The 2025 National Chapter of Secular Franciscans opened with a Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit at the Bon Secours Retreat Center in Marriottsville, Maryland, on Tuesday, September 9.  The celebrant was Fr. Gary Johnson, OFM Conv., vicar provincial and director of the Shrine of St. Anthony near Baltimore.

Gathered for the liturgy were the leaders of the Secular Franciscan Order in the United States: the National Executive Council, regional ministers, committee and commission chairs, CNSA friars, and special international visitors.

Fr. Gary began by reminding those present that being together as Franciscans is about much more than “getting along” or “learning to lead.” At the very center of our vocation, he said, is praise.

“I have a sense we have it figured out when it comes to praise,” Fr. Gary reflected. “Praise is how we publicly proclaim our love of God.”

Drawing from the day’s reading from a Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians, Fr. Gary invited the listeners to reflect deeply on what it means to walk in Christ: “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him, and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

He noted that the Franciscan tradition affirms this truth. Our entire world is rooted and built upon Jesus Christ. When we remain grounded in Him, our lives are nourished in ways that allow us to proclaim the Gospel with joy and integrity.

“We live in the flesh,” Fr. Gary said, “and show we are grounded in the witness of Jesus Christ, that same Christ who so enamored our founders.”

Fr. Gary said praise is never private or isolated. “We can’t praise God without each other,” he said. Praise blossoms in community through liturgy, fraternity, and service to the world.

For Secular Franciscans, this means that every act of daily life can become a song of praise: caring for family, serving the poor, fulfilling professional duties with integrity, and giving time and energy to the work of the Order. Praise draws us deeper into a relationship with God and strengthens our bond with one another.

“We recognize the call to leadership is grounded in the prayer and praise of Jesus. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus chose the leaders from among the disciples and commissioned them to go out with him and witness the faith. They knew that involved compassion, charity, sacrifice, and praise,” Fr. Gary said.

Our encounter with God heals us. That’s what happened to the disciples. They were witnessing to the fact that they needed healing, and it came forth from God, he said.

Leadership, then, is not about status or power but about a willingness to walk with Christ, to serve others, and to embody the Gospel in word and deed, he said.  In this way, Franciscan leaders continue the mission of the first disciples, proclaiming the Kingdom of God through lives marked by joy, humility, healing, and thanksgiving.

The Holy Spirit helps us to live it out in the everyday experience of our lives. Welcome the Holy Spirit into our Chapter and ask the Lord to help you be grounded in the ways our readings today invite us to lead, Fr. Gary said.

The work at the chapter will continue through Saturday when a new National Executive Council will be elected.  On hand for the election are CIOFS visitors Ana Maria Raffo Laos, OFS, NEC elections presider, and  Fr. Tomas Ginga Panzo Suva, OFM Cap, general spiritual assistant to the OFS.

 (This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Summer 2025  Issue #116)

by Layna Maher, OFS

National Formation Commission Chair

Initial formation is the first step in a lifelong journey of learning, growing and discerning our vocations. It allows us to experience life in fraternity along with the privileges and responsibilities of the brothers and sisters. Initial formation gives the individuals and the fraternity tools to discern if they have a Franciscan vocation and if this is the path they will take and promise to live for the rest of their life.

Ongoing formation provides continuous opportunities for conversion and transformation as we strive to live our Rule. Good formation changes us and challenges us to question how we’re doing on that journey. It gives us opportunities to reflect on our lives, the choices we make, the interactions that we have, and if we truly are living life to gospel and gospel to life. Formation supports us to continue growing in our vocation as we study the lives of St. Francis and St. Clare, the OFS Rule, and the gospels.

The lives and writings of St. Francis and St. Clare inspire and ground us. Their radical love, humility, and faithfulness light our path, reminding us that formation is not simply intellectual study but a call to interior conversion and outward witness.

Our OFS Rule gives us clear guidance on how we are to live our lives, calling us to simplicity, peace, justice, and care for creation. Living our Rule shapes how we relate to God, others, and the world. According to Article 4 of the OFS Rule, “Secular Franciscan should devote themselves to careful reading of the gospel, going from gospel to life and life to the gospel.” Reading and reflecting on the gospels will help us to walk in the footsteps of Francis as he followed in the footsteps of Jesus. As we become more and more familiar with the gospels, the Word of God becomes more and more alive in us, guiding our choices and actions.

Article 15 of the OFS Rule calls Franciscans to “… individually and collectively be in the forefront of promoting justice by the testimony of their human lives and their courageous initiatives. Especially in the field of public life, they should make definite choices in harmony with their faith.” It’s often in the difficult choices about what we’re willing to share of our lives, our time, and our resources.

Living our Rule

shapes how we

relate to God,

others, and the

world.

Photo By: ATC Comm Photo from Pexels

In the gospels, Jesus gives us clear direction on how we are to live, love and forgive. For example, we can read and reflect on “The Judgment of the Nations” in Matthew 25 and ask “‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?” Who are the marginalized in our communities? Do we see them? Do we help them? Do we love them? There are many people, including the young, old, homeless, sick, imprisoned, immigrants, and poor around us in need. We are called to be Christ to them. The actions and choices we make in our life tell the world who we are and what we value. Living the tenets of the gospel help us to shine the love and light of Christ into the world.

Formation gives us the opportunity for conversion, transformation, and to discern if we are truly living our OFS Rule and fulfilling our profession promise. Formation guides us as we figure out how we are called to be joyful, humble followers of Christ and to bring God’s love and light into the world