On Wednesday, October 12^th, 2022, at the National Chapter in Detroit, MI, members of the OFS-USA Database Committee provided a demo of the new database to the National Fraternity.

The National Database for the Secular Franciscan Order of the USA contains information about all our members and our fraternities at all levels, as well as other organizations and individuals involved with our Order, such as the Provinces to which our fraternities are bonded, and the Friars and Sisters serving as our Spiritual Assistants.

The NEC initiated the project to replace the existing database, which is implemented in older technology and very difficult to maintain and support.  The new database is being developed by a team of OFS members, and guided by a Steering Committee of current and former NEC members. Fourteen months ago, the Database Committee selected a database/web application builder called Caspio, and began designing and building a system to be implemented on WordPress.

Database Committee Chair Bill Mussatto reports that Release 1 of the new database will be ready for implementation in the Spring of 2023.  Release 1 will contain all the necessary day-to-day functions, as well as some new enhancements and functionality.  This release will not be in time for the annual reporting cycle for the Regions, so the existing process will be used in early 2023.

The Database Committee will be sharing more details regarding training, and the schedule for cutover to the new system, in early 2023.

A sample page can be viewed here:

OFS-USA Database Sample Page

https://www.secularfranciscansusa.org/2022/10/17/national-database-committee-unveils-new-ofs-usa-database/

(This article originally appeared in the Summer 2022 Issue of TAU-USA #106)

by Kathleen Molaro, OFS

Franciscan Youth and Young Adult Commission Chair

We spent our fifth and last evening gathered around the campfire at the beach with the 20 or so youth at our annual trip to Santa Cruz. Each night had ended with a special prayer service. As I handed out the prayer aid, one of the young people turned to me and blurted out, “Another prayer? Have you always been this holy?” The comment elicited a laugh from all of us.

“Actually, no,” I answered. “Let me tell you a story.” I admitted to the rapt group that in college I had left the Church for several years. I told the shocked teens that there were many reasons I’d stopped attending Mass, including disillusionment, a busy college life, and lack of a faith community.

I finished the story about how after I graduated, I returned home for a while. I befriended a priest who had started a Bible group for young adults. We enjoyed many lively discussions. One day I spoke of my loneliness and desire to return to my college friends in San Diego. Father suggested, “It’s not your friends you long for, it’s a relationship with God. Only God can fill that emptiness you feel.” With his encouragement, I went to reconciliation the next day and with several of my new friends attended Mass for the first time in three years.

The casual setting around the crackling fire and my honest sharing, surrounded by darkness and trees, invited the youth to open up. We talked about what holiness meant. Many of them felt going to Church was simply an obligation. Others told stories of faith reflecting their deep understanding of Eucharist. A few admitted to feeling an emptiness just as I had. We ended our prayer that night with joy, knowing our youth group was a safe community of love in which all of us could grow spiritually.

Telling stories (parables) was Jesus’ favorite way to teach and draw others into his fold. People gathered in throngs to hear what he had to say and to speak to him. Churches too should be places where people come to hear the story of God and to tell their own. That’s how we discover what it means to live gospel lives.

Pope Francis spoke of the need for sharing stories at the opening of the recent Synod. “Each encounter requires openness, courage, and a willingness to let ourselves be challenged by the presence and the stories of others,” he stated. “Whenever we listen with the heart, people feel that they are being heard, not judged; they feel free to recount their own experiences and spiritual journey”

(Pope Francis, Homily at opening Mass of Synod 2021-2023).

Each one of us has a unique story, just as each one of us is on a journey of faith, no matter what our age. God is active in our lives, and we, along with our younger Catholic brothers and sisters, can deepen our faith through these journey stories. People love stories, especially those that are meaningful and true. Our stories matter.

Recognizing and respecting the need for good listening is equally important. In Sons and Daughters of Light, our bishops explain, “We are called to hear their pain… and to be open to learn from their experiences, anxieties, uncertainties, and honest constructive questioning. Young adults need opportunities to share their stories and be affirmed in the importance of their lives within the Church.”

Pope Francis encourages us with this same sentiment. “We must remember that prayerful discernment must be born of a readiness to listen to the Lord and to others, and to reality itself, which always challenges us in new ways” (Pope Francis’ Encyclical, Gaudete et Exultate, 172).

Sounds a bit scary, right? But the benefits far outweigh the fear we may feel. The commission urges you to open your hearts and pray for the courage to introduce yourself to a young person. Spend time getting to know them. Be loving. Be authentic. Hear their story and be willing to share your own. Isn’t that the kind of Church we want to belong to?

Image:  The encounter with the living Jesus Christ” is “the path to conversion, communion, and solidarity” (Ecclesia in America, 1999, John Paul II).

https://www.secularfranciscansusa.org/2022/10/17/let-me-tell-you-a-story/

Fr. Chris Shorrock, OFM Conv., oversees the installation of the new National Executive Council. Members are right to left: Minister Jane DeRose-Bamman; vice-minister Diane Menditto; secretary, Susan Ronan; treasurer, Claudia Kauzlarich; and councilors Cherylle Fruge, Josh Molidor and Donna Hollis.

The new National Executive Council was elected Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Chapter meeting in Detroit.  Jane DeRose-Bamman, OFS, was elected minister, and Diane Menditto, OFS, was elected vice-minister.

Susan Ronan, OFS, was elected secretary while Claudia Kauzlarich, OFS, was re-elected treasurer.  Mary Frances Charsky, OFS, was elected international councilor

Cherryle Fruge, OFS, was elected as councilor while Josh Molidor, OFS, and Donna Hollis, OFS, were re-elected as councilors.

All terms are for three years and begin immediately.

https://www.secularfranciscansusa.org/2022/10/15/national-executive-council-elected-saturday-at-end-of-five-day-chapter/

Jan Parker, OFS

Franciscan discernment starts with listening, and National Minister Jan Parker, OFS, called upon fraternity members to do just that in her State of the Order address delivered at the National Chapter meeting on Oct. 11-15 in Detroit.

Jan said contention within local and regional fraternity groups has taken up time and energy from the National Executive Council that could have been spent on projects and priorities.

“We are not modeling fraternity, we’re not embracing each other in reconciliation, we’re not bringing the Gospel to life.  Rather than being salt and light, we are mimicking society,” she said.

Jan urged Franciscans to Listen, Discern and Go Forth as a way of addressing issues that are pervasive among fraternities.  She noted that the process begins with listening to each other because it becomes an encounter with God and others that directs our discernment.

“We strongly recommend this process of Franciscan discernment as a starting point for each of us as we seek God’s will for our own lives, and also as we discern where our National Fraternity is being called in the next three years,”  Jan said.

“We need conversion.  Like Francis, we must be tireless in pursuit of holy newness. Like Francis, we must constantly hope to begin again,” she said.

Listen to the State of the Order in its entirety on the 2022 Chapter page of the https://secularfranciscansusa.org/ website.

https://www.secularfranciscansusa.org/2022/10/15/listen-discern-and-go-forth-national-minister-urges-in-national-state-of-the-order-address-delivered-at-chapter/

Louise Sandberg, OFS

Louise Sandberg, OFS, was announced Wednesday as the 2022  recipient of the National Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Award presented at the Secular Franciscan Order’s National Chapter held Oct. 11-15 in Detroit.

Look for a story and a video of her inspiring acceptance talk soon on the website.

In other news, the time and place of the 2023 NAFRA Chapter were announced Wednesday.

Christine Blood, OFS, minister of the St. Clare Region, said that it would be Aug. 23-27 at the Pallottine Renewal Center in St. Louis, MO.

This year’s Chapter continues at the Sheraton Hotel in Detroit with meetings and renewal.  The election of a new National Executive Council on Saturday will conclude the week.

https://www.secularfranciscansusa.org/2022/10/13/the-latest-from-national-chapter/