Our January 2nd meeting will be held at the Holy Family Shelter

Our January 2nd meeting will be held at the Holy Family Shelter located at 907 N. Holmes, 46222. We will celebrate our Epiphany party at this meeting. Please bring a special snack to share and, if possible, be especially generous in your donations to the shelter. In addition to diapers or baby wipes, they could use store brand cereals for breakfast. Someone from the shelter will be present to speak to us and give a tour of the facility.

A Christmas Prayer

A Christmas Prayer
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Loving Father,
Help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the songs of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds,
and worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate
and open the door of love all over the world.
Let kindness come with every gift
and good desires with every greeting.
Deliver us from evil by the blessing
which Christ brings,
and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning
make us happy to be thy children,
and Christmas evening bring us to our beds
with grateful thoughts,
forgiving and forgiven,
for Jesus' sake.
Amen.

Kathleen White, SFO, the regional formation director, sent this to me. I am happy to share this prayer with you.

Getting Ready for 2011

On the national SFO web site there is a great welcome letter from Tom Bello, SFO, the National Minister of the Secular Franciscan Order (SFO). I have added a link to his letter to the right side navigation of this blog. His letter provides a great overview of the SFO in the United States. If you are interested in learning more about the SFO, then I encourage you to read his letter and explore the national fraternity's web site.

I also have updated the list of 2011 meeting dates for the People of Peace fraternity, the local Indianapolis SFO fraternity that I am a member of. The meeting dates are on right side, too. All are welcome! Contact me at rwgolobish@gmail.com if you would like more information about the fraternity.

Twitter and the SFO

Recently, I have been pretty active on Twitter. I like the short message bursts with links to blogs and web sites. Over the next six months, as an experiment, I will be using Twitter, HootSuite, and SlideShare to promote this blog and the SFO. I am hoping to reach a somewhat younger, technologically savvy group of Catholics interested in Franciscan spirituality.

By the way, I also tweet and blog about other topics: for example, marketing communications, recreational cycling, martial arts, beginning Python programming, high speed rail, and things happening at Marian University in Indianapolis, especially plans for Indiana's new medical school.  You can find me on Twitter at @bobgolobish and on my blog on marketing communications: bobgolobish.com.

Looking Ahead to November and December.

On November 7, we will have our annual retreat as part of our regular Sunday meeting. We will begin with fellowship at 12:00 with a short business meeting followed by the retreat. It is expected to be finished by 4:00pm. We will meet in St. Francis Hall for the meeting  and retreat. The retreat will presented by Fr. Leopold Keffler, OFMConv. from Marian University. His topic is”Care of Creation in the Spirit of Francis & Clare."

On December 5, we will have our fraternal visit from Our Lady of Indiana region. One of the members of their council will be present to observe our meeting. This is done once every three years to see how our fraternity is functioning. Our presentation will be led by Kathy Mahler and will cover Article 24, “Journeying with Others” pg. 229-234. Please come prepared to join in the discussion.