It all started when Susan Tabor, OFS, and Janice Benton, OFS, shared a dream with each other. That dream, based on their shared vision of fully accessible events and materials, such as Braille and large print, and inspired by our call to value the inherent dignity of every person, led to an idea of how we might help others in this area.
“Gaining inspiration from the example and the writings of Francis and, above all, filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, each day the brothers and sisters faithfully live the great gift which Christ has given: the revelation of the Father. They should bear witness to this faith before all:…. – in their associations with all men and women, brothers and sisters of the same Father;”
“The Spirit is a movin’ all o-o-ver, all o-o-ver this land.” Remember that lovely song from back in the day? Admitting this will give evidence to the age of most of us—but it’s still a great song, and very appropriate for our times.
Have you ever had the experience of finding old letters in the attic that our grandparents wrote? What treasures! To peek into the lives of those whose DNA we carry is a wonderful gift. Did you try to see yourself in that old picture of your great-grandmother or great-grandfather? How did you feel when you discovered them? Why did it mean so much when you found them?
The National Executive Council met the week before Christmas and, after prayerful consideration and some good conversation about the wonderful slate of nominees, we made our decision on the appointment of two new members to the Duns Scotus Formation Fund Board (DSFF).
Prayer must be our first line of defense in all things and not a last resort. Prayer must be our default – like breathing.
A fillable PDF form for Secular Franciscans seeking to transfer to another fraternity is now available on the website. Transfers are most often requested for one of two reasons: (1) the member will be moving to another location and can no longer participate in their fraternity or (2) the local fraternity to which they belong has been deactivated.
A rich array of texts and presentations from the 2021 Chapter meeting are conveniently accessible now on the website.
Each of our families is touched by broken relationships. At least somewhere in the family tree, there is likely to be divorce, separation, or some kind of estrangement. Our national fraternity is similar in this way: there is a group of energetic former Secular Franciscans who have broken their fraternal relationships with us to form a separate group of Franciscan tertiaries. As is all too common with broken family relationships, these former members seek to draw other members into their group.
There is the tendency to view Francis’ devotion to Mary as somewhat of an isolated entity, unrelated to his spiritual life as a whole. Yet, Francis’ love for Mary was so much a part of him that it is almost impossible to separate his Marian devotion from his daily life.