New National Leadership Team Elected

National Minister JAN PARKER, OFS

National Vice Minister MARY BITTNER, OFS

National Secretary MATTIE WARD, OFS

National Treasurer JERRY ROUSSEAU, OFS 

National Councilor JOAN GEIGER, OFS

National Councilor AWILDA GUADALUPE, OFS

National Councilor MARY FRANCES CHARSKY, OFS

International Councilor MARY STRONACH, OFS

Br. BOB BRADY, OFM, president-in-turn of the Conference of National Spiritual Assistants.

Pax et bonum

New Fraternity Council Elected

At its October 16 meeting, the Glory of the Most High Fraternity elected its new Council:

From Left: Donna White, Councilor; Lee Strong, Councilor; Carolyn Barth, Minister; Mary Smith, Treasurer; Marilyn Gawlik, Secretary; Gwen Franus, Vice Minister; Betty Carmen, Formation Director.

There were a few twists and turns in the election process, but the leadership team is now in place for the next three years. God be with them and guide them.

Pax et bonum

Report of the Regional Chapter

Sept. 16, 2015 -- Regional Minister Al Picogna, OFS, donned an apron and ball cap, turned to the audience and said:

“We are your servants.”

 

That’s how he set the stage for his State of the Region address at the Regional Chapter held Sept. 11-13 at the Comfort Inn & Suites on Buckley Road in Syracuse.

His portrayal of servant leadership came after he had welcomed minsters, delegates and guests, and introduced the national visitors, National Councilor Mary Bittner, OFS, and National Spiritual Assistant Matthias Wesnofske, OFM Cap.

The visitors opened the chapter with prayer and words on the significance and spiritual quality of a visitation.

Friar Matthias described what he looks for: “Do I see a spirit of joy, peace, love for one another…the Franciscan Spirit?”

Mary described the visit as “a means to promote fidelity to the Franciscan charism.”

 

The Chapter segued into a formation session on part of the Rule, with the discussion zeroing in on seeing Christ in others.

Formation Director Layna Maher put on music to spur reflection, and the words of the song spun the idea of seeing Christ in an opposite direction – “let them all see You in me… let them hear You when I speak.”

 

***

 

In his State of the Region talk, Al cited a few statistics about the region:

• 24 established fraternities.
• 423 active or active excused members.
• 18 inquirers.
• 5 in orientation.
• “an astounding 41 candidates”.
• 12 members embracing Sister Death.

The region’s thrust for the coming year, he said, is to encourage fraternities “to break out of the mold” – “to try new things” -- “to look at ways to make the fraternity come alive.”
In other words, “be innovative… Don’t always do the same thing… Do not be afraid to try something new and creative and innovative.”

***
Regional Treasurer James Fagan proposed a 2016 operating budget of $30,804, which was approved.

***

The Regional Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Award went to Holy Family Vocational Orphanage Foundation in Binghamton, which supports an orphanage and school of the same name run by the Little Sisters of St. Francis in Uganda. St. Bernardine of Siena Fraternity Minister Mike Dwyer, OFS, who nominated the foundation, accepted the award on behalf of the foundation, along with Sr. Caritas Barajingitwa, LSOSF, founder and director of the orphanage and school. Sister Caritas, who had been stationed in Binghamton for a while raising funds for her vision to help children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic, flew in from Uganda to attend the Regional Chapter. She also was to attend the National Chapter in October to receive the National JPIC Award.

Following the presentation, which included a $100 donation, ministers, delegates and observers contributed another $747 from their own pockets. A silent auction for a statue of St. Francis raked in another $200 for the orphanage – bringing the total contribution to $1047.

Sister Caritas, visibly moved, paused and then said: “The Lord is good, all the time. I don’t know what to say…To tell the truth, you are my heroes in this project.”

Pax et bonum

Avoid plastic water bottles

Pope Francis has called us all to respect the environment. He even set aside September 1 as “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.” As Franciscans, we have a special concern for all of creation.

One of the simple, practical ways to help protect creation is to stop buying and using bottled water.
There are many reasons to avoid bottled water.

First, the bottles are produced from petroleum. The production and transportation of bottled water consumes millions of gallons of oil annually. In addition, it has been estimated that it takes 2,000 times the energy to produce bottled water than it does to produce a comparable amount of tap water.
Although many of us try to recycle, the truth is that not everyone can do so or does, and not all those bottles can be recycled anyway. As a result, billions of pounds of plastic bottles are added to landfills each year.

Depending on the quality of the bottles, many plastic bottles leech chemicals into the water they contain. Those chemicals have been linked to all sorts of disorders, including cancer, diabetes, weight gain, and infertility. Plus, government regulations that cover municipal water do not cover bottled water. Tests of bottled water have sometimes shown that bottled water actually contains more pollutants than does municipal water.
 
Bottled water is sometimes just tap municipal water that may have – though not always - gone through an extra step of filtering,  but then is sold for many times the actual cost of the water.  For us in Rochester, this seems especially unnecessary as our tap water has been judged as among the best in the country.

Some of that bottled water comes from companies based in drought regions – such as California – thus helping to add to the droughts.  In some places, the companies throw their economic weight around to make sure they get more of the water to sell, depleting the supply for the local residents.

What can we do?

If concerned about water quality, buy a water filter for your tap, or buy one of those pitchers that can filter. It’s actually cheaper than buying bottled water. Use a recyclable container for carrying your water; just fill it from your tap or filter unit.

This is just one way we can cherish Sister Water and to show our concern for the rest of creation that St. Francis so loved.

Pax et bonum

Praise of God - St. Francis

All powerful, most holy, most high, and supreme God:
All good, supreme good, totally good, You Who alone are good;
May we give You all praise, all glory, all thanks,
all honor, all blessing, and all good things.
So be it.
So be it.
Amen.

Pax et bonum

Rosaries for Fraternity and Order

Please Pray that Third Decade of the Rosary for our One Secular Franciscan Order and our Four Fraternities

 

(Originally emailed October 30, 2014)

Beloved National Family,

May the Lord give us Peace!

Before we leave October, the Holy Month of Our Lady of the Rosary, and we begin November, the Holy Month of Prayer for all of our beloved dead, please permit me this request.

Would you forward as best you can to every Secular Franciscan in the United States this request to pray the Third Decade of the Rosary for our One Secular Franciscan Order and our Four Fraternities to which each of us belongs?

With the Mysteries of Joy, the Third Decade is for the Nativity, the Birth of Jesus Christ into Poverty as one of us. This decade stresses our Franciscan emphasis on Christ and His Incarnation. Nothing makes sense without Christ. Our Franciscan Spirituality focuses on the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word made Flesh (see John 1:14). Since this Mystery is our beginning, so to speak, please pray this decade for our Local Fraternity where we all began our Franciscan Journey in Admission to Candidacy and then in Permanent Profession. My Local Fraternity is St. Thomas More that meets at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. My Minister is Ann Wester.

With the Mysteries of Light, the Third Decade is the Call to Conversion, "The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the Good News!" (Mark 1:15). Hello, is there a better mystery to pray for our Order? This decade stresses our Franciscan call to daily, ongoing conversion as we turn away from sin and strive to go faithfully from Life to Gospel and Gospel to Life (see Secular Franciscan Rules 4 and 7). We pray this decade for our Regional Fraternity where all of us should gain the Light that Fraternity is more than just the Local Fraternity! My Regional Fraternity is St. Margaret of Cortona. My Minister is Patrick Martin.

With the Mysteries of Sorrow, the Third Decade is for the Crowning of Thorns. This decade stresses our Franciscan emphasis on humility and even humiliation. As someone has said, "There is no humility without humiliation." Whatever crown we seek should only be the Crowns of Thorn because we should "never boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14). Let this decade be prayed for our National Fraternity because our great country is so large and has such diversity that service at this level is often a Crown of Thorns! My National Fraternity is the United States of America. My Vice Minister is Elaine Hedtke.

With the Mysteries of Glory, the Third Decade is the Coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Blessed Mother and the Apostles praying together at Pentecost. This decade stresses the truth that this is not ultimately our Order, but the Holy Spirit's with the Blessed Mother as our Advocate (see Celano, Second Life, 198) and all the saints as our Intercessors and Protectors. We offer this decade for all those holy ones we know least about, the International Fraternity covering the entire world and based in the Eternal City of Rome. My Minister is Encarnita (Incarnation in English) del Pozo from Spain. And after the General Chapter in November, my Minister is Tibor Kauser from Hungary.

Again, Please pray the Third Decade of your Daily Rosary for our One Secular Franciscan Order and our Four Fraternities. Please spread the Word. Please add your own meditations as God inspires you!

Peace, Love and Prayers,

Tom
Deacon Tom Bello OFS
National Minister
Secular Franciscan Order
United States of America

Pax et bonum

Spiritual Maturity

By Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR

Perhaps the greatest temptation we are faced with in the spiritual life is to pursue the things of God rather than God himself. After all, it is the things of God that often fill our senses with delight and consolation, whereas God himself always transcends our senses and their experience. This is why all the great spiritual masters remind us that we must welcome consolation, moments where we can “feel” God’s presence and times of great enthusiasm in our spiritual life. However, we cannot stop there nor can we rely on them to always be there. In short, we can never find our rest in anything but God, not even in his works.

In a mysterious way, the spiritual life really begins when we stop “feeling” God and when all the lights we relied on to get to him have been dimmed or even turned off. It is here where faith, hope and love, the theological virtues that ultimately lead us to union with God, become activated and we begin to really make “progress” in the spiritual life. St. Paul himself alludes to this when he reminds the Corinthians that they are to, “walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Ultimately, God wants our love to become mature. In the beginning of our journey God used our senses and his works to get our attention and draw us to him. But as we grow God wants us to be ready for a deeper experience of him, which means that we have to leave behind the “things” that once drew us to God so as to receive something greater, namely God himself.   

Pax et bonum