Fr. Michael Scanlon to Retire

[Hiereus]

I just found out the Fr. Michael Scanlon is retiring from his post as Chancellor of Franciscan University of Steubenville. For those who do know of him, he changed the Pro-Life movement and the youth of my generation forever. I am greatly saddened, but as we can see from the story of the Transfiguration, even great things must come to an end for God’s will to be done.

Here is the link to the article: franciscan.edu/News/2011/Fr_Michael_Scanlan_to_Retire/

On the next page you can add any stories you have of Fr. Mike Scanlon, or offer him a spiritual bouquet for his service to the Church, and for his remaining years as he will head back to Loretto, PA, and do whatever is needed of him. franciscan.edu/Chancellor/FrScanlanRetires/

God’s grace is good!

 

[Crumpy]

I’ve seen Fr. Scanlon on EWTN and he is a scholar as well as an administrator, and whatever else.

What we don’t see is any visible succession planning, you know what I mean? who’s going to replace a man like him?

Think about it.

Although Mother Angelica made a big splash starting the EWTN network, there isn’t any of her “sisters” taking her place on the network. She seems to have set up the MFVA order of Franciscan priests and brothers to do the follow-up spiritual leadership work. And, they’re not generally prime time personalities.

Seems like we need / should have hundreds of people waiting in the wings, qualified and capable to take over, but it doesn’t seem to work out that way.

That Deacon Bill Steltemeyer is hanging on as one of the honchos at EWTN, but, seriously, he is aging and should be grooming somebody to take over. Even in the book of Leviticus, the priests only served until they were 50 years old.

Now, I can be mouthy at times, and I’m sorry, but I think vanity pushes these people into these active roles into their eighties. I don’t think that applies to the Holy Father, in particular, but we’re running short of heroic figures like Fr. Corapi – even he is out of action.

 

[JReducation]

You folks do realize that Franciscan University is owned and operated by the Third Order Franciscan Brothers of Penance, right?

In the Franciscan tradition, we don’t prep people to move into other peopel’s slots. That’s why no one moved into Mother Angelica’s slot. That’s not the way that our Holy Father Francis founded our family.

Our structure is very simple. Friars, nuns and sisters are assigned according to their gifts and their availability. If there is someone who can do the job and is not already committed he will be appointed to that post by the Provincial Minister. If there is not, then the job becomes open to lay applicants.

The Rule does not allow for “preplanning”. We (Franciscans), live by the Will and revelations of Divine Providence. Divine Providence will indicate who should fill that post. For all we know, the Provincial Minister may already have someone in mind. However, until he consults with the Definitory and they vote on it, he cannot make it public.

The University also has a Board of Trustees. The Board has to approve the choice by the friars.

Until all of the proper authorities are consulted and the effects on the community is examined, appointments are not made public. We have to look at that part too. You can’t pull a friar out of a community where his presence is necessary to place him at a university, because they need a chancellor. The needs of the community always trump the needs of the apostolate. Also, you may have the perfect candidate for chancellor, but he’s not a good match for that fraternity. You can’t put him there. You can’t upset the internal life of the fraternity or the internal silence of the friars for the sake of an apostolate. You have to try to make the best possible match. That’s why you call upon Divine Providence.

Divine Providence is going to speak to the Provincial Minister through

1. The talents of the individual,
2. The Availability of the person
3. The voice of the Definitory
4. The voice of the Board of Trustees
5. The needs of the fraternity where the friar now lives
6. The harmony of the fraternity where you place the friar.

This is probably in progress. We just have to wait for the conclusion. Be patient folks. You’re dealing with Franciscans, not Jesuits. We’re not as well organized as they are.

And we like our disorganization

But we have strong respect for their organization too.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[puzzleannie]

one of five people who have changed my life radically
story is too long to tell but my conversion from good enough PC Catholic to committed Catholic teaching truth began at STeubenville because he years before had initiated the change in direction for that university that birthed the catechetics department under Barbara Morgan (she is no.2 in my list) and he did so under the direction of the Holy Spirit giving me the model for all I do in my profession.

The influence of such a man cannot be underestimated. God bless you Fr. Michael in your retirement.

 

[KCT]

I graduated from Steubenville in the mid 80’s . . . he’s a good man.

 

[mdzialo]

He caught my attention on EWTN. I thought, wow! Wonderful intellect. One of the really good ones.

 

[centurionguard]

I met Father Micheal Scanlon twice. Once in Canada at a FIRE rally with Father Bertolucci, Ralph Martin and Sister Ann Shields.

My second visit was while visiting the University of Steubenville, Ohio.

Perhaps one of his better known written books (“Deliverance From Evil Spirits”).

 

[ClayPots47]

And we like our disorganization

Francis was inclined to let the Holy Spirit blow His wind when He wills and how He wills. Francis had a lot of faith that God would take care of things, something that his followers didn’t always comprehend. Francis rule always emphasized humility and simplicity. His followers didn’t always understand. They wanted a rule like many older orders had, they wanted to have access to education, they wanted material security, they wanted a stricter observance or a less-stringent one. I recall the many times Francis wandered off to pray alone, sad that not everyone could or would embrace the vision he had. While his rule for the brothers was rewritten, he was adamant that his followers live a life of simplicity and trust in Divine Providence. Francis original spirituality never changed, he was literally a fool for the Gospel. I would say even today, us Franciscans are fools for the Gospel. We never do things the way most think we should. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that the TOR’s have no provision in place to replace Father Scanlon. As you stated, that’s not the way Franciscans operate. I have had people ask what apostolate the SFO rule calls me to do. I tell them that rule doesn’t specify a specific apostolate, the rule is simple. We are called to go from the Gospel to life, and life to the Gospel. We are to imitate Jesus.

As for Father Scanlon, my experience of him was mostly through the Charismatic Renewal. He wrote a number of books which became texbooks for instruction in the prayer groups. I have read quite a few he wrote, as well as heard him speak at an event held in Philadelphia many years ago. Also enjoyed his writings on the Franciscan charism as well. Some of his books still sit in my bookcase. I am thankful for his contributions to the Charismatic Renewal, Franciscan Spirituality, Youth Ministry, and the Catholic Faith. He is a wonderful speaker, writer and Franciscan. Franciscan University of Steubenville was very blessed to have him.

 

[JReducation]

Francis was inclined to let the Holy Spirit blow His wind when He wills and how He wills. Francis had a lot of faith that God would take care of things, something that his followers didn’t always comprehend. Francis rule always emphasized humility and simplicity. His followers didn’t always understand. They wanted a rule like many older orders had, they wanted to have access to education, they wanted material security, they wanted a stricter observance or a less-stringent one. I recall the many times Francis wandered off to pray alone, sad that not everyone could or would embrace the vision he had. While his rule for the brothers was rewritten, he was adamant that his followers live a life of simplicity and trust in Divine Providence. Francis original spirituality never changed, he was literally a fool for the Gospel. I would say even today, us Franciscans are fools for the Gospel. We never do things the way most think we should. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that the TOR’s have no provision in place to replace Father Scanlon. As you stated, that’s not the way Franciscans operate. I have had people ask what apostate the SFO rule calls me to do. I tell them that rule doesn’t specify a specific apostate, the rule is simple. We are called to go from the Gospel to life, and life to the Gospel. We are to imitate Jesus.

Fortunately, we are all in the process of recovering our Franciscan roots, the OFM, OFM Cap, OFM Conv, OSC, PCPA, MFVA, OSF, SFO, FI, CFR, LFSF, FBP, FSE, FBE and the rest of the Franciscan family.

I think that we’re going to see Francis’ vision being lived in a different context, but without abandoning his vision. We have two things that make us very unique in the religious life of the Church.

1. Our love for our founder. I don’t know of any other religious family that has such an attachment to its founder and that tries so hard to be faithful and obedient to him. We Franciscans are an interesting lot. We love Francis. Eight-hundred years later we still speak about Francis and look to him as if he were physically present. There is no other religious family that has spent as much time and effort in trying to understand its founder, studying him, his works and writing about him. No other religious family spends as much time and energy acquainting others with is founder as we do.
2. The second thing that we have, that is very unique is flexibility. We don’t work out of a master plan. Our way of life is very simple It’s summarized in the opening line of profession. I, N, promise to live the Gospel according to the rule. We don’t promise to teach, to nurse, to run parishes, to save souls, to feed the hungry or to save the Church and the planet. We simply promise to live the Gospel using Francis as our teacher. What we do is not very important compared to how we live.

I think that people ask us who are religious as well as you who are secular Franciscans, “what do you do” is because the average Catholic has become utilitarian. Something has value if it achieves something that serves us, that pleases us or that meets our needs. Francis taught us to think very differently. He called us to obey him. He knew that from him, we would learn how to live the Gospel. That was his mission, to teach us to live as Jesus and the Apostles lived. Like the Apostles, we are a diverse family. Like the Apostles, we’re not very organized. Otherwise, we’d be one obedience instead of five obediences and over 100 congregations branching out of each obedience. Like the Apostles, we are focused on the cross. We look at everything through the eyes of Francis. Through his eyes, we see Christ, who is the object of our conversion.

In light of that spiritual tradition, Fr. Mike’s transition from chancellor to whatever he’s going to do is not a big deal to us. Yes, he was a wonderful chancellor and a better professor. But what people on this board need to realize is that Franciscans do not retire. We may retire from a line of work, because we’re too old or too sick to continue it. However, we continue to live the same life, in fraternity, serving in some other capacity. We have a friar who is a priest. He has not hear a confession in years. He celebrates his morning mass and spends his days attending a garden. Many years ago I lived with another friar who was also a priest. He realized that he had entered the Capuchin Franciscans to be a friar, not to do priestly ministry. He asked to be pulled from priestly ministry. He became a science teacher and a handyman at one of the order’s high schools. He was the holiest man I’ve ever met. He was patient, prayerful, penitential, and generous.

My own little community came together when two Capuchin Friars and four Secular Franciscans joined forces to work in pro-life ministry. It eventually became clear that we had a vocation within a vocation. The Brothers of Life of the Order of St. Francis (OSF) were born.

Our family is not your typical religious family. We’ll just have to wait and see what’s going to happen at Franciscan U.

In the meantime, Fr. Mike deserves the privilege of going back to being a simple friar.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[ClayPots47]

In the meantime, Fr. Mike deserves the privilege of going back to being a simple friar

I was thinking of that too, he can spend time engaging in community and fraternal life. He has had to miss a lot of that over the years. Community and fraternal life is elemental to Franciscan spirituality. I recall a phrase frequently uttered during my formation years for the SFO, “There is no such thing as a Lone Ranger Franciscan.” Francis modeled our community life after that of Jesus and His apostles.

Us Franciscans have the Omnibus of Sources available to us. I wonder if any order has such a complete collection of documents available to them? Or is this unique to our family? I love the Omnibus, and I’m grateful to those who preserved it’s contents so we would have it to read and study today. But I have never seen such a collection available in any other religious community. There is so much to learn and study there.

 

[JReducation]

I was thinking of that too, he can spend time engaging in community and fraternal life. He has had to miss a lot of that over the years. Community and fraternal life is elemental to Franciscan spirituality. I recall a phrase frequently uttered during my formation years for the SFO, “There is no such thing as a Lone Ranger Franciscan.” Francis modeled our community life after that of Jesus and His apostles.

Us Franciscans have the Omnibus of Sources available to us. I wonder if any order has such a complete collection of documents available to them? Or is this unique to our family? I love the Omnibus, and I’m grateful to those who preserved it’s contents so we would have it to read and study today. But I have never seen such a collection available in any other religious community. There is so much to learn and study there.

That’s just a sampling. We have 10 faculties at 10 universities that offer Sacred Theology Doctorates on Francis of Assisi, Franciscan Studies, Bonaventure, and Franciscan Philosophy. We have have about 15 universities around the world, including one Center of Franciscan Studies run by your order, maybe two. I know that the Dominicans have schools for Scholastic Theology. I don’t now if they have schools specifically for Dominican studies. They may.

We have the Franciscan Archives in Assisi and in Washington, DC where there are thousands of manuscripts that begin with Francis’ and come forward.

I don’t know how accurate this is, but I just finished reading a study on Francis’ theology. The author says that we are the only order (of the ancient ones) that has an autographed copy of its rule. The early friars actually kept the original rule that Francis signed and sent the pope a copy that Brother Leo made. We know his handwriting. We also have copies of letters by Clare, Agnes of Prague, Colette and Bonaventure, the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the Franciscan family.

Francis tomb was just reopened, cleaned and resealed last week for the international chapter coming up this month.

ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2011/04/08/visualizza_new.html_904378573.html

Our family’s love affair with our Father is impressive. The funny thing about it is that he always felt that the family was unmanageable. The truth of the matter is that the family dearly loved him. He was just a lousy administrator.

Going back to Fr. Mike, he was very good about balancing between the university and fraternity. One of the good things that they did at that house was that the chancellor was never the Minister. While Mike was running around running the University, the Minister kept him in check. He appreciated this.

I remember one time, many years ago, someone said that he was about to go through the door to hear the student’s confessions when the Minister stopped him and told him to go back to the refectory for fraternity dinner and then go. He did it. When he got to the chapel, the kids were patiently waiting. The kids at Franciscan U, U. of St. Francis and U. of St. Bonaventure (the three Franciscan colleges in the USA) all get indoctrinated into the Franciscan way of life by hook or by crook. From day one they are told that the friars are a brotherhood and they (the students) are part of that family as long as they are there. They get used to the life of the friars.

I remember when the students at Franciscan U. wanted the EF. Fr. Mike said that they could not have it. They went to the bishop. The bishop told them that he had no authority over the friars and he sent them back to the friars. The kids were in awe of the fact that the bishop had no authority. Later, they were interviewed and they expressed great respect for the inner workings of the Franciscan life. As it turned out, the chancellor could not authorize the EF, because he is not the superior. They kids learned to work with their school administration and with the religious who run the school. I believe that they eventually got the EF.

Fr. Mike taught the students, faculty and parents that the university is part of a larger family. When necessary, he yielded to the friars and to the government of the TORs. Many people attend Catholic colleges and high schools and there seems to be a chiasm between the religious at the school and the rest of their community. You don’t hear kids using terms such as: Friar, Minister, Guardian. These kids know the proper terms, because they’re exposed to the Franciscan family. St. Bonaventure in NY is the same, as is St. Francis in Loretto, PA. St. Bonaventure in NY is OFM and St. Francis is TOR. Those are three of the 10 around the world.

We have four in South America, two in Italy, one in England and a very big one in Malta.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[manualman]

While I’ve never met him, I daresay Fr. Scanlon is one of the great figures responsible for starting to reverse the decline in catholicism in America. I’ve been active in a number of dioceses over the years and a number of parishes within them. Every single time I’ve discovered groups of catholics who place their faith and its teachings FIRST in their lives and who genuinely expect God to continue to work great things like he always has in our history, I find FUS graduates in the thick of it. It’s literally like a catholic mafia, but a GOOD one!

Another priest I admire, Fr.Richard Simon (Chicago) puts it this way (paraphrase): “There is not a struggle between liberals and conservatives in the church today. The real struggle in the Church today is between those who believe in a supernatural and personal God who can be known, who intervenes in this world versus those who don’t.”

Fr. Scanlon is one of the first group and his life’s work has been enormously effective in restoring many people of his kind to leadership ranks in the Church in our hemisphere, in addition to his more basic and equally effective goal of helping people to meet and fall in love with Christ.

 

[debraran]

Here’s one link about him and his epiphany with the Holy Spirit.
stveronica.com/?p=606

Does anyone remember his story of his encounter with God and a miracle? It might be in Fr. Groechel’s new book but it was discussed on EWTN’s Franciscan Univ show with the roundtable of professors and priests.
It was very inspriational but I’m having a mental block now about what happned.