As we begin 2024, we are reminded of two special calls for deepening our relationship with Our Dear Lord and our suffering sisters and brothers. The Franciscan Family is commemorating the “the Gift of the Stigmata” and the whole Catholic Church begins the final year of preparation for the Eucharistic Jubilee.

Eucharistic Jubilee:  On January 21st, Pope Francis invited the Church into a Year of Prayer before we celebrate the Jubilee Year in 2025. Pope Francis expressed his desires for the Church with these words:  “From now on I am happy to think that the year preceding the (Eucharistic) Jubilee event, 2024, will be dedicated to a great ‘symphony’ of prayer. First of all, to recover the desire to be in the presence of the Lord, to listen to Him and adore Him. In preparation for the Jubilee, therefore, individual dioceses are invited to promote the centrality of individual and community prayer during this year.”

Gift of the Stigmata: among the notes from the Franciscan Family Committee for the commemoration of “the Gift of the Stigmata”, we find

1. In celebrating the Centenary of the Gift of the Stigmata as a Franciscan Family, we are invited to restore the dimension of prayerful and contemplative silence in our daily lives, the silence that places us before the essential, that lets us recognize our desire for the infinite that resides in our hearts, that allows us to listen to ourselves, to others and to God.
2. Even today, the Poverello is presented as a person who made listening a way of life: “Saint Francis heard the voice of God, he heard the voice of the poor, he heard the voice of the infirm and he heard the voice of nature. He made of them a way of life. My desire is that the seed that Saint Francis planted may grow in the hearts of many” (Fratelli tutti 48) [OFS-USA Theme: Listen-Discern-Go Forth]

Taking these recommendations to heart and acknowledging our responsibility to support/accompany our struggling fraternities at all levels, the Centenary Task Force is suggesting that we start a “Prayer Chain”.  No sign ups needed; no specific commitment of time needed.  While individuals may choose their own prayer form & dedicated prayer time, we are asking Regional Leadership to assign one or two fraternities to each month from now through January 2025. We are also suggesting that these generous souls pray the Franciscan Family Chaplet for this intention.  If you aren’t familiar with this prayer, it is a short prayer form covering the whole Franciscan Family. We ask St. Francis to intercede with us in seeking new dedicated vocations and for support for those of us currently in the Family. The prayer may be found on our National website, www.secularfranciscansusa.org  by clicking on either the Centenary link for the Stigmata or clicking on the “Prayer” link in the banner near the top of the home page:

OR  STIGMATA-PRAYER-ACTIVITY_Franciscan Family Chaplet.pdf

Thank you in advance for considering this request and for your generosity in responding.

The Centenary Task Force

A New Call to Prayer and Contemplation

Fr. Christopher Panagoplos, TOR, joins us on our Lenten journeys to warn us of the temptations that can thwart our conversion, and to remind us of the Incarnation, which imbues our world with goodness.

“These Lenten days are meant to lead us into a different view of things.  Individuals begin to come into a more benevolent focus as we give over our prejudice and disordered judgment.  Then, we view others with compassion: we see all the different people on the face of the earth, so varied in dress and behavior.  Some are white and others black.  Some at peace and others at war.  Some weeping and others laughing.  Some well and others sick.  Some being born and others dying.  Personal conversion has induced a sharp sense of the struggles and mystery of others.  They are no longer beasts.”

Read the full text of this Sunday’s homily here:  1st Sunday in Lent – Fr. Christopher (text)

View his homily here: 1st Sunday in Lent – Fr. Christopher (video)

https://www.secularfranciscansusa.org/2024/02/17/the-gospel-through-a-franciscan-lens-1st-sunday-in-lent-fr-christopher/

NEC Councilor Cherryle Fruge sent this beautiful reflection to one of her fraternities.  It is shared here to remind us of the wonderful presence of God in our lives as we continue to listen for the voices of Gospel living.

By Cherryle Fruge, OFS

Cherryle Fruge
NEC Councilor

Dear Beloved People of God,

I apologize for my absence. I am getting far behind on a writing project that I had promised to have completed by the end of January. Please pray for me.

Since I could not be present, I wanted to leave a part of me with you… the musings within my heart. This morning something caught my attention on the second mystery of the Seven Joys of Mary.  It occurred at the visitation between Mary and Elizabeth.

I thought of the word, “privilege.”  I am a slow learner trying to understand certain words, but I remember the first time the word “privilege” flowed out of my mouth.

It was an honor to even express it, namely because I sensed without a doubt, what I was saying was influenced by God’s grace and in the presence of the Holy Spirit. That humbling moment helped me to understand what a privilege it was to speak in the presence of our Lord.

With the thought of that profound experience, I came back to what Elizabeth must have felt when Mary, the mother of Jesus, came to visit … how powerful do you think this privilege was?

The privilege was so powerful that it caused the baby in her womb to leap.

This is Leap Year and as we approach that extra day on Feb. 29 I urge you to pay close attention to what might cause your soul to leap as you come to encounter the crucified Jesus, and the results of His resurrection.

It might be very worthwhile to journal when you discover that privileged moment in His presence.

Please know that when I am with all of you, my soul leaps with joy, because I see Jesus present in you!!

His peace be with you,

Cherryle

His humbled little spiritual assistant

Voices of Gospel Living: Privilege

(This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Fall 2023 Issue #110)

National Ecumenical/Interfaith Committee   

 by Ron Lacey, OFS

One of the greatest joys at the recent National Chapter, for me, was meeting in person two of my fellow Ecumenical/Interfaith Committee members, Donna Hollis, and Carolyn Townes, as well as our friend Fr. Masud ibn Syedullah, who attended the Chapter as an observer on behalf of the Third Order Society of St Francis (TSSF). I was especially grateful that Fr. Masud shared with me some of the history of the founding of the Joint Committee on Franciscan Unity – and the role he played in the founding. I also enjoyed learning about his ministry in Hyde Park, NY, and his parish’s intimate connection with the Roosevelts.

from right to left, Ron Lacey, OFS; Donna Hollis, OFS; Fr. Masud Syedullah, TSSF

I couldn’t help thinking how our meeting – an Anglican priest at the Chapter of a Catholic order – would have been, for far too long, unthinkable. Until people did think of it! And then these people acted on it: Roman Catholic Secular Franciscans reached out to the Anglican TSSF and the Order of Ecumenical Franciscans and asked for dialogue. Meetings were held, and five principles of Franciscan unity, across our denominations, were discovered: baptism, charism, call, Christo-centrism, and the prophetic voice. The Joint Committee on Franciscan Unity was founded, and in time the Order of Lutheran Franciscans joined. “How blessed it is when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity,” (Ps 133:1).

It may not seem very big, noticeably big, but in fact, as Pope Francis reminds us in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti: “If we want to encounter and help one another, we have to dialogue.  Persistent and courageous

dialogue does not make headlines, but quietly helps the world to live much better than we imagine,”

(198). We must all create processes – indeed, a culture – of encounter. In such a culture, “we, as a people, should be passionate about meeting others, seeking points of contact, building bridges, planning a project that includes everyone,” (216). Processes of encounter will “build a people that can accept differences,” (217). It’s hard to imagine anything the world needs more right now than building bridges and accepting differences! This is especially incumbent upon people of faith. Christians “need to find occasions to speak with one another and to act together for the common good and the promotion of the poor,” (282).

If you have not already done so, please spend some time with Fratelli Tutti. Maybe read it with your Fraternity, or start a reading group in your parish, or just read it by yourself. It beautifully articulates the vision of a culture of encounter, with helpful suggestions to create processes of encounter.

Fratelli Tutti may also be useful in addressing the important subject of anti-racism, something that was discussed at length at our National Chapter. Not being racist is not the same thing as being anti-racist. Anti-racism is an active and definitive stand against racism, including systemic and institutional racism, which can be all too easy for majority-culture people like me to overlook. Anti-racism is the intentional work for inclusion, respect, and a more just world. We need reminders.

One may wonder what anti-racism has to do with ecumenism. For starters, they both grow out of loving and honest encounters, and they are both aimed at creating and fostering further encounter and dialogue. Pope Francis doesn’t go out on a limb when he says: “Jesus never promoted violence or intolerance,” (238). But he reminds us that society – of which our Order is a little piece, our Church a bigger piece – is a family, and “the joys and sorrows of each of its members are felt by all. That is what it means to be a family!” (230). “There is no end to the building of a country’s social peace; rather, it is an open-ended endeavor, a never-ending task that demands the commitment of everyone and challenges us to work tirelessly to build the unity of the nation,” (232).

Seek with Encounters, Dialogue with Others