Franciscans of Life become independent community

[JReducation]

Just saw this thread. Congrats for you and your Order. It is a blessing to the entire Franciscan brotherhood. The big downside that I see is that this will probably mean less time on here.

I hope that your duties of leadership can be well balanced with your prayer life.

Pax et bonum

First of all, thank my brother. We’re not an order yet. In fact, we’re neither fish nor fowl. Anyone who is a professed Franciscan will be on leave from the community, but still attached by profession. We have to grow into a stable community and prove that we can do it relying only on God and our effort. The Church takes her time with these things, but she is very wise. The good thing is that the Vicar for Religious is such a wonderful source of help. She’s not controlling us. Instead, she gives suggestions and points to dangers along the road. I’m blessed to have her.

Just pray for me. This very morning I was asking Our Lady to help me to get ready for this task. I’m afraid and yet, I know that the Gospel of Life is God’s Will, since it’s the very Gospel itself. God simply wants us to look at the Gospel again and take special notice of the sacredness of life. It has always been there. Yet, in today’s world, we seem to have forgotten that part of the Gospel.

Leadership is a daunting mission, but I believe the most daunting of all is my personal weaknesses. I can’t see myself leading when I am such a fallen person. But the Lord has his plans. As I said before, I’ve chosen as my personal motto: “Deus eligit stultus” or “God chooses the foolish.” I’m reminded of the Jeremiah’s complaint “O LORD, You have deceived me and I was deceived; You have overcome me and prevailed,” (Jer 20:7).

I know that the first step in leadership is personal conversion. Please pray for me as I examine my life and try to root out the weeds.

As to my time here, I hope that it won’t be curtailed too much. We’re not a large fraternity. I’m seriously thinking that we need a greater Franciscan presence not only on CAF, but on all forms of media. Just look at what the Lord achieved through the Franciscan presence on EWTN. People often forget that EWTN is Franciscan at its core. Mother Angelica founded it based on the vision of St. Francis and St. Clare. That vision was and still is to bring the Church to the people and to convert Catholics back to Christianity.

Francis was always the missionary to the common Catholic, unlike our beloved Dominican brothers who were the missionaries to the theologians and the heretics. Clare’s vision was not a life disconnected from the world, like that of the Benedictine nuns. Her vision was a life lived in silence and solitude in adoration for the world. While Francis brought the Church to the common man, Clare spent her days adoring the Blessed Sacrament for those who did not do so.

In the 13th century the common man gathered in the market place and the town square to discuss life’s events, to rant, to plan, to celebrate and to fraternize. Today, the Internet is the market and the town square of the common man. We go where Francis would go, to the market and the town square. That’s my hope.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV

 

[Melchior_1]

I’m seriously thinking that we need a greater Franciscan presence not only on CAF, but on all forms of media. Just look at what the Lord achieved through the Franciscan presence on EWTN. People often forget that EWTN is Franciscan at its core. Mother Angelica founded it based on the vision of St. Francis and St. Clare. That vision was and still is to bring the Church to the people and to convert Catholics back to Christianity.

Francis was always the missionary to the common Catholic, unlike our beloved Dominican brothers who were the missionaries to the theologians and the heretics. Clare’s vision was not a life disconnected from the world, like that of the Benedictine nuns. Her vision was a life lived in silence and solitude in adoration for the world. While Francis brought the Church to the common man, Clare spent her days adoring the Blessed Sacrament for those who did not do so.

In the 13th century the common man gathered in the market place and the town square to discuss life’s events, to rant, to plan, to celebrate and to fraternize. Today, the Internet is the market and the town square of the common man. We go where Francis would go, to the market and the town square. That’s my hope.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV

This is something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about, myself. As someone who does IT and previously worked in the Television industry, there’s a wealth of ministry and evangelizing opportunities online and in the greater media. The Order of Preachers should have a larger footprint within the media though, and due to not being bound by collective poverty there’s no reason why it can’t happen.

And a better job can be done to promote Lay Apostates and Secular Orders. Despite that we have a college run by Dominicans here in town, no one except me knew that there was a Third Order of St. Dominic. I have noticed, however, that there are now three or four Secular Franciscan groups in my city alone…so maybe some things are changing a bit.

Maybe. But one thing at a time I suppose!

 

[Marauder]

I know that the first step in leadership is personal conversion. Please pray for me as I examine my life and try to root out the weeds.

Brother I will always be praying for you. When I posted my last post I re-wrote it several times. I was trying to think of a good “attack” in the format of the way that St. Francis liked his friends/brothers to “attack” him to keep him humble. I couldn’t think of anything that might not be viewed by those that outside the tradition from thinking that I was really attacking you.

I believe your group has picked the biggest “fool” among them to lead them and I am sure with St. Francis, St. Clare as your model and the Holy Spirit you will be able to have your group prosper in faith. Based on your example here I can’t see them in better hands.

I am glad to hear that you will continue to see this as one of your ministries.

Pax et bonum

 

[JReducation]

This is something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about, myself. As someone who does IT and previously worked in the Television industry, there’s a wealth of ministry and evangelizing opportunities online and in the greater media. The Order of Preachers should have a larger footprint within the media though, and due to not being bound by collective poverty there’s no reason why it can’t happen.

And a better job can be done to promote Lay Apostates and Secular Orders. Despite that we have a college run by Dominicans here in town, no one except me knew that there was a Third Order of St. Dominic. I have noticed, however, that there are now three or four Secular Franciscan groups in my city alone…so maybe some things are changing a bit.

Maybe. But one thing at a time I suppose!

The OPs have an online and TV presence. The thing is that the Dominican is not the popular preacher. By popular I mean the preacher for the blue collar sector. He never was. That was not Dominic’s vision. For that reason you will see new Franciscan Fraternities, religious and secular, popping up all over and less Dominicans. The Dominican attracts the man who seeks God through the intellect. The Franciscan is much more Augustinian. We seek God through the heart and then let the intellect figure out what the heck is going on.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV

 

[Melchior_1]

The OPs have an online and TV presence. The thing is that the Dominican is not the popular preacher. By popular I mean the preacher for the blue collar sector. He never was. That was not Dominic’s vision. For that reason you will see new Franciscan Fraternities, religious and secular, popping up all over and less Dominicans. The Dominican attracts the man who seeks God through the intellect. The Franciscan is much more Augustinian. We seek God through the heart and then let the intellect figure out what the heck is going on.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV

Interesting! I was led to believe that the Dominicans heavily dealt with the middle class and the blue collar workforce, at least from what I’ve been reading.

 

[JReducation]

Interesting! I was led to believe that the Dominicans heavily dealt with the middle class and the blue collar workforce, at least from what I’ve been reading.

Not to derail the thread, but we’re not talking about an socio-economic group, but a particular culture. One can be very wealthy and belong to the blue collar culture or be a working man and be an intellectual.

I hope that helps.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV

 

[Shoshana]

As pontiff, he likewise made the defence of life one of his priorities. A witness of the process of beatification recalled that one day John Paul II, while they were discussing this issue, gave him a penetrating look and raised one hand high in an extremely forceful gesture. Then he proclaimed: ‘We must take every imaginable against the abominable crime of abortion.’ The man froze: in that gesture and in that glare was the same energy that had inflamed his words of condemnation against the Mafia in the Valley of Temples in Agrigento, Sicily, and the same determination with which he had resisted the heckling of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua while he was celebrating Mass.
Why He is A saint, The Life and Faith of Pope John Paul 2 and the Case for Canonization, P56

 

[jwinch2]

As I said before, I’ve chosen as my personal motto: “Deus eligit stultus” or “God chooses the foolish.”

I remember Father Corapi saying back when he was on EWTN all the time when speaking about his own ministry, that Christ rode into Jerusalem on the back of a jackass, and he continues to do so to this day.

I always found that one pretty humorous.

On a serious note, I know you are going to do very well. Either way, I will definitely keep praying for you, and your community.

Peace

 

[Shoshana]

I remember Father Corapi saying back when he was on EWTN all the time when speaking about his own ministry, that Christ rode into Jerusalem on the back of a jackass, and he continues to do so to this day.

I always found that one pretty humorous.

On a serious note, I know you are going to do very well. Either way, I will definitely keep praying for you, and your community.

Peace

He would be the first to admit this!

 

[Credo_in_Deum]

I remember Father Corapi saying back when he was on EWTN all the time when speaking about his own ministry, that Christ rode into Jerusalem on the back of a jackass, and he continues to do so to this day.

I always found that one pretty humorous.

On a serious note, I know you are going to do very well. Either way, I will definitely keep praying for you, and your community.

Peace

My priest when giving a sermon on vocations to the priesthood said: “If you feel you are not talented enough or smart enough for the priesthood just keep in mind, the only Apostle that appeared to have the talents and education sufficient for the job was Judas”.

My prayers are with you and your brothers, Br. JR.

 

[JReducation]

The good news is that we have received four applications in two days. There is a rise in the number of men who are interested in becoming religious brothers. I believe that two things are happening at once. The austere life is an attraction to many men. For many years, religious men fell into what I call “The Middle Class Mentality”.

They did not live in the lap of luxury, but the truth is that they lived more comfortably than the poor and with less worries than the middle class. No one worried about rent, utilities, food, clothing, gas prices, etc. Most religious men were priests; therefore, they served in parishes. Parishes always provided housing, transportation, office staff and space. You even got a room to yourself.

The trend in the renewal movement is to go back to the 13th century. There are no more parishes with comfortable rectories or monasteries with large libraries and big pantries with lots of food. There are small houses with two or three men to a room, a normal kitchen, furniture from the Salvation Army, clothes from St.Vincent de Paul, food from the food pantry and in some houses, there are not enough beds, so some people sleep on the floor.

There is no big chapel with pretty windows and the smell of wax. There is a small room with an altar, tabernacle, crucifix, statue of St. Francis and the Blessed Mother and maybe, a few chairs. It is immaculately clean, serene, and inviting, but it’s not St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Those beautiful chapels are part of the monastic tradition, not the poor Franciscans.

Today’s religious is very much into community prayer and community life. There is not a housekeeper to do the shopping. One of the friars does the shopping, like every other family and he goes bargain hunting, like every other working man. There are no more lay brothers who wash dishes, do laundry, mow the lawn, do the gardening, answer the door and take care of the sacristy. Everyone’s name is on the chore list, like any other family. This week, the superior general may be the one doing the cooking or scrubbing toilets. If you have to do something else, you have to figure out how to get the job done or trade places with someone.

Friars don’t just open the door and go for a walk, You ask for permission to leave the house, unless you’re going to walk on the grounds. If you don’t ask for permission, you put up a note on the bulletin board that says where you are and when you’ll be back. There is a sense of accountability to your brothers. The mindset of the 70s and 80s that “I’m an adult and should not need permission to go for a walk,” no longer rings true. What happened was that these so called adults came and went as they pleased. The cook would prepare a meal for 10 and 6 would show up. The other four adults were out and no one knew where or when they would return. Not a very responsible way of living.

The second thing that is happening is the stigma of being a religious brother is disappearing. There were the days when the parish priest and the school sister would tell young men, “If you can’t make the grade, it’s OK. You can be a brother.” Today, there are brothers with doctorates in theology, philosophy, medicine, science. There are brothers who run parishes, preach retreats, do spiritual direction, run religious education, serve as hospital chaplains, are superiors over entire communities or are on the community council. The there are others who are artists, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics, cooks at a soup kitchen, sidewalk counselors, youth ministers or secretaries. These are talented men who put their talents at Christ’s disposal for the benefit of his people. As Pope Benedict said in 2010, “Had it not been for a simple brother in the Middle Ages, the Church would have collapsed. There was nothing that the pope and the clergy could do. It was Brother Francis of Assisi who led the renewal of the Church.” This gave a big boost to men who are looking at religious life.

At WYD, he spoke to the seminarians and religious and expressed his disappointment that the brothers had not been invited to the mass for religious. It was only seminarians, religious priests and sisters. Someone told him. He said, “The brother holds an essential place in the life of the Church that no other Christian can fill. His vocation is a complete vocation that is neither clergy nor lay. The Church owes much to the many brothers who cared for the sick and who educated us priests.” That made the brothers feel loved and wanted in the Church.

This feeling of being loved and wanted, is attracting men. They feel that they can become part of the Church and have a place and purpose. Every human being needs a place and a purpose. God does not create people without a mission for them.

I believe that the Lord is going to keep sending us men. We’re never going back to the days with novitiate classes of 30 and 40. Those days are over. That was a 20th century phenomenon that had never happened before and may never happen again. But with smaller communities, there is also greater knowledge of each other as men and more fraternity. You can’t hide in a house of three.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV

 

[Shoshana]

Wow…makes me want to join!

 

[ThatOneGuy92]

May the Lord bless the Franciscans of Life, that they may have the grace to do what they are called to do. And may the Lord bless you, Brother, that you might be given the grace to do what you are called to do.

Pray for me, a poor sinner.

 

[JReducation]

May the Lord bless the Franciscans of Life, that they may have the grace to do what they are called to do. And may the Lord bless you, Brother, that you might be given the grace to do what you are called to do.

Pray for me, a poor sinner.

OK Tim, let me get this straight. You want me to pray for you “a poor sinner”?

I will certainly pray for you, not because you’re a poor sinner, but because I’m always your brother.

I teach my novices to pray for our brothers and sisters, not for sinners. Why not? Because we have all betrayed Him. None of us has the right to put the scarlet S on another person.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV

 

[ThatOneGuy92]

OK Tim, let me get this straight. You want me to pray for you “a poor sinner”?

I will certainly pray for you, not because you’re a poor sinner, but because I’m always your brother.

I teach my novices to pray for our brothers and sisters, not for sinners. Why not? Because we have all betrayed Him. None of us has the right to put the scarlet S on another person.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV

 

[jeannetherese]

“As to my time here, I hope that it won’t be curtailed too much. We’re not a large fraternity. I’m seriously thinking that we need a greater Franciscan presence not only on CAF, but on all forms of media.
Francis was always the missionary to the common Catholic…”(JReducation)

Hello Brother JR- Perhaps you might find a way to use a few of us ‘common Catholics’ to provide support so that your fraternity can maximise its effectiveness. There are quite a few tecchies on the forum who might be willing to put some vacation time/volunteer hours into providing support and others (like myself who are technically challenged) who might be able to provide not-technical support to your efforts. If my memory serves me correctly, volunteers were helpful to Mother Angelica’s work. If you put a few ideas or hopes in your posts, readers may have all sorts of responses, some of which may prove useful. Or, depending on how centralized things get, you might extend an invitation (accompanied by a list of tasks you hope to accomplish in a given location) and see if people are in a positon to respond.
May God bless us all!

 

[Melchior_1]

“As to my time here, I hope that it won’t be curtailed too much. We’re not a large fraternity. I’m seriously thinking that we need a greater Franciscan presence not only on CAF, but on all forms of media.
Francis was always the missionary to the common Catholic…”(JReducation)

Hello Brother JR- Perhaps you might find a way to use a few of us ‘common Catholics’ to provide support so that your fraternity can maximise its effectiveness. There are quite a few tecchies on the forum who might be willing to put some vacation time/volunteer hours into providing support and others (like myself who are technically challenged) who might be able to provide not-technical support to your efforts. If my memory serves me correctly, volunteers were helpful to Mother Angelica’s work. If you put a few ideas or hopes in your posts, readers may have all sorts of responses, some of which may prove useful. Or, depending on how centralized things get, you might extend an invitation (accompanied by a list of tasks you hope to accomplish in a given location) and see if people are in a positon to respond.
May God bless us all!

I’ve extended the offer to help Brother JR a few times now. The offer, as always, still stands. I’m sure they can make use of a MCITP Enterprise Administrator who also has a multimedia background. I’m sure there’s several other folks here who would help as well.

I don’t think the new degree I’m working towards will be too helpful though; I doubt people who take vows of individual and collective poverty need e-Commerce students to help with monies.

 

[JReducation]

“As to my time here, I hope that it won’t be curtailed too much. We’re not a large fraternity. I’m seriously thinking that we need a greater Franciscan presence not only on CAF, but on all forms of media.
Francis was always the missionary to the common Catholic…”(JReducation)

Hello Brother JR- Perhaps you might find a way to use a few of us ‘common Catholics’ to provide support so that your fraternity can maximise its effectiveness. There are quite a few tecchies on the forum who might be willing to put some vacation time/volunteer hours into providing support and others (like myself who are technically challenged) who might be able to provide not-technical support to your efforts. If my memory serves me correctly, volunteers were helpful to Mother Angelica’s work. If you put a few ideas or hopes in your posts, readers may have all sorts of responses, some of which may prove useful. Or, depending on how centralized things get, you might extend an invitation (accompanied by a list of tasks you hope to accomplish in a given location) and see if people are in a positon to respond.
May God bless us all!

Thank you. There is a lot to be done for the voiceless. I have always wanted to keep up a blog on the voiceless. I started one, but it takes time to write something each week. I’m remembering St. Maximilian Kolbe who had his magazine to make the Immaculate known. There is the foundress of the Daughters of St. Paul, Mother Thecla and how they used the media to spread the Gospel.

I’ve extended the offer to help Brother JR a few times now. The offer, as always, still stands. I’m sure they can make use of a MCITP Enterprise Administrator who also has a multimedia background. I’m sure there’s several other folks here who would help as well.

I don’t think the new degree I’m working towards will be too helpful though; I doubt people who take vows of individual and collective poverty need e-Commerce students to help with monies.

I know you have. We’re such a tiny community that I don’t know how to begin. I always welcome idea on how to get the message out there.

PS. Common Catholic == is not meant to be condescending. It means the common man. Francis was not the preacher to the theologians, philosophers and scholars, but to the man in the pews or the one who was not in the pews, but should be. His message was very simple. “God loves us so much, how can we not love him in return.”

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV

 

[jeannetherese]

PS. Common Catholic == is not meant to be condescending. It means the common man. Francis was not the preacher to the theologians, philosophers and scholars, but to the man in the pews or the one who was not in the pews, but should be. His message was very simple. “God loves us so much, how can we not love him in return.”

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV

No offence taken. With my limited computing skills, nowadays, I’m feeling most uncommon technology wise. I was thinking of us common Catholics as everyday people who would love a chance to help another person do something beautiful for God.
As you are pointing out with your small community, figuring out where to start is the first challenge. Maybe you could start your blog by sharing with us the everyday life of your community and add some stories about the man/woman in the pew/on the street as s/he relates to your community and its charism?

 

[TrueLight]

The OPs have an online and TV presence. The thing is that the Dominican is not the popular preacher. By popular I mean the preacher for the blue collar sector. He never was. That was not Dominic’s vision. For that reason you will see new Franciscan Fraternities, religious and secular, popping up all over and less Dominicans. The Dominican attracts the man who seeks God through the intellect. The Franciscan is much more Augustinian. We seek God through the heart and then let the intellect figure out what the heck is going on.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV

Br. Jr, one more small little derailment if you don’t mind.

I know you know more about St. Dominic and Dominicans than I do at this point, but…

I don’t know if the above is a fair characterization. St Dominic was a man of prayer and intellect. He definitely also sought God from the heart. He would often cry about the fate of lost souls, when praying (which I’m sure you know).

To his brethren, Dominic was exemplary in mortification, doctrine and contemplation. Three times each night, he would whip himself to blood, once for his own salvation, a second time for sinners, and a third for departed souls. Later, other Dominican saints would do the same. Dominic habitually wept for sinners, in the towns he passed, while celebrating Mass, and during his vigils. He was heard crying: O Lord, what will become of sinners? Often on the road, he would either instruct his companions or wander off to pray. His most evident characteristic was that he always spoke to God in prayer or about God to others.
op-stjoseph.org/hist-dom2.html

Yes, Dominic felt it was very important from the beginning that the Order of Preachers had men who were well versed in scripture, theology and general knowledge to better be able to preach.

I’m reading the Short History of the Dominican Order, which describes how similar the Franciscans and Dominicans now.

It says, "Dominicans imitate Christ the preacher who was poor while Franciscans follow Christ the poor man who preached the good news.