National Minister Announces New Members Appointed to DSFF Board

by Jan Parker, OFS, National Minister

​Happy Feast Day and Happy New Year, as we welcome 2022 filled with hope, peace and joy!

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).

I am happy to announce the appointment of:

Michelle Bryk (Divine Mercy Region) and Linzy Martin OFS  (Queen of Peace Region)

Michelle and Linzy will be wonderful additions to the DSFF Board.  Thank you for saying “yes.”

​Our thanks to all those who said “yes” to being nominated.   We had a slate of wonderful nominees. Every one of them was well qualified, and we will certainly consider them to fill future openings on the Board.

And to everyone reading this — here is a plea from your National Minister:

The DSFF is there to financially support formation in the OFS-USA, so let’s use the funds we have been blessed with!

 How can the Duns Scotus Formation Fund benefit your Region?  How about planning NOW for a formation gathering in your Region in 2023?  Perhaps a Formation Workshop or Spiritual Assistant gathering in your Region or your geographic area?

Feel free to contact Diane Menditto, National Formation Chair to discuss what’s possible.

Don’t delay. Here’s Diane’s email — diane.menditto@gmail.com

It’s easy to request a DSFF Grant — and we are happy to help you!   Feel free to contact me at ofsusaminister@gmail.com

The DSFF Board Members are:

  • Jan Parker (National Minister)
  • Pat Serotkin (DSFF Board Secretary)
  • Claudia Kauzlarich (National Treasurer)
  • Diane Menditto (National Formation Commission Chair)
  • Fr. Jerome Wolbert (CNSA President-in-Turn)
  • Anne Mulqueen (Member-at-large)
  • Bob Fitzsimmons (Member-at-large)
  • Michelle Bryk (Member-at-large)
  • Linzy Martin (Member-at-large)

We look forward to working together with you in 2022!

May our Blessed Mother watch over us, and may we continue to reflect her JOY, as we give birth to Christ in the world!

Christmas Joy ​and Blessings to all!

​Your sister and Minister,

Jan

Jan Parker OFS, National Minister

Secular Franciscan Order – USA

Be strong, take courage, all you who hope in the Lord! (Ps. 31:25)

2021-2022 OFS-USA Theme

https://secularfranciscansusa.org/2022/01/03/national-minister-announces-new-members-appointed-to-dsff-board/

Open post

FORMATION FRIDAY – December 31, 2021 – Praise the Lord for our Blessings

 
Dear Brothers & Sisters,
2021 was a challenging year for sure. But God has a plan for our continued conversion and good. Time to recall and be thankful for our blessings and trust in God’s mercy. Today’s lesson helps us to understand the beauty of our profession and how it enriches our spirits and nourishes our souls. God Bless you all and as the Irish might say, “May the best day of your past, be the worst day of your future.” Peace, Dona
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2022—Time to Examine our Love and Commitment
 
• CONVERSION: the letting go of one’s ego…”
• “One is dying to a false self that tries to BE God, that tries to always be in control.”
• This is a reversal, a “TURNING TOWARD” the Holy Spirit at work within us.
– Francis and Jesus by Murray Bodo, OFM
 
What can I do to make some beneficial changes in my attitude about fraternity and fraternal life?
1- Prayerfully participate in electing and supporting my local Council.
• Pray for them every day.
• Use my God-given talents to collaborate on and assist with all projects.
 
+What are some ways I can support my Council?
+Do I have talents and abilities that call me to serve on the Council?
 
2- Love my fraternity
• Be present at gatherings.
• Listen to my brothers and sisters.
• Offer to help out.
• Reach out to excused members or to anyone who has missed a meeting. (Phone, email, card).
• Pray for our deceased members and for all those listed on our prayer list or prayer line
• Take note that for Franciscans, fraternity is a way of life (not just another “thing to do”).
 
+What talents do I have to offer my fraternity?
+Do I participate willingly in fraternity activities?
 
3- Love our Rule
• Be sure that I am aware of what I promised at profession.
• Read, pray, and meditate on the Rule—perhaps one or two articles each day.
• Think about how the Rule leads me closer to Christ.
 
+When was the last time I read the Rule?
+Do I make the effort to relate the Rule to my everyday life?
 
4- Love Scripture
• Be aware that St. Francis based everything he said or wrote on Scripture.
• Resolve to read a little Scripture each day.
• Pray the Liturgy of the Hours because it helps me pray in fraternity (with the entire Church) and is filled with Scripture.
 
+Do I read Scripture each day? (How can I make time to do this?)
+Do I go from Gospel to life and life to the Gospel? (Do I understand what that means? How would I explain it to someone new or to a non-Secular Franciscan?
 
5- Strive for daily conversion
• Attempt to be a little better each day.
• Make use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
• Remember that we are the “Brothers and Sisters of Penance.”
 
+Do I review my actions and relationship with God each day?
+How have I changed since I first became a Franciscan? How have I changed since last week?
 
BEST FOR LAST
 
6- Love the Eucharist and be changed by it
• Attend Mass on Sundays and Holy days and every day if I can
• Take advantage of opportunities for Adoration—holy hours or just a visit to the tabernacle
 
+What is my relationship to Jesus in the Eucharist?
+Do I often visit with Jesus when there is an opportunity to attend Adoration?
 
As we enter 2022, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in everything you do!
The questions above are to answer in your journal and then to discuss in fraternity.
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
2022 — Es hora de examinar nuestro amor y compromiso
 
• CONVERSIÓN: soltar el ego de uno … “
• “Uno se está muriendo a un falso yo que trata de SER Dios, que trata de tener siempre el control.”
• Esta es una inversión, un “GIRAR HACIA” el Espíritu Santo obrando dentro de nosotros.
– Francisco y Jesús de Murray Bodo, OFM
 
¿Qué puedo hacer para realizar cambios beneficiosos en mi actitud sobre la fraternidad y la vida fraterna?
1- Participar con oración en la elección y apoyo de mi Concilio local.
• Orar por ellos todos los días.
• Usar mis talentos dados por Dios para colaborar y ayudar con todos los proyectos.
 
+ ¿De qué formas puedo apoyar a mi Concilio?
+ ¿Tengo talentos y habilidades que me llamen a servir en el Concilio?
 
2- Amar mi fraternidad
• Estar presente en las reuniones.
• Escuchar a mis hermanos y hermanas.
• Ofrecerme para ayudar.
• Comunicarse con los miembros excusados o con cualquier persona que se haya perdido una reunión. (Por teléfono, correo electrónico, tarjeta).
• Orar por nuestros miembros fallecidos y por todos los que figuran en nuestra lista de oración o línea de oración.
• Tener en cuenta que para los franciscanos, la fraternidad es una forma de vida (no simplemente otra “cosa que hacer.”)
 
+ ¿Qué talentos tengo para ofrecer a mi fraternidad?
+ ¿Participo de buena voluntad en las actividades de la fraternidad?
 
3- Amar nuestra regla
• Asegurarme de estar al tanto de lo que prometí en la profesión.
• Leer, orar y meditar en la Regla, tal vez uno o dos artículos cada día.
• Pensar en cómo la Regla me acerca a Cristo.
 
+ ¿Cuándo fue la última vez que leí la Regla?
+ ¿Me esfuerzo por relacionar la Regla con mi vida diaria?
 
4- Amar las Escrituras
• Tener en cuenta que San Francisco basó todo lo que dijo o escribió en las Escrituras.
• Tomar la determinación de leer un poco de las Escrituras todos los días.
• Rezar la Liturgia de las Horas porque me ayuda a rezar en fraternidad (con toda la Iglesia) y está llena de Escritura.
 
+ ¿Leo las Escrituras todos los días? (¿Cómo puedo apartar tiempo para hacer esto?)
+ ¿Paso del Evangelio a la vida y de la vida al Evangelio? (¿Entiendo lo que eso significa?) ¿Cómo se lo explicaría a alguien nuevo o a una persona que no es franciscano seglar?
 
5- Esforsarse por la conversión diaria
• Intentar mejorar un poco cada día.
• Hacer uso del Sacramento de la Reconciliación.
• Recordar que somos los “Hermanos y Hermanas de la Penitencia.”
 
+ ¿Reviso mis acciones y mi relación con Dios todos los días?
+ ¿Cómo he cambiado desde que me profesé como franciscano? ¿Cómo he cambiado desde la semana pasada?
 
LO MEJOR PARA EL FINAL
 
6- Amar la Eucaristía y ser cambiado por ella
• Asistir a misa los domingos y días santos y todos los días si puedo
• Aprovechar de las oportunidades de adoración: horas santas o simplemente una visita al tabernáculo.
 
+ ¿Cuál es mi relación con Jesús en la Eucaristía?
+ ¿Visito a menudo a Jesús cuando tengo la oportunidad de asistir a la Adoración?
 
Al entrar en 2022, ¡pídale al Espíritu Santo que lo guíe en todo lo que haga!
Las preguntas anteriores son para responder en su diario y luego para discutir en fraternidad.
 
 
Diane F. Menditto, OFS
Chair, National Formation Commission
Formation Director, Our Lady of the Angels Region
Formation Director, St. Francis Fraternity, Hackensack, NJ

 

 

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

 

 
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Examine-your-Commitment-2022.pdf

Becoming Prayer for Peace and Social Justice Part 2

This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Fall Issue #104

Carolyn D. Townes, OFS, National Animator

As Jesus was the true worshipper of the Father, so let prayer and contemplation be the soul of all they are and do. OFS Rule, Art. 8a

In Part 1, I spoke about how we as Secular Franciscans are to fall on our faces in deep and fervent prayer of lament and hope as we live our daily lives. Prayer must be our first line of defense in all things and not a last resort. Prayer must be our default – like breathing. Again, too many times I hear that prayer is not enough; we need to do more than ‘just pray,’ we must take action. Well, first and foremost, prayer is the greatest action we can take in any given situation. Before each and every major event in the life of Our Lord, he began in prayer. Jesus fell on his face before his heavenly Father for strength, for guidance, and for sustenance to persevere.

Sometimes, all we can do is pray for the situation, because there is nothing else we are able to do. Saint Monica, that praying mama of our beloved Saint Augustine, prayed for decades – for the conversion of her husband and her son. She constantly fell on her face that the Lord might turn their minds and hearts to him. This was all she could do, all she knew to do. God answered her prayers and we, Holy Mother Church, reap the benefit of those answered prayers with the words and wisdom of the great Doctor of the Church, Saint Augustine. What would have happened if someone told Saint Monica that her prayers were futile and she had to do more than just pray? Only God knows, but she knew what she had to do; she knew what was before her – her ongoing daily conversation with God.

When Queen Esther learned of Haman’s evil plan to annihilate her people, what did she do? She knew she had to appeal to the King for the lives of her people; though to go unsummoned before the King meant death. So, before she went to the King, she and her staff fell on their faces, where for three days and three nights they fasted and prayed. This gave her the strength and the courage to go before the King to plead for the lives of her people. She did not do this as a last resort but as the first line of defense. Queen Esther had a very difficult mission in front of her, a mission she knew she could not accomplish had she not begun in prayer and fasting.

“But we cannot rise above ourselves
unless a higher power lift us up.
No matter how much our interior progress is ordered,
nothing will come of it unless accompanied by divine aid.
Divine aid is available to those who seek it from their hearts,
humbly and devoutly;
and this means to sigh for it in this valley of tears, through fervent prayer.
Prayer, then, is the mother and source of the ascent.”

From The Soul’s Journey Into God by St. Bonaventure, Chapter One: On the Stages of the Ascent into God and on Contemplating Him Through His Vestiges in the Universe If we are to follow Christ in the footsteps Saint Francis (OFS Rule, Art. 1), then we are to become prayer as did our Seraphic Father; who like our Lord, withdrew frequently to pray. In The Life of Saint Francis, Saint Bonaventure writes: “From that time on [Francis] withdrew from the bustle of public business and devoutly begged God in his goodness to show him what he should do. The flame of heavenly desire was fanned in him by his frequent prayer….

“After that he began to seek out solitary places, well suited for sorrow; and there he prayed incessantly with unutterable groanings (Rom. 8:26). After long and urgent prayer, he merited to be heard by the Lord.”

As our Holy Rule states, let prayer and contemplation be the soul of all they are and do. We are to become, as we are to do. Just as our friendships and relationships are sustained by constant dialogue and conversation, so too must our relationship with the Triune God be as urgent and important. Never allow prayer and contemplation to become a back seat activity you do when you have a few extra minutes. Make it the priority, the source and summit of all you are and do.

https://secularfranciscansusa.org/2021/12/27/becoming-prayer-for-peace-and-social-justice-part-2/

Open post

FORMATION FRIDAY – Incarnation and Humility of God – December 24, 2021

 
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
“St. Francis’s devotion to and awe of the Incarnation and the humility of God is the root to which Franciscans return as we pray. Especially at this time of year, as we rejoice and give thanks for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, let’s give some thought to why our belief in the Incarnation is crucial as Catholics and as Franciscans.” …NFC (There are two videos and two attachments to this email)
Merry Christmas and may God’s Peace Reign in All Hearts, Dona
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Why did the Word become flesh, why the Incarnation?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us: The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God; the Word became flesh so we might know God’s love: the Word became flesh to be our model of holiness; the Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature” (See Catechism of the Catholic Church 457-460)

Many of these same points were made by the great Franciscan theologian, Bl. John Duns Scotus, who lived in the 12-13th centuries. His ideas have become prominent in Franciscan theology. [Duns Scotus] “…argued that God’s supreme work, the Incarnation, had to be first and foremost in God’s mind. It could not be dependent on or occasioned by any action of humans, especially sin…Duns Scotus emphasized divine love. God is love and created all life in order to communicate to creatures the fullness of divine love. The Incarnate Word is the foundation of the creative plan of God, the very reason for the existence of all creation.” (Kenneth R. Overberg, S.J., see below)

For a beautiful explanation of this Franciscan perspective, see Fr. Casey Cole’s brief video:


Excellent lecture on the Incarnation by Fr. Dan Horan, OFM
VIDEO: FR. DAN HORAN


Questions to discuss or comment on in your journal.

1- How are we as Franciscans influenced by St. Francis’s devotion to the Incarnation?

2. What are some of the writings of Francis and Clare that show us the importance of this devotion?

3. How has viewing Fr. Casey’s video (link above) on the Incarnation affected you?


Resources

Kenneth R. Overberg, S.J. The Incarnation: Why God Wanted to Become Human. Catholic Update: Order here: KENNETH OVERBERG, SJ

You can order other individual copies of Catholic Update here: CATHOLIC UPDATE


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La devoción y el asombro de San Francisco por la Encarnación y la humildad de Dios es la raíz a la que los franciscanos regresan mientras oramos. Especialmente en esta época del año, mientras nos regocijamos y damos gracias por el nacimiento de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, pensemos un poco en por qué nuestra fe en la Encarnación es crucial como católicos y franciscanos.

¿Por qué el Verbo se hizo carne, por qué la Encarnación?

El Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica nos enseña: El Verbo se hizo carne para nosotros para salvarnos reconciliándonos con Dios; el Verbo se hizo carne para que pudiéramos conocer el amor de Dios: el Verbo se hizo carne para ser nuestro modelo de santidad; el Verbo se hizo carne para hacernos “partícipes de la naturaleza divina” (Ver Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica 457-460)

Muchos de estos mismos puntos fueron señalados por el gran teólogo franciscano, Bl. John Duns Scotus, que vivió entre los siglos XII y XIII. Sus ideas se han vuelto prominentes en la teología franciscana. [Duns Scotus] “… argumentó que la obra suprema de Dios, la Encarnación, tenía que estar ante todo en la mente de Dios. No podía depender ni ser ocasionado por ninguna acción humana, especialmente el pecado … Duns Scotus enfatizó el amor divino. Dios es amor y creó toda vida para comunicar a las criaturas la plenitud del amor divino. El Verbo Encarnado es el fundamento del proyecto creativo de Dios, la razón misma de la existencia de toda la creación ”. (Kenneth R. Overberg, S.J., ver más abajo)

Para una hermosa explicación de esta perspectiva franciscana, ver el P. Breve video (en inglés) de Casey Cole:

VIDEO: EXPLICACIÓN EN INGLÉS

 

Preguntas para discutir o comentar en su diario.

1- ¿Cómo nos influye, como franciscanos, la devoción de San Francisco a la Encarnación?

2. ¿Cuáles son algunos de los escritos de Francisco y Clara que nos muestran la importancia de esta devoción?

3. ¿Cómo le afectó el video del P. Casey sobre la Encarnación (enlace arriba)?

 

Recursos

Kenneth R. Overberg, S.J. La Encarnación: Por qué Dios quiso hacerse humano. Catholic Update (English): Ordene aquí: https://www.liguori.org/the-incarnation.html

Puede solicitar otras copias individuales de Catholic Update aquí: https://www.liguori.org/catholic-update-newsletter-parish.html

Este sitio también tiene muchos recursos en español.

 

Diane F. Menditto, OFS
Chair, National Formation Commission
Formation Director, Our Lady of the Angels Region
Formation Director, St. Francis Fraternity, Hackensack, NJ

 

 

 

 
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Fillable Transfer Form Available Online

 

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.

It is important to note that those requesting a transfer for reasons other than the ones above should first discuss their situation with the Council, including the spiritual assistant of the fraternity.

More information can be found with the transfer forms that are located under Guidelines, Forms and Other Resources on the website.  Direct links to transfer forms are located under National Forms.

The General Constitutions, Article 55 states: “If a brother or sister, for any reasonable cause, desires transfer to another fraternity, he or she first informs the council of the fraternity to which he or she belongs and then makes the request, including the reasons for the transfer, to the minister of the fraternity to which he or she wishes to belong. The council makes its decision after having received the necessary information in writing from the fraternity of origin.”

https://secularfranciscansusa.org/2021/12/20/fillable-transfer-form-available-online/

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