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Coming Together for Our Common Home

3/28/2018

Earth Day, which falls on Sunday, April 22, is an opportunity for Catholics around the world to come together and lift our voices as one to protect our common home.

Jesuit Father Thomas Reese developed A Reader's Guide to Laudato Si' that speaks to our Franciscan charism and may assist your Fraternity in honouring our commitment to "respecting our common home". The guide goes through Pope Francis' encyclical, chapter by chapter with a short commentary on each chapter followed by a selection of discussion questions. For those of you who have not already made a study of the encyclical, Laudato Si', this would be an excellent way of taking each month one chapter to include in your On-going Formation study. - Sherrill Guimond. ofs, Regional Formation Director

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The Scandal of Service - Jesus Washes Our Feet by Jean Vanier

3/20/2018

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Book Review

The Scandal of Service: Jesus Washes Our Feet is a meditation on what Jesus did at the Last Supper when he laid his outer clothing aside and washed and dried his disciples' feet, a task ordinarily performed by the lowly household slave. The author pursues the connection of this gesture of humility and service to Jesus' actions at the supper with the bread and wine, to the beatitudes and the rule of God (and the OFS Rule) in Jesus' ministry, and to the actions of Judas and Peter at the end of Jesus' life. In calling us to follow Jesus' example, the author invites us to break down the barriers which separate human beings and to put ourselves at the service of the weakest among us. This book speaks to all who want the teaching of Jesus to the sewn into the fabric of their daily lives. Novalis

This book speaks to us as Secular Franciscans who are called to "service of the human community" - Rule 16.

One of our Regional Priorities for 2017-2020 is Servant Leadership. In his book, Jean Vanier speaks about "the word 'authority' coming from the Latin augere (to grow). All authority ... is intended to help people grow towards greater freedom, justice and truth. Often, however, it is used for the honour, power, privilege and positive self-image of those who exercise it. By stooping down to wash the disciples' feet, Jesus calls us all to exercise authority humbly, as a service."
- Recommended

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12 months of Franciscan Peace

3/3/2018

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Let there be Peace on earth and
let it begin with me!

Adapted from the 12 Weeks of Franciscan Peace by Carolyn D. Townes, ofs. Sherrill Guimond, ofs, Formation Director, Eastern Canada Region, has provided twelve one-page documents for JPIC use in monthly fraternity meetings. Each month focuses on one specific PEACE building block as follows:

Prayer
Empathy
Listening
Compassion
Evangelical Love
Mindfulness
Humility
Poverty
Kindness
Silence
Conversion
Peace

Each page includes a connection to the previous month, a short explanation of the month's theme, a Psalm fragment, a Reflection Question and a prayer for the Month. Download the 12-month pack here.
View Carolyn's' Peace Video. Using St. Francis' prayer sung by Robert Kochis, this video introduces the 5 Peace Principles: Prayer, Empathy, Active Listening, Compassion and Agapé (Evangelical Love)..

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Regional Formation Corner

Coming Together for Our Common Home

The Scandal of Service - Jesus Washes Our Feet by Jean Vanier

12 months of Franciscan Peace

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