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Centenaries – Part 2 Celebrating the Rule 1223-2023

All members of the Franciscan Family profess a Rule that becomes a pattern of life and consists in observing the Gospel.... No member of the Franciscan Family professes his own Rule privately, because he is called to live the Gospel in fraternity. It is important to remember that Francis composed the Later Rule at a time in his life when he was dealing with a lot of tension and crises at the fraternal level, but he never renounced the prophetic vision of living as a brother to all and he invites us to do the same. ...

Carolyn Seal2023-01-04T19:25:57-05:00January 9th, 2023|Categories: Centenaries 2023-2026, From the Newsletter|1 Comment

Franciscan Centenaries

The ﬁve centenaries are part of a single thematic Centenary, which will develop gradually and harmoniously according to the chronology of the events celebrated. The key themes proposed for the celebration of the centenaries are considered from multiple perspectives, present in each celebration. These will speciﬁcally refer to the theological dimension (our being in Christ); the anthropological dimension (our being brothers and sisters); the ecclesiological dimension (our being in communion); and the sociological dimension (our being in the world). ...

Carolyn Seal2023-01-02T10:01:18-05:00January 2nd, 2023|Categories: Centenaries 2023-2026, From the Newsletter|2 Comments

Franciscans invited to Chapter of Mats in Rome Nov. 14-19, 2024

Have you ever dreamed of celebrating in joy and fraternity with Franciscans from around the world? The opportunity is coming Nov. 14-19, 2024, in Rome, Italy, with the Chapter of Mats for the Secular Franciscan Order and YouFra.

Sharon Winzeler2022-12-27T12:15:17-05:00December 27th, 2022|Categories: Chapter of Mats|7 Comments

Sharing The Vision

Beginning in 2023, and culminating in 2026, we will celebrate the anniversaries of five significant events in the life of St. Francis of Assisi, namely the 800th anniversaries of the Later Rule and the Christmas at Greccio (2023), the Stigmata (2024), the Canticle of the Creatures (2025), and the Easter of Francis (2026). ...

Carolyn Seal2022-12-26T12:16:21-05:00December 26th, 2022|Categories: From the Newsletter|2 Comments

Christmas Message from General Minister Tibor Kauser, OFS

The messages of joy, hope, service, and the onset of our celebration of Franciscan centenaries are expressed in CIOFS General Minister Tibor Kauser’s Christmas letter. “Do not think about Christmas as a cozy feast but let us make it a feast of being children of God,” Tibor said.

Sharon Winzeler2022-12-21T22:47:03-05:00December 21st, 2022|Categories: CIOFS|1 Comment

NATIONAL MINISTER’S MESSAGE

It’s October 15, 2022, about 1:45pm Eastern time, and I have been elected National Minister of the Secular Franciscan Order in the United States (OFS-USA) by a majority vote of the members of the OFS-USA Fraternity Council at our Chapter in Detroit, Michigan. ... I have been integrating my first vocation (marriage to Brian Bamman – 32 years) with my second vocation (OFS – 27 years) for most of our married life. My husband is a “Fourth Order” Franciscan. Service as the National Secretary was a privilege and honor, but also took up quite a bit of time, so I was ready for a break. Brian and I prayed about it and discerned that it was ok to take my name off the nominations list. What a relief! ...

Carolyn Seal2022-12-18T15:26:51-05:00December 19th, 2022|Categories: From the Newsletter, Minister’s Message|1 Comment

OFS-USA National Theme 2022-2025, Listen-Discern-Go Forth

The OFS USA National Theme for 2022 to 2025 is, "Listen, Discern, Go forth." We were inspired by a lecture given by Fr. Thomas Nairn who paraphrased Pope John XXIII. Hear his talk in English here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG6t90WrmIA&t=605s These three Formation Friday will look at each of these words from our perspective as Catholics and Secular Franciscans.

Carolyn Seal2022-11-26T21:26:36-05:00November 26th, 2022|Categories: Formation|1 Comment

Sharing A Formation Idea

Putting together a puzzle is a fun fraternity project―and if the puzzle is one that reflects your fraternity or your council, it can provide important insights. ...

Carolyn Seal2022-11-11T16:03:10-05:00November 14th, 2022|Categories: Formation, From the Newsletter|4 Comments

THE GIFT OF TAU-USA

Currently, our fraternity is awaiting visitation from our Region. At that visit, our Regional leadership will determine whether we have successfully regrouped after experiencing the most difficult challenge to our fraternity since its formation. While there have been several challenges over our century of fraternity life, what we experienced a few years ago was truly unique, difficult, and formative. It has been a time of much prayer, discernment, mutuality, and work. ...

Carolyn Seal2022-11-05T17:49:03-04:00November 7th, 2022|Categories: From the Newsletter|2 Comments

Franciscan Living – Why After You?

“Brother Masseo, wanting to test how humble he [Francis] was, went up to him and, as if joking, said, ‘Why after you, why after you, why after you?’ Masseo goes on to say in clarification: ‘I’m saying why does the whole world come after you, and everyone seems to desire to see you and hear you? You aren’t a handsome man in body, you aren’t someone of great learning, you’re not noble; so why does the whole world come after you?’” ...

Carolyn Seal2022-10-29T16:17:53-04:00October 31st, 2022|Categories: From the Newsletter|1 Comment