Can a Secular Franciscan in formation wear a Tau?

[albertziggy]

There are two different meaning here. Brother or Sister, with a capital letter is a title. Brother and sister with a lower case is a relationship. We are all brothers and sisters because we are the sons and daughters of the same Father.

However, the title Brother was used by Francis before the order was an order. When Francis was alone he referred to himself as Brother Francis. When the first brothers came, they were addressed as Brother. It is in 1209 that they receive verbal approval and legally become an order. But they had been called Brother before 1209. There is a precedent of secular people with the title Brother. Another precedent was Catherine of Siena. She was a Secular Dominican, but she was called Mother by her little community. She was never a nun or a religious sister. The title Mother is usually given to a female religious or your parent. The same goes back to the desert fathers. They often used the title Brother.

Charles de Facould was always Brother Charles. He was a secular. He had been a Jesuit, I believe. He had left the order to go to the desert to found a new order. The new order was founded after his death. His followers and the Church still call him Brother Charles, never Father Charles, even though he was a secular priest and not a religious. He had made private vows.

For religious to claim that Brother or Sister or Father is exclusive to the priesthood or religiuos life, is not totally accurate. In my own community the superior is always called Father and he is not a priest. But he is called Father because he is the successor to our Holy Father St. Francis.
The few priests that we do have are all called Brother unless they are superiors.

It’s really an internal decision of each institute.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Thanks, Brother JR, for the clarification and the additional information. Your responses are very informative.

In Christ,
albertziggy

 

[jimcintosh]

However, the title Brother was used by Francis before the order was an order. When Francis was alone he referred to himself as Brother Francis. When the first brothers came, they were addressed as Brother.

In fact, in my order, the Order of Friars Minor (=Order of Lesser Brothers), since we are all brothers first, many priests choose to be addressed as Brother.

In some provinces, it is the accepted practice to address a friar you don’t know as Brother.

Here in Bolivia, the proper titles are Padre and Hermano but the more common title is simply Fray (which means Brother but allows the other titles when ordination status needs to be communicated). For an English-speaker, I first found it somewhat disconcerting to see myself listed as Fr. Jim McIntosh.

IMHO, one can be addressed however they want. I think addressing others as Brother and Sister, as do the Quakers and some other peace churches, is a nice way to communicate that we are all children of the same God.

All the best. Peace.

 

[ausculta]

Br. albertziggy, OFS

Uhm! You’re not professed yet! I’m tellin’!

Peace,

A

 

[ausculta]

There are two different meaning here. Brother or Sister, with a capital letter is a title. Brother and sister with a lower case is a relationship. We are all brothers and sisters because we are the sons and daughters of the same Father.

However, the title Brother was used by Francis before the order was an order. When Francis was alone he referred to himself as Brother Francis. When the first brothers came, they were addressed as Brother. It is in 1209 that they receive verbal approval and legally become an order. But they had been called Brother before 1209. There is a precedent of secular people with the title Brother. Another precedent was Catherine of Siena. She was a Secular Dominican, but she was called Mother by her little community. She was never a nun or a religious sister. The title Mother is usually given to a female religious or your parent. The same goes back to the desert fathers. They often used the title Brother.

Charles de Facould was always Brother Charles. He was a secular. He had been a Jesuit, I believe. He had left the order to go to the desert to found a new order. The new order was founded after his death. His followers and the Church still call him Brother Charles, never Father Charles, even though he was a secular priest and not a religious. He had made private vows.

For religious to claim that Brother or Sister or Father is exclusive to the priesthood or religiuos life, is not totally accurate. In my own community the superior is always called Father and he is not a priest. But he is called Father because he is the successor to our Holy Father St. Francis.
The few priests that we do have are all called Brother unless they are superiors.

It’s really an internal decision of each institute.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

So the precedent to adopt a formal title seems to be initiated by the individual in some cases (Brother Charles F) and by the community in other cases (Mother Catherine). Or were both instances of each receiving the title from their followers? In either case each title seems to be used primarily within the community. I wonder if either one of them ever signed correspondences with their respective titles or used them in communications outside of the community.

You said that this is an internal decision of each institute, but I haven’t come across anything put out by the SFO on whether or not to use the formal titles of Br. or Sr. But I have seen individuals upon profession adopt the use of them as a matter of personal preference to distinguish themselves from the general laity. (Oh no! There’s that “L” word again.) We need JR to write a dictionary of canonical terms: religious/secular, lay/cleric, etc etc.

Pax et bonum,

A

 

[jimcintosh]

Here’s one to visualize it:

http://jmc.me/bigfiles/rscl.gif

Note:

• Priest in Vows/Deacon in Vows — Priests and deacons who are members of a religious order or congregation (including ordained monks, ordained friars, etc.)
• Abbot — Abbots and provincials are ordinaries but remain religious.
• Brother/Sister/Nun — Unordained men and all women who are members of a religious order or congregation (including unordained monks, unordained friars, etc.)
• Diocesan Priest/Diocesan Deacon — Priests and deacons who are not members of a religious order or congregation.
• Bishops/Cardinals — Bishops and cardinals may choose to wear a habit and mix with members of their order or congregation, but they are not bound by religious vows.
• Everyone else — Those not ordained nor members of a religious order or congregation.

 

[JReducation]

Here’s one to visualize it:

http://jmc.me/bigfiles/rscl.gif

Note:

• Priest in Vows/Deacon in Vows — Priests and deacons who are members of a religious order or congregation (including ordained monks, ordained friars, etc.)
• Abbot — Abbots and provincials are ordinaries but remain religious.
• Brother/Sister/Nun — Unordained men and all women who are members of a religious order or congregation (including unordained monks, unordained friars, etc.)
• Diocesan Priest/Diocesan Deacon — Priests and deacons who are not members of a religious order or congregation.
• Bishops/Cardinals — Bishops and cardinals may choose to wear a habit and mix with members of their order or congregation, but they are not bound by religious vows.
• Everyone else — Those not ordained nor members of a religious order or congregation.

One detail, the canon for religious bishops was changed. The new canon says that they remain full members of their religious institutes. The commentaries explain that they are bound by the vows, by the rule and constitutions in all matters that do not interfere with their pastoral duties as bishops. When they retire they have the right to rejoin their religious community.

In the old canon they were automatically dispensed from their vows and they all became secular priests. There is no longer a dispensation. There is what the commentators call a suspension of those requirements under the vows that are in conflict with the office of the bishop. One of those would be obedience to a major superior. Also, the religious community is still responsible for them if they become disabled and can no longer serve as bishop. The diocese will of course pay the pension and other insurances that they may have for the bishop. But the diocese does not make itself responsible for the religious bishop who is disabled any more than it makes itself responsible for the secular bishop who must reitre. The difference is that the secular bishop has no where to go, unless he has family and the religious must be taken in by his community.

In fact, the Capuchins have written it into their cosntitutions. Their bishops must have a right to community life. They retain the right to vote in the chapter of their province of origin. They may not hold office in the order, since this is one of those areas of conflict. They have a right to return to the friary if they resign the office of bishop. They also have something very interesting that they do. The Capuchin friars who are bishops have regular gatherings every year.

Each community addresses the new law according to its constitutions. But their bishops do not cease to be religious and they do remain members of their religious institutes.

This law was always in place. They were changed in 1919. Now they have been reinstated. Remember Bonavneture. He was Cardinal and Minister General and there was an overlapping period where he held both offices. I can’t remember how long that was. But he did finish his term as Minsiter General.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[JReducation]

Uhm! You’re not professed yet! I’m tellin’!

Peace,

A

I don’t know how that works in your region. In the region where I’m spiritual assistant the Secular Franciscans follow the same system as the friars, nuns and sisters. Once the person is admitted to the order as a candidate, he uses the initials of the order. For example, once you’re admitted to the novitiate of any of the branches of the friars you are Brother N, OFM or Brother N, OSF, or OFM Cap. Canon law does not require that you be professed. It requires that you be a member of the order. Membership in the order is not determined by profession. It is determined by admission to the order.

My community is a branch that came from the Capuchins. I was a Capuchin for 14 years. We were born just two years after the Franciscans of the Renewal. When we were founded we used the same constitutions as the Capuchings, with only minor changes in the areas of poverty, obedience, our place in the Church and the ordination of friars. Everything about formation and government was left intact. So when our guys enter the novitiate, they are officially friars and they become Brother N, OSF.

The difference between us and the three branches of the Friars Minor is that that our friars change their names at their admission to the novitiate. The surname is dropped and replaced by a title. For example, mine is Br. Jason Richard of the Immaculate Heart, OSF. We are OSF because we are the Brothers of Life of the Order of St. Francis. Everyone calls us the Franciscans of Life. We were going to be the Franciscan Brothers of Life, but the local bishop wanted to keep the Order of St. Francis in there. We could not use Friars Minor, even though we profess to observe the Rule of the Friars Minor. But you can no longer have any more branches of the Friars Minor. However, there are several Franciscan orders that are governed by the Rule of the Friars Minor, our own, the Missionaries of the Eternal Word, the Franciscans of the Immacualte, the Franciscans of the Renewal, the Capuchins of the Primitive Observance,the Franciscans of the Primitive Observance, the Little Brothers of St. Francis, the Francisan Brothers of Peace and I think that’s it. Everyone else uses the rule for the Brothers and Sisters of Penance.

As to the title, in our community no one is allowed to be called Father except the superior. It makes no difference if he is ordained or not. He is always Father until he is no longer the superior. Our men are called Brother or Friar (Br. or Fr.). Also, superiors need not be ordained.

We are an institute of consecrated life, but not a clerical institute. We can ordain as many men as we need for our community, just as do the Marianists and the Holy Cross.

This reminds me of something funny that happened this morning. We had a diocesan wide luncheon for Respect Life volunteers. Of course were were there, because that’s our primary ministry. There were several clerics from the diocese. The laity kept calling us Father and we kept saying, Brother. There was only one among us who is ordained. When someone called him Father, he said, “I’m not Father, he is” and he pointed to the superior. The woman looked at him and said, “but I saw you celebrating mass.” He said, “Oh, I’m a priest, but I’m not Father.” He had to explain that Francis had never founded an order of priests, but he founded a family of brothers and sisters. People are always in awe of that.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[EvelynEVF]

At least in the USA, SFO candidates in formation can freely wear the Tau, and would be given a Franciscan wake/funeral upon death, but one does not use the initials until profession.

Evelyn, SFO

 

[JReducation]

At least in the USA, SFO candidates in formation can freely wear the Tau, and would be given a Franciscan wake/funeral upon death, but one does not use the initials until profession.

Evelyn, SFO

I wonder why we do this that way in the USA. When I went to Hungary for the SFO General Chapter with our group from here, I noticed that the Americans do things very differently from the other countries. For example, the formation period is also longer.

I’m a spiritual assistant. So I’m not privy to what happens at the top of the SFO government in the USA. Does anyone know why these differences in the USA? I also noticed that only the English speaking countries used SFO, everyone else used the Latin abbreviation, OFS.

I realize that we tend to do things a little differently in the USA. As brother was saying that in Bolivia he is known as Friar (Fr) not Brother. I noticed one day that I was watching Fra. Reinero Cantalamessa on TV. Since I understand Italian I could hear what was being said. I found it very interesting that he introduced himself as Fratello (Friar) and the American translator on EWTN changed it to Father. I was sitting there thinking, why do we have to change things in the USA?

The Dominican Prior General signs his name Brother and the Americans change it to Father. I gather that the man must be a priest, why else would they change it? But why not preserve the uniformity?

I seee the same thing with the SFO. The USA changes some things. But I’m never sure why and I ask the SFO members and they don’t know. They didn’t evenn realize that it was different in other countries.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[ausculta]

At least in the USA, SFO candidates in formation can freely wear the Tau, and would be given a Franciscan wake/funeral upon death, but one does not use the initials until profession.

Evelyn, SFO

Hello Evelyn! Nice to meet you.

My fraternity is in Houston, TX. As far as I’ve seen no one wears the Tau until acceptance as a candidate (you receive it as part of the ceremony), and no one uses the initials until after profession. The SFO in America needs some retuning, IMO. The practice JR talks about makes more sense. We need to be doing things like our family everywhere else. We suffer from “the American Heresy”: believing since we are American that we must simply be different in a way that makes us unique.

Do you know of any American SFO’s using the prefix Br. or Sr. as a title? I’m not professed yet, but I have a desire to adopt one of these titles once professed. So far I have seen no reason to not do so. It helps to distinguish us as part of the Franciscan family from among other regular Catholics in the pews.

Peace,

A

 

[ausculta]

Here’s one to visualize it:

http://jmc.me/bigfiles/rscl.gif

Note:

• Priest in Vows/Deacon in Vows — Priests and deacons who are members of a religious order or congregation (including ordained monks, ordained friars, etc.)
• Abbot — Abbots and provincials are ordinaries but remain religious.
• Brother/Sister/Nun — Unordained men and all women who are members of a religious order or congregation (including unordained monks, unordained friars, etc.)
• Diocesan Priest/Diocesan Deacon — Priests and deacons who are not members of a religious order or congregation.
• Bishops/Cardinals — Bishops and cardinals may choose to wear a habit and mix with members of their order or congregation, but they are not bound by religious vows.
• Everyone else — Those not ordained nor members of a religious order or congregation.

Thanks for this very colorful chart. It was very helpful and informative. I think I can understand some of the distinctions now.

A

 

[jimcintosh]

I don’t know how that works in your region. In the region where I’m spiritual assistant the Secular Franciscans follow the same system as the friars, nuns and sisters. Once the person is admitted to the order as a candidate, he uses the initials of the order. For example, once you’re admitted to the novitiate of any of the branches of the friars you are Brother N, OFM or Brother N, OSF, or OFM Cap. Canon law does not require that you be professed. It requires that you be a member of the order. Membership in the order is not determined by profession. It is determined by admission to the order.

As you say, in the States things are done differently.

When I was a postulant, mail to me from the province was addressed Mr. Jim McIntosh

When I was a novice, it was addressed Br. Jim McIntosh

After simple profession, it was (and continues to be) addressed Br. Jim McIntosh, OFM

 

[jimcintosh]

I also noticed that only the English speaking countries used SFO, everyone else used the Latin abbreviation, OFS.

It has to do with the adjective-noun placement in English as opposed to most other Latin-based languages. In Spanish, the name of the order is Orden Franciscana Seglar, or OFS. In English, the name of the order is Secular Franciscan Order, of SFO.

The first order keeps OFM only by ignoring adjective-noun order (Order of Friars Minor) sort of like is done with the word Attorney General (the plural of which is Attorneys General because the word General is the adjective). In proper English, it would be the General Attorney.

In my province, for example, we no long write about the Minister General, but instead use the correct English reference General Minister (also Provincial Minister, etc.)

The Dominican Prior General signs his name Brother and the Americans change it to Father. I gather that the man must be a priest, why else would they change it? But why not preserve the uniformity?

The Rome web site for my order carefully refers to the General Minister as Br. José Rodríguez Carballo because friars are, after all, brothers first. When it is printed in the U.S, though, the title is carefully changed to “Fr”.

I think it has to do with the over-clericalization of the U.S. church, but I could be wrong.

 

[JReducation]

It has to do with the adjective-noun placement in English as opposed to most other Latin-based languages. In Spanish, the name of the order is Orden Franciscana Seglar, or OFS. In English, the name of the order is Secular Franciscan Order, of SFO.

The first order keeps OFM only by ignoring adjective-noun order (Order of Friars Minor) sort of like is done with the word Attorney General (the plural of which is Attorneys General because the word General is the adjective). In proper English, it would be the General Attorney.

In my province, for example, we no long write about the Minister General, but instead use the correct English reference General Minister (also Provincial Minister, etc.)

Since we came out of the OFM Cap tradition, just like the Friars of the Renewal, we use the Capuchin tradition, Minister General. We don’t have a Minister Provincial, because we’re small. There arey only 56 of us.

The Rome web site for my order carefully refers to the General Minister as Br. José Rodríguez Carballo because friars are, after all, brothers first. When it is printed in the U.S, though, the title is carefully changed to “Fr”.

I think it has to do with the over-clericalization of the U.S. church, but I could be wrong.

I understand what you mean about the over-clericalization of the Church in the USA. But we keep the Br, because we were not founded to be a clerical institute, even though we have 9 ordained friars. Only was of them was ordained after he joined us. The others were either OFM Cap or secular priests who joined us.

The Minister General is called Father and so is the Guardian, but not because he’s a priest. It’s from the Capuching tradition of Father General and Father Guardian. We sign everything, with Br. There was consideration given to using Friar, but the abbreviation is confusing, because it’s Fr in most languages.

Originally, we were FBOL (Franciscan Brothers of Life). But the Archbishop, who happens to be a Secular Franciscan, really wanted to see the Oder of St. Francis there. We reorganized the name to the Brothers of Life of the Order of St. Francis, hence OSF. Can you imagine what it would look like if we used all those other initials: BOLOSF. That wold be vegetable soup. LOL. But people still call us the Franciscans of Life or the Brothers of Life. No one ever refers to us as the Order of St. Francis. I guess that would be like referring to the Franciscans as the Leonine Franciscans or the Franciscans of the Leonine Union or the Observant Franciscans. None of those would accurately describe the order, even though all are part of the history.

I’m a preservationist. I believe that we don’t change things if they’re not broken. It only causes confusion. When the SFO asks me, I always tell them that. Go with tradition, unless there is a need to make a change. Change for the sake of change can be very dangerous, because you may not be able to get back to the original, if this does not work. The Church has already seen this since Vatican II. Some changes were needed and they actually worked. Others were just a desire to try something new and those changes fell flat on their faces, especially in the orders and congregations.

Brother knows what I mean, because in our Franciscan history, we have seen many good changes and many that were just disastrous.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[albertziggy]

Do you know of any American SFO’s using the prefix Br. or Sr. as a title? I’m not professed yet, but I have a desire to adopt one of these titles once professed. So far I have seen no reason to not do so. It helps to distinguish us as part of the Franciscan family from among other regular Catholics in the pews.

Peace,

A

Peace.

I understand how you feel. Here we are, people who do our best to follow the Gospel life according to the Rule of Saint Francis in a secular setting, which some people are called to do. We try to find ways to affirm our beliefs and principles – through visible signs and symbols and support from others. One of such signs is the use of the prefix.

In Christ,
albertziggy

 

[JReducation]

Peace.

I understand how you feel. Here we are, people who do our best to follow the Gospel life according to the Rule of Saint Francis in a secular setting, which some people are called to do. We try to find ways to affirm our beliefs and principles – through visible signs and symbols and support from others. One of such signs is the use of the prefix.

In Christ,
albertziggy

I feel that the most important part of following St. Francis is to be faithful to the Gospel as he was faithful. That being said, I think Chesterton puts it best when he said that Francis was madly in love with brotherhood.

It was not just a brotherhood of camaraderie. It was a brotherhood based on the Fatherhood of God. It was a brotherhood based on etiquette, charity, respect and trust in each other. His brothers were his family. They were not just his companions as were the monks in a monastery, nor were they his apostolic partners as are religious and seculars in apostolic congregations and associations, who come together for the sake of a ministry. That’s one reason why the Franciscan family has such a diversity of ministries and infrastructures. These were not as important to Francis as was the relationship among the brothers and their relationship with the world around them. For Francis, Brother was not just a designation that set you aside from priests and secular men and women. That’s why he calls his first secular followers, the Brothers and Sisters of Penance. He included the first secular followers in his family of friars and nuns. They were not outsiders. They had autonomy from the friars and the nuns. But autonomy is does not equal estrangement or exclusion. This is contrary to Francis’ worldview and certainly contrary to how we see him relate to the friars and later to Clare and her nuns.

The Franciscan religious have done a great disservice to the Secular Franciscans which we need to correct. The first disservice that we did to you was to take over your order. We made you dependent on us, thus promoting a hierarchy of Franciscanism where there is none. No one is more Franciscan than another. We are all sons and daughters of the same spiritual father. As the Minister General of the Capuchin Friars said at the SFO General Chapter in 2008, your profession is equivalent to our own. Our states in life are different, but our profession is on the same horizontal line. We all promise the same thing, to live the Gospel in the manner of St. Francis. Whether we live it in a religious community or in a secular community is accidental, not essential to being a Franciscan. What is essential to being a Franciscan is brotherhood. That makes our family different from every other religious family in the Church.

I know of no other religious family in the Church that has such a great attachment to its spiritual father as does the Franciscan family. That’s an anthropological phenomenon that merits examination. Why are we so attached to our spiritual father who is 800 years behind us? I believe that the answer is family. Francis infused a spirit of family into his order. He often referred to his feminine side by calling himself a mother and at times he would refer to the ministers as mothers and expect them to care for their fraternities as a mother cares for her children. From his writings and his actions we can clearly see that this was a family man. We, the Franciscan religious turned the title Brother and Sister into an ecclesial title to identify those in religious life. But by doing so, we excluded the largest number of Franciscans in the family. If truth be told, the SFO is the largest Franciscan Order in our family, but gets the least amount of recognition.

We also did another disservice to you that we must repair. We stripped you of your saints. You have given to the Church many saints. But we have failed to stand up for your saints, because we have been in positions where we can influence how the Church presents her saints and we have not used that influence. How many people know that St. Pius X is a Franciscan? Bl. John XXIII was a Franciscan. Thomas More, Angela Foligno, Elizabeth of Hungary, Joan of Arc, Louis King of France, the parents of St. Therese who were recently beatified, Margaret of Cortona and many others were also Franciscans. We proudly display and repeat the stories of our Franciscan religious, but not our Secular Franciscan saints. Some are not even included in the Roman-Franciscan liturgical calendar, because the Ministers General have not updated it.

The point is that all of this has come about because we have lost the Franciscan meaning of the words brother and sister. We have turned them into titles that refer to those in religious life. But Francis did not use them that way. He called the sun and the moon his brother and sister. To him, a brother and sister was anything and anyone that came from the hand of God and depended on God’s Providence for existence. This is the message that the Secular Franciscan should carry into the world, that we are all brothers and sisters and are all dependent on and graced by Divine Providence.

The usage of brother and sister should be liberally used by every Franciscan, because today, more than ever, the world needs a message of family. The family is under attack from every angle: abortion, contraception, same-sex marriage, promiscuity, pornography, divorce, domestic violence and so forth.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[joandarc2008]

I feel that the most important part of following St. Francis is to be faithful to the Gospel as he was faithful. That being said, I think Chesterton puts it best when he said that Francis was madly in love with brotherhood.

It was not just a brotherhood of camaraderie. It was a brotherhood based on the Fatherhood of God. It was a brotherhood based on etiquette, charity, respect and trust in each other. His brothers were his family. They were not just his companions as were the monks in a monastery, nor were they his apostolic partners as are religious and seculars in apostolic congregations and associations, who come together for the sake of a ministry. That’s one reason why the Franciscan family has such a diversity of ministries and infrastructures. These were not as important to Francis as was the relationship among the brothers and their relationship with the world around them. For Francis, Brother was not just a designation that set you aside from priests and secular men and women. That’s why he calls his first secular followers, the Brothers and Sisters of Penance. He included the first secular followers in his family of friars and nuns. They were not outsiders. They had autonomy from the friars and the nuns. But autonomy is does not equal estrangement or exclusion. This is contrary to Francis’ worldview and certainly contrary to how we see him relate to the friars and later to Clare and her nuns.

The Franciscan religious have done a great disservice to the Secular Franciscans which we need to correct. The first disservice that we did to you was to take over your order. We made you dependent on us, thus promoting a hierarchy of Franciscanism where there is none. No one is more Franciscan than another. We are all sons and daughters of the same spiritual father. As the Minister General of the Capuchin Friars said at the SFO General Chapter in 2008, your profession is equivalent to our own. Our states in life are different, but our profession is on the same horizontal line. We all promise the same thing, to live the Gospel in the manner of St. Francis. Whether we live it in a religious community or in a secular community is accidental, not essential to being a Franciscan. What is essential to being a Franciscan is brotherhood. That makes our family different from every other religious family in the Church.

I know of no other religious family in the Church that has such a great attachment to its spiritual father as does the Franciscan family. That’s an anthropological phenomenon that merits examination. Why are we so attached to our spiritual father who is 800 years behind us? I believe that the answer is family. Francis infused a spirit of family into his order. He often referred to his feminine side by calling himself a mother and at times he would refer to the ministers as mothers and expect them to care for their fraternities as a mother cares for her children. From his writings and his actions we can clearly see that this was a family man. We, the Franciscan religious turned the title Brother and Sister into an ecclesial title to identify those in religious life. But by doing so, we excluded the largest number of Franciscans in the family. If truth be told, the SFO is the largest Franciscan Order in our family, but gets the least amount of recognition.

We also did another disservice to you that we must repair. We stripped you of your saints. You have given to the Church many saints. But we have failed to stand up for your saints, because we have been in positions where we can influence how the Church presents her saints and we have not used that influence. How many people know that St. Pius X is a Franciscan? Bl. John XXIII was a Franciscan. Thomas More, Angela Foligno, Elizabeth of Hungary, Joan of Arc, Louis King of France, the parents of St. Therese who were recently beatified, Margaret of Cortona and many others were also Franciscans. We proudly display and repeat the stories of our Franciscan religious, but not our Secular Franciscan saints. Some are not even included in the Roman-Franciscan liturgical calendar, because the Ministers General have not updated it.

The point is that all of this has come about because we have lost the Franciscan meaning of the words brother and sister. We have turned them into titles that refer to those in religious life. But Francis did not use them that way. He called the sun and the moon his brother and sister. To him, a brother and sister was anything and anyone that came from the hand of God and depended on God’s Providence for existence. This is the message that the Secular Franciscan should carry into the world, that we are all brothers and sisters and are all dependent on and graced by Divine Providence.

The usage of brother and sister should be liberally used by every Franciscan, because today, more than ever, the world needs a message of family. The family is under attack from every angle: abortion, contraception, same-sex marriage, promiscuity, pornography, divorce, domestic violence and so forth.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

I attended my first meeting and a profession Mass this past weekend. I have made the decision with my husband that SFO was the way I want to go. (Thank you Br JR, SFO for your kind words and advice) I do have to say the only negative thing I saw was that I was by far the youngest there - but that can all change.

 

[JReducation]

I attended my first meeting and a profession Mass this past weekend. I have made the decision with my husband that SFO was the way I want to go. (Thank you Br JR, SFO for your kind words and advice) I do have to say the only negative thing I saw was that I was by far the youngest there - but that can all change.

You’re very welcome. By the way, I’m not SFO, I’m OSF. We’re two different communities. SFO = Secular Franciscan Order. OSF = Order of St. Francis. The OSF is religious (friars and sisters).

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[joandarc2008]

My apologies, Brother JR,that is what happens when one tries to work and type at the same time. Oops. Hey, some days you guys and girls are the only way I can keep myself peaceful and connected at my current job. That is why I check in so much and was looking for the life change. The most beautiful thing is everyday when I leave the gate to leave work I pray to God that he takes the evil from work from me so I don’t take it home. He does. He is great.

 

[JReducation]

My apologies, Brother JR,that is what happens when one tries to work and type at the same time. Oops. Hey, some days you guys and girls are the only way I can keep myself peaceful and connected at my current job. That is why I check in so much and was looking for the life change. The most beautiful thing is everyday when I leave the gate to leave work I pray to God that he takes the evil from work from me so I don’t take it home. He does. He is great.

God will always respond to our prayers. The problem is that like most children, we don’t always like the answer.

Since you’re going to join the SFO you may want to get closer to your favorite saint. Joan was a Secular Franciscan.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF