This is an article that I have been thinking about for several months. I felt I needed to relate to our leaders the importance of their “Presence.” I would like to share observations I made and complaints I heard in my role as your Multicultural and Diversity Councilor and to provide suggestions on how to make the best of your presence as regional leaders of diverse fraternities. ...
What do you know about our brothers and sisters of the Jewish tradition? What of our Muslim brothers and sisters? Or any other faith tradition? My work on the Interfaith Alliance of the Southwest and the Interfaith/Ecumenical Committee has challenged me to SEE – to see deeply beyond borders, beyond faith traditions, and to learn to celebrate the differences that mark our uniqueness. I have found that when we examine the faith of others, we embark on a journey that reveals just how much we have in common. To embark on this path, however, takes courage. ...
The creation story begins with the goodness of light. Light was God’s first gift to each of us. The birth of Jesus was announced to us with the light of a star. We read of light in many stories in scripture, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. ... Light symbolizes the many wonderful characteristics of God. Light is also a symbol for awareness, knowledge, goodness, and understanding. We are each called by name (Isaiah 43:1) into the light and to shine the light from God into the world. We are called to be witnesses (Isaiah 43:10) to the world. ...
In those days when a person’s word meant something, there was also more conversation, less debate, and more dialogue. Debate is more about winning and making the other person wrong than about having a healthy dialogue and sharing ideas. Where have those days gone? Why do I need to make you wrong rather than just understand your point of view? When we make others wrong, we do violence to them. We also do ourselves a disservice, because we lose out on the opportunity to learn from them, and thus to grow. ...
Fourth of July is a civil celebration, but for us Franciscans—indeed for all Christians—any commemoration is infused with a sense of God’s presence. While many of the Founding Fathers of our nation did not believe in the kind of God we believe in as Catholic Christians, several were Christian, and others acknowledged some kind of godly presence worthy of giving direction to our lives and our common project of national government. But what kind of freedom do we celebrate? ...
What could be the best contribution we, as Secular Franciscans, can make to the life of the Catholic Church? ... Here’s what Pope St. John Paul II had to say in 2002: “The Church expects from you, Secular Franciscans, a courageous and consistent testimony of Christian and Franciscan life, leaning towards the construction of a more fraternal and gospel world for the realization of the Kingdom of God. ….
Website News and Did You Know… - How to use the slides on www.secularfranciscansusa.com ... - Franciscan Saints, Blesseds, & Holy Days ...
The appointments for National Commissions Chairs or Committees Chairs or individual positions typically are made until one year after a scheduled NEC election. The appointment terms are set in such a manner, so a new council won’t have to appoint new commission or committee chairs immediately after being elected. ...
I will never forget my 50th birthday. My daughter, aware of the significance of this 50-year mark, made a sign that she hung on my mailbox. It simply said, “It’s Jan’s Jubilee!” I still have that sign. It now hangs on a wall in my garage as an important reminder to always turn to God, where I find joy and peace beyond all I could ask or imagine. It was not my idea that the theme of the 2022 Quinquennial Congress would be “Jubilee,” but when Br. Bob Brady, OFM, suggested it, I was thrilled. ...
“The People of God: A Sacred Prism,” was an interfaith gathering of representatives of various Franciscan groups, which sparked joy, peace, and spirituality for all who attended. What a privilege it was for us, as members of the OFS-USA Ecumenical / Interfaith Committee, to attend this special event held Nov. 14-16, 2021, at the Graymoor Spiritual Life Center in Garrison, N.Y., a ministry of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement. [...]