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Regional Formation Corner

Advent Reflection on Hope

12/10/2020

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Lanny Hui, ofs, OLOTA and member of the National Formation Team, has shared this video (53 min) with us. It is a talk by Sr. John Mary Sullivan, FSE, held on Dec. 5. The retreat was organized by St. Maximilian Kolbe Fraternity, Red Deer, AB and was attended by about 60 people on ZOOM.  ​This could be a on-going formation subject at a time when meetings are not possible.
The retreat was called, "Love Incarnate - Hope for All". How can we deepen our knowledge of God? What are ways in which we can make space for God? As a people of Hope, how can we witness "Jesus Christ as the Hope of All Nations" to others?

Reflection Questions:  (found at the end of the video)
  1.  How can we deepen our knowledge of God?
  2.  What are the ways in which we can make space for God this Advent Season?
  3.  As people of hope how can we witness to the Jesus Christ as the Hope of All Nations?
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Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Patroness of the OFS -  A booklet from CIOFS

11/18/2020

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General Minister, Tibor Kauser, sends this message regarding our patroness St Elizabeth of Hungary and this booklet:
​

May she teach us to move closer to the poor, the marginalized, the isolated, and may she help us get rid of those many, many unnecessary material things that block our love to God and to our neighbour.

Download the Booklet
You may want to consider this as a formation topic for a fraternity meeting. - Sherrill
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'Fratelli Tutti' is Ubuntu by any other name

10/13/2020

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Oct 6, 2020 - National Catholic Reporter
by Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator

"Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu." This saying exists in variant forms in Southern Africa's bantu languages and translates as, "A person is a person through other persons" or ,"I am because we are."

Strikingly, Pope Francis' encyclical Fratelli Tutti contains an equivalent: "Each of us is fully a person when we are part of a people; at the same time, there are no peoples without respect for the individuality of each person" (Paragraph 182). In other words, we are "brothers and sisters all" (8).

Francis credits South African Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu, among others, as an inspiration for his encyclical (286). Tutu is the main proponent of Ubuntu, an African humanist philosophy based on a culture of sharing, openness, mutual dependence, dialogue and interpersonal encounter. In Ubuntu, human existence reaches fulfillment as part of whole, society thrives on a common humanity, and forgiveness and reconciliation are prerequisites for preserving social harmony.
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Francis' twin ideas of fraternity and social friendship underscore the urgency of Ubuntu in our present-day context, where the fabric of humanity is riven by atavistic conflicts, ideological division, isolationist paranoia and political polarization that take a catastrophic toll on the weak and vulnerable (18-19).

Devoid of a common uniting horizon, our ancestral fear of others drives us to build walls (26-27, 37, 41), thereby weakening our belonging to a common family and eviscerating our dream of a common purpose (30). Yet we are in this together (35); hence the imperative of building a community of solidarity and belonging.

"Mountains don't meet, but people do," says a Swahili proverb. A foundational premise of Ubuntu recognizes the centrality of encounter with the other. For Francis, fraternity rests on a culture of authentic encounters whose precondition is creative openness to the other (50).
Mutual openness, sadly, is assailed by a toxic digital communication saturated in social aggression, verbal violence and ideological myopia. The result is a virtual closed circuit connected by shared fear and hatred for the other (42-46).

                           Read more...

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Examination of Conscience - based on the Canticle of Creation

5/14/2020

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​The Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph have created an

Examination of Conscience based on the Canticle of Creation.

                    To access the examen, click 
here
.   

                                Download the pdf.
​

          (Shared by the Felician Sisters of North America)
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The World Needs a Franciscan Renewal

5/11/2020

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This (6:55 min) video with Franciscan Casey Cole, ofm who has his own Youtube channel, "Breaking in the Habit".
His message is just as applicable for Secular Franciscans.
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Laudato Si' - Stations of the Cross

2/20/2020

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Prepared for the Columban Mission Centre, Australia by Fr. Charles Rue SSC. The Missionary Society of Columban is a missionary society of St Columban created in 1918 and was approved by the Vatican. 
DOWNLOAD THE PDF FILE​
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Elizabeth of Hungary: Social Justice, Compassion, and the Franciscan Calling

12/10/2019

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I have just received this article from Richard Shields offering it to the Secular Franciscans. Richard Shields has his Masters in Franciscan Spirituality from St. Bonaventure in New York and his Doctorate in Religious Studies from McMaster in Ontario. If you recall, Richard was our Regional Spiritual Conference leader in 2018. Richard wrote:
"...I am in contact with the Franciscans in Germany and appreciate the spiritual insights they share. One of the brothers recently offered a reflection on the life of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. I was originally going to translate it and share it with the secular Franciscans here in Canada, but then I realized that it would be better to use it as a jumping-off point and to rework it through a Canadian lens. That is what I am sending you. I hope that it can be shared."  ​The following is his reflection.
                                                                                                                                         - Sherrill Guimond, ofs
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The following is an adaptation of a mediation composed by Brother Niklaus Kuster, a German Capuchin. As we celebrate the feast date of the Patroness of the Secular Franciscan Order. St. Elizabeth of Hungary, we renew our own commitment to justice and compassion.

                           Elizabeth of Hungary: Social Justice, Compassion, and the Franciscan Calling

Introduction
When she was three years old Elizabeth’s father, King Andreas II, handed her over to the Count of Thuringia as a political gesture. A child in a strange land! Throughout the rest of her life, she pushed boundaries and challenged the status quo that built walls between people rather than bridges. After her marriage at age 14, the young princess followed the longing of her heart rather than the norms of the ruling class—offending many among the aristocrats.  As Countess she often left the castle to seek out the poorest and most marginalized of her subjects. As a young widow she made herself the barefooted sister of the poorest.
 Most of us are not affluent; we don’t belong to a privileged class. What can we learn from our patroness that can help us understand our Franciscan vocation in today’s society?

A child abandoned in a foreign country: migrants
So many people today must leave the culture that nurtured them to find safety, work, or dignified living conditions in Canada. As a new-comer, Elizabeth was open to adapting to her new environment, even though many of the ruling family resented this “foreigner.”  In adversity, after her husband’s death, she was so deeply connected with the German people, that she was seen as a mother, a sister, and a friend to many.

                     Download the full reflection
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17 Goals to Transform Our World

12/8/2019

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The Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities while tackling climate change and environmental protection.

The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The 17 Goals are all interconnected, and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve them all by 2030. 
​
The 5:52 min video is a great introduction. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals make for an excellent program to use in fraternity or individually. It is full of important material and information that we should all be aware of and take action where we can. Consider studying one goal per month. Follow the link above.
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Poverty in Canada

11/7/2019

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From Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
​

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), through the Commission for Justice and Peace, is releasing a statement entitled Poverty in Canada: Ensuring Safe, Secure and Affordable Housing in anticipation of the Third World Day of the Poor to be held on 17 November 2019. Poverty is a serious issue not only in developing countries, but also in Canada. The statement presents a brief overview of poverty in Canada today, with a focus on the current housing crisis, and provides a short list of some key Catholic organizations engaged in the alleviation of poverty in our country. Through this statement, the Catholic Bishops of Canada call for collaboration between charitable organizations, all levels of government, and dioceses/eparchies, as well as local parishes, to support individuals who are in need.

Download the booklet
​

This is a possible resource for use in ongoing formation in fraternity - FVC
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What is Franciscan Theology?

10/21/2019

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You may know the Franciscans as great preachers and humble servers, but do you know that we have our own intellectual tradition? For years we have made distinct contributions to Catholic theology. (9:00 min)

This is an excellent video for use in fraternity for on-going formation - Sherrill
​

SOCIAL MEDIA: Blog: https://goo.gl/QuB4ra Facebook: https://goo.gl/UoeKWy Twitter: https://goo.gl/oQs6ck Instagram: https://goo.gl/ShMbhH Podcast ...
www.youtube.com

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    As your Regional Formation Director, I hope to provide fraternities with formation ideas and material that will be useful in your local formation programs. My hope is that you will share your ideas as well so we can all benefit. Just click on the Comments Button.
    Peace,
    ​Sherrill Guimond ofs

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