Our March Gathering
We will hold our monthly gathering on Sunday, March 8th at 12:30 pm 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.
Fair Share
A second envelope for the Fair Share is enclosed. The Fair Share will remain the same at $30. The Fair Share is not meant to be a hardship on anyone. If your financial circumstances makes it hard to pay please let a council member know.
Communion Breakfast
Don’t forget, May will be our annual communion breakfast. Details to follow in the newsletter and at the April Meeting. As usual, our May gathering will be the first Sunday of the month instead of the second to accommodate Mother’s Day.
Prayer Petitions
Please contact Antoinette if you would like to include a petition in the newsletter. A new list will be generated each month.
- Charlie – Kidney Transplant
- Thomas – Employment
- Suzanne – Test: Upper GI
- Rosa – Brain Tumor
- Al & Nicole – Heroin Addition
- Bob (90) – Poor Health
- Frank – Kidney Surgery
- Mary – Hip Surgery
- Theresa – Return to the Sacraments
- Joe – Aeorta Surgery
St. Francis Inn Needs
- Spaghetti Sauce
- #4, 5, 6 Pampers
- Toothpaste
- Pine Sol (Not Pine Glo)
- Prayers
Mothers’ Home Mornings Apostolate
After giving careful consideration to this apostolate, the council has decided that our monthly visits to the Mothers’ Home are not the best fit for the capabilities of our fraternity. We are prayerfully considering possibilities for other apostolates and would appreciate any ideas you might have. We will continue to find ways to help meet the Mothers’ Home’s material needs and will continue to invite their residents and staff to our Christmas celebration.
Formation Information
In March we will take a little break in our journey through the Secular Franciscan Rule and try something a little different. Please take time before our gathering to prayerfully comptemplate these three passages that recently came up during our candidate’s formation.
The moment of Profession is a specific moment. It doesn’t just happen. It is prepared for and is joyfully anticipated. It is specific, so that we know exactly what is happening and why. It is a moment not to be forgotten, whose impact is transformational and dictates all we do and say from the moment of profession on. Fr. Felice says that it is the “foundational moment in the identity of the Professed.†This moment changes everything.
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Cangelosi puts it this way, “ They, [the candidates] by promising to live the Gospel life, make themselves entirely available to God and place their own bodies (persons) on the altar of Christ’s sacrifice, as a holy victim pleasing to God.†Whew! I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty heady stuff! When was the last time you even thought that’s what you did on your Profession day? The connection between the act/event of Profession and the dynamic of the Eucharist are very clear. These two sacrifices — that of Christ the priest and that of the newlyProfessed — are lives offered to God, and they are made real at one and the same time. I underlined the phrase — “entirely available to God†because that’s where the sacrifice comes in. Day in and day out, both when convenient and inconvenient, in good times and in bad – the Professed Secular Franciscan is to place him/herself at God’s disposal.
~ Fr. Richard Trezza, O.F.M. Profession and the Secular Franciscan Theological and Liturgical Foundations
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Dearest brothers and sisters, just think of the decisive influence we could have for changing the world if all the 500,000 Secular Franciscans, scattered around the world in some 111 countries, lived their vocation to the full.
~ Fr. Benedetto Lino, A Specific Vocation for a Particular Mission, OFS General Chapter 2011
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