Epiphany Party

Our meeting on Sunday, January 3 will be a celebration of Christ birth with song, a skit, and Franciscan joy. Please plan on coming to this meeting and bring a special snack to share. Joe Stetzel, our fraternity minister, ask that you be generous with your contributions of diapers, baby wipes and other needs of the Holy Family Shelter. The fraternity will be making a monetary donation to the shelter.

Liturgy of the Hours

At our December 6th meeting please bring your book of Christian prayer as we will recite the Liturgy of the Hours. For those who do not have a Christian prayer book we will have copies available.

Father John Sullivan, OFM to Visit Fraternity

Father John Sullivan, OFM will be present at our February 7 meeting to view our meeting and assess our vitality. He will speak for a short time and usually has much to share with us.

Discussion Topics for Future Meetings

December 6th meeting will be led by Sheila Gilbert, who will cover Article 15, Promoting justice”, pg 143-150.

Leaders for future meetings are needed beginning with the February meeting. Articles 17, 19, & 20 need facilitators. Please share your Franciscan charism with your brothers and sisters.

Volunteers Needed for Holy Family Shelter

Our fraternity is responsible for serving the lunch on the first Saturday of each month at 1:00 pm. Volunteers from the fraternity need to arrive at 12:00 and are done at 2:00 pm.The residents are very grateful for receiving this simple meal. Contact Mary Stickelmaier, SFO at 255-8850 or mstickelmaier@aol.com to help with this ministry. Holy Family has moved and is now located next to Holy Trinity Church on Holmes Avenue on the Westside.

Continued focus on St. Bonaventure

Currently I am reading "On the Reduction of the Arts to Theology" by St. Bonaventure. It should be required reading at every Franciscan college or university. Bonaventure shows how everything, including all knowledge proceeds from God, should serve God, and return to God. For St. Bonaventure we are truly part of a circle of life.

Franciscan Morning and Evening Praise

For a long time, I have been looking for something that would combine daily Gospel readings, prayer, and quotes from the writings of St. Francis, St. Clare, Thomas of Celano, St. Bonaventure and others. I also wanted to use something that was used by other Franciscans. I found it. Franciscan Morning and Evening Praise is simply awesome. It was well worth the wait. You can order a copy from the Franciscan Federation. Unfortunately, the book is sold out. So, you could be waiting for awhile.

(Now, if I could only get that little leather shop in Assisi, Italy to make a nice leather bookcover for it. The book is 8-6/8" Height X 5-6/8" Width X 1-5/8" Thick.)

A Forty-Day Retreat with Bonaventure, Francis, and Clare

Tomorrow morning I will finish The Journey into God by Josef Raischl, SFO and Andre' Cirino, OFM. The subtitle is "A Forty-Day Retreat with Bonaventure, Francis, and Clare." I have read it several times and each time it gets better and better. The Journey into God by Raischl and Cirino is a reflective commentary on The Journey of the Human Person into God, which was written by St. Bonaventure in the 13th Century. St. Bonaventure was the second founder of the Franciscan Movement. He was proclaimed a saint on April 14, 1482 and Seraphic Doctor on March 14, 1588.

Unity Day - Saturday, August 8

Unity Day, the annual gathering of secular Franciscans in the Our Lady of Indiana Region, is scheduled for Saturday, August 8 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at St. Joan of Arc Church, 3155 S. County Road 200 West in Kokomo, Indiana, 46902.

This year the focus is on the 800th Anniversary of the Franciscan Movement. There will be a special presentation on Assisi.

I really like having Unity Day at St. Joan of Arc Church. It has an awesome view of the lake and flowers on the patio are fantastic. I like this event because it brings so many Franciscans together to talk, laugh, learn, and eat! Usually somewhere between 125 to 175 secular Franciscan attend. Kathleen White, the region's formation director, always brings a lot of Franciscan books that are offered for sale at cost. And, Frank Vargo, our regional minister, will be doing some grilling. Hot dogs and hamburgers are on the menu. It will be a cookout! I definitely will be there. (I am supposed to bring the condiments, i.e., mustard, ketchup, mayo, etc.) Everyone is invited. Each fraternity is encouraged to bring a food item to share. (We always have a lot of cookies.)

Someone showed me a copy of Franciscan Morning and Evening Praise. So, they are now available. Whew! What a project! Hopefully, I will get my hands on one soon.

Today, July 15 is the Feast of St. Bonaventure. It is also my oldest son's birthday!

Still reading Bonaventure

It has been awhile since my last posting. I am still reading things written by St. Bonaventure. Right now I am slowly re-reading The Soul's Journey into God. There is so much in it.  Some things should be read and re-read.

It has been awhile....

Yes, it has been awhile. I have been busy.

I just finished a series of online courses on Franciscan spirituality through the University of St. Francis in Joliet, IL. The instructor was Sister Margaret Klotz, OSF. I enjoyed all four courses.

Beside taking the online courses, since January, I have been focusing on St. Bonaventure. His sermons on St. Francis and on Christ are awesome. They are so clear.

Right now, I am re-reading St. Bonaventure's The Life of St. Francis. Then I will re-read the Tree of Life. After that, I will re-read The Soul's Journey into God. This is the sequence recommended by Ewert Cousins, Emeritus Professor of Theology at Fordham University where he taught for forty years. His speciality is St. Bonaventure.

St. Bonaventure urges his readers to go slow and "mull things over." No point rushing. That is what I intend to do.

From a Sermon by St. Bonaventure

St. Bonaventure is often referred to as the second founder of the Franciscan movement. He is a doctor of the Church. Currently, I am reading his sermons on St. Francis that are in Volume II of Francis of Assisi: Early Documents. I came across this one-liner in his fourth sermon and thought I would share it with others:

"Life according to the Gospel consists in self-denial, purity, simplicity, and every form of kindness." (FA:ED Vol II, pg. 756.)

Commentary on the "Office of the Passion" by St. Francis of Assisi

Updated March 2018

The more time I spend with the "Office of the Passion" the more I am impressed with it and St. Francis. It is a powerful overview of Franciscan theology. Anyone praying the Office would say these prayers seven times a day: bedtime, midnight, sunrise, 9:00 a.m., noon, 3:00 p.m. and sunset. Here are a few things that caught my attention.

First, the Office begins with the Our Father prayer or "The Prayer Inspired by the Our Father," a reflection on the Our Father prayer. Instead of quickly zipping through the Our Father prayer, like I tend to do, Francis is taking time to think deeply about it, i.e., ruminating. Note that when he reflects on "your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" Francis borrows language from the opening of "The First Version of the Letter to the Faithful," which also is the prologue to the current SFO Rule.

Second, time and time again, Francis says God is the source of all good. This is conveyed early in "The Prayer Inspired by the Our Father" and at the end of "The Praises To Be Said at All the Hours." In the "The Praises To Be Said at All the Hours" and the short concluding prayer of the Office we are called to return that good to God.

Third, next Francis has us say "The Praises To Be Said at All the Hours." Notice that all creation is encouraged to join us in praising God. The Praises ends with his powerful super-prayer: "All-powerful, most holy, most high, and supreme God: all good, supreme good, totally good, You who alone are good...." Notice how intensely Francis sings the praises of God. Again, seven time a day! Imagine the impact on the person praying.

Fourth, Francis has us say the antiphon for the Holy Virgin Mary. Someone praying the Office has said this antiphon 14 times over the course of the day. I think this antiphon tells us a lot about how he viewed the Blessed Mother. Plus, Saint Michael the Archangel and all the saints are asked to pray for us.

Fifth, now, Francis really goes all out. He wrote 15 psalms that reflect on the passion of Christ. Each is a collage of his favorite scriptural passages. He knew Holy Scripture so well that he could pick and choose his favorites verses and weave them together into 15 of his own creations. Awesome! Then he figured out when they should be prayed during the day and over the course of five liturgical seasons.

Then Francis has us go back to the antiphon for the Holy Virgin Mary.

The Office ends with a short prayer.

Imagine the impact on your life of praying the Office several times a day for just a week.

February's Fraternity Meeting Will Be in Different Location

The People of Peace fraternity will meet on Sunday, February 1 at 12:30 p.m. in the chapel of St. Francis Hall on the campus of Marian College. Click here for the campus map. See page 2. St. Francis Hall is building #20. Use the front entrance of the building.

As part of our ongoing formation, please read "Article 8: Praying as the Basis of All We Are and Do" starting on page 73 of To Set Themselves Free. Using the chapel as a setting, Don Markovitch and Clare Bain are going to help us explore centering prayer. Invite your friends.

Easy Access to the SFO Rule and Other Good Things

Recently, several people asked me where they can find the SFO Rule. It is readily available on the national fraternity's web site: Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order. There is lots of helpful information there too. Check it out: National Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order - USA. For books, medals, Tau crosses, and all things Franciscan check out Franciscan Resources.