The following comments are taken from various presentations made to the approximately 75 members and invited guests gathered for the annual gathering of the National Fraternity (NAFRA) at the St. Francis Retreat Center in San Juan Bautista, Calif., Oct. 25–30.
 
The theme of this NAFRA chapter was "Witnessing the Gospel Life Courageously in the World." Deacon Tom Bello, SFO, national minister, spoke of fraternal life as the foundation of our charism — our gift to the Church. The essential gospel quality of life is to be found in fraternal community. He referred to a new brochure on visitations that has been published and asked the ministers to focus on the sacredness of the visitations. "A visitation," Tom said, "should be the equivalent of a Thanksgiving dinner." The fraternity chapter is a feast. Where two or more are gathered, Christ is present. It should be celebrated in an attitude of conversion. All personal interests and power must be excluded. God must be at the center. Let us recognize the primacy of the Spirit. The Lord has called us as visitors — it is his project, not ours.
 
As regional minister, this was the second gathering that I have attended. The sense of belonging to a worldwide Order is very, very prevalent during these events. We share a tremendous bond and love with one another. I am humbled to represent you at this annual NAFRA gathering, and I look with anticipation to next year‘s gathering in Denver, Colo. I pray that you will take time to reflect on what I am about to share with you and that in some way the fire that is within each of us will blaze with the Franciscan charism we share through our Profession in the SFO.
 

From the National Minister’s report to the Order

 
First priority — FRATERNITY: Perhaps no aspect of the Secular Franciscan life should be of more concern to those called to leadership than the vitality of the fraternity, be it local, regional, national, or international. Business is not the primary concern of a fraternal gathering. Actually, Fraternity is your primary business; and I wish to remind you that the four purposes of a fraternal gathering are — in this order — prayer, formation, fraternal sharing, and only as much business as is necessary.
 
Because the essential element of vital Secular Franciscan fraternities is the spiritual, leadership must never sacrifice the spiritual to the business of the fraternity; vital fraternities must nourish a vital prayer life for all the members. Thus, every Secular Franciscan fraternity deserves capable and well prepared persons (General Constitutions, Article 88.1) as spiritual assistants.
 
If spirituality is the initial and essential element of fraternity, then that spirituality and love of the Lord must be witnessed out in the world, not put under the bushel basket of the fraternity gathering. We are to be a community of love (SFO Rule, Art. 22) to all the world. As Blessed Pope John Paul II told us directly at the 10th General Chapter in 2002, "The Church expects from you, Secular Franciscans, a courageous and consistent testimony of Christian and Franciscan life, leaning towards the construction of a more fraternal and gospel world for the realization of the Kingdom of God." One of the joys for me this past year has been the action of our Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Commission. Together with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), NAFRA embarked on a courageous initiative to support CRS with its Catholics Confront Global Poverty 
Initiative.
 
Second priority — FORMATION: Vital Secular Franciscan fraternities need effective formation. The work now is to get this new manual, For Up to Now: Foundational Topics for Initial Formation (FUN), into the hands, hearts, and minds of every local SFO fraternity involved in formation. We owe a deep debt of thanks to the Formation Commission for this incredible document and resource files.
 
Third priority — COMMUNICATION: As I have shared with you, my preferred form of communication is one-on-one or in a small group, preferably over a meal, most especially before or after "breaking bread together" at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. My second most preferred form of communication continues to be e-mail. In addition to email, I continue to write National Minister‘s Messages on the NAFRA Web site and in TAU-USA.
 
Fourth priority — YOUTH: As I wrote last year, I need more help and prayers from all of you to attract youth and young adults into our NAFRA family. We still seek, but have not found, a "youthful" chair, for youth needs to be represented by youth. I have talked with representatives of Franciscan Action Network (FAN) and with the executive director of the Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities about plans to set up Secular Franciscan youth and young adult fraternities at our Franciscan colleges and universities in the United States. The 2011 Collated Annual Report from the regions reports a wide 
variety of activities with youth around the United States. Let us pray that all of us will do what we can to celebrate and encourage youth.
 

From the Conference of National Spiritual Assistants (CNSA)

Father Lester Bach, OFM Cap., president-in-turn, reminded us that a saint is one through whom the light shines (picture the effects of light through a stained glass window). The light of Christ is in us — whether we let it out or not. We must clean our house so we can let it shine through. We need to know "who we are"; for example, our Rule about the love of Mary is not about praying the rosary. Father Lester challenged us to look at the vitality of our fraternities. What are we doing, he asked, to enhance the vitality at regional and local levels? Nothing that we do should diminish the purpose of fraternity. It is not our Order — pray to let the Holy Spirit lead. "We cannot guarantee our salvation," he said. "We must give  courageous witness "(Greek translation of witness is martyr).

 
As regional minister, I now share the words of wisdom from the members of the CNSA with you and ask that you consider carefully what they have to say, particularly in the area of "good people" concerned about issues in the Church or the 
Franciscan family:
 
It has come to our attention that emerging fraternities are not always ready to move from emerging status to canonically established status. One reason for this is that many neglect to have a local spiritual assistant assigned to them early in the process. Having a spiritual assistant accomplishes two things that are important for a canonical establishment:
 
  • The emerging fraternity is assured that a province of the First Order/TOR has accepted the altius moderamen for the fraternity. This assures the presence of a local spiritual assistant now and for the future. It bonds the fraternity to that province. Without such assurance, the altius moderamen does not exist as the Church requires. It brings into doubt the possibility of being canonically established if this has not been done. It is not good to appoint an SA at the last minute before canonical establishment. ―The spiritual and pastoral care of the SFO, entrusted by the Church to the Franciscan First Order and the TOR, is the responsibility, above all, of their general and provincial ministers. The altius moderamen, of which canon 303 speaks, belongs to them. The purpose of altius moderamen is to guarantee the fidelity of the SFO to the Franciscan charism, communion with the Church and union within the Franciscan family, values which represent a vital commitment for the secular Franciscans (SFO General Constitutions, Article 85.2).
  • The spiritual assistant is a normal part of fraternity life and should be appointed early in the process of a developing fraternity. He/she gives the developing group a realistic experience of what a fraternity and a fraternity council will look like once they are canonically established. Without such spiritual assistance, the group lacks a vital ingredient of fraternity life. In addition, a suitable and well-prepared spiritual assistant is a good partner in the formation process. Waiting until the last minute does not help the developing fraternity.

 

The sponsoring fraternity needs to do more than simply send a liaison to a developing group once a month or even less frequently. Unless the situation demands some kind of specific care, it is expected that various members of the sponsoring fraternity council are present at each formation session of the developing fraternity. The council of the sponsoring fraternity 
ultimately is responsible for appointing a council to the developing fraternity. These appointed council members (of the emerging fraternity) do an internship with the sponsoring council to learn how to serve a fraternity. Sponsoring fraternities need to be aware of these responsibilities before assuming that role. The Regional Executive Council needs assurance that the sponsoring fraternity is able to fulfill this important task. To neglect meeting these concerns is to accept fraternities with unknown or inadequate formation.
 
Although a committee has recently devised a brochure on fraternal and pastoral visitations, a brochure will not be enough. Personal sharing of information within the regions and local fraternities is needed. The brochure outlines the basic procedures of a pastoral or fraternal visitation and gives direction to conducting and evaluating both the visitation and a 
council‘s reaction to it. The follow-up evaluation — i.e., how the ideas in the post-visitation letters were implemented — is a healthy ingredient. It helps everyone to be servant leaders and better able to ascertain that suggestions and/or corrections have taken root in the local or regional fraternities.
 
We (CNSA) noticed that sometimes good people, concerned about issues in the Church or the Franciscan family, choose to disengage from people holding differing views on issues. People sincerely seek to keep the Franciscan Family from making mistakes or supporting things, people, or issues they consider to be outside the realm of our Catholic faith. Their suggestion is that we separate from groups or individuals whom they see as a danger to our faith or our way of life. Franciscans who disagree with these people or find their stance to be ―outof-touch can fall into the trap of refusing to respect them or to understand how they came to believe as they do.
 
Then the concerned people (Franciscans) respond in kind, refusing to listen to any other viewpoint. Both sides assume they are "right." Such situations are filled with opportunities for conversion on all sides of the issue. Franciscans are called to seek to be on an equal basis with all people, to be gentle (SFO Rule, Art. 13, etc.). Though their concern seems legitimate, it is easy to fail to fulfill the goal of Article 19 of the SFO Rule: "[T]hey should seek out ways of unity and fraternal harmony through dialogue, trusting in the presence of the divine seed in everyone and in the transforming power of love and pardon." Article 13 of the Rule adds some other qualities that Franciscans must embrace: "with a gentle and courteous spirit accept all people as a gift of the Lord and an image of Christ … ready to place themselves on an equal 
basis with all people, especially the lowly …."

To neglect the articles of the Rule would be to miss elements of our Franciscan spirit. Something of our "vision" is missing in Franciscans who look down on each other or treat each other disrespectfully or separate from people who seem to disagree with them. In our human situations, we all like to be "right" and help others to see it "our way." While this is somewhat normal in our human nature, it does not fit our Franciscan spirit. Jesus and Francis and the SFO Rule call us to unity, relationships, forgiveness, understanding, compassion, humility, gentleness, and respect for one another. In many cases dialogue is necessary. Franciscans are called to build bridges as paths to unity rather than destroy bridges and make unity impossible.

 
Some individuals or groups wish to be "defenders of the faith." However, our Franciscan role calls us to maintain relationships with people in the same way that God does. Separation diminishes our ability to be good evangelists. In fact, it diminishes the very relationship upon which evangelization depends. Non-Franciscan groups may choose to disengage for their own reasons or because it fits their charism. We Franciscans cannot accept that way of acting. Instead, as Franciscans, we seek to build, maintain, and encourage relationships. We also seek to restore relationships that have been broken. One difficult part of dialogue is to listen to the other person so attentively that I can understand why they believe the way they do. It requires us to momentarily let go of our personal ideas in order to give total attention to the words of the "other." We might say that it requires "abandonment" of our personal ideas so that we can understand the ideas expressed by the "other." Dialogue may change our minds about what fits or doesn‘t fit Franciscans. But even if we still disagree on some points, we continue to work together for the common good of the Order, the Church, and the world rather than seeking "our own way" as the only way. An even worse outcome would be to separate from one another. Dialogue is a basic and vital part of Franciscan life. Franciscans are called to live so that relationships are not broken but mended (where needed) and always enhanced. Franciscans "are called to build a more fraternal and evangelical world so that the kingdom of God may be brought about more effectively (SFO Rule, Art. 14)."
 
We are not committed to do everything in the Church or society. But we are called to do our part in building the Kingdom of God. That includes showing the world how to stay together in love even when we disagree on issues. Our ability to dialogue and respect one another must replace righteous argumentation, anger, hatred, or even the verbal or physical violence that has become such a part of society. Franciscans are called to be peacemakers, not the "winners" in every situation. To do otherwise would neglect what we are called to be: a gospel people belonging to a "community of love" (Church), with a Rule approved by the Church. These are a few things that need dialogue to enrich our understanding of the Franciscan vision. We are called to such behavior so that we are known for showing respect, reverence and especially, love, for all people: "See how those Franciscans love one another."
 

Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC)

By this time the stage was set for Kent Ferris, SFO, JPIC Commission chair. We began with prayer and then celebration of the faithful example of this year‘s JPIC Award recipient, Father Louie Vitale, OFM (see news release on page 4). We then had the review session for the webinar series, "Catholics Confront Global Poverty." Chris West, CRS community organizer, joined us in person. Then we received a Franciscan Action Network (FAN) year-in-review and were again fortunate to have guests join us: Patrick Carolan and Christy Elliott of FAN. Finally, we talked about the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops‘ Spotlight Programs project. Wait, that wasn‘t the end of the day! In the evening, there was the prayer service commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Day of Prayer for Peace! And then, the multicultural entertainers! And for the next day, a small group worked on the NAFRA statement to the Super Committee:

 
U.S. Secular Franciscan Order Demands the Deficit "Super Committee"
Ensure Justice for All.

 

The U.S. Secular Franciscans met for their national gathering from October 25th through 29th at the St. Francis Retreat and Renewal Center in San Juan Bautista, Calif. national group represents approximately 13,500 Secular Franciscans across the United States. The statement is based on the Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order, Chapter 2, Article 13, that they "place themselves on an equal basis with all people, especially with the lowly for whom they shall strive to create conditions of life worthy of people redeemed by Christ."
 
We issue the following statement to the "Super Committee": 
 
Do not further oppress and penalize those who are poor and those who are already most vulnerable, here and around the world.
 
We realize the moment of decision is rapidly approaching, and in this critical time it is essential that you understand the impact each decision may have. Justice for all requires that we pursue the common good.
 
It is essential that the "Super Committee" reach a decision by November 23rd. It is morally irresponsible for this committee to delay a decision and default to the automatic cuts that are applied at a fixed percentage, doing further injustice to the poor here and abroad. 

Formation

The following day Bob Fitzsimmons, SFO, our National Formation Commission chair, brought us up-to-date on the changes to the FUN Manual, including the publication of a Spanish version. Bob reminded us of the importance of formation. It is not just academic but is meant to inform the whole person of our identity, charism, gift, and presence. We need to form Franciscan people who share Francis‘ Trinitarian vision: a relationship of love overflowing. We are a fraternity of equals (leaders animate and serve). We cherish minority —esteeming others above self.

We are Gospel people seeking to imitate Jesus, and we recognize God as Lover inviting us (the beloved) into relationship. All creation is gift. Learn to embrace our littleness (lesser brothers). The reality is this: If we cannot share a gaze of love with people, we cannot do it with Jesus.

What identity are we displaying? What witness are we giving? Fraternity (our presence to our sisters and brothers) informs our identity. JPIC (our presence in the world) takes our identity to the world. We need both to enhance our identity. Our 
mission to the Church is our gift. We are to witness to a God who loves unconditionally (not judge, not turn others away). We 
are to spread the Gospel. We are to be a community of Love!
 

Youth

During this gathering we also heard from Jessica Hardinger, a representative of the youth who attended World Youth Day. She described the event as a gathering of one faith with many cultures. It was an experience of both chaos and miracle, a pilgrimage uniting so many Catholic youth and clergy. More than 14,000 priests concelebrated. She thanked the SFO for supporting the youth who attended from the United States. They were accompanied by Father Kevin Queally, TOR (CNSA).

 

Quinquennial

We then heard from Patrick Mendes, SFO, regarding the 2012 Quinquennial. Registration forms and information on the Q can be found on the NAFRA Web site (nafra-sfo.org).

Database

While the Computer Committee (the Computer Committee takes care of the Database, supports TAU-USA distribution, the List Servers for communications, and the Web site) was not on the agenda, the committee would like all of us to be aware of the following in regard to the NAFRA database. This year, the National Executive Committee has decided that we need to add  Profession date to all new members going forward, as this is required at many levels of the Order for record keeping and identification. We‘d like to get that for all past members, as well; but it isn‘t required to update the old members now. It will mean that newly Professed can’t be marked as Professed and won‘t get the TAU-USA without this information.

A database needs to be constantly maintained and updated to work correctly, and the database people need to be advised of newly Professed, lapsed, withdrawn, and deceased members. Bob Herbelin, SFO, has spent numerous hours tracking down address changes he gets for the TAU-USA from the USPS on returned mail, which costs NAFRA 70 cents an issue for 
each return. This amounts to some 300 to 400 returns an issue and a cost of up to $1,000 a year on returned mail.
 
We need your help to remind fraternities in your region often to make sure this information is current. Each fraternity should keep a roster of members with contact information (name, address, phone, e-mail) and their Profession dates for their Active, Excused, and newly Professed that is updated at least yearly. 
 

Getting Together

Throughout the week we experienced time for prayer, fellowship and sharing among all participants and guests. The 30 regional ministers were assigned to geographic groups in which we met for some period of time each day to discern and share our experiences with one another. 

Our Region (Brothers and Sisters of St. Francis) was blessed to be a part of the South/Central geographic group along with the ministers for Five Franciscan Martyrs, St. Clare, Juan de Padilla, Los Tres Companeros, St. Joan of Arc, and Our Lady of Guadalupe regions.
 
If you care to read more highlights or to see pictures from this gathering please go to the NAFRA website and click on Meetings and Resources.  Then under meetings click on 2011 NAFRA gathering.
 
I wish all of you and yours a happy, holy, and healthy New Year.
 
 
Peace and All Good,
Jerry