Listening. Discerning. Living: The Chapter of Mats

We gathered, we prayed, we ate and drank, we listened and we had dialogue together. Over the course of two and a half days the O.F.M. Franciscans in Canada built upon our fraternal foundation. As mentioned in my previous post we gathered in preparation for our Union as one O.F.M. Franciscan Canadian Province. There were forty of us who gathered to mark this step towards union. We range in age from mid-thirties to mid-nineties (Which makes us pre-Baby Boomer through to the Millennial generation and believe me this is a whole other topic to write about.)

The input we received was timely and challenging. It pushed us to look beyond our comfortable places and face the realities of a changing Church, world and Franciscan order. The sharing of our two very talented presenters led us to meet several times in small groups to listen and dialogue with each other. It was here that stories were shared, questions were asked and our fraternal reality was enhanced. Simple and profound moments which continued to propel us forward, to look with courage into the future and to gird ourselves with the bravery of Francis and his first followers, as we revitalize and restructure. Here the gifts of listening and discerning where heightened and then continued as we broke bread together, socialized, committees met and we prayed together.

One of the most amazing gifts of being a Friar is when we gather together as a whole in prayer, sometimes a little rough around the edges yet moving and alive. The Spirit is indeed at work, and calling us to one voice in praising God and entrusting our life to our loving God. I believe in these moments of prayer you can hear our yearning to live a gospel life that is relevant and meaningful. In these moments of prayer you can hear our hopefulness and desire to revitalize our Canadian presence and continue to be effective evangelists for the Canadian Church. In these moments of prayer you can also hear our joy and openness for we know the Spirit is at work and we continue trust and step forward.

One of the most challenging parts of being a Friar at this time and space in Canada is the reality check we received with stats on our Order in Canada. Over 50% of Friars in Canada are over the age of 80. 24% of us are under the age of 60. These are sobering facts that we cannot deny. These facts challenge us to honestly look at our goals, dreams and possibilities. How do we live out our charism? How do we preach the gospel? How do we be brother to each other? How do look to the future? It is not with blind trust or denying these truths, rather it is acknowledging where we have come from and what we have built. It is recognizing what we need to let go of and what we can still do. It is in honoring our brothers who have gone before us and those who built our provinces. It is blessing the new work that the new generation will take on. It is in encouraging each other to continue to be messengers of the gospel no matter what age we are. It is here that the work of listening, discerning and living really comes into a reality check for each of us.

It is from this Chapter: the moments prayed, celebrated and reality checked that we move onward, filled with hope and trust that God is working in our Order in Canada and beyond our borders. It is from here that we step into the next six months leading up to the Chapter of Union, which will then begin the ‘new’ work of the Order of Friars Minor in Canada. We trust in our God who is our All. We continue to listen, to discern and to live for this is not a farewell tour, no it is a time for launching the future and securing the foundation. It is a time for hope... (it’s always a time for hope) for we are branches on the Great Vine.

We continue to rely on your prayers and support.

Listening, Discerning, Living: Franciscans at the Crossroads

Sunday, April 22, 2018 is the 4^th Sunday of Easter and is World Day of Prayer for Vocations. This year in his message for Vocation Sunday Pope Francis highlights the areas of listening, discerning and living. Key areas for any vocation whether marriage, religious life, priesthood or single life. He states, “at the centre of our life, is the call to joy that God addresses to us and how this is “God’s plan for men and women of every age.”” (Synod of Bishops, XV Ordinary Assembly)

The call to joy… every day? Every day! This is not easy to embrace with demands, expectations and commitments. It requires us to stay focused on and centered in Christ and to root ourselves in his life which is true joy. This is where listening, discerning and living becomes the cornerstone of our lives. This is the crossroads we are currently at as Franciscans in Canada.

Vocations Sunday launches the Franciscans into a Chapter of Mats (fraternal gathering) in lead up to our Chapter of Union in October. The Chapter of Union will be a significant moment in Canadian Church history as the O.F.M. Friars merge together to form one Canadian province uniting the East and the West. Before this union can happen a lot of ground work has had to be done, a lot of committee work has been ongoing, a lot of personal reflection has had to take place, and a lot of questions have been raised. Has this been a call to joy? It may depend which Friar you ask, but yes, it has to be for our way of life is that of the Gospel. Is it always joyful like a wedding day? Ummm, no, no it is not, it is more joyful like a long marriage that has its ebb and flow, its highs and lows, its togetherness and yet uniqueness. Is it is an easy joy? Definitely not, the gospel way of life never is, but it is a rich joy that will not only require patience and dreaming but most definitely listening, discerning and living (which are at work already).

The listening, discerning and living has been ongoing in this process. It has caused great insights, moments of frustration, a bit of fear, a sense of hope and the deep promise that Christ is with us and inviting us to live and be heralds of the gospel. We as Friars, we are working at not making ourselves the center but rather ensuring Christ is our center always. We are moving beyond fear, beyond looking at the unknown blankly, beyond our current comforts and moving deeper into the reality that the joy of the gospel calls us to. This will be key over our time together at the Chapter of Mats. 

During the Chapter we will listen to presenters and each other, we will pray together, we will continue the discernment process for what the future will hold and we will live our fraternal reality; embracing each brother. We must also embrace this time with hope as this is a key sign of joy. We must embrace this time with faith as this is central to the gospel. We must embrace this time with love as love is the face of Christ we meet in each Friar, in our brothers and sisters, in creation and each place the Friars live.

We are trusting in the work and movement of the Holy Spirit, or we will be in trouble. We are trusting that the Holy Spirit will heighten our listening, guide our discerning and infuse our living. It is here and now that old deadening ways will begin to be buried, life-giving ways will emerge and the gospel will continue to be our center and call to joy. It may look different or new to us and our communities but what is constant is that the joy of the gospel is Christ – who is our faith, hope and love now and always.

So at this time of the Chapter of Mats we must listen as Pope Francis reminds us, “God comes silently and discreetly, without imposing on our freedom.” Yes, listening to each other and to our presenters, listening to the laughter and stories, listening to the words of our prayers, but also purposefully listening to the silence that God invites us into at this specific time so we can hear God’s voice and see God’s vision.

We must discern “in dialogue with the Lord and listening to the voice of the Spirit” (Synod of Bishops, XV Ordinary General Assembly). Here Christ will speak to us and prompt us to new horizons. Here Christ will invite us to conversation and to break open the new pathways for Franciscan life in Canada. Here the Spirit will whisper, will shout, will enliven, will call out to us and remind us of the joy of and the need to share the gospel.

We must be living the joy of the Gospel, “which makes us open to encountering God and brothers and sisters… it will not fill our hearts without accepting this very day the risk of making a decision. Vocation is today!” (Pope Francis). This is the work of our Chapter of Mats, of the revitalization and restructuring that we have been discussing for many months now. This is the living that St. Francis envisioned for himself and his first followers and which we now as those who continue in his footsteps must risk. This is the risk that we the Franciscans in Canada are trying to embrace and live and bring to wherever we are today, tomorrow and well into the future.

It is indeed an exciting time to be a Franciscan in Canada. It is also challenging and can be overwhelming, but so is every vocation. As we continue to preach the gospel of Christ and walk in the way of St. Francis we depend upon the work of the Holy Spirit and the prayers of you our supports, friends, benefactors, neighbors and family. May listening, discerning and living deeply the joy of gospel truly be a light on to our path.

God Bless this Chapter of Mats. 

We humbly ask for your prayers, know of ours for you.

St. Francis – pray for us.

He Took And Ate

Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’^* They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.^* While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.  - Luke 24.35-42

Jesus eating, Jesus gathered with his disciples, Jesus offering the gift of his peace and the gift of himself again and again. It is a reminder of something most of us do each day and yet something we may take for granted. Each day we gather for meal and eat and each day we offer ourselves, not in the fullest way like Christ (and yet his offering of himself reminds us that we too must offer our all) but still we give of who we are in our time and place.

Jesus eating really stands out for me, maybe its because this week alone I have eaten with my community, with family, friends, relatives, in a restaurant, in a car, in a hotel, on the go, early, late, good food, fast food, home-cooked and shared meals. Let's just say there has been variety. In all of this what came to mind is to be present with whomever we eat with just as Jesus was present to his disciples.

If we dine by ourselves - be appreciative of moments to ponder and reflect on the journey, the gifts we offer and the gift of food.

If we gather with family and friends - be grateful for the gift of loved ones and the joy of breaking bread together.

If we eat on the go - be thankful for life, energy and strength to accomplish tasks great and small.

If we eat in a restaurant - be aware of those who serve, those who grow and cook and bring our food to our tables and those who can not afford a meal.

If we start early with a bite or end a full day with bite - be attentive in these moments that we dine with God - who is present to us, who offers us peace because of the gift of Christ Risen.

When we gather as believers for the Eucharist and are nourished by the Bread of Life let us remember that this is true food for the journey which enables us to be vessels of peace and hope no matter where we eat.

 

Risen Jesus,

today and each day we give you thanks

for the food that nourishes us and reminds us

that you are present in the breaking of the bread

in each meal we share in

and in the life-sustaining gift of the Eucharist.

Amen.

Peace Be With You - One Community

Today at Mass we prayed “For those among us who struggle with fears, regrets and doubts.” My mind turned instantly to my home province of Saskatchewan and the community of Humboldt. The community of Humboldt and many other communities and families are dealing with the tragedy of the SJHL Hockey team bus accident (on Friday April 6) which killed 15 people, many of them young hockey players.

There are many families today, tomorrow and in the days and weeks ahead that will be dealing with fears, regrets and doubts, not to mention deep sorrow, anguish and pain. Fear of what will be now, regrets for words not said and moments not cherished, doubts that this actually happened and how to go on and then of course the sorrow that comes with the death of a loved one.

For those of us not directly impacted by this tragedy we are left feeling helpless, maybe even a sense of numbness as we do not know what to do and we try to make sense of this tragedy. My thoughts have been distracted all day; I thought about families in shock, teammates left broken, classmates hurting, moms and dads in tears, grandparents devastated, and neighbours, billet families and community members trying to reach out. What do we do? What do we say? How do we show support? How do we be community? These questions themselves show that we really are “one community” as was shared in several press conferences. What does community do? I think we do the same as what family does, we rally around each other. We become backbones, strong arms, comforting embraces, shoulders to cry on, listening ears, we truly form “one community,” the body of Christ. Together we support one another and this “one community” is strengthened and slowly heals.

In this Season of Easter where we celebrate life we are reminded that in order to embrace life our savior had to endure pain, suffering and his death on the cross. At moments like this that may not provide all the comfort that we need, but in the Paschal Mystery there is strength and peace. And it is here that life intersects with Christ and Christ with life. After his death and resurrection he appeared to his followers and said, “Peace be with you.” He left them the gift of peace as a promise that he would be with them always and that he would remain with us “until the end of the ages.” It is in this gift of peace that we are strengthened as one community; that we are able to support one another in times of tragedy; that we are able to rise above our pain, to look beyond the cross and know that God’s steadfast love endures forever. In moments of great joy and, yes, in moments of great pain and suffering, maybe even more so in these moments God’s love endures, for our God knows we are carrying a cross that doesn’t ever feel like it will lead to life in the resurrection.

So as we move deeper into this Easter Season and embrace the gift of peace given to us by our Risen Lord, let us not forget that we are “one community.” No matter our walk of life, what church we walk or don’t walk into, no matter which team we cheer for, what side of the tracks we come from, if we are from a small town, the farm or the big city, if we are clinging to loved ones or clinging to memories, the gift of peace is for each of us and it is up to us to share it. So please let us when we say our thoughts and prayers are with the Humboldt Broncos Hockey Team, let them truly be raised up. And please let us be the support for each other to strengthen a hurting community, a broken body of Christ. And please let us not become trapped in our fears, regrets and doubts but rather be peace-makers and people of hope (our brothers and sisters need us). And please let us be mindful of each other, our loved ones, friends and neighbors and tell one another how much they are appreciated and forgive those hurts. And please let us not forget those we don’t know personally that suffer tragedy, pain and suffering each day all over the world for various reasons – we are all “one community” – the body (no matter how broken or hurting) of Christ. Near or far we are “one community.”

Peace be with you.

Rest in Peace.