From our June 2013 Newsletter

Our June Gathering

We will hold our monthly gathering on Sunday, June 9th, 2013 in Conway Hall. We will participate in ongoing formation, recite the Franciscan Crown Rosary and, after our regular meeting and prayers, we will proceed to St. Francis Church for Benediction.

If you are unable to fulfill your obligation to attend the monthly meeting, please call Pat Simon at 610-352-5390

Formation Information

Our June ongoing formation session will focus on the first two pages and the first paragraph of page three of the paper Finding Identity as a Secular Franciscan by Edward M. Zablocki, OFS. We will discuss the rest of the paper in July. If you were at the May meeting, you should have gotten a copy of this paper as well as the handout with all the information you need to prepare. If you don’t have the handout or the paper but have web access, you can download them from this page on the fraternity’s website: http://www.stfrancisfraternity.org/ongoing-formation. If you don’t have internet, contact Lee and he’ll try to get it to you before the meeting.

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Some other quotes of interest:

Article 7 of the Rule: United by their vocation as “brothers and sisters of penance” and motivated by the dynamic power of the gospel, let them conform their thoughts and deeds to those of Christ by means of that radical interior change which the gospel calls “conversion.” Human frailty makes it necessary that this conversion be carried out daily. 

On this road to renewal the sacrament of reconciliation is the privileged sign of the Father’s mercy and the source of grace.

From The General Constitution of the Secular Franciscan Order: 

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Article 13

1. Rule 7 Secular Franciscans, called in earlier times “the brothers and sisters of penance”, propose to live in the spirit of continual conversion. Some means to cultivate this characteristic of the Franciscan vocation, individually and in fraternity, are: listening to and celebrating the Word of God; review of life; spiritual retreats; the help of a spiritual adviser, and penitential celebrations. They should approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation frequently and participate in the communal celebration of it, whether in the fraternity, or with the whole people of God [12] .

2. In this spirit of conversion, they should live out their love for the renewal of the Church, which should be accompanied by personal and communal renewal. The fruits of conversion, which is a response to the love of God, are the works of charity in the interactions with the brothers and sisters [13] .

3. Traditional among Franciscan penitents, penitential practices such as fasting and abstinence should be known, appreciated, and lived out according to the general guidelines of the Church.