Franciscans of Life become independent community

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I have mixed feelings. Your community has been granted a wonderful Superior… but now I cannot possibly disagree with you on the history of the rosary again. It would just be down right rude :p!
 
Laudate_Dominum said:
I have mixed feelings. Your community has been granted a wonderful Superior… but now I cannot possibly disagree with you on the history of the rosary again. It would just be down right rude!
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:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

I’m not sure if the brothers agree about a wonderful superior. Already into our third day and I’ve gotten:
  1. “Do you mean that?” :eek:
  2. “What did you just say?” :confused:
  3. “I think I’m in trouble.” 😦
and
  1. “I guess that look means I can’t.” :nope:
Oh yeah, tonight, while planing a vocation weekend I got, “Father, focus!” That one was funny and I really was tired.

I don’t think we’ll be able to get into too many long arguments at all. I’m always tired these days.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV 🙂
 
JReducation said:
I’m not sure if the brothers agree about a wonderful superior. Already into our third day and I’ve gotten:
  1. “Do you mean that?” :eek:
  2. “What did you just say?” :confused:
  3. “I think I’m in trouble.” 😦
and
  1. “I guess that look means I can’t.” :nope:
Oh yeah, tonight, while planing a vocation weekend I got, “Father, focus!” That one was funny and I really was tired.

I don’t think we’ll be able to get into too many long arguments at all. I’m always tired these days.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV 🙂
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:rotfl: Don’t argue at all, just give 'em the “look.”

Praying for you and your community. :gopray2:
 
JReducation said:
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

I’m not sure if the brothers agree about a wonderful superior. Already into our third day and I’ve gotten:
  1. “Do you mean that?” :eek:
  2. “What did you just say?” :confused:
  3. “I think I’m in trouble.” 😦
and
  1. “I guess that look means I can’t.” :nope:
Oh yeah, tonight, while planing a vocation weekend I got, “Father, focus!” That one was funny and I really was tired.

I don’t think we’ll be able to get into too many long arguments at all. I’m always tired these days.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV 🙂
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So Br. JR, do you have anyone helping you with formation or are you doing it all yourself at your house?
 
Thank you all for your prayers and warm wishes. Please keep those prayers coming. Don’t congratulate us yet. We still have to prove ourselves to the Church. This is just a trial to determine if we can survive. Survival depends on prayer, vocations, good men, and finances.

Finances, don’t worry me. God has plenty of money. Prayer, I know that all of you are praying for us. Vocations is always a concern in this day and age where the culture of death seems to be taking a stronger grip of our nation and the world each day. Everyone knows about the HHS mandate. What many people do not know is that the State of Florida, in which we serve, has found a legal loophole for euthanasia. Catholics and non Catholics are buying into it, because the wording sounds good. The long and the short of it is that the law now says that food and water are extraordinary forms of medical care. First it was a feeding tube was extraordinary. Suddenly, feeding tube disappeared from the text. No one was asked. The citizens of the state don’t even know that the law exists.

However, when you are admitted to a hospital, you are given a living will and a form to name your surrogate. If you don’t read carefully, you miss two important lines. The one says that you do not want extraordinary measures to extend your life. Since food and water are not extraordinary, you have just signed those away as well. In addition, the word “extend” is used instead of “save your life.” By using “extend” the patient feels morally obliged to spare his loved ones the trouble, as if attempting to save a live is a problem to be avoided.

We have to educate patients, relatives and even healthcare providers. Many healthcare providers are not well educated in moral law. They are truly good people who want to do the best for their patients. If they don’t have a moral compass, they follow the State’s compass, which always seems to point south. We need both, secular and religious brothers to flood the field with educators and counselors on the life issues and on the Church’s moral teaching.
 
TrueLight said:
So Br. JR, do you have anyone helping you with formation or are you doing it all yourself at your house?
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Yes, I have appointed another brother to work with me. I will finish the current class that I’ve been forming. He will take over the new class on the Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe, patron of pro-life ministry, August 14th.

We had a rather funny dialogue over this.

JR: Effective immediately, you will work with me in formation. On August 14, you will take over the new class of postulants and novices.

BK: I don’t know how to do that.

JR: I don’t remember asking you if you know how to do that.

BK: No, Father, you didn’t ask. I just thought I’d let you knkow.

JR: What’s there to know?

BK: Father, if I knew what there is to know, then I wouldn’t say, “I don’t know how to do that.”

JR: I see. Let me ask you a question. Did you have a good novice master?

BK: Yes Father, you were my novice master.

JR: Did I teach you anything?

BK: Yes Father, everything.

JR: You’re telling me that I didn’t do a very good job in forming you?

BK: No Father, I would never say that.

JR: You have permission to speak freely.

BK: In all honesty Father, my formation was excellent, I grew in prayer, love of the Blessed Sacrament, the Church, my brothers and I began to see the Crucified Christ in the voices, something I never saw before. I also learned the value of penance.

JR: Do you think that you have these down to an art form?

BK: No Father, not at all. I still struggle. But I know which direction I need to go. I just get up and try again as you taught me.

JR: So what’s the part that you don’t know?

BK: I guess thee isn’t one Father. I guess I’m just scared.

At which point I give him a hug an whisper in his ear.

JR: We can be scared together. I have no idea how I’m going to lead our brothers. But the beauty of Franciscan brotherhood is that no one has be to scared alone.

BK: You’re scared Father, of what? You have leukemia, a heart condition and diabetes, yet you get up each morning as if there was nothing wrong with the world. I can’t believe that you’re scared.

JR: Ahhh . . . see that’s your mistake. You’re looking for me to give signs that there is something wrong in the world. The truth is that the world is as beautiful today as it was on the day of Creation. Thee is nothing wrong with the world. Whatever is wrong, be in the mind, soul or body, is within us. Of course I can get up as if there is nothing wrong with the world and still be scared about what’s wrong with. Let me tell you something. I haven’t outlived all of the doctor’s time line by shear accident. I’ve outlived them, because I can tolerate the things that frighten me for the sake of the voiceless and in atonement for those who sin against he Incarnate Christ. Then, fear becomes a precious peal that one offers back to God.

BK: Father, permission to speak freely?

JR: Go ahead.

BK: I hate it when you’re right.

JR: So you will accept the assignment?

BK: You never asked. You told me.

JR: Yes, I know. That’s why they call it the “practice of obedience.” Unless we practice it, how are we going to get it as right as Jesus and Mary?

BK: There you go again, being right. If thee is no more Father, may I be excused before I get into deeper waters.

I share these things not to reveal confidentiality, but to help those who live outside of the walls of religious communities see and understand how human we truly are. People often think that religious life is like the movies. Others think it’s hell on earth. Then most think that it has nothing to teach the layman other than doctrines. Mos tpeople see what priests and sisters do. Very few people know how brothers live. My hope is to share a very ancient form of life that has been part of the Church since the time of John the Apostle, the relgious brother, which underwent many changes as it evolved, but the essence remains the same, to embrace the cross for the sake of love, love of God and love of neighbor.

Fraternally,

Br.JR, FFV 🙂
 
Several prayers to you Brother JR, and to your community. Thank you for your contributions here, but especially for your tireless efforts to spread the message of the Gospel of Life.
 
JReducation said:
I’m not sure if this goes here or not. However, since I have one or two friends in Tradom, I wanted to share good news and not so good news.

First the good news:

My community, Fratres Franciscani Vitae (Franciscan Brothers of Life, a community of men that began with three Franciscans is growing and received the blessing of the Archbishop of Miami to exercise its ministry in that diocese, open houses, continue receiving vocations, form more brothers and receive the profession of vows in the name of the Church. We are now an autonomous institute.

The Brothers of Life, as we are affectionately called, are the voice of Christ to those who need to hear his voice and the voice of the voiceless (unborn, immigrant poor, chronically and terminally ill, elderly and people with disabilities). The brothers serve in crisis pregnancy centers as counselors and educators. We started Project Joseph, an education program for fathers contemplating abortion and we work with about 30 fathers per month. Our brothers work at a Catholic hospital as chaplains, where they educate doctors, nurses, patients and their families on the right to life of every human being, especially the terminally ill. They spend the nights in prayer with relatives and patients waiting for God to call the patient home.

The brothers also serve the immigrant poor, providing them with material assistance: clothing, furniture, food, medication, medical care, dental care and transportation. We evangelize through unconditional love and mercy. As our Holy Father Francis, we let our walking do our talking. You’d be surprised at the number of questions that people have after they get to know the brothers.

The unborn get special attention from us. We “adopt” every preborn child. During the pregnancy, the brothers pray for the child and the parents who are debating whether or not to keep the child. We offer to stay with the child until the age of two. We provide medical care, food, clothing, baby supplies, baby furniture and parenting classes for moms and dads where they can earn parent dollars to buy these things for their babies. We are there 24/7 when a parent wants us. Along with protecting the life of the unborn, the other most important mission of the brothers is to educate parents on the meaning of family and marriage.

The elderly also get their share of attention. One of our brothers is especially good with the little old ladies. They love him to death, whether he’s taking Holy Communion to them or scrubbing their floor. We make it a special point to ensure that every older person whom we know gets a visit from one of his or her adopted sons (brothers). We know that the elderly have a special place in God’s heart and in his plan of salvation. Were not Sara, Abraham, Elizabeth and Zechariah elderly? Where would we be without them? The elderly are essential to man’s salvation. The Mother of God herself rushed to the side of her elderly cousin in her time of need.

The brothers not only work. Our life is about prayer, Eucharist, penance, poverty, brotherhood with each other, devotion to the Blessed Mother. She is the virgin made church. Above all, we vow unquestioning obedience to the Church as practiced by our Holy Father. We renew the Church from within, not as her judge, but as her servants. We open our fraternity to secular men who wish to share in the life and charism of the brothers, while remaining in their homes. They are not subservient or an appendage to the fraternity. They are truly our brothers with equal rights and equal obligations to live the Gospel and to preach it through every gesture and every contact with the voiceless. They are to be the advocates of the voiceless, within the Church and society. They make the voiceless Christ heard. Who is the voiceless Christ? He is the one who says, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

The motto of the Franciscans of Life is “Vitam ad vitam vocat”

Now that not so good news:

Yours truly has been selected to be the Superior General. I have chosen a motto for my seal. **“Deus eligit stultus” (God chooses the fool). ** I ask for your prayers that I may serve my brothers as a mother cares for her newborn child, with tenderness, compassion, understanding, infinite love and patience and above all, obedient to the Father’s will for them, as Joseph and Mary were obedient to His will for their son.

The brothers know that my health is poor and that I’m living on borrowed time. I asked not be named Superior General; but God always has other plans. Pray for me, that I will suffer what I have to suffer for the sanctification of my brothers, the strengthening of their resolve to follow the poor and crucified Christ, and their fidelity to the Church. That is all that I can do for them. May God have mercy on my soul, for I am now responsible for the souls of others who are my sons and brothers.

I told the Lord, “You put me into this situation. I have no idea what I’m doing. You could have chosen someone healthier and more intelligent. What were you thinking? Well Lord, it doesn’t matter now. You’ve done it. Now you have to walk with me through the night and be my light.”

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
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This is wonderful news! I am so happy it is an independent community now. I am sure Miami will feel God’s loving embrace through you and your ministry.

Though you did not want to be Superior General, God knows what he is doing. Trusting in God on these matters is all we fragile beings can do.
 
Public question for Br JR (and this is nothing important but is simply a matter of personal curiosity): do the CFV and the CFR have any relation to one another?
 
JReducation said:
Yes, I have appointed another brother to work with me. I will finish the current class that I’ve been forming. He will take over the new class on the Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe, patron of pro-life ministry, August 14th.

We had a rather funny dialogue over this.
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Wow. You’re tough!
 
Melchior said:
Several prayers to you Brother JR, and to your community. Thank you for your contributions here, but especially for your tireless efforts to spread the message of the Gospel of Life.
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I hope that we can all join together to defend the dignity of life. We don’t have to do great things. Even every person of faith just shared his or her belief that life is sacred and that no human being is a problem, that would be a great start. The oceans were created out of droplets of rain and look at them now.
malphono said:
Public question for Br JR (and this is nothing important but is simply a matter of personal curiosity): do the CFV and the CFR have any relation to one another?
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CFV? Did you FFV? Yes. The CFR came out an the Capuchins. I came out of the Capuchins and the two who began with me came out of the Secular Franciscans. As you can see, we come from the same tree. It’s what I call Franciscan succession. One group gives birth to the next.

We all follow the same rule. The difference is in the constitution. Since Francis wrote the rule in the 13th century, many things have happened since then that he never dreamed of. Questions arose as to how to deal with these new situations. The brothers did not always agree. Therefore, the began to group according to how each group thought Francis would want the order to deal with each new event. The rules for dealing with new things were written down. But the Rule of St. Francis cannot be touched or amended by anyone except a Pope. Popes have never allowed it to be touched. There is a standing order that the rule be accepted as revealed truth (private) that binds the Franciscan family.

So, those guidelines for new situations are put together in what is called a constitution. That’s where we differ. Our constitutions are different. The CFR do not use Internet. We do, because it’s a way of getting the Gospel of Life out to large numbers of people and a way of staying on top of what’s happening. The CFR do street ministry. We don’t. The people who are most affected by the culture of death are the unborn, sick, elderly, disabled and immigrant poor.

There are guidelines for these different situation in the constitutions of each group. Francis never foresaw any of these situations. Also the CFR are a fully establish congregation. The next step is to become a community of Pontifical Right. We’re where they were 20 years ago. We have a simple blessing, permission and command to go out and do what God calls us to do. When we have grown, the Church will give us a higher status.
TrueLight said:
Wow. You’re tough!
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I’m very traditional.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV
 
God Bless you and may Francis be with you and all the brothers! We are at a time when the Church can use brothers to defend life. Thank you also for helping me on my journey on these message boards. Peace and all Good!

Matt O.F.S.
 
Brother JR, you are always in my prayers, and I will never forget what you have done for me.

Now, go pass out the hair shirts to your community!!
 
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