Category: Formation Friday

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Formation Friday (Graphic attached) Apr 3, 2020

Please share with your local fraternities.  Here are some great resources to keep us close to Francis during this special time in our lives.  Peace, Dona
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  • Article 44.3 of the General Constitutions calls for ONGOING FORMATION·        
    • Ongoing formation should take place in the fraternity
    • The members are also responsible for our own ongoing formation both in and out of the fraternity) 
  • There are four aspects to ongoing formation
    • Teaching about the Catholic Church
    •  Franciscan topics (our documents; writings of Francis and Clare; writings by Franciscan authors)
    •  Contemporary topics (How we live our lives as Secular Franciscans; writings of Catholic authors; documents like Laudato Sì; The Joy of the Gospel etc.)
    • Prayer (Franciscan prayer life; praying the Scriptures)
 
 
Since we cannot be together with our fraternities right now, here are some ideas to help us strengthen our Franciscan vocation.
·        Franciscan Intellectual Tradition video  lectures  https://franciscantradition.org/resources/video-clips
·        Custodians of the Tradition (Excellent articles) https://franciscantradition.org/resources/custodians-of-the-ation
·        The writings of and about Francis and Clare https://franciscantradition.org/early-sources
·        Metanoia videos by Fr. Dave Pivonka, TOR.
 https://wildgoose.tv/categories/category-ZQ5lAf5pr1c

 

Diane F. Menditto, OFS

Chair, National Formation Commission

 

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Formation Friday – OFS Rule in Time of Corona Mar 27, 2020

Formation Friday 

Dear Formation Directors & Friends, 
This Lent the world has presented us with a great challenge to us in our jobs as formation directors for your fraternity.  Peace and keep safe, Dona

 

Please share with your local fraternities  (Graphic Attached)
 
The OFS Rule in the Time of Corona
 
 
·        Article 4: …Gospel to life and from life to the gospel

•       Read a portion of the Gospel each day. Think about how it applies to your life at this time.

 

·        Article 5: Seek to encounter Jesus Christ in our brothers and sisters, in sacred scripture, in the Church and in the Eucharist.
•       Take advantage of Adoration offered online or on TV. Meditate on the gift of the Eucharist and how we long to receive it again.

•       Keep in touch with our fraternities, check on homebound members, keep the fraternity newsletter going, have a prayer conference call.

 

·        Article 6: Go forth as witnesses and instruments of the Church’s mission among people, proclaiming Christ by our life and words.

•       Use social media to share positive messages and to let people know that we are people of prayer whether the churches are open or not.

 

·        Article 7: Conform our thoughts and deeds to those of Christ by the radical interior change which the Gospel calls “conversion“…

•       Now we have the time to work on conversion. Think about how each day we spend in quarantine helps us to change for the better.

 

·        Article 8: Let prayer and contemplation be the soul of all we are and do.
•       We now have the gift of time to pray. We don’t need to hurry.

•       Now there is ample time for Morning and Evening Prayer; now there is time for sitting with the Lord and listening to what he has to say.

 

·        Article 9: Imitate the Virgin Mary’s complete self-giving

•       During this difficult time, we are called to give selflessly to others. Perhaps a donation to a food bank; perhaps home-schooling a child; perhaps caring for an anxious elderly parent; perhaps finding the patience to spend extra time with our families.

 

·        Article 10: Faithfully fulfill the duties proper to our various circumstances in life.

•       Working from home is not as easy as it would seem. Helping to home-school children requires talents we think we do not have. Those who must serve as nurses, doctors, First Responders, and food service personnel need courage and strength to leave the house each day.

 

·        Article 11: Seek the proper spirit of detachment and purify our hearts from every tendency and yearning for possession and power.

•       We are now forced to be detached from all sorts of comforts. Take this time to simplify. Detachment and self-emptying help us to make room for Jesus in our minds and hearts.

 

·        Article 12: Acquire the purity of heart needed to set ourselves free to love God and our brothers and sisters.

•       Let us be single-minded in our desire to love God. What does this take?

 

·        Article 13: Accept all people as your gift…

•       Accept with joy that you are spending time with your family. This is a good time to ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of patience.

 

·        Article 14: Exercise our responsibilities competently in the Christian spirit of service.

•       If you are a Minister or a Council member, what is your responsibility to the rest of the fraternity? Find ways to maintain fraternity. Find out how the members are doing. Does anyone need help? Are your members feeling isolated? Would a phone call or an email help? How about setting up a specific time when all members of the fraternity will pray the rosary or meditate on a certain passage of Scripture. We are ALL responsible for being mothers and brothers and sisters to one another.

 

·        Article 15: Be in the forefront of promoting justice by the testimony of our human lives and by courageous initiatives (Art. 15);
•       What is the just thing to do in these times?

•       We can be examples of courage whether it is only taking one or two items from the store shelf; making room in line for an older person or encouraging others to follow CDC guidelines.

 

·        Article 16: Esteem work both as a gift and as a sharing in the creation, redemption and service of the human community.

•       In many cases, we are not allowed to work at our jobs. How do we use our talents for the good of those around us? How can we serve when we are not getting paid?

 

·        Article 17: Cultivate the Franciscan spirit of peace, fidelity and respect for life in our families, striving to make it a sign of a world already renewed in Christ.

•       We need to ask for the grace to be gentle with one another and to remember what we do affects all those who come in contact with us.

 

·        Article 18: Respect all creatures, animate and inanimate “as bearing the imprint of the Most High“
 
·        Article 19: Be bearers of peace and messengers of perfect joy in every circumstance, as immersed in the resurrection of Christ, we serenely tend towards Sister Death and our ultimate encounter with our Heavenly Father

 

Diane F. Menditto, OFS

Chair, National Formation Commission

 

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FORMATION FRIDAY! – Respectful Communication Jan 17, 2020

Dear Formation Team,  This week we need to focus upon essential skills everyone needs to develop unity.  Please share with your fraternities. Peace, Dona
 
Formation Friday
Respectful Communication (Graphic is attached.)
(From a talk by Fr. Eric Law given at the 2007 Quinquennial)
 
The first part of good communication is good listening skills:
Take RESPONSIBILITY for what you say and feel without blaming others. 
Empathetic listening (or Empathic) is paying attention to another person with empathy [emotional identification, compassion, feeling, insight]. One basic principle is to “seek to understand, before being understood.”
Empathetic Listening is a technique that can help you manage and avoid disruptive and assaultive behaviors. The foundation of the technique can be summarized in 5 simple steps.
Provide the speaker with your undivided attention. This is one-time “multi-tasking” or “rapid refocus” will get you in trouble.
Be non-judgmental. Don’t minimize or trivialize the speaker’s issue.
Read the speaker. Observe the emotions behind the words. Is the speaker angry, afraid, frustrated or resentful? Respond to the emotion as well as the words.
Be Quiet. Don’t feel you must have an immediate reply. Often if you allow for some quiet after the speaker has vented, they themselves will break the silence and offer a solution.
Assure your understanding. Ask clarifying questions and restate what you perceive the speaker to be saying.
 
Following these procedural steps will place you in a better situation for addressing the key issue.
Be SENSITIVE to differences in communication styles 
PONDER what you hear and feel before you speak
EXAMINE your own assumptions and perceptions 
Keep CONFIDENTIALITY 
TRUST ambiguity because we are NOT here to debate who is right or wrong. Also, trust each other, develop trust in the group.
 

 

Diane F. Menditto, OFS

Chair, National Formation Commission
 

—

Peace and blessings, 
Dona Gibbons OFS
Regional Formation Director
Juan de Padilla Region
Kansas~NW Missouri~Oklahoma

 

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Formation Friday! – Jan 10, 2020

Dear Formation Team, Happy and Holy New Year.
Just some quick reminders to always keep up with our regional website. We have posted the new Transfer Forms and Procedures from National.
Some fraternities are starting the Extraction of Franciscan Saints this month along with making resolutions to practice a particular Franciscan Virtue and drawing a fraternity member to pray for this year. Other fraternities are also doing their annual blessing of water, oil, and salt. You can find information on this on the Queen of the Angels Fraternity site on our regional website.
Here are a couple of helpful websites for formation ideas. https://secularfranciscansusa.org/formation-spirituality/
Thanks to those who are calling or sending emails with questions about formation.  We all learn together.  Peace, Dona
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Formation Friday
When We Pray
 
Sometimes we “fall back on” comfortable prayers.
(Which prayers are most comfortable for you?)
 
When Franciscans pray:

 

+We use all prayer to lead us to IMITATE JESUS
+So that we will DEEPEN OUR RELATIONSHIP with the FATHER and
+Reach out to the Father—THROUGH AND WITH THE SON
+by means of the grace of the HOLY SPIRIT
 
(Let us pray…)*
 
*Almighty, eternal, just and merciful God,
give us miserable ones
the grace to do for You alone
what we know you want us to do
and always to desire what pleases You.
Inwardly cleansed,
interiorly enlightened
and inflamed by the fire of the Holy Spirit,
may we be able to follow
in the footprints of Your beloved Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
and, by Your grace alone,
may we make our way to You,
Most High,
Who live and rule in perfect Trinity and simple Unity,
and are glorified
God almighty,
forever and ever.
Amen.
 
~St. Francis of Assisi
Prayer from the end of the Letter to the Entire Order-
 

Diane F. Menditto, OFS

Chair, National Formation Commission
 
 

—

Peace and blessings, 
Dona Gibbons OFS
Regional Formation Director
Juan de Padilla Region
Kansas~NW Missouri~Oklahoma

 

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Formation Friday !! Jan 3, 2020

Formation Friday
 
Resolutions in the New Year
The words in the attached “word cloud” picture come from our Rule. Think about how they apply to your life. 
 
You might also want to read “Pray the Rule” by Liam McCarthy, OFM.
 
O Lord, our God, we intend to make present the charism of our Seraphic Father Francis in the life and mission of the Church, in various ways and forms but life-giving union with one another. By our profession, we pledge ourselves to live the Gospel in the manner of St Francis employing our Rule approved by the Church (Arts. 1-3). Help us, we pray, so that daily we may:
 
• observe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ by following the example of St Francis, going from gospel to life and from life to the gospel (Art. 4);
• seek to encounter the living and active person of Jesus Christ in our brothers and sisters, in sacred scripture, in the Church and the Eucharist (Art. 5);
• go forth as witnesses and instruments of the Church’s mission among people, proclaiming Christ by our life and words (Art. 6);
• conform our thoughts and deeds to those of Christ by the radical interior change which the Gospel calls “conversion”, making use of the sacrament of reconciliation on the way to renewal (Art. 7);
• let prayer and contemplation be the soul of all we are and do (Art. 8);
• imitate the Virgin Mary’s complete self-giving in her openness to your every word and call (Art. 9);
• faithfully fulfill the duties proper to our various circumstances in life (Art. 10);
• seek the proper spirit of detachment and purify our hearts from every tendency and yearning for possession and power (Art. 11);
• acquire the purity of heart needed to set ourselves free to love God and our brothers and sisters (Art. 12);
• accept all people as your gift, Lord, and an image of Christ (Art. 13);
• exercise our responsibilities competently in the Christian spirit of service (Art. 14);
• be at the forefront of promoting justice by the testimony of our human lives and by courageous initiatives (Art. 15);
• esteem work both as a gift and as a sharing in the creation, redemption, and service of the human community (Art. 16);
• cultivate the Franciscan spirit of peace, fidelity, and respect for life in our families, striving to make it a sign of a world already renewed in Christ (Art. 17);
• respect all creatures, animate and inanimate “as bearing the imprint of the Most High” (Art. 18);
• be bearers of peace and messengers of perfect joy in every circumstance, as immersed in the resurrection of Christ, we serenely tend towards Sister Death and our ultimate encounter with you, our Father (Art 19).
 
Questions–alone or with a partner.
 
• Which items from the Rule are hardest for you to live?
 
• Of those items, choose three that will help you make the biggest change in your Franciscan life this year.
 
 
 
 

Diane F. Menditto, OFS

Chair, National Formation Commission
 

—

Peace and blessings, 
Dona Gibbons OFS
Regional Formation Director
Juan de Padilla Region
Kansas~NW Missouri~Oklahoma

 

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