Fraternity Reflections

Transcription

1 \ Fraternity Reflections Ordo Franciscanus Saecularis Minister: Deborah Pettie, OFS Master of Formation: Sharon Toups, OFS Acting Treasurer: Warren Falgout, OFS Vice Minister: Debbie Ludwick-Bales, OFS Secretary: Mary Dang, OFS Spiritual Assistant: Father John Mark Klaus, T.O.R. Fraternity meets first Sunday of the Month, 2:00pm to 4:00pm, Good Shepherd, 1000 Tinker Rd., Colleyville, Texas Inquirer / Candidate Formation Second Saturday of the month from 11:00pm to 12:30pm, Good Shepherd, Collyeville, TX Immaculata Fraternity is a local fraternity of the Three Companions Region IMMACULATA FRATERNITY, OFS October, 2017 VOL XIII ISSUE X He wanted the Gospel read to him and all his followers there so that he could give them a blessing 1000 Tinker Rd Colleyville, Texas 76034

2 Happy Feast Day! Transitus Celebrations The next Regular Meeting of Immaculata Fraternity will be Sunday, October 1 in Colleyville at Good Shepherd Catholic Community. Also on that day, my parish, Saint Andrew in Fort Worth, will hold its annual blessing of the animals. In general, the month of October will be busy for the T.O.R. Friars and most of that business falls the first week of the month. The first week of October is sprinkled with commemorations of our Seraphic Father, Saint Francis of Assisi. Along with the blessing of animals on Sunday, Tuesday we mark the day that the saint embraced Sister Death and fell into eternal sleep with the Lord. That night, many within the Franciscan community will celebrate the Transitus. We will read the scriptures that he loved, sing the songs that he loved, and some will even partake of the cookies he loved and asked to be brought to him during his last days. The feast day of Saint Francis is celebrated by the Church on October 4. On this day many churches (and not all of them Catholic) will hold small services and ceremonies to bless the animals. It is indeed a week of Saint Francis! As a Secular Franciscan, this week will be a time for me to revisit the life of Saint Francis and reflect upon what drew me to him and ultimately joining the Fraternity. What was it that first brought you to this saint? Was it a love of animals? Was it his simple surrender to give all to Christ? As we celebrate these days of the saint, read his prayers, revisit his biographies, open your heart and allow yourself to again, fall in love! *** Looking for a parish to celebrate the Transitus? Crowley - St. Francis village Chapel, 4070 St. Francis Village Road Colleyville - Good Shepherd Catholic Community, 1000 Tinker Rd Dallas - Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 5605 Bernal Dr. Fort Worth Saint Andrew Catholic Church, 3312 Dryden Rd San Angelo - Franciscan Resource Center 133 W Concho Ave # Secular Franciscan The way of Life Immaculata Fraternity meets the First Sunday of every month at 2:00pm in the Saint Francis/Saint Clare room at Good Shepherd parish in Colleyville. We welcome you to come and join us for prayer, formation and fellowship! Immaculata Fraternity Come and see! Every first Sunday, 2:00PM October 1 November 4, (Portion Retreat in Dallas) Good Shepherd Parish 1000 Tinker Rd. Colleyville, TX (all times 7:00pm) Come and see!

3 We are All Missionary Disciples [An excerpt from APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION EVANGELII GAUDIUM OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCISTO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY, CONSECRATED PERSONS AND THE LAY FAITHFUL ON THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL IN TODAY S WORLD] The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus In all the baptized, from first to last, the sanctifying power of the Spirit is at work, impelling us to evangelization. The people of God is holy thanks to this anointing, which makes it infallible in credendo. This means that it does not err in faith, even though it may not find words to explain that faith. The Spirit guides it in truth and leads it to salvation.[96] As part of his mysterious love for humanity, God furnishes the totality of the faithful with an instinct of faith sensus fidei which helps them to discern what is truly of God. The presence of the Spirit gives Christians a certain connaturality with divine realities, and a wisdom which enables them to grasp those realities intuitively, even when they lack the wherewithal to give them precise expression In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples (cf. Mt 28:19). All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization, and it would be insufficient to envisage a plan of evangelization to be carried out by professionals while the rest of the faithful would simply be passive recipients. The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptized. Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God s saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love. Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are disciples and missionaries, but rather that we are always missionary disciples. If we are not convinced, let us look at those first disciples, who, immediately after encountering the gaze of Jesus, went forth to proclaim him joyfully: We have found the. Messiah! (Jn 1:41). The Samaritan woman became a missionary immediately after speaking with Jesus and Catechism of the Catholic Church DISCIPLE 520 In all of his life Jesus presents himself as our model. He is "the perfect man", 191 who invites us to become his disciples and follow him. In humbling himself, he has given us an example to imitate, through his prayer he draws us to pray, and by his poverty he calls us to accept freely the privation and persecutions that may come our way. 192 (We are All Missionary Disciples, continued) many Samaritans come to believe in him because of the woman s testimony (Jn 4:39). So too, Saint Paul, after his encounter with Jesus Christ, immediately proclaimed Jesus (Acts 9:20; cf. 22:6-21). So what are we waiting for? 121. Of course, all of us are called to mature in our work as evangelizers. We want to have better training, a deepening love and a clearer witness to the Gospel. In this sense, we ought to let others be constantly evangelizing us. But this does not mean that we should postpone the evangelizing mission; rather, each of us should find ways to communicate Jesus wherever we are. All of us are called to offer others an explicit witness to the saving love of the Lord, who despite our imperfections offers us his closeness, his word and his strength, and gives meaning to our lives. In your heart you know that it is not the same to live without him; what you have come to realize, what has helped you to live and given you hope, is what you also need to communicate to others. Our falling short of perfection should be no excuse; on the contrary, mission is a constant stimulus not to remain mired in mediocrity but to continue growing. The witness of faith that each Christian is called to offer leads us to say with Saint Paul: Not that I have already obtained this, or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own (Phil 3:12-13).

4 BROTHER JACOBA and SAINT FRANCIS Bring me the delicious almond cookies that you prepared for me when I was ill in Rome. Saint Francis to Brother Jacoba, as he lay dying There is one story about Saint Francis that deserves more attention his beloved Roman friend, Giacoma Frangipane de Settesoli, also known as Lady or Brother Jacoba. Francis seems to have met this wealthy woman who provided him with a place to stay while in Rome. She provided some land that the friars used as a hospice lepers. She later helped the Franciscans obtain the property that his now the church of San Francesco a Ripa Grande. She was a great friend of Francis and arrived at the Porziuncula as Francis was dying. As Augustine Thompson writes in Francis of Assisi: a new biography: No outside visitors were permitted to see Francis, with one exception, a woman whose importance to him is known only from the stories told about the days immediately before his death. She was Jacoba de Settesoli, a matron of means from a prominent Roman family. Perhaps this woman belonged to the circle of pious Roman women that included the recluse Sister Pressede, of whom Francis was also very fond. Jacoba had provided Francis with lodging during his visits to Rome, and he remembered her with great fondness. She was probably the only woman with whom Francis ever developed a close friendship, one so close that he even called her a brother and excepted her from the rules excluding women from the cloister. He asked the brothers to send her a message, informing her of his impending death. He asked that she prepare him a gray shroud for burial, modeled on the burial robe used for monks of the Cistercian Order. In a moment of nostalgia, Francis also asked her to send him some of the confection of almonds and honey that the Romans called mostacciolo that she used to make for him during his visits. In fact, word of Francis s decline had already reached Jacoba. Before his message could even be sent, she arrived at the friary. Asked what to do about the arrival of a woman, Francis, as in the past, told them that the rule of cloister did not apply to her, especially since she had traveled so far to see him. As it turned out, she had already bought gray cloth for the shroud, incense and wax for the funeral rites, and all the ingredients needed to make the mostacciolo. The brothers took her offerings to make the shroud and funeral candles. She prepared the confection, but Francis was now so sick that he could hardly eat any of it. Francis, ascetic though he was, did not hesitate to be close friends with a rich Roman woman, nor was he loathe to ask her to bring a special almond treat that she had prepared for him when he was sick in Rome. This was the man who would spread ashes on his food so that he would not enjoy it too much! Francis, welcoming sister death, also welcomed Brother Jacoba and recognized the right of a righteousness woman to be present in the cloister where he was dying. Brother Jacoba is an example of a woman who lived in the world but as a member of the Order of Penance (the lay Franciscans) did not hesitate to serve the poor and God s people. She is buried in the crypt of the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi, close to the tomb of the saint who inspired her and who loved her almond treats. Saint Francis Almond Cookies Yields: 3 dozen cookies Ingredients 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup packed brown sugar 2 eggs beaten 1 teaspoon almond extract 2 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon cinnamon 2 tablespoons water 1/3 cup oil 8 oz. sliced almonds 2 3/4 cups flour Preparation Preheat oven to 350º Combine and blend sugars, eggs, almond extract in large electric mixer. Add baking powder, cinnamon, water, oil, almonds and flour all at once to the sugar mixture. Mix all until well blended. Take teaspoon of dough and drop each on slightly greased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake 12 minutes, let sit for 10 minutes to cool. Enjoy!

5 Fraternity Happenings Down the Road October 1, Regular Meeting of Fraternity October 3, Transitus October 14, Fraternity Council Meeting Warren Falgout, Oct. 8 Diane Klein, Oct. 16 Carol Leiser, Oct. 15 November 4, San Angelo Portion Retreat (this will take place of Regular Meeting) November 12, Fraternity Picnic (Debbie s House) December 3, Renewal of Vows Diane Klein,Oct.22, years a Franciscan!!! Anne Falgout Adele McGookin Catherine Khaled, OFS Fr. Gerald Gordon, T.O.R. Jerome John Molidor Linda Price Brian Bordovsky Fr. Joe Janiszeski, T.O.R. If you have someone that you would like to add to our prayer chain, please contact Mary Jo McCoy at pandmj@sbcglobal.net For those of you reading this addition of Fraternity Reflections on our webpage or through Facebook, and feel called to the Franciscan way, please contact us at: secularfranciscans@gscc.net and we ll be glad to direct you in the best possible way, rather it be in the Order of Secular Franciscans or in a Franciscan Religious Vocation. We d also invite you to come to the Immaculata Fraternity meetings Please Note: In discerning a life with us, you must be a member of the Catholic Church in good standing and in a spirit of unity. We look forward to meeting you!

6 Schedule: Angelo Portion Annual Retreat, Los Tres Compañeros Region Registration Coordinator: St. Francis of Assisi Fraternity, OFS Saturday, November 4, 2017 Diocese of Dallas - Catholic Formation Center 901 S. Madison Avenue Dallas, Texas :30 AM Gathering/Morning Prayer/Refreshments/Introductions 9:00 AM Talk and Discussions 12:00 Noon Lunch/Fellowship 1:30 PM 3:30 PM Talk and Discussions 4:00 PM Mass 5:30 PM - Evening Prayer/Dismissal Retreat Master: VERY REV. RICHARD DAVIS, T.O.R. Minister Provincial, Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus of the TOR Franciscans THEME: BREATH OF GOD, LEAD US INTO ACTION Name: Fraternity: Home Address: Phone No: Emergency Contact: Relationship: Tel# Registration Fee: $15.00 Lunch: $8.00 TOTAL: $23.00 One Registration for each participant. Mail Registration Form, Registration Fee and Lunch Fee (Check payable to St. Francis of Assisi Fraternity) to: SONJA CHUPRINKO, OFS Treasurer 8368 Deep Green Drive Dallas, TX OR / call-in your intention and/or this Registration Form to one of the contacts (below) and pay at the Formation Center on the day of the Retreat. NANCY ALLEN, OFS Minister OR LINDA BRAGA, OFS Vice Minister allen-nancy@att.net ljbsfo@yahoo.com (214) (972) DEADLINE TO REGISTER: OCTOBER 21, 2017

7 The Very Rev. Richard Davis, TOR, serves as Minister Provincial for the Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus of the TOR Franciscans, with around 110 friars under his supervision who primarily minister in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia,, Florida, Texas, and the District of Columbia. He assumed this position as of May 31, 2013, after serving as Vicar Provincial for the Province since 2010, and he presently resides at the provincial motherhouse in Loretto, PA. With this role he also acts as the chairman of the Board of Trustees for both Franciscan University of Steubenville and Saint Francis University in Loretto, PA. Fr. Davis initially served Franciscan University as Executive Director of Community Relations from 1992 to 2000, whereupon he was assigned as Vocation Director for the Province until He then returned to Franciscan University as Vice-President of Community Relations, and was also appointed as Local Minister of Holy Spirit Friary in In June, 2013, Fr. Richard became Minister Provincial of the Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. He moved to Loretto, PA, where he serves as Provincial at the present time. Fr. Richard was reelected Minister Provincial in 2015 for an additional 4 year term. Previous to his assignment at Franciscan University, Fr. Davis served in secondary education for 21 years as teacher, department chair in theology, and administrator in two high schools staffed by the TOR Franciscans. He was also a lecturer in religious studies at Saint Francis University from He also taught at the Franciscan University of Steubenville from He has been a popular preacher of parish renewals/missions, as well as a retreat director for many religious communities throughout the United States. In addition, he has been a member of the Steubenville Rotary Club since 1992, and is a Paul Harris Fellow. Fr. Davis received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Saint Francis University, a Master of Arts in Religious Education from LaSalle University in Philadelphia, and a Master of Divinity from Saint Francis Seminary, Loretto, Pennsylvania. In 2016 Fr. Davis celebrated his Golden Jubilee of Religious Profession as a Franciscan Friar. He continues being involved with the leadership of the Province, working directly with the Provincial Council. He is a Buffalo, New York native, and entered the Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in September, 1964.