Regional Annual Meeting notes Fraternities are urged to donate to H2O project (no amount too small) see - http://www.franciscanyouthusa.com/transition/index.html (please note that as of the CIOFS General Chapter in Hungary, November 2008, Franciscan Youth is now directly affiliated with SFO, since their International Councilor is Ms. Ana Fruk who is part of the OFS* International Council.
We (FFMR) have 37 Fraternities. Technically, if a Fraternity has fewer than 5 professed they probably should be thinking about deactivation (that's up to the Regional Minister). There are 679 Professed, 74 Candidates and 33 Inquirers (as of 5/23/2009). Our Regional area is divided into Areas, and in my case (Divine Mercy Fraternity, Vero Beach) by way of example, is in the East Central area with Nancy Matheson, SFO, as Area Councillor. Our Regional Minister, Hans D. Huemmer, SFO, requests that any dispute that cannot be solved by the Fraternity Minister and his/her Council, be referred to the Area Councillor. Also, the call for elections need to be given first to the Area Councillors. Then they discussed the Annual Treasurer's Report, which is included in a packet given to all Fraternity Ministers and delegates, and I just want to discuss one area: the Fair Share. This is a very misunderstood concept. The Fair Share (currently $50) must come out of the COMMON FUND! Do not embarrass the professed who have not paid. Rather, cover those amounts from the Common Fund. Of course Fraternity Ministers or Treasurers should remind their professed when the Fair Share is due and how much, and that those who are financially able submit that amount to the Common Fund. Those who aren't able to pay should not be hounded for the amount. The Fraternity, as stated, is responsible to pay the total assessed (number of professed x $50) out of the Common Fund. Also, these funds are NOT dues. There are no dues in the SFO. We should be kind to one another. The Fraternity is Holy Ground ... let no harsh words far in this Sacred place! That is so un-Franciscan. Then we had Area Meetings ... and since I could not be everywhere, I'll leave the East Central discussion out of this web-report for now. Someone mentioned that there is a new 3 hour and 15 minute DVD out, which is highly recommended. The name is "Clare and Francis" - Franciscan Resources (and other vendors) have it. Price $24.95 In our fraternities, we have to create an atmosphere of love, making the fraternity a place one really wants to visit with one another. Don't keep emphasizing that people must attend meetings - just make them feel at home. I mentioned before that the Fraternity is Holy Ground - the SFO is a real order of the Church, just as the Benedictines, Carmelites and all the other religious Orders, or as the OFM, and other Franciscan obediences, except that we are an Order for lay people (and diocesan priests who discern a SFO vocation). We are not a club, sodality or whatever. We are an Order. We are a "public association" within the Church. (see Constitution 1:5) We have a hierarchy, from the General Minister on down via the CIOFS (International Council), National Minister (one in each Nation we cover; I believe there are currently 70+, and some of the larger countries, such as USA and Canada have Regions. The Fraternity is the unit of the Order which most directly deals with each professed, candidate or inquirer. Then we talked about Fraternity Apostolates - and rather than recommend that the entire fraternity engage in one Apostolate, which most of the time just isn't feasible, maybe suggest that 2-3 people share in one group Apostolate. Here at Divine Mercy Fraternity in Vero Beach, three of us are engaged in Prison Ministry for an Apostolate. The very website you are looking at is an Apostolate of yours truly. Then someone mentioned Revelant Radio. See: http://www.relevantradio.com/Page.aspx?pid=534. This is a Catholic broadcast system. They do not have stations in Florida, and although I could probably carry them on this website, there would be some legal ramifications which I would need to ask about. Also, for all practical purposes, if this thing takes too much bandwidth, I'd rather just provide a direct link as above. Next item: When entering and leaving a Church, or Chapel, please do pray this prayer of St. Francis:
Faith Libbe spoke for 10 minutes on the plight of the Christian children in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, specifically about "A Children's March to Peace." Bethlehem and Jerusalem are separated by a wall, impeding free travel. On this one day, permission was obtained from the Israeli government for 200 children to be bussed into the Israeli checkpoint, and for 350 children from Jerusalem to meet them. This march was led by the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Land. The Bethlehem children gave chocolades to the Jerusalem children. Isn't that a beautiful gesture of peace?! She also spoke about building bridges, that is seeking sponsorship of a USA SFO fraternity (St. Francis of Assisi in Dunedin), this is something worked out between Connie Quatrano and Rosemary Nasser/Bethlehem, if I understood it correctly. About this wall, the Holy Father in his recent visit is reported to have said: "Towering over us, as we gather here this afternoon, is a stark reminder of the stalemate that relations between Israelis and Palestinians seem to have reached -- the wall. In a world where more and more borders are being opened up -- to trade, to travel, to movement of peoples, to cultural exchanges -- it is tragic to see walls still being erected. How we long to see the fruits of the much more difficult task of building peace! How earnestly we pray for an end to the hostilities that have caused this wall to be built!" Faith referred to this wall as the "Discrimination Wall" There is an article by Mike Salman, SFO (a Palestinian Christian) "Build Bridges not Walls." Later in the afternoon, we discussed Fraternity apostolates, that is, each fraternity represented reported on apostolates done by the fraternity or by individuals of each fraternity. We have to pray for one another... that we will remain strong Franciscans, carrying out that life that goes from Gospel to Life and vice-versa. That there will always be a prayer on our lips. We can do so much good with simple prayer. Someone, and I forget who unfortunately, suggested that in their fraternity, they pass around a "Prayer Hat" - and before that, someone puts in slips of paper with intentions, for the parish priests, specific requests for healing, and one slip for each of the brothers and sisters, so no one gets forgotten. Then each person in the room picks out one or more slips of paper and prays for that all week, or until they meet again. We are in mourning ... Our SFO Rule #18 tells us to love all creatures just as Rule 5 reminds us to seek the encounter of the living and active person of Christ in their brothers and sisters, in Sacred Scripture (etc.). That attitude has to begin at home, in our own home with family and children, but also in our spiritual home - the SFO fraternity. As in my case (Fred) I have no more earthly Family so the Fraternity truly is my total family. At this Regional Meeting, on Saturday night, be prayed in Chapel with dimmed lights just with an oil lamp placed on a table in the middle of the Chapel. We prayed for all our departed brothers and sisters. We aren't referring here to brothers and sisters who passed away, rather, we prayed for those who left the fraternity, and we hope that they will join another fraternity soon (or come back - we will welcome them back with open arms). On Saturday morning, however, we commorated those who passed away and are with the Lord. Each fraternity representative lit a small candle off a central candle and placed it on a plate around that central candle ... it was a moving memorial, very fitting for Memorial Day weekend. I did some personal reading, a book I had with me, and even though his has nothing per se to do with this meeting, I would like to mention it. The verse in Luke 17:21 reads: "The Kingdom of God is within you." (Douay-Rheims Bible), but when you look this up in NAB, it says something else: "The Reign of God is in our Midst" - I got curious about that, as that is quite a difference of meaning, so I looked it up in a Greek text and found out it said: "estós humõn estín - the last word means within, whereas estós (as the 3rd word) would mean "among." Has anyone every looked into this, scolastically, I mean? On Sunday, we had sort of an open review of things discussed and questions for Teresa Baker. The following notes were on my notepad: People cannot enter Candidacy if they are in the process of obtaining an anulment. Once the anulment is final and has been signed, then it is OK to become a Candidate. Only the professed can put the letters SFO after their names. Although Candidates are a part of the Order, they may not use the initials after their name until they are professed. People in Temporary Profession also cannot use the initials until they are Permanently Professed. In addition, all except fully Professed members cannot vote on be voted in. Teresa Baker suggested that all Inquirers should read Clare - (Spousal relationship with the Lord). To dwell in Christ and with Christ - is a balanced life full of love (see: Sr. Margaret McGee, OSF "Reclaiming Penitential Spirituality for the 21st Century." Next February in Tampa, at the Franciscan Center, there will be a Special program. I will add this info when I get to that point. SFO Formation Commission is working on a worldwide SFO Formation program to be used by all fraternities in all countries once it is published. This is a welcome development. On an International Basis (CIOFS), Benedetto Lino is spearheading this effort on behalf of our Minister General and the CIOFS (International Council) - and several people, including [until recently] Teresa Baker, have/are working on this effort. They are close to completion but the final result is subject to final approval and that takes time as CIOFS people come from countries all over the world. Teresa feels this might be ready in 2010. Fr. Tom and Pam Nagle are working on a new Psalm Book, still pending some permissions (e.g. copyrights), but when it will be published it will have the name: "Praying the Psalms in Light of the Lord's Prayer." That ends my written notes. All in all, it was a great meeting and I thank all concerned for their kind comments about this website. It is my belief (educated guess) that this is now the largest SFO website in the world, or at least as far as I know. CIOFS publishes in four languages, and if you divide the number of files by 4, CIOFS has fewer files than our Regional FFMR website. Fred Schaeffer, SFO 5/26/2009 |