Orientation

Aug. 24, 2025

Please prepare before we meet:

 – Read chapter 7 of the Franciscan Journey.

 – Answer discussion questions at the end of Chapter 7.

Question 2 (pick a personal quote to share and why you chose it).

Question 5

Question 6. The scripture reading is on the last page of the Word Document.

• FUN Manual: “Nature of the Secular Franciscan Order”  Read and we will have a fun exercise to complete. 

Please bring with you:

     – Franciscan Journey 

 Agenda:

 – Opening prayer: Prayer before the Crucifix

 – Highlights of Franciscan Journey chapter 7 and discuss questions 2-5 & 6.

–  Fun Manual exercise

–  Discuss upcoming St Francis biography paper.  We will provide a list of books and questions to help you with your reflection at our September meeting.  The paper will not be due until January 2026. 

July 27, 2025–Session 6 assignment

Please prepare before we meet:

 

 – Read chapter 6 of the Franciscan Journey (skip over the list of books on pages 59-63)

 

 – FUN Manual: “Vocation, Charism, and Mission of Secular Franciscans” (attached PDF file) 

 

Please bring with you:

 – Franciscan Journey

 -Notebook

 

Agenda:

 – Opening prayer: Prayer before the Crucifix 

 – Highlights of Franciscan Journey chapter 6 and discuss responses to questions 2-3-4-5. 

 – Highlights of the FUN Manual: “Vocation, Charism, and Mission of Secular Franciscans.”  Please read, and we would love you to share something that you found in the FUN Manual: 1) something you did not know, 2) something that challenged you, 3) something that resonated with you.

 – The attached “Lifeline of St. Francis of Assisi”  will be discussed in class 

–Explanation of “Lifeline of St. Francis of Assisi”

 –          Closing Prayer

Sunday, June 22,  2025–Session 5 Assignment

• Please prepare before we meet:
•  – Read Chapter 5 of the Franciscan Journey
•  – Answer discussion questions at the end of Chapter 5:   Questions 1-3-4-5-6
• Question 8 Scripture Reflection:  How would you apply this parable’s explanation to areas in your personal life?

• With a large crowd gathering and people from every town finding their way to him, he told this parable:  ‘A Sower went out to sow his seed. Now as he sowed, some fell on the edge of the path and was trampled on; and the birds of the air ate it up.   Some seed fell on rock, and when it came up it withered away, having no moisture.  Some seed fell in the middle of thorns and the thorns grew with it and choked it.  And some seed fell into good soil and grew and produced its crop a hundredfold.’ Saying this he cried, ‘Anyone who has ears for listening should listen!’

• “Then his disciples asked him what the meaning of this parable might be.  He answered, “Knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been granted to you; but to the rest, they are made known through parables so that ‘they may look but not see and hear but not understand.  “This is the meaning of the parable. The seed is the word of God. Those on the path are the ones who have heard, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts that they may not believe and be saved. Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe only for a time and fall away in time of trial.  As for the seed that fell among thorns, they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along, they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they fail to produce mature fruit.  But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.”
•  – FUN Manual: “Our Identity as a Secular Franciscan” (attached PDF file) — lots of material there, so scan through and read parts that catch your attention
• The Franciscan Family Formation Chart – FYI
   
• Please bring with you:
•  – Franciscan Journey

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April 27, 2025–Session 4 Assignment

• Read Chapter 4 of the Franciscan Journey and answer questions 1-2-3-4
• Fun Manual – St Clare of Assisi answer question 2 on page 18 (see attached)
• Bible Reading Mark 3: 1-6
• Answer Question 6 from the Franciscan Journey after reading the gospel below:

March 23, 2025–Session 3 Assignment

From the FUN Manual read

• “Basic Catholic Doctrine”
• “The Franciscan Family Brief Introduction.”  

Feb. 23, 2025–Session 2 Assignment