DOWNLOAD THE PDF FILE​

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

The initial shock of the news that far too many priests had abused children grew only larger when we learned how Catholic bishops and dioceses tried to silence victims and cover up wrong doing. That truth was sacrificed for the sake of the Church’s reputation is not only a scandal, but a decision that led to abusing priests being sent to new parishes, placing more innocent children at risk. What has been overlooked in many places is the number of good priests who have had to deal with the fallout of the scandal—the anger of some of their parishioners, social media attacks on the Church and the suspicion that lingers around the priesthood in general.

While Pope Francis has taken the courageous step to publicly acknowledge the sin of the Church; and he did this at a public meeting of the Bishops of the world held at the Vatican earlier this year (February 2019) in Rome, we know that no meeting, no amount of new regulations will undo the damage already caused. The Pope did not pretend that this could happen. What he demanded on the Bishops was to find concrete ways to renew the Church as a spiritual home for those whose lives had been broken by priests and bishops who abused their power and position of authority. He knew that expressions of compassion and justice for the victims must be affirmed in dismantling those systems and structures that made power and authority more important than mercy and service; that allowed both the abuse and cover-up to go on so long.
​
What can Secular Franciscans do to support the healing process, to join with both the Pope and their Patron in the work begun with summons of the Crucified: “Francis, rebuild my house”?                                               READ HIS FULL ARTICLE

Pope Francis, in his encyclical, Laudato Si’, has presented us with a significant contribution to Catholic Social Teaching…..Laudato Si’ sounds an alarm that we have lost our way in addressing this basic human and Christian calling. Our world is falling into serious disrepair, and our way of living is threatening future life on the planet.

Canadian Bishops, ...offer a resource to help Catholics, whether individually or in groups, to engage more deeply with the challenge of Laudato Si’ in their Canadian context. This resource is organized into six chapters, each based on one of the six chapters of Laudato Si’. Each chapter concludes with a series of reflection questions and resources for action, organized under the headings See, Learn, Pray, Act.​

This is another excellent option for fraternities looking to introduce JPIC and Laudato Si' to their fraternities through ongoing formation.​    Download the ​pdf file here.

​The story of St. Francis and the Christmas Crib at Greccio focuses on what was really important to Francis –the poverty of Jesus and his mother, and the discomfort felt by the little baby. Celano also places an emphasis on the three virtues of simplicity, poverty, and humility, and leads us to understand that the poverty of Francis is in imitation of the poverty of Jesus. For Francis, the external poverty of Christ’s birth at Bethlehem is representative of the radical poverty of the Incarnation.
 
1. Reflection question: what is the place of poverty – simplicity – humility in my life?
 
The narrative stresses the importance of “memory”, which also means “ensuring that we do not forget.” Celano repeats the word memory at the beginning and at the end of the story and writes of how Francis wished “to enact the memory of that babe who was born in Bethlehem.” This is an essential duty of our faith— a faith that, according to the Bible, can be summed up as “remembering the deeds of the Lord.”
 
2. Reflection question: where do we enact “memory” in our lives? Are we able to re-read the events of our lives and perceive the Lord’s presence in them? 
 
For all Christians, the “memorial” of the Lord par excellence is the Eucharist that we friars celebrate daily. The parallel between the Incarnation and the Eucharist is often expressed in Francis’ thought and writings. At Greccio, the nativity scene does not have crib figures to evoke the mystery of the Incarnation, instead the Eucharist is celebrated as the supreme memorial.
 
3. Reflection question: what truly is the place of the Eucharist in my life, in the course of my day?
 
Making memory in this way, however, is not merely an intellectual operation. In the account of Greccio all of the senses are involved. The sight of the scene, with countless images of light; hearing songs and Francis’ own fine voice; the touch of the baby who awakes and is held in his arms; the sweet taste that has Francis licking his lips!  All this speaks of a healthy relationship with the senses, which are part of our relationship with God and part of proclaiming the Gospel. There is an interplay between the bodily and spiritual senses in the Christian tradition, and this can serve as a warning against excessive intellectualism. Franciscan spirituality sees the senses as an avenue to God.
 
4. Reflection question: what is the place of the senses in my relationship with God, and in how my faith is expressed?
 
Francis invites us to make room for creativity, which opens us up to the new. We’re invited to give space to feelings, to joy, to songs, to festive celebration. He also calls us to enjoy the beauty of poverty, which in the story of Greccio is characterized by a dignity and beauty that become a source of joy.
 
5. Reflection question: how open am I to the new and to what challenges me? How can I grasp the beauty of poverty?


           STORY: THE MANGER ST. FRANCIS PREPARED IN CELEBRATION OF THE LORD’S BIRTHDAY
                       - Thomas of Celano, Life of St Francis,

by Daniel P. Horan - National Catholic Reporter (December 10, 2018)