Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I hope that your Lent went well and that you are now able to attend the holy ceremonies during these last holy days before Easter. Today, Good Friday is a perfect time to remember St. Clare and her beautiful way of contemplation and “Gazing” on the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Fortunately, our formation lesson for today discusses this timely topic. Peace, Dona
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Since today is Good Friday, it is an extra special time to follow Saint Clare’s Gazing on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ as found in her second letter to Saint Agnes of Prague.
19“Look upon Him Who became contemptible for you, and follow Him, making yourself contemptible in this world for Him.
20Most noble Queen, gaze, consider, contemplate desiring to imitate Your Spouse,[Who] though more beautiful than the children of men became, for your salvation, the lowest of men, was despised, struck, scourged untold times throughout His entire body, and then died amid the suffering of the Cross.
21If you suffer with Him, you will reign with Him. weeping with Him, you will rejoice with Him; dying on the cross of tribulation with Him, you will possess heavenly mansions with Him among the splendor of the saints
22and in the Book of Life your name will be called glorious among the peoples.”CA:ED, 49: 19-22 https://franciscantradition.org/clare-of-assisi-early-documents/the-second-letter-to-agnes-of-prague/225-ca-ed-1-page-49
- GAZE: Take some time to gaze at Jesus on the cross.
- CONSIDER: Put yourself there with Jesus. What was he thinking, feeling? What did he see? Hear?
- CONTEMPLATE: Inspired by the Holy Spirit, how are you transformed, made different, by this experience?
- IMITATE: What do you resolve to do in response to this transformation?
For Discussion or to comment on in your journal.
1. As you use St. Clare’s “gaze, consider, contemplate and imitate” describe its impact on your life.
2. In what ways have you been drawn to Imitate the Crucified? In what ways has this transformed your life?
3. How do you see Christ in your “mirror?” (See Fourth Letter to Agnes of Prague CA:ED, 55: 15-32 https://franciscantradition.org/clare-of-assisi-early-documents/the-fourth-letter-to-agnes-of-prague/231-ca-ed-1-page-55 )
4. How are you a “mirror” of Christ?
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Formation Friday – 2 de abril de 2021 (En español abajo)
Por Favor compartir con su fraternidad localDado que hoy es Viernes Santo, es un momento especial para seguir la mirada de Clara en la cruz de nuestro Señor Jesucristo como se encuentra en su segunda carta a Santa Inés de Praga.
19Míralo hecho despreciable por ti
y síguelo, hecha tú despreciable por Él en este mundo.
20Reina nobilísima,
mira atentamente,
considera,
contempla,
deseando imitarlo, a tu Esposo,El más hermoso de los hijos de los hombres (cf. Sal 44,3), que, por tu salvación, se ha hecho el más vil de los hombres, despreciado, golpeado y flagelado de múltiples formas en todo su cuerpo, muriendo en medio de las mismas angustias de la cruz.
21Si sufres con Él, reinarás con Él;
si lloras con Él, gozarás con Él;
si mueres con Él en la cruz de la tribulación,
poseerás con Él las mansiones celestes
en el esplendor de los santos (cf. Rom 8, 17; 2 Tim 2,12.11; 1 Cor 12,26; Sal 109,3),
22y tu nombre será inscrito en el libro de la vida (cf. Flp 4,3; Ap 3,5), y será glorioso entre los hombres.http://www.franciscanos.org/esscl/ctacla2.html
- MIRAR ATENTAMENTE: Tómese un tiempo para mirar atentamente a Jesús en la cruz.
- CONSIDERAR: Póngase ahí con Jesús. ¿Qué estaba pensando, sintiendo? ¿Qué vio? ¿Qué oyó?
- CONTEMPLAR: Inspirado por el Espíritu Santo, ¿está transformado, hecho diferente, por esta experiencia?
- IMITAR: ¿Qué decide hacer en respuesta a esta transformación?
Para platicar o para comentar en su diario.
1. Al usar la idea de “mirar atentamente, considerar, contemplar e imitar” de Santa Clara, describa el impacto que tiene en su vida.
2. ¿De qué manera se ha sentido atraído a imitar al Crucificado? ¿De qué manera ha transformado esto su vida?
3. ¿Cómo ve a Cristo en su “espejo?”
(Véase la cuarta carta a Inés de Praga http://www.franciscanos.org/esscl/ctacla4.html)4. ¿Cómo es usted un “espejo” de Cristo?
Diane F. Menditto, OFSChair, National Formation Commission
Minister, Our Lady of the Angels Region
Chapter Becomes Historic First in OFS History
(This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Winter 2021 Issue 102)
By MARY STRONACH, OFS
As the National Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order in the United State planned for the 2020 National Chapter, they accepted the fact that COVID pandemic would require a measure of flexibility and creativity, an understanding of the new technology… and the ability to imagine the possibilities.
Forty-seven regional ministers, spiritual assistants and guests from around the country and world embraced this historic step in building and maintaining a sense of fraternity virtually.
The event provided some special benefits for those who would have faced travel challenges – no heavy baggage to pack and carry, no expensive, long, tiring trips, no fear of COVID contagious.
On the downside, there were no early morning coffee gatherings where brothers and sisters could laugh and share, no late-night entertainment or long discussions about the future of the Church or the Order, and no Eucharist to receive and share.
However, the virtual model of Franciscan gatherings, including the National Chapter, has proven to be an uplifting, engaging, productive, welcoming way to bring the members of the Order together. With the exception of technological or serious health issues, there was no reason why a regional minister or delegate could not participate. We were all in the comfort of our homes, with a cup of coffee or tea in hand, the occasional grandchild or pet who would cross the screen. We had the best of both worlds – interactions with Fraternity brothers and sisters from around the country and a safe, non-COVID home environment. (Some had virtual backgrounds of beautiful landscapes and even outer space.)
Materials were submitted to everyone in advance, the program was planned to include opening and closing Masses – with readers, music and inspirational homilies; presenters were prepared with shared Power Points that could easily be seen by all participants; spirited and upbeat leaders who provided guidance and updates on every aspect of the Order in the United States; spiritual assistants who offered perspectives and tips on how to handle the new reality.
With this historic, virtual Annual Chapter, the National Secular Franciscan Order has taken a leap in faith into a new reality – one which can connect Secular Franciscans, next door and around the world.
https://secularfranciscansusa.org/2021/03/29/chapter-becomes-historic-first-in-ofs-history/
Formation Friday – March 26, 2021 – The Value of Prayer and Comtemplation
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today’s lesson comes at the most important time, the start of Holy Week, when Our Lord suffered and died for us.We are reminded of the value and importance of keeping our prayer life strong. Prayer and contemplation are our lifelines to peace and calm during these turbulent times. They are essential to the salvation of our souls. Please discuss with your fraternities. Peace, Dona+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++The Value of Prayer and Contemplation—What do you think?
Please share with your local fraternities
As we enter Holy Week, let us take some time to be inspired in our prayer and in thinking about why we pray and the result that it has. We can use our Rule as inspiration and then answer the questions below from your heart.
OFS Rule Article 4
The rule and life of the Secular Franciscans is this: to observe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ by following the example of Saint Francis of Assisi, who made Christ the inspiration and the center of his life with God and people.
Christ, the gift of the Father’s love, is the way to him, the truth into which the Holy Spirit leads us, and the life which he has come to give abundantly.
Secular Franciscans should devote themselves especially to careful reading of the gospel, going from gospel to life and life to the gospel.
OFS Rule Article 8
As Jesus was the true worshipper of the Father, so let prayer and contemplation be the soul of all they are and do.
Let them participate in the sacramental life of the Church, above all the Eucharist. Let them join in liturgical prayer in one of the forms proposed by the Church, reliving the mysteries of the life of Christ.
Questions for discussion or to answer in your journal
• What is the practical result of taking time for contemplation?
• What is the value of using the Liturgy of the Hours?
• What is the value of praying Scripture?
• Why is the Eucharist so important to us as Catholics and Franciscans?
• What is your definition of the purpose of prayer?
• How does your prayer overflow into your actions? (How are you transformed?)
Resources on prayer and contemplation
+Franciscan Prayer—Sr. Ilia D’Elio, OSF
+ Prayer: Our Deepest Longing—Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, OMI
+ Breath of God—Fr. Dave Pivonka, TOR
+Eucharistic Adoration: Reflections in the Franciscan Tradition—Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
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Formation Friday, March 26, 2021
El valor de la oración y la contemplación— ¿Qué opina?
Por favor, comparta con sus fraternidades locales
Al entrar en la Semana Santa, tomemos un tiempo para inspirarnos en nuestra oración y en pensar en por qué oramos y el resultado que tiene. Se puede usar nuestra regla como inspiración y luego responder desde su corazón a las preguntas a continuación.
Artículo 4 de la Regla OFS
La Regla y la vida de los Franciscanos seglares es ésta: guardar el santo Evangelio de nuestro Señor Jesucristo siguiendo el ejemplo de San Francisco de Asís, que hizo de Cristo el inspirador y centro de su vida con Dios y con los hombres.
Cristo, don del amor del Padre, es el camino hacia Él, es la verdad en la cual nos introduce el Espíritu Santo, es la vida que Él ha venido a dar abundantemente.
Los Franciscanos seglares dedíquense asiduamente a la lectura del Evangelio, pasando del Evangelio a la vida y de la vida al Evangelio.
Artículo 8 de la Regla OFS
Como Jesucristo fue el verdadero adorador del Padre, del mismo modo los Franciscanos seglares hagan de la oración y de la contemplación el alma del propio ser y del propio obrar14.
Participen de la vida sacramental de la Iglesia, especialmente de la Eucaristía, y asóciense a la oración litúrgica en alguna de las formas propuestas por la misma Iglesia, reviviendo así los misterios de la vida de Cristo.
Preguntas para platicar o responder en su diario
• ¿Cuál es el resultado práctico de tomarse un tiempo para la contemplación?
• ¿Cuál es el valor de utilizar la Liturgia de las Horas?
• ¿Cuál es el valor de orar las Escrituras?
• ¿Por qué la Eucaristía es tan importante para nosotros como católicos y franciscanos?
• ¿Cuál es su definición del propósito de la oración?
• ¿Cómo se desborda su oración en sus acciones? (¿Cómo le transforma la oración?)
Recursos para la oración y la contemplación
+ La oración franciscana (recursos) http://www.franciscanos.org/oracionfcana/menu.html
+ La espiritualidad franciscans (recursos) http://www.franciscanos.org/espiritualidad/menu.html
+ Temas de estudio y meditación (recursos) http://www.franciscanos.org/temas/menu.html
Diane F. Menditto, OFSChair, National Formation Commission
Minister, Our Lady of the Angels Region
A Franciscan Approach to Today’s Times
Secular Franciscans held the first virtual chapter meeting via video conferencing because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. This is one of a series of reports that appeared in TAU-USA Winter 2021 Issue 102.)
By Sharon Winzeler, OFS
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Fr. Christopher Panagoplos, TOR celebrated the masses for the virtual national chapter from his friary.
Fr. Christopher Panagoplos, TOR, helped set the tone for a pandemic-caused virtual chapter by reminding attendees to take a Franciscan approach and see opportunity.
In the opening mass streamed from St. Joseph Friary in Hollidaysburg, PA, Father Christopher noted that many were experiencing anxiety in the midst of a pandemic as well as civil unrest.
“I cannot stop all of the issues from swirling around in my mind — racial discrimination, fear and uncertainty with every breath we take, divisiveness in society, in our institutions, in our church, bigotry, lack of civility in public discourse, injustices against human dignity, preventive health and safety measures misinterpreted as restrictions on personal freedom, disinformation,” he said.
Disruptions Can Be Opportunities
Father Christopher called on chapter participants to “see the disruptions” as “an opportunity to be alone with Jesus and go deeper and deeper.”
Approach these unsettling times with a Franciscan heart, he advised, by maintaining a joyful attitude like St. Francis of Assisi while being penitent and seeking conversion.
“The call to conversion is a change of mentality,” he said. “It predisposes us to believe in the gift of the Kingdom of God proclaimed and inaugurated by Jesus. Being penitent introduces us to the extraordinary and intimate relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Fr. Christopher, who is past president-in-turn of the Conference of National Spiritual Assistants, urged Franciscans to listen to the Holy Spirit during these trying times. “Act in ways that bear witness to our vocation. This hidden treasure has not lost its value in the current conditions of the world and of the Church. To the contrary, it is even more valuable as a Gospel alternative to the lacerations that oppress and distress today’s men and women.”
Unwavering faith in the face of uncertainty helps us to accept and understand Jesus’ words to be prepared against the unexpected, he said.
Fratelli Tutti
In the chapter’s closing mass on Oct. 24, Father Christopher pointed to the encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, as a way to spread harmony in these trying times.
“Pope Francis is surely right to think that a confused world urgently needs some Catholic common sense.” That is what he provides us in his latest encyclical, “universal fraternity put into dialogue with the Gospel. It points in the direction of the brotherhood and sisterhood of every human being.”
He referred to the Gospel in which Jesus told his disciples, “A new commandment I give you: Love one another as I have loved you.”
“Not just ‘love one another.’ Not simply ‘love one another as you love yourselves.’ No. ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’”
A Good Model
Franciscans have a good model for this type of love, he noted. “St. Francis lived and taught this reciprocal love as Gospel living. He showed us how to love the Father by being in harmony with all creation. How to love the Son by imitating his life. And how to love the Spirit to be Advocate of the Order.”
The encyclical is an expansion of Catholic Social Teaching, he said, and a reiteration of the essentials of the Gospel, urging us to get back to the basics.
“Pope Francis stresses the importance of meeting others, of creating a culture of encounter, to really get to know one another. Covid-19 should not diminish our desire to connect with one another. Computers and smartphones and video communications are at the ready.”
Pope Francis’s example of ordinary human goodness working for the common good is exemplified in the life of St. Francis of Assisi as noted in Fratelli Tutti: “In the world of that time, bristling with watchtowers and defensive walls, cities were a theater of brutal wars between powerful families, even as poverty was spreading throughout the countryside. Yet there Francis was able to welcome true peace into his heart and free himself of the desire to wield power over others. He became one of the poor and sought to live in harmony with all.” (#34)
https://secularfranciscansusa.org/2021/03/22/a-franciscan-approach-to-todays-times/
Formation Friday – March 19, 2021 – St. Francis’ Relationship with God
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today’s lesson is so important for understanding our great saint, Francis. Please read and share with your fraternities. Peace, Dona
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St. Francis’s Relationship with God
St. Francis yearned for a relationship with God the Father. His goal was to follow Christ who would guide him to the Father. He wanted to be loved by the Father as Jesus is loved.
Francis desired to conform himself to the image of Jesus so he might be able to realize that he is also a beloved son and experience as much as possible the wonder of the Father’s love. He saw the Holy Spirit as the source of power and inspiration that opens our hearts to a relationship with the Father—and the Blessed Trinity. Francis pursued a vital relationship with all three persons of the Trinity. To be in unity with the Father, Francis is willing to offer himself completely just as Jesus did.
God is the central reality from whom everything draws origin and toward which everything is oriented.
Did you know that in Francis’s writings God is present on each page?
• Father (attributed to God) is used 97 times
• Designated by name (God) 219 times
• Designated as Lord 364 times
Take some time this week to read examples of Francis’s relationship with God in his writings. Three of his writings provide a good starting place: (Click on the links below to read the writings.)
The Earlier Rule—especially chapter 23 “Prayer and Thanksgiving” FA: ED, vol. 1, 81
Admonition I FA: ED, vol. 1, 128
The Praises to be Said at all the Hours FA: ED, vol. 1, 161
A Prayer Inspired by the Our Father: FA: ED, vol. 1, p. 158
Questions to discuss or to answer in your journal.
+ How do you imitate Jesus in your life? Where do you find inspiration?
+ What do the writings of St. Francis tell you about his spirituality?
+ What is your image of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
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La relación de San Francisco con Dios
San Francisco anhelaba tener una relación con Dios Padre. Su meta era seguir a Cristo quien lo guiaría al Padre. Quería ser amado por el Padre como se ama a Jesús.
Francisco deseaba conformarse a la imagen de Jesús para poder darse cuenta de que él también es un hijo amado y experimentar lo más posible la maravilla del amor del Padre. Vio al Espíritu Santo como la fuente de poder e inspiración que abre nuestros corazones a la relación con el Padre y la Santa Trinidad. Francisco mantuvo una relación vital con las tres personas de la Trinidad. Para estar en unidad con el Padre, Francisco está dispuesto a ofrecerse completamente como lo hizo Jesús.
Dios es la realidad central de la que todo se origina y hacia la que todo se orienta.
¿Sabía que en los escritos de Francisco Dios está presente en cada página?
• Padre (atribuido a Dios) se usa 97 veces
• Designado por nombre (Dios) 219 veces
• Designado como Señor 364 veces
Tómese un tiempo esta semana para leer ejemplos de la relación de Francisco con Dios en sus escritos. Tres de sus escritos proporcionan un buen punto de partida: (Pulse los enlaces para leer los escritos.)
REGLA NO BULADA Capítulo 23 “Oración y acción de gracias”
Alabanzas que se han de decir en todas las Horas
Preguntas para platicar o responder en su diario.
+ ¿Cómo imita a Jesús en tu vida? Dónde encuentra inspiración?
+ ¿Qué le dicen los escritos de San Francisco sobre su espiritualidad?
+ ¿Cuál es su imagen de Dios: Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo?
Diane F. Menditto, OFSChair, National Formation Commission
Minister, Our Lady of the Angels Region