ’s mercy. Every shared prayer strengthens the domestic church.
The witness of Lucchesio and Buona also teaches that holiness grows through ordinary faithfulness. They were not missionaries crossing distant lands or theologians writing profound books. They remained within society, interacting daily with neighbors, merchants, travelers, laborers, and the poor. Their sanctity emerged through ordinary relationships transformed by extraordinary charity.
Francis recognized that the world desperately needed holy lay people. Friars could preach in churches and marketplaces, but countless homes, workshops, businesses, and families required witnesses who lived permanently within those environments. Lay Franciscans would become the Gospel’s presence where friars could not remain.
This insight proved revolutionary. The Franciscan movement would eventually embrace three complementary expressions. Friars would proclaim the Gospel through itinerant preaching and fraternity. Poor Clares would sustain the Church through contemplative prayer. Secular Franciscans would sanctify ordinary society by living the Gospel within family life, professional work, civic responsibility, and daily relationships. Together these vocations revealed the fullness of Franciscan spirituality.
The encounter therefore transformed not only one married couple but also the future of the Franciscan family. Without holy lay followers, Franciscan spirituality might have remained confined within monasteries and friaries. Instead, it entered villages, cities, marketplaces, farms, homes, and every corner of society.
Another important dimension of this meeting is the relationship between contemplation and action. Francis never separated prayer from charity. Lucchesio and Buona learned that love of God naturally overflows into love of neighbor. Their prayer deepened their generosity. Their generosity enriched their prayer. Each strengthened the other.
This balance remains essential today. Prayer without service can become self-centered. Service without prayer can become exhausting activism. Francis invited his followers to unite both dimensions so that every act of charity springs from communion with Christ.
The simplicity embraced by Lucchesio and Buona did not mean neglecting responsibilities. Rather, simplicity reordered priorities. God came first. Family became sacred. Work became honest service. Wealth became stewardship. Time became a gift rather than a possession. Every aspect of life acquired new meaning because Christ occupied its center.
The fruits of this transformation extended beyond their own household. Neighbors observed changed behavior. The poor experienced unexpected generosity. Conflicts diminished. Hospitality increased. Their witness became a quiet but powerful form of evangelization.
Francis understood that the credibility of the Gospel depends less upon eloquent speeches than upon transformed lives. People may question theological arguments, but genuine charity possesses undeniable persuasive power. A peaceful family, an honest merchant, a forgiving spouse, and generous hospitality preach the Gospel every day.
The encounter also demonstrates Francis’ remarkable gift of spiritual discernment. He did not impose identical practices upon everyone. Instead, he recognized each person’s unique vocation. Some were called to radical itinerant poverty. Others served Christ within established responsibilities. Unity did not require uniformity.
This flexibility has remained one of the enduring strengths of Franciscan spirituality. Its essential principles remain constant while their expression adapts to different circumstances. Every age presents new challenges, yet the Gospel remains unchanged. Francis taught people to discover how eternal truths illuminate contemporary life.
For the Secular Franciscan tradition, Lucchesio and Buona became enduring symbols of lay holiness. They remind every professed Secular Franciscan that profession is not a lesser imitation of religious life but a genuine vocation within the Church. The secular vocation possesses its own dignity, responsibilities, and mission.
The effects of their encounter continue into the present. Across centuries, countless married couples, single adults, widows, widowers, professionals, laborers, teachers, physicians, artisans, farmers, and countless others have discovered through the Secular Franciscan vocation that ordinary life can become extraordinary through faithful discipleship. They have demonstrated that workplaces can become places of ministry, homes can become schools of charity, and daily responsibilities can become offerings pleasing to God.
Modern society resembles the commercial world in which Lucchesio first lived. Success is frequently measured by productivity, income, influence, and possessions. Many people experience exhaustion from endless competition and consumerism. Francis still speaks through the witness of Lucchesio and Buona, reminding Christians that true fulfillment comes not through acquiring more but through loving more.
Their example challenges contemporary Christians to examine their own attachments. What occupies our thoughts? What determines our decisions? What gives us security? Francis gently directs every disciple back to Christ as the only lasting treasure.
Their story also reveals that authentic reform begins with individuals. Francis did not begin by attempting to change political structures or social institutions. He invited people to personal conversion. Converted individuals then transformed families. Renewed families strengthened communities. Renewed communities enriched the Church. The greatest revolutions in history often begin with quiet fidelity rather than dramatic public action.
Perhaps the deepest meaning of this encounter lies in the discovery that God’s call is always personal. Francis did not see merely a wealthy merchant and his wife. He saw beloved children of God capable of heroic holiness. He recognized possibilities hidden even from themselves. Through encouragement, example, and spiritual guidance, he helped awaken gifts already planted within their hearts by divine grace.
This remains the mission of every Christian mentor and spiritual guide. Rather than creating dependence, true spiritual leadership helps others discover God’s unique call. Francis pointed beyond himself toward Christ. His joy attracted others not because he sought followers for himself but because he desired every soul to know the love of God.
The meeting between Francis, Lucchesio, and Buona therefore stands as an enduring testimony to the universal call to holiness. It proclaims that sanctity belongs not only to monasteries and convents but also to kitchens, workshops, marketplaces, schools, offices, hospitals, and homes. Every place where Christ is loved becomes holy ground.
The effects of that encounter continue to echo through every generation of the Franciscan family. Whenever a married couple prays together, whenever a business owner acts honestly despite financial sacrifice, whenever a family welcomes the poor, whenever someone chooses simplicity over greed, forgiveness over resentment, or generosity over selfishness, the spirit of that first meeting lives again.
Francis did more than change the lives of Lucchesio and Buona. He revealed a vision of the Church in which every baptized person has a mission, every vocation has dignity, and every circumstance of life can become a path toward perfect charity. Their encounter became a seed planted in fertile soil. That seed grew into a worldwide Franciscan family whose branches extend across every continent and every walk of life. It continues to bear fruit wherever men and women discover that following Christ wholeheartedly does not always require leaving the world behind, but rather transforming the world from within through humility, joy, peace, mercy, simplicity, and faithful love.
The Church needs the witness of faith-filled committed witnesses today as much as ever. The Church needs lay men and women who are deeply rooted in prayer while fully engaged in the world. It needs people who bring the spirit of the Gospel into all walks of daily life in society. The Secular Franciscan vocation prepares ordinary Catholics to become extraordinary witnesses through the ordinary events of life.
In every age the Church needs people who remind the world that holiness is possible, that peace can overcome hatred, that mercy is stronger than revenge, and that love is greater than fear. The Secular Franciscan vocation continues to respond to this need. The brothers and sisters of our Secular Franciscan Family, through its unique place in the Church, its recognized canonical status, its lifelong profession, its strong spiritual foundation, and its faithful witness in everyday life, remains one of the Church’s great treasures.
St. Francis called himself and “idiota”. It was his “foolishness” that opened eyes and hearts to a treasure that only a fool for the sake of Christ (1 Corinthians 4: 10) could discover and be “foolish enough” to give it all to others, without ever losing more to give! Those who faithfully live this vocation become living signs of the Gospel, carrying the spirit of St. Francis into the heart of the world and helping all people see more clearly the face of Christ
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
PS – It was time that we gave Lucchesio and BuonDonna a kind and grateful remembrance. Their desire and St. Francis’ prayer were realized in each other when our Seraphic Father vested them as the first “Tertiaries” of the Franciscan Family. Do you ever pray to them?
Posted By Teresa Redder, on June 14th, 2026 On Sunday, June 14, 2026, Immaculate Conception Fraternity held a Chapter of Elections at Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in W. Norriton, PA. The presider was Regional Formation Director Jennifer Drees, OFS (Delegate) and the ecclesial witness was Br. John Neuffer, OFM (Regional Spiritual Assistant).
We give thanks to God for these newly elected servant leaders of their local fraternity. May God continue to bless them with the fidelity to serve with great humility!
| Council Position |
Council Member |
Status |
| Minister |
Stephanie Russo, OFS |
Newly elected |
| Vice Minister |
Jeremy Cherelli, OFS |
Newly elected |
| Secretary |
Amanda Jamnicky, OFS |
Newly elected |
| Treasurer |
Maria Innocenti, OFS |
Newly elected |
| Formation Director |
Mary Ellen Shannon, OFS |
Newly elected |
| Councilor-at-large |
Iliana Mendez, OFS |
Reelected |
| Councilor-at-large |
Rose Bondi, OFS |
Newly elected |
Left to right: James Wileczek, OFS (SKD Councilor-at-large), Iliana Mendez, OFS (Councilor-at-large), Rose Bondi, OFS (Councilor-at-large), Jeremy Cherelli, OFS (Vice Minister), Stephanie Russo, OFS (Minister), Maria Innocenti, OFS (Treasurer), Br. John Neuffer, OFM (SKD Spiritual Assistant/Ecclesial Witness), Amanda Jamnicky, OFS (Secretary), Mary Ellen Shannon, OFS (Formation Director), and Jen Drees, OFS (SKD Regional Formation Director & Presider-Delegate)
Posted By Teresa Redder, on June 11th, 2026 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
June 2026
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord bless you with His peace!
St. Francis of Assisi stands in Christian history as one of the most luminous witnesses to the mystery of God’s self‑sacrificing love, a love that finds its most concentrated and symbolic expression in the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Although Francis lived centuries before the formal development of the Sacred Heart devotion, his life, spirituality, and writings reveal a profound intuitive grasp of the same truth: that the Heart of Christ is the burning center of divine charity, poured out for humanity in total self‑giving. To contemplate Francis is to contemplate a man who allowed himself to be shaped entirely by the love that flows from the pierced Heart of the Savior, and to contemplate the Sacred Heart is to contemplate the divine source that animated Francis’s radical poverty, humility, and compassion. The two themes, therefore, are not separate but mutually illuminating, each revealing the depth of the other.
Francis’s journey begins with his encounter with the crucified Christ, an encounter that transformed him from a pleasure‑seeking youth into a man consumed by the desire to imitate Jesus in every aspect of life. The moment before the San Damiano crucifix, when Francis heard the words Rebuild my Church, marks not only the beginning of his mission but also the beginning of his lifelong immersion into the mystery of Christ’s suffering love. The crucifix he prayed before depicted Christ not in agony but in serene majesty, yet still wounded, still offering himself. This image profoundly shaped Francis’s understanding of divine love: a love that suffers, a love that gives itself without reserve, a love that remains open even when pierced. In this sense, Francis’s spirituality already contains the essential elements of the Sacred Heart devotion, which centers on the wounded yet radiant Heart of Jesus as the symbol of God’s boundless mercy.
The Sacred Heart is, at its core, a revelation of God’s interior life. It is not merely a symbol of emotion but a symbol of the divine will to love, even unto death. When Jesus’ Heart is pierced on the cross and blood and water flow out, the Gospel of John presents this as the culminating moment of salvation, the moment when Christ’s love is fully revealed. Francis, who meditated constantly on the Passion, understood this intuitively. His writings show a man who saw in the crucified Christ the very definition of love. He urged his followers to look at the humility of God and to contemplate the One who gives Himself entirely in the Eucharist and on the cross. For Francis, the cross was not simply a historical event but a living reality, a present outpouring of divine love that demanded a response of total surrender.
This surrender took the form of radical poverty, which Francis embraced not as an ideology but as a way of participating in Christ’s self‑emptying. The Sacred Heart devotion emphasizes the emptying (kenosis) of Christ, the self‑emptying love that led Him to take on human flesh and to endure suffering for the sake of humanity. Francis’s poverty mirrors this divine kenosis. By stripping himself of possessions, status, and even personal security, Francis sought to imitate the humility of Christ, who though he was rich, became poor for our sake (2Corinthians8:9). Poverty for Francis was not deprivation but freedom—the freedom to love as Christ loves, without clinging to anything. It was a way of making space in his own heart for the love that flows from the Heart of Jesus.
Francis’s love for the poor, the sick, and the marginalized also reflects the compassion of the Sacred Heart. The Heart of Jesus is often depicted as aflame, surrounded by thorns, and pierced, signifying both the intensity of divine love and the pain that love endures. Francis lived this compassion in concrete ways. His embrace of the leper, which he once found repulsive, became a turning point in his conversion. In the leper, Francis encountered Christ Himself, and in that encounter he discovered that true love requires vulnerability, sacrifice, and the willingness to suffer with others. This is precisely the message of the Sacred Heart: that God’s love is not distant or abstract but deeply involved in human suffering. The Heart of Jesus is wounded because it loves; Francis’s heart became Christ-like because he allowed himself to be wounded by the suffering of others.
The culmination of Francis’s conformity to Christ came in the stigmata he received on Mount La Verna. This extraordinary event, in which Francis bore in his own body the wounds of Christ, is perhaps the most striking parallel to the Sacred Heart devotion. The stigmata is not merely a physical phenomenon but a mystical union with the suffering love of Jesus. Francis did not seek the stigmata; he sought only to love Christ completely. The wounds were the divine response to that desire, a sign that Francis had become so united to the Heart of Jesus that he shared in the very marks of His love. The Sacred Heart, too, is a wounded heart, and the wounds are not signs of defeat but signs of love’s triumph. In Francis, the wounds of Christ become visible again in the world, reminding all who see him that divine love is not an idea but a reality that takes flesh.
The Sacred Heart devotion, which developed more fully in the centuries after Francis, especially through the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, emphasizes reparation for sin and the call to love Christ in return for His love. Francis lived this long before it was articulated. His life was a continual act of reparation, not in a punitive sense but in a relational one. He sought to console the Heart of Jesus by loving Him with purity, by living the Gospel without compromise, and by drawing others into the same love. His preaching was not harsh or condemnatory but filled with joy, urging people to turn back to God because God is love. Francis understood that sin wounds the Heart of Jesus not because God is offended in a human sense but because sin separates us from the love that God longs to give. His mission, therefore, was to heal that separation by calling people to conversion, reconciliation, and peace.
The Sacred Heart also emphasizes the Eucharist as the living presence of Christ’s self‑sacrificing love. Francis’s devotion to the Eucharist was intense and reverent. He saw in the consecrated Host the same Christ who hung on the cross, the same Heart that continues to pour out love for humanity. He wrote with awe about the humility of God, who hides Himself under the appearance of bread and wine:
Let the entire man be seized with fear; let the whole world tremble;
let heaven exult when Christ, the Son of the Living God,
is on the altar in the hands of the priest.
O admirable height and stupendous condescension! O humble sublimity! O sublime humility!
that the Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God,
so humbles Himself that for our salvation He hides Himself under a morsel of bread.
For Francis, the Eucharist was not a ritual but a relationship, a moment of intimate union with the One who gives Himself entirely. This Eucharistic devotion aligns perfectly with the theology of the Sacred Heart, which sees the Eucharist as the sacrament of divine love, the place where the Heart of Jesus continues to beat for the world.
Francis’s Canticle of the Creatures, often seen as a hymn to nature, is also an expression of his understanding of divine love. He saw all creation as a reflection of the goodness of God, a goodness that flows from the divine Heart. The Sacred Heart devotion teaches that God’s love is the source of all life, sustaining and renewing the world. Francis’s joyful praise of Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and all creatures is rooted in his awareness that everything exists because it is loved by God. His ecological sensitivity, centuries ahead of its time, arises from his contemplation of the Creator’s love, a love that is generous, overflowing, and self‑giving.
The connection between Francis and the Sacred Heart becomes even clearer when considering his approach to peace and reconciliation. The Heart of Jesus is often invoked as the source of peace, a peace that comes from the healing of relationships, between God and humanity, and among people themselves. Francis embodied this peace in his interactions with others, including his famous meeting with the Sultan during the Crusades. He approached the Sultan not with hostility but with respect and openness, seeking dialogue rather than conflict. This attitude reflects the Heart of Jesus, who seeks to reconcile rather than divide, who loves even enemies, and who desires unity among all people. Francis’s peacemaking is therefore another expression of the divine love that flows from the Sacred Heart.
In contemplating Francis and the Sacred Heart together, one sees a profound harmony. Francis is, in a sense, the human echo of the divine Heart. His life makes visible what the Sacred Heart symbolizes: a love that gives everything, holds nothing back, and embraces all creation. The Sacred Heart reveals the inner life of God; Francis reveals what that love looks like when lived by a human being fully surrendered to grace. The two together offer a powerful vision of Christian discipleship, one that calls believers not merely to admire Christ’s love but to participate in it.
This participation requires transformation. The Sacred Heart devotion invites believers to allow their own hearts to be shaped by the Heart of Jesus, to become more compassionate, more humble, more willing to sacrifice for others. Francis shows that this transformation is possible. He was not born a saint; he became one through continual conversion, through daily choices to love, forgive, and serve. His example challenges modern Christians to examine their own lives and to ask whether they are allowing the love of Christ to penetrate their hearts. The Sacred Heart is not a distant ideal but a living reality that seeks to enter the human heart and make it new.
In a world marked by violence, division, and indifference, the message of the Sacred Heart and the example of St. Francis are urgently needed. They remind us that love is not weakness but strength, that humility is not humiliation but freedom, and that sacrifice is not loss but gain. The Heart of Jesus continues to beat with love for humanity, and Francis continues to inspire those who seek to follow Christ more closely. Together, they offer a path toward healing, reconciliation, and peace, a path that begins in the heart and radiates outward into the world.
May the gentle spirit of our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi and our Holy Mother St. Clare of Assisi guide our hearts in peace and trust. In the Sacred Heart of Jesus, may we all find strength, healing, and renewed hope. In that Heart opened for love of us, may we enter the loving embrace of the Father’s Love and be filled with the gifts of His Holy Spirit to be Pilgrims of Hope in our world.
You and your loved ones will be remembered in my prayers each day. Your intentions will also be with me during Mass. May God’s tender love and mercy surround us all.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, OFM Cap
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on June 11th, 2026 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
June 2026
Heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing,
I adore You, I love You, and with a lively sorrow for my sins.
I offer You this poor heart of mine.
Make me humble, patient, pure, and wholly obedient to Your will.
Grant, good Jesus, that I may live in You and for You.
Protect me in the midst of danger; comfort me in my afflictions;
give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs,
Your blessings on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death.
Within Your heart, I place my every care.
In every need let me come to You with humble trust saying,
Heart of Jesus, help me.
Amen.
Daily reading of the Franciscan Sources continues from the Compilation of Assisi #103-#106
Witty quotes for the day taken from words of saints and blesseds
103 – THE NOVICE WHO WANTED TO HAVE A PSALTER; A DESCRIPTION OF HIS HOLY BROTHERS
1 – Likewise, there was once a brother novice who could read the psalter, but not very well. And because he enjoyed reading, he sought permission from the general minister to have a psalter and the minister granted it to him. But he did not wish to have it unless he first had permission from blessed Francis, especially since he had heard that blessed Francis did not want his brothers to be desirous of learning and books, but wanted and preached to the brothers to be eager to have and imitate pure and holy simplicity, holy prayer, and Lady Poverty, on which the holy and first brothers had built.
– Lord if this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few. (St. Teresa of Avila)
2 – And he believed this to be the more secure path for the soul’s well-being. Not that he despised or disdained holy knowledge. On the contrary, he revered with great feeling those who were knowledgeable in religion, and all knowledgeable persons, as he himself says in his Testament: “We must honor all theologians and those who minister the divine words and respect them as those who minister to us spirit and life.”
– From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us. (St. Teresa of Avila)
3 – But, foreseeing the future, he knew through the Holy Spirit and even repeated it many times to the brothers, that many brothers, under the pretext of edifying others, would abandon their vocation, that is, pure and holy simplicity, prayer, and our Lady Poverty.
– Don’t drag your feet on the way to heaven; it’s embarrassing. (St. John Vianney)
4 – And it will happen that, because they will afterwards believe themselves to be more imbued with devotion and enflamed with the love of God because of an understanding of the Scriptures, they will occasionally remain inwardly cold and almost empty. And so, they will be unable to return to their first vocation, especially since they have wasted the time for living according to their calling; and I fear that even what they seem to possess will be taken away from them, because they have lost their vocation.
– Be at peace, and if you can’t, pretend. (St. Francis de Sales)
5 – “There are many,” he used to say, “who, day and night, place all their energy and care in knowledge, losing their holy vocation and devout prayer. And when they have preached to others or to the people, and see or learn that some have been edified or converted to penance, they become puffed up or congratulate themselves for someone else’s gain.
– God has no need of your cleverness, He wants your heart. (St. Therese of Lisieux)
6 – For those whom they think they have edified or converted to penance by their words, the Lord edified and converted by the prayers of holy brothers, although they are ignorant of it. This is the will of God so that they do not take notice of it and become proud.
– Holiness is not for wimps, so stop acting like one. (St. Carlo Acutis)
7 – “These brothers of mine are my knights of the round table, the brothers who hide in deserted and remote places, to devote themselves more diligently to prayer and meditation, weeping over their sins and those of others, whose holiness is known to God, and is sometimes ignored by the brothers and people.
– Patience is the companion of wisdom and the enemy of complaining. (St. Augustine)
8 – And when their souls will be presented to the Lord by the angels, the Lord will then reveal to them the fruit and reward of their labors, that is, the many souls saved by their prayers, saying to them: ‘My sons, behold these souls have been saved by your prayer, and since you were faithful in little things, I will set you over many.’ ”
– Even if you are on the right road, you will get run over if you just sit there. (St. Padre Pio)
9 – Because of this, blessed Francis used to say about this passage: The barren one has given birth to many children and the mother of many languishes: the barren one is the good religious who edifies himself and others by his holy prayers and virtues. He often said these words in a talk in the presence of the brothers, especially during a chapter of the brothers at Saint Mary of the Portiuncula in the presence of the ministers and the other brothers.
– Pray, hope, and don’t worry…especially the last part. (St. Padre Pio)
10 – He therefore instructed the brothers, the ministers as well as preachers, about work, telling them, because of the office of ministry or of their zeal for preaching, that they should not abandon holy and devout prayer, go for alms, and work with hands like the other brothers, for good example and for the benefit of their souls as well as others.
– Cheerfulness strengthens the heart and makes us persevere. (St. Philip Neri)
11 – He said: “The brothers who are subjects will be very edified when their ministers and preachers devote themselves freely to prayer, bow down, and humble themselves.” Therefore that faithful disciple of Christ, while he was in good health, practiced what he taught the brothers.
– Scruples are like mosquitos: swat them. (St. Alphonsus Liguori)
12 – When that brother novice described above was staying in a certain hermitage, blessed Francis one day happened to come there. That brother said to him: “Father, it would be a great consolation for me to have a psalter. But, although the general minister has given me permission to have it, I still want to have it with your knowledge.”
– Heaven is filled with converted sinners, not spiritual know-it-alls. (St. Philip Neri)
13 – Blessed Francis gave him this sort of response: “The Emperor Charles, Roland, and Oliver, and all the paladins and valiant knights who were mighty in battle, pursuing unbelievers with great toil and fatigue even to death, had a glorious and memorable victory for themselves, and, finally, died in battle fighting as holy martyrs for the faith in Christ. And there are many who want to receive honor and praise by only relating what they did.”
– Never try to win by force what can be won by love. (St. Francis de Sales)
14 – And because of this he wrote the meaning of these words in his Admonitions, saying: “The saints have done these deeds, and we want to receive honor and glory by recounting and preaching about them,” as if to say: “Knowledge puffs up, but charity builds.”
– Don’t be afraid to be ridiculous for God. (St. Philip Neri)
104 – THE SAME NOVICE ASKS AGAIN: “A BREVIARY, A BREVIARY!”
15 – Another time, when blessed Francis was sitting near a fire, warming himself, the same one spoke to him again about a psalter. And blessed Francis told him: “After you have a psalter, you will desire and want to have a breviary; after you have a breviary, you will sit in a fancy chair, like a great prelate telling your brother: ‘Bring me the breviary.’“ And speaking in this way with great intensity of spirit, he took some ashes in his hand, put them on his head rubbing them around his head as though he were washing it, saying: “I, a breviary! I, a breviary!”
– Let your face show you belong to heaven. (St. John Bosco)
16 – He spoke this way many times, passing his hand over his head. The brother was stunned and ashamed. Afterwards blessed Francis said to him: “Brother, I was likewise tempted to have books. But, in order to know God’s will about this, I took the book, where the Lord’s Gospels are written, and prayed to the Lord to deign to show it to me at the first opening of the book.
– Better to limp on the right road than run on the wrong one. (St. Augustine)
17 – After my prayer was ended, on the first opening of the holy Gospel this verse of the holy Gospel came to me: To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to the others all things are treated in parables.” And he said: “There are many who willingly climb to the heights of knowledge; that person be blessed who renounces it for the love of God.”
– Some people think they are holy because they are unbearable. (St. Philip Neri)
105 – THE SAME NOVICE ASKS HIM AGAIN ABOUT A PSALTER, AND HE IS UPSET
18 – Many months later, when blessed Francis was at the church of Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, at a cell behind the house on the road, that brother spoke to him again about the psalter. And blessed Francis said: “Go and do as your minister tells you.” When he heard this, that brother began to go back by the same road he had come.
– Don’t be a half-saint; they are twice as annoying. (St. Francis de Sales)
19 – Blessed Francis remained on the road, and began to think over what he said to that brother. Suddenly he yelled after him: “Wait for me, brother, wait!” He went up to him and said: “Come back with me and show me the place where I told you to do with the psalter what your minister tells you.”
– Your face should prove that you believe in heaven; right now it’s not helping. (St. John Bosco)
20 – When they returned to the spot where he had said this, blessed Francis bent over in front of the brother and, kneeling, said to him: “Mea culpa, brother, mea culpa. Whoever wishes to be a Lesser Brother must have nothing but the tunics, a cord, and short trousers the Rule allows him; and for those forced by necessity or illness, shoes.”
– God loves you. Try not to make it so difficult for Him. (St. Augustine)
21 – Whenever brothers came to him to ask advice about such things, he would give them the same answer. For this reason he used to say: “A person is only as learned as his actions show; and a religious is only as good a preacher as his actions show;” as if to say, “A good tree is known only by its fruit.”
– Worry is useless; also unattractive. (St. Padre Pio)
106 – HE REPLIES TO A BROTHER WHO ASKED HIM WHY HE DID NOT CORRECT ABUSES IN THE ORDER; AND THE PORTIUNCULA AS AN EXAMPLE
22 – One day while blessed Francis was staying in that palace, one of his companions there said to him: “Father, excuse me, because what I want to say to you, many have already thought. You know,” he said “how formerly through the grace of God, the whole religion flourished in the purity of perfection, that is, how all the brothers fervently and zealously observed holy poverty in all things, in small and poor dwellings, in small and poor furnishings, in small and poor books, and in poor clothing. And as in these things, as well as in other exterior things, they were of one will, concerned about observing everything that had to do with our profession and calling and good example. In this way they were of one mind in the love of God and neighbor.
– If you are going to be a saint, at least try not to be boring. (St. Philip Neri)
23 – “But now for a little while, this purity and perfection have begun to change into something different, though the brothers make lots of excuses saying that, because of large number, this cannot be observed by the brothers. In fact, many brothers believe that the people are more edified by these ways than by those mentioned, and, it seems to them, more fitting to live and behave according to these ways. Therefore, they consider worthless the way of simplicity and poverty, which were the beginning and foundation of our religion. Thinking this over, we believe that they displease you, but we really wonder why, if they displease you, you tolerate them and do not correct them.”
– Some people carry their crosses like they are auditioning for a tragedy. (St. Philip Neri)
24 – “May the Lord forgive you,” blessed Francis said to him, “for wanting to be against me and opposed to me and involve me in these things that do not pertain to my office.” And he said: “As long as I held office for the brothers, and they remained faithful to their calling and profession, and, although I was ill from the beginning of my conversion to Christ, with a little of my care, I satisfied them by my example and preaching. But afterwards I realized that the Lord multiplied the number of the brothers daily and that through tepidity and lack of spirit they began to turn away from the straight and sure way on which they used to walk and take, as you said, a broad way, without paying attention to their profession and calling and good example, or would not give up the journey that had already begun despite my preaching and my example.
– Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward is to see what you believe. (St. Augustine)
25 – I entrusted the religion to the Lord and to the ministers. When I renounced and gave up among the brothers, I excused myself before the brothers at the general chapter saying that, because of my illness I could not take care of them and care for them. And yet, if the brothers had walked and were still walking according to my will, for their consolation I would not want them to have any other minister except me until the day of my death. As long as a faithful and good subject knows and observes the will of his prelate, then the prelate has to have little concern about him.
– Let us run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into Her arms. (St. Francis de Sales)
26 – Rather, I would be so happy at the goodness of the brothers and be so consoled, both on their account and my own, that even if I were lying sick in bed, it would not be considered a burden to me to satisfy them.” He said: “My office, that is, a prelacy over the brothers, is spiritual, because I must overcome vices and correct them. Therefore, if I cannot overcome and correct them by preaching and example, I do not want to become an executioner who beats and scourges, like a power of this world.
– Love God. Serve God. Everything is in that. (St. Clare of Assisi)
27 – I trust in the Lord; invisible enemies, the Lord’s police, who punish in this world and in the next those who transgress the commandments of God, will take revenge on them, having corrected men of this world, and thus they will return to their profession and calling. “Nevertheless, until the day of my death, I will not cease teaching the brothers by example and action to walk by the path which the Lord showed me, and which I showed and explained to them.
– Stop trying to be impressive. Be holy instead. (St. Therese of Lisieux)
28 – Thus, they will have no excuse before the Lord, and I will not be bound to render any further account about them or about myself before the Lord.” Thus he had it written in his Testament that all houses of the brothers should be built of mud and wood, as a sign of holy poverty and humility, and the churches constructed for the brothers must be small. In fact, he wanted reform on this matter, that is, houses constructed of wood and mud, and in every other good example to begin in the place of Saint Mary of the Portiuncula. This was the first place where, after they settled there, the Lord began to multiply the brothers, and it should be an external reminder to the other brothers who are in religion and those who will come to it.
– Humanity always wanting heaven, rarely wanting the work. (St. Catherine of Siena)
29 – This is the reason he wrote in his Testament: “Let the brothers be careful not to receive in any way churches or dwellings or any other things built for them, unless they are according to the poverty we have promised in the Rule, as pilgrims and strangers let them always be guests there.” We who were with him when he wrote the Rule and almost all his other writings bear witness that he had many things written in the Rule and in his other writings, to which certain brothers, especially prelates, were opposed. So it happened that on points where the brothers were opposed to blessed Francis during his life, now, after his death, they would be very useful to the whole religion. Because he greatly feared scandal, he gave in, although unwillingly, to the wishes of the brothers. But he often repeated this saying: “Woe to those brothers who are opposed to what I know to be the will of God for the greatest good of the religion, even if I unwillingly give in to their wishes.”
– It is no use to walk anywhere to preach if our walking is not our preaching. (spirit-St. Francis of Assisi)
30 – He often said to his companions: “Here lies my pain and grief: those things which I received from God by His mercy with great effort of prayer and meditation for the present and future good of the religion, and which are, as He assures me, in accordance with His will, some of the brothers on the authority and support of their knowledge nullify and oppose me saying: ‘These things must be kept and observed; but not those!’ ” But, as was said, because he feared scandal so much that he permitted many things to happen and gave in to their will in many things that were not according to his will.
– The deeds you do may be the only sermons the people you meet today will hear. (spirit-St. Francis of Assisi)
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on May 12th, 2026 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
May 2026
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis of Assisi,
The Paraclete of Divine Presence, The Pardon of Divine Mercy, The Peace of Divine Love
Be the Easter Gifts that remain forever in your hearts,
with Mary’s Motherly Love to encourage you.
The Month of May always rekindles in the heart the loving devotion the Church has always expressed for Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Holy Mother. The saints of “both lungs” of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church of our Eastern Rite and Orthodox sisters and brothers as well as we of the Western Roman Rite Church have praised our Most Blessed Mother in so many ways. In the Northern part of the World, May speaks of new life, rebirth, beauty of God’s kaleidoscope of colors in nature. The Paschal Mystery of Easter-Pentecost that celebrates the Church born from the side of Christ and our Mother Mary, birthing us in her Faith as She accepted the “impossible” and brought centuries of anticipation to an end with the mystery of the Virgin-Birth of Jesus.
Is it any wonder that St. Francis of Assisi, our Seraphic Father, the Poverello of Assisi, should be “overwhelmed” just by the thought of the Incarnation of Jesus, the unique collaboration of Mary, and how She, one of us, becomes the “Virgin-Made-Church”. The title given by Francis is uniquely Hers, but we share with our Mother. For in Faith, through Baptism, especially when we receive the Eucharist bring the Lord into the secret recesses of our body and soul (the Tabernacle) and then, by grace and the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Manifest Him to the world as we live the One we have sought to become in the Eucharist – Conformity to Christ, one with Christ, is living Jesus.
Mary is the highest honor of our race and greatest example among human beings of all this. She gave birth to Jesus in the secret of her womb when She gave her unconditional “Yes” to God’s request through the Archangel Gabriel. Thus She became the first true Tabernacle of the hidden and Real Presence. Yet, almost immediately, Mary becomes the First Monstrance and shows and offers Jesus, born in the poverty of Bethlehem, to poor Shepherds, wealthy Magi, ancient Temple Rites, up to the ultimate moment when a Mother offers Her Son to the Eternal Will of the Father as Her Son hung upon the Cross. To the end, Mary said “Yes” without hesitation, regardless of the personal price placed on a Mother’s Heart.
Is it any wonder that St. Francis of Assisi should express such love and praise for Mary in his life and to the religious Family God inspired him to initiate. An interesting expression St. Francis used in a prayer recited daily as an introduction to his Office of the Passion greets Mary as Virgin-Made-Church.
St. Francis of Assisi had a way of speaking about holy things that felt less like a scholar lecturing and more like a friend pointing out something beautiful you might have missed. His title for Mary—“the Virgin made Church”—is one of those phrases that sounds simple at first, almost like a poetic flourish, until you sit with it long enough for its layers to unfold. Francis was not trying to invent a new Marian doctrine. He was trying to express something he had seen in prayer, something that had seized his heart: that Mary, in her very being, shows us what the Church is meant to be. And he said it in the way he said most things—directly, humbly, and with a kind of spiritual common sense that makes you wonder why you never thought of it that way yourself.
When Francis calls Mary “Virgin,” he is not merely referring to a biological fact. He is pointing to her radical openness to God, her uncluttered interior space, her freedom from anything that would block the divine initiative. Virginity, for Francis, is about availability. It is about being so empty of self‑assertion that God can do something new in you. And when he calls her “Church,” he is not thinking of an institution or a hierarchy or even a community in the sociological sense. He is thinking of the Church as the place where Christ becomes present in the world. Mary is the first to receive Christ, the first to bear him, the first to give him to others. In her, the mystery of the Church begins in miniature.
Often, in households of the past, those who cooked for the family had special containers for specific items – and God help anyone who used them for anything else. These items were never used unless for the purpose they were intended. These jars or whatever, were always empty, not because they were not to be used but because they were ready for the day required—mixing dough, holding fruit, catching vegetables from the garden. Mary is like that container. She is empty so she can be filled, and she is filled so she can be given. That is the kind of image Francis would have loved. Mary’s virginity is not a static purity but a dynamic readiness. Her motherhood is not a private privilege but a public gift. And the Church, if it is to be what it claims to be, must learn from her.
Francis saw this connection most clearly in the mystery of the Incarnation. For him, the whole Christian life begins with the astonishing fact that God chose to become small. He loved to meditate on the humility of Christ in the manger, the vulnerability of God wrapped in swaddling clothes. And he understood that this humility was not only Christ’s but Mary’s as well. She allowed God to become small in her. She made room for the infinite. She let the Word take flesh. In that sense, she is the prototype of every believer. What happened in her physically must happen in us spiritually. Christ must be conceived in us, grow in us, and be brought forth into the world through our actions. That is why Francis can say that we, too, are mothers of Christ when we carry him in our hearts and give birth to him through our works of love.
Years ago, a Franciscan sister described Mary’s virginity in a way that would have made Francis smile. She said that Mary’s virginity was like the silence before a beautiful piece of music begins. It wasn’t emptiness for its own sake. It was a space charged with expectancy, a readiness for something divine to break in. That is how Francis understood virginity, not as a negation but as a capacity, a freedom from anything that would crowd out God’s voice. Mary’s virginity was the soil in which the Word could take root. And the Church, if it is to be faithful, must cultivate that same interior spaciousness.
Mary is the first and fullest example of this mystery, and so she becomes the mirror in which the Church sees its own identity. When Francis calls her “Virgin made Church,” he is saying that the Church is most itself when it resembles Mary, when it listens before it speaks, receives before it acts, treasures the Word before it teaches it. The Church is not primarily a structure or a system but a womb, a place where Christ can take flesh again and again in the lives of believers. Mary shows us what that looks like in its purest form.
For Francis, the Incarnation was not a distant event. It was something he expected to see traces of everywhere—in the poor, in the Eucharist, in the fragile beauty of creation, and especially in the maternal tenderness of Mary. She was the one who first held the mystery, and she continues to hold it in the life of the Church. To call her “Virgin made Church” is to say that the Church is born from her yes, shaped by her faith, and sustained by her example.
This title also carries a challenge. If Mary is the model of the Church, then the Church must imitate her humility, her poverty of spirit, her willingness to let God lead. Francis was never shy about reminding Christians of this. He believed the Church becomes less itself when it becomes self‑protective, self‑important, or self‑sufficient. Mary shows another way. She does not cling to control. She does not seek status. She simply receives, trusts, and gives. And in doing so, she becomes the dwelling place of God.
Francis probably loved this title because it kept the Church grounded. It reminded believers that holiness is not complicated. It begins with listening, with making space, with saying yes to God in the ordinary circumstances of life. Mary did not perform miracles or preach sermons. She welcomed the Word. She carried him. She offered him to the world. That is the heart of the Church’s mission, and it is the heart of every Christian’s vocation.
Calling Mary “the Virgin made Church” is not just a theological statement. It is an invitation. It invites the Church to rediscover its identity not in power or prestige but in humility, receptivity, and maternal love. It invites each believer to become a place where Christ can dwell. It invites us to say yes to God in the concrete circumstances of our lives, just as Mary did in hers.
Francis knew that the Church is always in need of renewal. But he also knew that renewal does not begin with strategies or structures. It begins with holiness. It begins with hearts that resemble Mary’s, open, trusting, and ready to receive Christ anew. Mary is the Church in its purest form, and the Church becomes more itself the more it becomes like her.
In the end, “Virgin made Church” is Francis’s way of saying that Mary is not just the mother of Jesus; she is the mother of all who belong to him. She is the first home of Christ and the first image of what his home on earth, the Church, is meant to be. And like all good mothers, she teaches not by demanding but by embodying. She shows us what it looks like to let God’s life unfold in us. She shows us how to become, in our own small way, a place where Christ can be born again.
May Mary, Virgin-Made-Church and thus Mother of the Church, accompany us through life’s journey. We take refuge in Her Motherly embrace as we seek to conform ourselves to the image and likeness of Her Son. We are the Church called to be the Mystical Body of Christ and Heralds of Hope who “Live Jesus” that He may be alive in all who accept Him as Lord and Savior, and that they proclaim with Thomas: “My Lord and My God!”.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on May 12th, 2026 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
May 2026
Hail, Holy Lady, most Holy Queen, Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Who are the Virgin made Church and the one chosen by the Most Holy Father of Heaven,
Whom He consecrated with His Most Holy Beloved Son and with the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete;
On you descended and in whom there was and is all fullness of grace and every good.
Hail His Palace; Hail His Tabernacle; Hail His Home. Hail His Robe; Hail His Handmaid; Hail His Mother and
Hail all you holy virtues, which by the grace and illumination of the Holy Spirit are poured into the hearts of the faithful, so that from being unbelievers, you make them faithful to God.
(Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi honoring Mary, Virgin-Made-Church)
The Assisi Compilation continues below from #99-#102
Quote for the day from C.S. Lewis
99 – HE AWAITS DEATH AT THE BISHOP’S PALACE IN ASSISI; HIS COMPANIONS SING THE CANTICLE FOR HIM
1 – When blessed Francis lay gravely ill in the palace of the bishop of Assisi, in the days after he returned from Bagnara, the people of Assisi, fearing that the saint would die during the night without them knowing about it, and that the brothers would secretly take his body away and place it in another city, placed a vigilant guard each night around the palace’s walls.
– When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.
2 – Blessed Francis, although he was gravely ill, to comfort his soul and ward off discouragement in his severe and serious infirmities, often asked his companions during the day to sing the Praises of the Lord which he had composed a long time before in his illness. He likewise had the Praises sung during the night for the edification of their guards, who kept watch at night outside the palace because of him.
– Life with God is not immunity from difficulties, but peace in difficulties.
3 – When Brother Elias reflected that blessed Francis was so comforting himself and rejoicing in the Lord in such illness, one day he said to him: “Dearest brother, I am greatly consoled and edified by all the joy which you show for yourself and your companions in such affliction and infirmity. Although the people of this city venerate you as a saint in life and in death, nevertheless, because they firmly believe that you are near death due to your serious and incurable sickness, upon hearing praises of this sort being sung, they can think and say to themselves: ‘How can he show such joy when he is so near death?
– Don’t shine so that others can see you. Shine so that through you, others can see HIM.
4 – He should be thinking about death. “Do you remember,” blessed Francis said to him, “when you saw the vision at Foligno and told me that it told you that I would live for only two years? Before you saw that vision, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, who suggests every good in the heart, and places it on the lips of his faithful, I often considered day and night my end.
– Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less
5 – But from the time you saw that vision, each day I have been even more zealous reflecting on the day of my death.” He continued with great intensity of spirit: “Allow me to rejoice in the Lord, Brother, and to sing His praises in my infirmities, because, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, I am so closely united and joined with my Lord, that, through His mercy, I can well rejoice in the Most High Himself.”
– Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny.
100 – A DOCTOR NAMED JOHN TELLS HIM HE WILL DIE SOON: “WELCOME, MY SISTER DEATH!”
6 – Another time during those days, a doctor from the city of Arezzo, named Good John, who was known and familiar to blessed Francis, came to visit him in the bishop’s palace. Blessed Francis asked about his sickness saying: “How does my illness of dropsy seem to you, Brother John?”
– Once people stop believing in God, the problem is not that they will believe in nothing; rather, the problem is that they will believe anything.
7 – For blessed Francis did not want to address anyone called ”Good” by their name, out of reverence for the Lord, who said: No one is good but God alone. Likewise, he did not want to call anyone “father” or “master,” nor write them in letters, out of reverence for the Lord, who said: Call no one on earth your father nor be called masters, etc.
– There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.
8 – The doctor said to him: “Brother, by the grace of the Lord, it will be well with you.” For he did not want to tell him that he would die in a little while.
– There is someone that I love even though I don’t approve of what he does. There is someone I accept though some of his thoughts and actions revolt me. There is someone I forgive though he hurts the people I love the most. That person is……me.
9 – Again blessed Francis said to him: “Tell me the truth. How does it look to you? Do not be afraid, for, by the grace of God, I am not a coward who fears death. With the Lord’s help, by His mercy and grace, I am so united and joined with my Lord that I am equally as happy to die as I am to live.”
– If you never take risks, you’ll never accomplish great things. Everybody dies, but not everyone has lived.
10 – The doctor then told him frankly: “According to our assessment, your illness is incurable and you will die either at the end of September or on the fourth day before the Nones of October.”
– I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else
11 – Blessed Francis, while he was lying on his bed sick, with the greatest devotion and reverence for the Lord stretched out his arms and hands with great joy of mind and body and said to his body and soul: “Welcome, my Sister Death!”
– The greatest evils in the world will not be carried out by men with guns, but by men in suits sitting behind desks.
101 – HE TELLS BROTHER RICCERIO HIS LAST WISHES; THE MEANING OF “LESSER BROTHERS.”
12 – Brother Riccerio of the Marches of Ancona, noble by birth and more noble by holiness, was loved by blessed Francis with great affection. One day he came to visit blessed Francis in that palace. Among other points he discussed with blessed Francis about the state of the religion and observance of the Rule,…
– Some journeys take us far from home. Some adventures lead us to our destiny.
13 – … he asked him: “Tell me, Father, when you first began to have brothers, what was your intention? And what is it today, and what do you believe it will be until the day of your death? Because I want to be sure of your intention and of your first and last wish, so that we, cleric brothers who have many books, may keep them although we will say that they belong to the religion?”
– The fact that our heart yearns for something Earth can’t supply is proof that Heaven must be our home.
14 – Blessed Francis told him: “I tell you, brother, that it has been and is my first and last intention and will, if the brothers would only heed it, that no brother should have anything except a tunic as the Rule allows us, together with a cord and underwear.”
– One of the most cowardly things ordinary people do is to shut their eyes to facts.
15 – Another time, blessed Francis said: “The religion and life of the Lesser Brothers is a little flock, which the Son of God in this very last hour has asked of His heavenly Father, saying: ‘Father, I want you to make and give me a new and humble people in this very last hour, who would be unlike all others who preceded them by their humility and poverty, and be content to have me alone.’
– Every contact you make with everyone you meet will help them or hinder them on their journey to heaven.
16 – And the Father said to His beloved Son: ‘My Son, Your request has been fulfilled.’ ” This is why blessed Francis would say: “Therefore, the Lord has willed that they be called Lesser Brothers, because they are the people whom the Son of God speaks in the Gospel:
– I have often repented of speech but hardly ever of silence.
17 – Do not fear, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom; and again: What you did for one of these, the least of my brothers, you did it for me. For, although the Lord may be understood to be speaking of all the spiritually poor, he was nevertheless predicting the religion of the Lesser Brothers that was to come in His Church.”
– Don’t judge a man by where he is, because you don’t know how far he has come.
18 – Therefore, as it was revealed to blessed Francis that it was to be called the Religion of the Lesser Brothers, he had it so written in the first Rule, when he brought it before the Lord Pope Innocent III, and he approved and granted it, and later announced it to all in the Council.
– If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and correction and it’s not so bad.
19 – Likewise, the Lord also revealed to him the greeting that the brothers should use, as he had written in his Testament: “The Lord revealed a greeting to me that we should say ‘May the Lord give you peace.’ ”At the beginning of the religion, when blessed Francis would go with a brother who was one of the first twelve brothers, that brother would greet men and women along the way as well as those in their field, saying:
– There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.
20 – “May the Lord give you peace.” And because people had never before heard such a greeting from any religious, they were greatly amazed. Indeed, some would say almost indignantly: “What does this greeting of yours mean?” As a result that brother began to be quite embarrassed. Then he said to blessed Francis “Let me use another greeting.”
– God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons that we could learn in no other way.
21 – Blessed Francis told him: “Let them talk, for they do not grasp what is of God. But do not be embarrassed, for one day the nobles and princes of this world will show respect to you and the other brothers because of a greeting of this sort.” And blessed Francis said: “Isn’t it great that the Lord wanted to have a little people among all those who preceded them who would be content to have Him alone, the Most High and most glorious?”
– Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.
22 – If any brother wanted to ask why blessed Francis in his own time did not make the brothers observe such a strict poverty as he told Brother Riccerio, and did not order it to be observed, we who were with him would respond to this as we heard from his mouth.
– Those who do not think about their own sins make up for it by thinking incessantly about the sins of others.
23 – Because he told the brothers this and many other things, and also had written down in the Rule what he requested from the Lord with relentless prayer and meditation for the good of the religion, affirming that it was completely the Lord’s will.
Afterwards when he showed them, they seemed harsh and unbearable, for they did not know what was going to happen to the religion after his death.
– To love at all is to be vulnerable.
24 – And because he feared scandal for himself and for the brothers, he did not want to argue with them; but he complied with their wish, although not willingly, and excused himself before the Lord.
– Love is never wasted, for its value does not rest upon reciprocity.
25 – But, that the word of the Lord, which He put in his mouth for the good of the brothers, would not return to Him empty, he wanted to fulfill it in himself, so that he might then obtain a reward from the Lord. And at last he found peace in this and his spirit was comforted.
– God loves us: not because we are lovable but because He is love, not because He needs to receive but He delights to give.
102 – A MINISTER ASKS ABOUT BOOKS; THE MINISTERS REMOVE THE CHAPTER IN THE RULE ABOUT POVERTY
26 – At the time when he returned from overseas, a minister spoke with him about the chapter on poverty. He wanted to know his will and understanding, especially since at the time a chapter had been written in the Rule from prohibitions of the holy Gospel: Take nothing with you on the journey, etc.
– Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different.
27 – And blessed Francis answered: “I want to understand it in this way, that the brothers should have nothing except a tunic with a cord and underwear, as contained in the Rule, and those compelled by necessity, may have shoes.” And the minister said to him: “What shall I do, for I have so many books worth more than fifty pounds?”
– If nothing in this world satisfies me, perhaps it is because I was made for another world.
28 – He said this because he wanted to hold on to them with a clear conscience, most especially because he had a qualm of conscience about keeping so many books when he knew blessed Francis strictly interpreted the chapter on poverty.
“Brother,” blessed Francis said to him, “I cannot and must not go against my own conscience and the perfection of the holy Gospel which we have professed.” Hearing this, the minister became sad. Seeing how disturbed he was, blessed Francis said to him with intensity of spirit, intending this for all the brothers:
– You must make your choice: either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.
29 – “You, Lesser Brothers, want to be seen as and called observers of the holy Gospel, but in your deeds you want to have money bags.” Although the ministers knew that, according to the Rule of the brothers they were bound to observe the holy Gospel, they nevertheless had that chapter of the Rule where it says “Take nothing for your journey, etc.” removed, believing, despite it, that they were not obliged to observance of the perfection of the holy Gospel.
– If you live for the next world, you get this one in the deal; but if you live only for this world, you lose them both.
30 – Knowing this through the light of the Holy Spirit, blessed Francis said in the presence of some brothers: “The brother ministers think they can deceive God and me.” Then he said:”Indeed, that all the brothers may know that they are bound to observe the perfection of the holy Gospel, I want it written at the beginning and at the end of the Rule that the brothers are bound to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that the brothers may always be without an excuse before God, …
– There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.’
31 – I want to show with these deeds and always observe, with God’s help, what God has placed in my mouth for the welfare and usefulness of my soul and those of my brothers.” Therefore, he observed the holy Gospel to the letter from the day he began to have brothers until the day of his death.
– God doesn’t want something from us. He simply wants us.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on May 9th, 2026 Joyful Gospel Living
“Come to Him, a living stone…chosen and precious in the sight of God.”
Background:
Like many other fraternities, our local fraternity (Holy Assumption-Roebling, NJ) prayed that we might find a common apostolate. At the suggestion of one of our members, we decided that this should be a pro-life apostolate. After exploring several options in our local area, we made arrangements to meet Clare Kirk, OFS (belonged to St. Peter Fraternity in Riverside, NJ) , who worked at Good Counsel Home in Riverside with expectant and new mothers. She gave us a tour of the facility and what the needs were. Later, she visited our fraternity and spoke to our membership about this life-giving ministry. In a follow-up phone call, Clare mentioned to me that there was an even greater need to assist the mothers after their two years of association with the home, when their life skills were put to the test and they sometimes struggled to adjust. At that time, Clare maintained contact with seven alumnae (new mothers) who were trying to make a life for themselves and their new babies. Our fraternity made a commitment to help one of those mothers (Emma) and her 18-month old baby Essence. It has been a wonderful journey of accompaniment for all of us. This June, Essence will be 14 years old and graduating from 8th grade!
One of our fraternity members has been at the Masonic Village in Burlington, NJ, for many years now. Every year, we take fraternity to Carla to celebrate her birthday (June 29th). Emma and Essence celebrate birthdays in May and June respectively, so Carla gets to enjoy a triple celebration. How special will the visit be this year! Little sister Symone’s birthday is in September, but she gets to party, too. Carla looks forward to these visits and lavishes affection on Emma and the girls.
Reflection:
A few years ago, my husband Jeff and I made a trip to the White Mountains of Maine to visit one of my brothers and his wife. They live on Mt. Abram, but their home provides easy access to the Presidential range in New Hampshire and the Appalachian Trail (AT) as it crosses into Maine. One day, we decided to take a hike on the AT and found a trailhead to Table Rock, famous locally for the spectacular views when reaching the summit. As we hiked the rugged trail, we encountered the characteristic terrain details of Maine: stones, rocks, and boulders! When we were about 2/3 of the way up, we were both envious of bighorn sheep and their abilities to traverse such terrain!
What does a living stone look like? In St. Peter’s epistle, he encourages the local Church to “Come to Him, a living stone, rejected by human beings, chosen and precious in the sight of God.” This was an appeal to people of faith to turn to the Light of Christ and have a desire to be a living stone to build up the Church as a visible sign of Christ’s presence in our world.
On April 14th, the Franciscan Action Network (FAN) hosted a one-hour webinar to encourage people of faith to advocate for a just Farm Bill. This important legislation not only protects the needs of farmers who raise the food that will nourish our country and people in faraway lands, but it also funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Both of these programs are critical to the life and dignity of people affected by poverty.
From dialogue with the coordinators at FAN, I knew that their promotion of advocacy was to get constituents to write to the members of Congress to make it a priority to preserve funding for those who are in need. When the One Big Beautiful Bill was passed last fall, there was intention to cut $30B of SNAP funding over the next decade. The proposed budget for FY2027 includes a $4.9B reduction to SNAP. What must a living stone do to build the spiritual house whose cornerstone is Jesus Christ? These reductions have a direct impact on struggling families like Emma’s.
I visited the Catholic Charities USA website to see what the impact has been. In recent news, I found a link to a letter to the Senate Committee on Appropriations by Kerry Alys Robinson, the President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, in which she wrote on behalf of the 169 diocesan Catholic Charities agencies in the US to make an urgent appeal for the vulnerable in our society:
https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/letter-appropriations-labor-hhs-fy2027.pdf
In the introduction to her letter, Robinson wrote:
“As you consider the Fiscal Year 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS) appropriations bill, Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) urges you to invest in programs that protect and support poor and vulnerable children, seniors, families, people facing behavioral and mental health crises, workforce development and training.”
As living stones, we can choose to place ourselves where we intentionally build a strong structure. The Gospel teaches us how we are to live by loving one another and following the example of Jesus in seeing Him in one another. In this weekend’s Gospel from St. John, Jesus tells His followers: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.”
What is ours to do? In our parish life, we know that there is a ministry to those in need through the efforts of our St. Vincent de Paul Society. Many people come to our food pantry for temporary and sustaining assistance. In many cases, many of those families also receive SNAP benefits, but they do not cover the growing expenses of our world today. As draconian cuts are made to these critical benefits, how will families cope? What must living stones do for one another? How does our faith in God inspire us to do the work as Christ, our foundation, would?
For 13 years, our Secular Franciscan fraternity has accompanied a young single mother and her two daughters as a pro-life ministry. Through this accompaniment, we have learned a great deal about the difficulties that poor people face with the very basics of society: food nourishment; affordable housing; sources of basic material needs such as clothing, furniture, public transportation, legal protection; and serious safety concerns when living and working in dangerous areas. These experiences are part of an ongoing conversion for those who sincerely want to be living stones for Christ.
  
When Pope Francis released his encyclical Fratelli Tutti in 2020, I explored the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) using the search engine for “common good” and found 73 results. In Part Three (Life in Christ), there was a resonating teaching for living stones:
“Freedom is exercised in relationships between human beings. Every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being. All owe to each other this duty of respect, the right to the exercise of freedom, especially in moral and religious matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person. This right must be recognized and protected by civil authority within the limits of the common good and public order.” (CCC, 1738)
The Beatitudes are our blueprint for building the Kingdom of God here and now. Jesus teaches us that God’s reign is visible where people respond to the needs for righteousness and justice with mercy and compassion. There are so many needs in our world today. Sometimes, there can be a global impact by a singular event (e.g., the Chernobyl nuclear disaster). Every person of faith is called to be a living stone, and then it is good to:
“…let yourselves be built into a spiritual house.”
Teresa S. Redder, OFS
Saint Katharine Drexel Regional Minister
Posted By Terri Leone, on May 5th, 2026  Did You Know ….
The US Bishops recently discussed and planned a special celebration for our Country’s 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence? The goal of this Consecration is the unity and healing of the USA. The highlight of this celebration will be the Consecration our Country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 11, 2026. As part of that celebration, the Bishops are asking the whole USA Church (dioceses, parishes, families & individuals) to prepare with Eucharistic Adoration, special prayers to the Sacred Heart, and Works of Mercy. Background information, Consecration prayer, prayers to the Sacred Heart & resources for the 250 Hours of Adoration – 250 Works of Mercy may be accessed from the links below and are available in English and Spanish. (FYI – both “250” items are expected to be divided among members of groups not done by individuals alone and between now and July 5th – e.g. in a fraternity of 10 members, each member would commit to 25 hours &/or works prior to July 5th; in a regional fraternity of 10 fraternities, each fraternity would commit to 25 hours &/or works .) While the Bishops would like group support; they also heartily encourage individual participation.
Citations from Preparing our Hearts 2026 – Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (USA)
Consecration sets something aside for a holy purpose and entrusts it to the special care of God. As Pope Benedict XVI said in his 2009 Chrism Mass homily, consecration means total immersion in God: “To consecrate something or someone means, therefore, to give that thing or person to God as His property, to take it out of the context of what is ours and to insert it in His milieu, so that it no longer belongs to our affairs, but is totally of God.” …
In 1899, Pope Leo XIII, known as the father of modern Catholic social teaching …“When religion is once discarded it follows of necessity that the surest foundations of the public welfare must give way,” causing “disquiet of mind and . . . waves so rough that no one is suffered to be free from anxiety and peril” (Annum Sacrum 10). A national consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus signals to God that his goodness is not forgotten and that our country relies on God’s providence for continued flourishing. …
Exactly 100 years after Leo XIII wrote those words about the Sacred Heart, John Paul II preached a homily emphasizing the importance of praying with the Sacred Heart in order to know more intimately the love of God. He said, “Everything that God wanted to tell us about himself and about his love, he placed in the Heart of Jesus.” Jesus gave us the image of his Sacred Heart as a dramatic reminder of his love. …
Citations from Reflection on Consecration to the Sacred Heart | USCCB
by Archbishop Alexander K. Sample, Chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty
“Popes have lauded the practice of consecration of the self, home, and even whole nations to the Sacred Heart. In his encyclical instituting the Solemnity of Christ the King, Pope Pius XI, drawing on the teaching of Pope Leo XIII, commended the “pious custom” of consecrating the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a way to recognize the kingship of Christ. By celebrating this important national anniversary with this devotion, we have the opportunity to encourage all Catholics to honor our Lord and to “infuse the spirit of the Gospel into various communities and departments of life.”
With his encyclical, Dilexit Nos, Pope Francis brought devotion to the Sacred Heart to the forefront of our contemporary Catholic life and culture. He noted: “In contemplating the pierced heart of the Lord, who ‘took our infirmities and bore our diseases,’ we too are inspired to be more attentive to the sufferings and needs of others and confirmed in our efforts to share in his work of liberation as instruments for the spread of his love. As we meditate on Christ’s self-offering for the sake of all, we are naturally led to ask why we too should not be ready to give our lives for others.” In Dilexi Te, Pope Leo invited us to contemplate Christ’s love, which moves us out on our mission to attend to our sisters and brothers suffering in the world today, particularly in our care for poor and vulnerable people. As we reflect with gratitude on the blessings God has bestowed on our country, our devotion to the Sacred Heart demands that we consider how we might foster truth, justice, and charity in American life. We are called to bring our faith into the actions we take and the lives we lead in our communities.”
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As faithful followers of our Seraphic Father St. Francis and obedient to our Rule and Constitutions, we place ourselves under the care and guidance of our Holy Father and Bishops. Let us humbly and joyfully, not only respond to the Bishops’ request but promote it in our fraternities and our parishes.
We Hold These Truths | USCCB – basic information
Preparing our Hearts 2026 – Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network Check your
Reflection on Consecration to the Sacred Heart | USCCB Diocesan
Novena & Litany to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Website, too!
Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for Families-Brochure
FYI: The Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and
The Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
may be found in the Secular Franciscan Companion
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