Think back to your profession and recall the words that you said as the Minister held your hands and you made your profession promise. I, by the grace of God, renew my baptismal promises and consecrate myself to the service of his Kingdom. ...
Beneath all our hungers is our hunger for God. Jesus is God’s offer to satisfy that hunger. The faith and trust Jesus is inviting us to, is not an intellectual assent to dogma, or doctrine. The Discourse of the Bread of Life is not about propositions. It’s about Jesus.
(This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Summer 2024 Digital Issue #112)
by Fr. John De La Riva, OFM Cap.
President-in-turn, National Conference of Spiritual Assistants
I write to you as I am gazing on a nicely framed picture depicting the familiar […]
There are things that make life possible. There are things that make life worth living. Food and water and shelter make human existence possible. But what makes life sweet, and beautiful, and rich? Today’s Gospel holds the clues.
Recently I was at a Mass and ceremony on the 25th anniversary of Profession for a Sister of St. Francis. What an inspiration it was! This was a reminder for me and all of us present about what a gift our Profession is to us. It was a reminder that during our years as Franciscans, we make a sincere effort to make present the charism of our common Seraphic Father in the life and mission of the church.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that when God is present, when God acts, there is always enough. God brings light and life in our darkest moments.
... how grateful I am for the gift of fraternity: “What is truly special and emotional for me, though, is to see how people of different backgrounds, languages, and cultures are so much alike in our love for one another, for God, and for our Franciscan vocation. The Holy Spirit has given each one of us the exact gifts and talents we need to allow us to get along and to be productive. It's a bit of a miracle to see what even a tiny "temporary" fraternity can accomplish if we are open to the Spirit and to one another.”
“It was truly an extraordinary experience,” said Susan Ronan, secretary of the National Executive Council Secular Franciscan Order-USA, as the Eucharistic Congress entered its closing hours in Indianapolis. Tens of thousands of attendees will be commissioned Sunday morning to go out into the world with a renewed passion for Our Lord and to proclaim the Gospel.
Ours is a world drunk with power. Fear extinguishes the flame of virtue. The center of the universe is not God, but ourselves.
Introducing the new revised Ritual of the Secular Franciscan Order, and our new online Gospel to Life Bookstore. See article for Bookstore link and details about the new Ritual.