September 28, 2025
Session 11: Following Christ in a Spirit of Poverty, Detachment, and Freedom
Themes: Freedom of Choice; Purity of Heart; Sine Proprio; Building the Kingdom
A. READ SFO Rule, Article 12
12. Witnessing to the good yet to come and obligated to acquire purity of heart because of the vocation they have embraced, they should set themselves free to love God and their brothers and sisters.
B. READ: The Franciscan Journey, Chapter 20 “Freedom to Love” pp. 216-225
Written Assignment: Respond to Questions 1-7 at end of chapter
Additional Questions:
i. What steps can you take to set your heart free to love God and others?
ii. What is sine proprio? What steps can you take this week to better live this motto?
C. READ: Attached pdf article, entitled “What is the Kingdom of God” and Colossians 3:12-17 on page 367 of Franciscan Journey.
Written Assignment:
i. Be prepared to discuss 3 things that you found noteworthy and/or challenging about this article.
What did you learn that you can incorporate into your life as a Secular Franciscan?
ii. How can Colossians 3:12 help you build the Kingdom of God?
D. READ: “Reflections on Profession” on pages 366-7 in Franciscan Journey
Aug. 24, 2025
Session 11: Following Christ in a Spirit of Poverty, Detachment and Freedom
Themes: Building the Kingdom, Poverty, Simplicity, Detachment, Freedom of Choice, Sine Proprio, Purity of Heart
READ: The Franciscan Journey, “A Simple Way of Life”–Ch. 19. Written Assignment—Respond to 1-6 at end of chapter
READ: The Franciscan Journey, “Freedom to Love”- Ch. 20. Written Assignment –Respond to 1-6 at end of chapter
READ: Attached pdf article, entitled “What is the Kingdom of God”. Written Assignment: Jot down 3 things that you found new/interesting/or challenging about this article; and answer this question: What did you learn that may enrich your life as a Secular Franciscan?
FUN Manual Chapter entitled “The Rule of the SFO” by Teresa Baker, OFS, p. 12-18 (Just skim the material; you are not assigned any Written Reflections for this)
READ (below) the SFO Rule: Rule Arts. 10, 11, 12
10. United themselves to the redemptive obedience of Jesus, who placed His will into the Father’s hands, let them faithfully fulfill the duties proper to their various circumstances of life. Let them also follow the poor and crucified Christ, witness to Him even in difficulties and persecutions.
11. Trusting the Father, Christ chose for Himself and His mother a poor and humble life, even though He valued created things attentively and lovingly. Let the Secular Franciscans seek a proper spirit of detachment from temporal goods by simplifying their own material needs. Let them be mindful that according to the gospel they are stewards of the goods received for the benefit of God’s children. Thus, in the spirit of the Beatitudes, and as pilgrims and strangers on their way to the home of the Father, they should strive to purify their hearts from every tendency and yearning for possession and power.
12. Witnessing to the good yet to come and obligated to acquire purity of heart because of the vocation they have embraced, they should set themselves free to love God and their brothers and sisters.
READ (below) Constitution Art. 15
Article 15
1. Secular Franciscans are committed to live the spirit of the Beatitudes and, in a special way, the spirit of poverty. Evangelical poverty demonstrates confidence in the Father, creates interior freedom, and disposes them to promote a more just distribution of wealth.
2. Secular Franciscans, who must provide for their own families and serve society by means of their work and material goods, have a particular manner of living evangelical poverty. To understand and achieve it requires a strong personal commitment and the encouragement of the Fraternity in prayer and dialogue, communal review of life, and attentiveness to the instructions of the Church, and the demands of society.
3. Secular Franciscans should commit themselves to reduce their own personal needs so as to be better able to share spiritual and material goods with their brothers and sisters, especially those most in need. They should give thanks to God for the goods they have received, using them as good stewards and not as owners. They should take a firm position against consumerism and against ideologies and practices which prefer riches over human and religious values, and which permit the exploitation of the human person.
4. They should love and practice purity of heart, the source of true fraternity.
July 27, 2025
Session 9: Francis and the Mother of God (Rule Art. 9)
Themes: Virgin Made Church; A Model for Us; Fully Human
Please read:
FUN Manual
“Francis and the Blessed Virgin Mary “ ( See attachment)
Susan Simeon, OFS, pgs. 1-16
Please write your responses to the Reflection and Discussion Questions on Pg 16
in your journals.
Other:
SFO Rule: Art. 9
Constitution 16
The Salutation to the Blessed Virgin
April 27, 2025
The Franciscan Journey
Ch. 17 The Mother of God–And Our Mother
You are welcome to answer the questions on pp 193-4, but we will be discussing the questions
from the Fun Manual.
Session 7: The Theology and Spirituality of Francis
Themes: A Trinitarian God; Christo-Centricity
A. FUN Manual: St. Francis and His Approach to Divinity by Bob Fitzsimmons (attached 16 pages)
Please be prepared to discuss the 10 questions on page 16 of 16 and the 5 questions on page 11 of 16.
B. Earlier Rule Chapter 23 (Prayer of Praise and Thanksgiving pasted below)
[Session 8 with continue Franciscan Theology]
23.—Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving.
Almighty, most Holy, most High and Supreme God, Holy and Just Father, Lord King of heaven and earth, for Thyself we give thanks to Thee because by Thy holy will, and by Thine only Son, Thou hast created all things spiritual and corporal in the Holy Ghost and didst place us made to Thine image and likeness 3 in paradise, whence we fell by our own fault. And we give Thee thanks because, as by Thy Son Thou didst create us, so by the true and holy love with which Thou hast loved us, 4 Thou didst cause Him, true God and true Man, to be born of the glorious and ever-Virgin, most Blessed holy Mary, and didst will that He should redeem us captives by His Cross and Blood and Death. And we give thanks to Thee because Thy Son Himself is to come again in the glory of His Majesty to put the wicked who have not done penance for their sins, and have not known Thee, in eternal fire, and to say to all who have known Thee and adored Thee, and served Thee in penance: “Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world.”
And since all we wretches and sinners are not worthy to name Thee, we humbly beseech Thee, that our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son, in whom Thou art well pleased, 1 together with the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, may give thanks to Thee as it is pleasing to Thee and Them, for all; He suffices Thee always for all through whom Thou hast done so much for us. Alleluia. And we earnestly beg the glorious Mother, the most Blessed Mary ever-Virgin, Blessed Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and all the choirs of the blessed spirits, seraphim, cherubim, and thrones, dominations, principalities and powers, virtues, angels and archangels, blessed John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, Peter, Paul, the blessed patriarchs and prophets, innocents, apostles, evangelists, disciples, martyrs, confessors, virgins, blessed Elias and Enoch, and all the Saints who have been and are, and shall be, for Thy love, that they may, as it is pleasing to Thee, give thanks for these things to the most high, true God, eternal and living, with Thy most dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, for ever and ever. Amen. Alleluia.
And all we, brothers minor, useless servants, humbly entreat and beseech all those within the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church wishing to serve God, and all ecclesiastical Orders, priests, deacons, subdeacons, acolytes, exorcists, lectors, door-keepers, and all clerics; all religious men and women, all boys and children, poor and needy, kings and princes, laborers, husbandmen, servants and masters, all virgins, continent, and married people, laics, men and women, all infants, youths, young men and old, healthy and sick, all small and great, and all peoples, clans, tribes, and tongues, all nations and all men in all the earth, who are and shall be, that we may persevere in the true faith and in doing penance, for otherwise no one can be saved. Let us all love with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, with all our strength and fortitude, with all our understanding and with all our powers, 1 with our whole might and whole affection, with our innermost parts, our whole desires, and wills, the Lord God, who has given, and gives to us all, the whole body, the whole soul, and our life; who has created and redeemed us, and by His mercy alone will save us; who has done and does all good to us, miserable and wretched, vile, unclean, ungrateful, and evil.
Let us therefore desire nothing else, wish for nothing else, and let nothing please and delight us except our Creator and Redeemer, and Saviour, the only true God, who is full of good, all good, entire good, the true and supreme good, who alone is good, 2 merciful and kind, gentle and sweet, who alone is holy, just, true, and upright, who alone is benign, pure, and clean, from whom, and through whom, and in whom is all mercy, all grace, all glory of all penitents and of the just, and of all the blessed rejoicing in heaven. Let nothing therefore hinder us, let nothing separate us, let nothing come between us. Let us all, everywhere, in every place, at every hour, and at all times, daily and continually believe, truly and humbly, and let us hold in our hearts, and love, honor, adore, serve, praise and bless, glorify and exalt, magnify and give thanks to the most High and Supreme, Eternal God, in Trinity and Unity, to the Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, to the Creator of all, to the Saviour of all who believe and hope in Him, and love Him, who, without beginning or end, is immutable, invisible, unerring, ineffable, incomprehensible, unfathomable, blessed, praiseworthy, glorious, exalted, sublime, most high, sweet, amiable, lovable, and always wholly desirable above all forever and ever.
In the Name of the Lord, I beseech all the brothers that they learn the tenor and sense of those things that are written in this life for the salvation of our souls, and frequently recall them to mind. And I pray God that He who is Almighty, Three in One, may bless all who teach, learn, hold, remember, and fulfil those things as often as they repeat and do what is there written for our salvation. And I entreat all, kissing their feet, to love greatly, keep and treasure up these things. And on the part of Almighty God and of the Lord Pope, and by obedience, I, Brother Francis, strictly command and enjoin that no one subtract from those things that are written in this life, or add anything written to it over and above, and that the brothers have no other Rule.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
March 23, 2025
Candidacy Session 6: Franciscan Prayer Life ( SFO Rule Art. 8)
Themes: Prayer, Contemplation, Liturgy of the Hours, Lectio Divina, Eucharist
A. The Franciscan Journey – Bach
Read Chapter 16: When You Pray
Answer Questions on Pages 186-7: 1-8. Reflect on these questions in your
journals.
B. FUN Manual – Please read
- The Rule of the SFO -Teresa Baker. Pp 18-28. [Continued from Feb 2025]Reflect on the questions throughout the article In your journal.
C. Other:
- SFO Rule Article 8
- Constitution Article 12.3, 14
- Franciscan Prayer by Ilia Delio (Chapter 7 on Contemplation
Feb. 23, 2025
Candidacy Session 5: Conversion and Penance ( SFO Rule Art. 7)
The Franciscan Journey – Bach
Read Chapter 15: Gospel, conversion and Reconciliation
Answer Questions on Page 175 : 1-7. Please reflect on these questions in your
journals.
FUN Manual – Please read
- The Rule of the SFO -Teresa Baker. Pp 18-28.
Reflect on the questions throughout the article In your journal. - Penitence and Conversion – Ron Pihokker, OFS. Pages 1-18.
Jan. 26, 2025
Profession and Rebuilding the Church
READ: The Franciscan Journey Ch. 14, “A Rebuilding Task”
Reflect on questions at end of Chapter (p 162) numbers 1-6
READ: Fun Manual, Chapter 15, pages 1-18. Title: “Profession and the Secular Franciscan Order (By Fr. Richard Trezza).
(No reflections for this Chapter)
READ below: SFO Rule Art. 6, which states in full:
6. They have been made living members of the Church by being buried and raised with Christ in baptism; they have been united more intimately with the Church by profession. Therefore, they should go forth as witnesses and instruments of her mission among all people, proclaiming Christ by their life and words. Called like Saint Francis to rebuild the Church and inspired by his example, let them devote themselves energetically to living in full communion with the pope, bishops, and priests, fostering an open and trusting dialog of apostolic effectiveness and creativity.
READ below: OFS Constitution Article14-1, and Article 17, which states in full:
Subject: The Way of life. Article 14
(1) Aware that God wanted to make us all a single people and that he made his Church the universal sacrament of salvation, the brothers and sisters should commit themselves to a faith-inspired reflection on the Church, its mission in today’s world and the role of the Franciscan laity within it. They should take up the challenges and accept the responsibilities that this reflection will lead them to discover.
Subject: Active presence in the Church and world. Article 17
(1) Called to work together in building up the Church as the sacrament of salvation for all and, through their baptism and profession, made “witnesses and instruments of her mission”, Secular Franciscans proclaim Christ by their life and words. Their preferred apostolate is personal witness17 in the environment in which they live and service for building up the Kingdom of God within the situations of this world.
(2) The preparation of the brothers and sisters for spreading the Gospel message “in the ordinary circumstances of the world”18 and for collaborating in the catechesis within the ecclesial communities should be promoted in the fraternities.
(3) Those who are called to carry out the mission of catechists, presiders of ecclesial communities, or other ministries, as well as the sacred ministers, should make the love of Francis for the word of God their own, as well as his faith in those who announce it, and the great fervour with which he received the mission of preaching penance from the Pope.
(4) Participation in the service of sanctification, which the Church carries out through the liturgy, prayer, and works of penance and charity, is put into practice by the brothers and sisters above all in their own family, then in the fraternity and finally through their active presence in the local Church and in society.
Padre Pio Fraternity 