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Franciscan Prayers, Symbols & Resources
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Follow our updates, news & announcements via…    In the name of Christ. Amen. We are pleased to announce that the members of the newly-elected Council of San Damiano Fraternityare:
Please be sure to keep them in your prayers.  Deacon Tommy Watts, OFS; Justin Carisio, OFS; Teresa Carisio, OFS; Pat Drake, OFS; Edyth Kurzwell, OFS; and Sr. Elise Betz, OSF Peace to each of your hearts! Through the kindness of our International Councillor, Mary Stronach, OFS, we have learned the results of the Chapter of Elections for our International Fraternity held in Assisi: Our new General Minister is Tibor Kauser, OFS, from Hungary. Our new Vice General Minister is Maria Consuelo De Nunez (Chelito), OFS, from Venezuela. The remaining Councillors are:
Please hold them in prayer as they begin their term of service to each of us. Blessings, The Order’s General Chapter is now taking place through Saturday, November 8th.
You can follow the news on the CIOFS website here. There is also a Twitter account set up where news is also being posted: @GeneralChapterOFS Please be sure to keep our international brothers and sisters in your prayers during this important gathering. It is November 1st and I have to set the clocks back tonight so as not to be late for Sunday Mass tomorrow. The cold is here now and, on one hand, I reckon that it is five months til spring. Not too bad. Five out of Twelve months of good weather. Not so bad because today I will make a pot of soup and get some good bread. Last night was Halloween. Nicole dressed the two dogs up as Tigger and Eyore from Winnie the Pooh. There are bags of Reese’s Peanut Butter hidden (from me) in the Fridge to nibble on. Tonight after we do some chores, we will turn on the fireplace, maybe watch a movie. Grandma America will call from Florida to make sure that we are all right. Soon it will be Thanksgiving, then Christmas and Easter. We will all be together. We are not fighting. We like each other and get along. We love each other. We are a family. But across the street, it is different. Joey will call his father in Florida tonight. Then he will call his Mom for the weekly phone call. Over the holidays, he will go to the casinos. He will get wasted on Christmas Eve since he has the next day off. » Click to continue reading “JPIC News — November 2014” » MOST HIGH, GLORIOUS GOOD GOD GIVE LIGHT TO THE DARKNESS OF MY HEART GIVE ME RIGHT FAITH CERTAIN HOPE PROFOUND HUMILITY AND PERFECT CHARITY. GIVE ME INSIGHT and WISDOM SO I MIGHT ALWAYS DISCERN YOUR HOLY AND TRUE WILL.
My dear sisters and brothers in Sts. Francis, May God give to each of you peace of mind, heart, soul and spirit! Of all of the prayers attributed to our Holy Father St. Francis, the one quoted above may be the most perfect of all because it provides us with a blueprint for a perfect life. This prayer is a prayer for TRANSFORMATION. Unfortunately, in its various translations, the request for profound humility has been omitted. As Secular Franciscans, we have been all about FORMATION through the texts we have used and the manuals we have written. Good as these resources are, if we are not about transformation, then all of the texts and all of the manuals are useless to us. Let us be about the business of renewing our hearts and healing broken relationships. Let us live our faith in certain hope and accept in profound humility that we are each embraced by a loving God and are called to embrace him back. Let us pray for that perfect charity which will help us, with the insight and wisdom received from our Glorious Good God, to discern his holy and true will and be faithful servants of God and one another. T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T Our Annual Regional Gathering will be held on November 15th at St. Anthony’s Parish Hall in Trenton, NJ. We are very much looking forward to gathering with the Ministers and Formation Directors of our Region … and anyone else who would like to join us. All are MOST WELCOME! Please don’t forget to consult the upcoming events section of our website, where dates of interest to your Fraternities are noted. Know that we hold you in prayer and beg you to do likewise for us. If you have any thoughts or ideas you would like to share for the good of our Region, please let me, or any other member of our Council know. We are here to serve you! Blessings, every good, and much love, Dear Sisters and Brothers, PEACE and good to you! I am on the mend and am grateful to each of you for your prayers and good wishes. Thanks so much. I’d like to focus this month on St. Elizabeth of Hungary who, in her short life, manifested great love for the poor and suffering and has become the patroness of Catholic charities and of our Secular Franciscan Order (OFS). She was the daughter of the King of Hungary. Elizabeth chose a life of penance and asceticism in place of luxury. She was married to Louis of Thuringia at the age of 14. She had a great love for her husband and bore three children. A Franciscan friar became her spiritual director and this led Elizabeth to a life of prayer, sacrifice and service to the poor and sick. She also wanted to become poor and wore simple clothing. Daily she would bring bread to the poorest in the land, who would come to her gate. » Click to continue reading “Thoughts From Your Regional Formation Director – November, 2014” » Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and all blessing, To you alone, Most High, do they belong, and no human is worthy to mention Your name. Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, … Sister Moon and the stars, …Brother Wind, … Sister Water, … Brother Fire, … our Sister Mother Earth, … Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love, … Praised be you, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no one living can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin. Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will, for the second death shall do them no harm. Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks and serve Him with great humility. Amen. (Canticle of the Creatures [abbreviated] by Saint Francis of Assisi) Following are excerpts taken from The Admonitions; Daily reflections are taken from Days of Reflection of Pope Saint John XXIII, OFS 1 Our Lord Jesus Christ told his disciples, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me … He who sees me sees also the Father (John 13: 6-9). … Because God is a spirit he can be seen only in spirit; it is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing (John 6: 64). – It is more profitable for our souls to place ourselves in the presence of God … and to entrust ourselves to his grace. 2 It is really the Spirit of God who dwells in his faithful who receive the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord. Anyone who does not have the Spirit and presumes to receive him eats and drinks judgement to himself (1 Corinthians 11:29). – We are all bound to examine the past, reflect upon the failures ever to be found, and seek a remedy… » Click to continue reading “Fr. Francis’ Reflections – November, 2014” » Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis, The Lord give you his peace! Today me, tomorrow you. (This is a loose translation of the Latin inscription: Hodie mihi, cras tibi). This famous saying can often be seen sculpted or painted at the entrances of many cemeteries in Europe. It is a rather stark and macabre reminder that earthly life, as long as it can be, will eventually experience its transforming moment. The point of convergence of all life’s experiences – good, bad, and indifferent – will come together awaiting our call to timelessness; death calls and eternity awaits. It is not the end of everything, as too many people feel and believe. It is the moment of the ultimate transformation of who we are into who we were created to be. We celebrate November, the month dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. They await transformation by God’s love and mercy. The Church asks us to pray for those who have gone before us into eternity and who still await the fullness of Life. The Church also reminds us that we ought to pray for ourselves who, still on journey, are subject to many challenges that can either threaten or strengthen our resolve to be faithful to the Gospel and live in the light of Eternal Life. The journey of life that is so wonderful because of the many challenges God offers us to grow in His love, is also very dangerous because of the many allurements and seductions that can entice us to deviate from the path marked out for us. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. (cfr. John 14:16) If we follow His Way, listen to His Word of Truth, we can expect ultimately to share in the fullness of His Life. He Himself says: I came that they may have Life and have it in abundance. (John 10: 10) » Click to continue reading “Fr. Francis’ Greetings – November, 2014” » PEACE to each of your hearts! In the name of Christ, Amen! It gives us great pleasure to announce the results of the Chapter of Elections held at Blessed Sacrament Fraternity on October 12, 2014:
Please hold this new Council in your prayers as they begin their term of service to their Fraternity. We are most grateful to the members of the former Council for their good work on behalf of their sisters and brothers and assure them of our prayers as well. Blessings and every good, Greetings of peace, dear brothers and sisters! I pray this finds you well and filled with the Lord’s peace! Well, it is that time again! Time to pray for the peace of any and all! And wow, does our world need prayers for peace. I attach the 12 Weeks of Franciscan Peace to begin on the Feast of the Blessed Transitus of our Seraphic Father Francis of Assisi. It is the same as last year with a few minor tweaks. I would appreciate any stories you would like to share with me as to how you use the 12 Weeks and what impact it has made for you, your fraternity or your parish. I have received some wonderful stories from fraternities and I am very pleased that the 12 Weeks has been incorporated into formation materials. I wish you all a blessed and peace-filled Solemnity of our Father Francis! Wishing you blessings of peace and all good, |
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