National Minister’s Message
Formation Visioning Workshop
The journey of transformative visioning has begun – a journey that will test our readiness to authentically live the Franciscan life. Our experience at the recent Formation Visioning Workshop awakened our souls. We must now allow God to work this great change in us.
“The Vision of God for the OFS” – an image inspired by the Holy Spirit, painted by Pat Serotkin OFS at the recent Formation Visioning Workshop
Through a dedicated page on our website we are making available to everyone the materials from this gathering. Those who were present need to enlighten others and share what was experienced. The vision given to Francis and Clare can unfold once again in our time.
Guide us, O Lord, by your Spirit’s transforming power, that we may come to be, as Francis was, formed into a more precise embodiment of the likeness of Christ. Amen.
Are you called to the Secular Franciscan Life?
Would you like to give more time to God, but wonder how to do that when your life is so busy? Do you long for holiness, and feel a need for support in growing spiritually? Perhaps your heart has been moved by stories of St. Francis of Assisi, or the Peace Prayer attributed to him, and you are seeking that same holy simplicity, true peace and perfect joy? If so, Christ may be calling you to explore the Secular Franciscan life. We would be happy to meet with you to share about the Franciscan journey. We invite you to contact us.
Click here to learn more about
the Secular Franciscan Order >>>
A selection from our Rule of Life:
Trusting the Father, Christ chose for Himself and His mother a poor and humble life, even though He valued created things attentively and lovingly. Let the Secular Franciscans seek a proper spirit of detachment from temporal goods by simplifying their own material needs. Let them be mindful that according to the gospel they are stewards of the goods received for the benefit of God’s children.
Thus, in the spirit of the Beatitudes, and as pilgrims and strangers on their way to the home of the Father, they should strive to purify their hearts from every tendency and yearning for possession and power.
Key Documents
- The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order
- The General Constitutions of the Secular Franciscan Order (2000)
- Statutes of the National Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order in the United States of America
- Ritual of the Secular Franciscan Order
- For Up to Now: Foundational Topics for Initial Formation (FUN Manual)
- 2017 General Chapter Conclusions