The Canticle - Divine Mercy Fraternity's newsletter

Regular Meeting: Sun., Mar. 13 - South Rm. St. Helen’s Christian Living Ctr., Vero Bch. 2 pm.
Council meeting:  Sat.,  Mar. 19 - Hibiscus Café (now re-opened) Vero Beach at 9 am.

Agenda and Schedule for meeting:    

1:30 pm - Initial Formation sessions before the mtg.
2:00 - Meeting called to order.  Opening Prayer, Reports, Old/New Business.
2:25 - Ongoing Formation: A teaching presented by Fred Schaeffer on the role of Fasting and
      Penance in the Life of a Secular Franciscan based upon references from scripture, the
      Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), Franciscan formation texts and other
      Franciscan sources.  Discussion period will follow.
3:05 - Refreshments
3:20 - Liturgy of the Hours in the Chapel
3:35 - Franciscan Crown Rosary
3:55 - Closing Prayer and Dismissal

Refreshment Committee for February: Adele Lamour and Julie McHugh- Snacks; Ed O’Donnell - Soda and/or fruit drinks

Remember in your prayers:
- Marie Louis-Jacques whose Admission to Candidacy will be celebrated as soon as she  is able to return from dental surgery in NYC;

    - All our fraternity members, but especially for the healing of Jerry Carey, John Matthews, and Marcella Richard,
     Peter Askin’s two grandchildren, Trina Marie (coma) and Danny Jr. (Cancer), and Ed O’Donnell’s sister, Mary (83
     and in a wheelchair) and  his friend, Pat (bone cancer).

    - Pope John Paul II, a living reflection to us and to the world of Christ, “the suffering servant” (See Isaiah), and for
     Terry Schiavo and her family’s efforts to save her from a court-ordered death by dehydration and starvation.

 From the Minister’s Desk: Thank you to all of our members who have submitted their annual “per capita” assessment.  This year it remains $35.00 and is payable by members professed on or before 12/31/04.  As you know, this amount funds our Five Franciscan Martyrs Regional Fraternity which provides us with so many services as well as our National and International Fraternities.  It also includes our subscriptions to TAU-USA, the  national newsletter.  If paying by check, make it out to Divine Mercy Secular Franciscan Fraternity and forward it to our Treasurer, Sarah Hardy, at your earliest convenience.

    And, God bless you all for your generous support of all our endeavors - St. Helen’s Neighborhood Apostolate, and through our Alms Basket, the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, our fraternity’s website which incorporates a website for the Region, offerings to our Regional Spiritual Assistant, to St. Helen’s Parish as well as the special projects that we undertake from time to time.  You are awesome!! 

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Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the ultimate in Franciscan Spirituality

Francis greatly "desired that God be honored liturgically through His only Son, Jesus Christ. He revered the Eucharist as a living reminder of our salvation through the Cross. The praise of lips along with the angelic choirs was his constant occupation and joy.¹"

In his letter to all the faithful, Saint Francis emphasized the greatest commandment of all. He requests that we must love God... and our neighbor as ourselves. We, Franciscans, walk the way of the Cross in imitation of Jesus Christ.

We cannot love God if we exalt the "self" rather than adore God's Glory. “Francis' special concern is the Divine Glory and man's refusal to let it shine through his person. Vanity, arrogance, extravagant self-esteem, jealousy, envy, hatred, wrong self-assertion, deceitfulness, untruthfulness, exercising excessive control over others, these are vices that go against the glory of God. Saint Francis, in his Order and as an example for the world to see, made self-denial an absolute condition for reflecting the glory of God. In the 21st Century, most people have lost recognition of the need for self-denial and have even lost the knowledge of right vs. wrong. The remedy for sin is to carry the cross of Jesus Christ instead of crucifying Him by sin. One carries the cross rather than inflicts it, by recognizing the real enemy, the flesh.”

Fr. Sergius continues: "Sin has one root: the inordinate love of self ― that tendency of the human ego to concentrate all its attention upon its own maintenance and the furtherance of its own private ends. Jesus did not aim at the elimination of this self-love but at its complete subordination to the love of God and man."

Saint Francis had a living faith in the Eucharist, and he regarded this as a special grace. This is evident from his words: "We adore you, O Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all the churches which are in the whole world and we praise you because by your holy cross you redeemed the world." Saint Francis attended the Lateran Council of 1215 and it was at Francis' insistence that certain rules were established pertaining to the Blessed Sacrament kept in the Tabernacles in churches, because until then there were not standards of cleanliness and decoration of the Sanctuary.

Francis was "keenly aware of the triple-faceted richness of the Eucharist: 1) as sacrifice, 2) as a Sacrament, and 3) as Presence. In this writings he describes the "Real Presence." Francis noted that he "saw a prolongation of the Incarnation and how the abiding Eucharistic presence makes the Incarnate Word humanly accessible to believers of all ages."

"Adoration holds an important place in the spirituality of Saint Francis. God alone deserves adoration because He alone is good. We should praise the Trinity through the mediator Christ, that is, through the Eucharistic sacrifice." (cf. Rule of 1221)

In order for us to praise and adore God through Jesus Christ, it is first necessary to repent and confess our sins or shortcomings. Then we continue our pilgrimage of the Cross, to deny the flesh and thus only adore Jesus Christ in the way of Saint Francis. Change my Heart, O God. My life is for you, Lord. May I adore You and praise You with my actions, that are possible only with Your Grace, as charity toward brothers and sisters. As Franciscans, we have been given a clear picture of what Francis had in mind for us, our Rule, Constitutions and Statutes.

F. Schaeffer, SFO
Written 11-19-2003.

1. Quotations from “The Real Francis” by Fr. Sergius Wroblewski, OFM. 1967 Franciscan Publs, Pulaski, WI