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Franciscan Focus

Website Administrator Needed

12/14/2020

Since 2017 the Franciscan Focus website has been maintained by primarily one person. As of December 31, 2020 the current website administrator will no longer be able to continue this important work. The website helps to keep our Region connected and informed on the happenings in Regional Fraternity of Eastern Canada. This work could ideally be done in a team arrangement where the team would have various responsibilities..."many hands make light work".

Franciscan Focus – Website for the Regional Fraternity of Eastern Canada
Website Administrator – Job Description
The primary task is to maintain the website and regularly post material to keep the website active. Regular activity on a website keeps people returning seeking and finding new material. As well the website is the major news source for RFEC members.

Specific Tasks:

Maintain the subscription and domain name registrations for the website. The Region pays the cost for both items.
Insure regular postings on the site to keep people informed and engaged in fraternity life throughout the Region.
Post newsletters received from the various fraternities. Only 2 or 3 fraternities distribute newsletters on a regular basis. Encourage fraternities to submit their newsletters. Sharing information about each other helps build community.
Post Fraternity news such as new councils, new professions, calls to pray for the sick, etc.
Posts news from National and International Councils.
Post newsletters from other members of the Franciscan Family, i.e. OFM and FI.
Post deceased member information when received.
Post upcoming events and when possible post reports on the results with photos of an event.
Post news from the Pope including his monthly prayer intention, special occasion prayers and new writings from the Pope.
Maintain the “resource” pages including the statutes, the rule, general constitutions, guidelines and forms used by local fraternities, elective chapter guidelines, formation material and so on.
Formation is a most important aspect of our Franciscan journey, so formation materials received for the Director of Formation should be uploaded to the site for easy access by all.
Post prayers and liturgies when provided.

The website is hosted by Weebly.com, through subscription. It is an intuitive program and one does not need to have computer programming knowledge to work with it. There are several tutorials to help you get started. The current administrator will assist a new administrator get started. In fact it would be better to have 2 or 3 administrators involved so the reliance does not fall on one person alone.

Communications is such a critical need especially in these times of COVID. The website is an excellent tool to help keep us together.

For more specific information contact George Guimond, ofs, V. Min. Atlantic.
Your local minister will have the contact information.

Elective Chapter: Our Lady of Czestochova Fraternity, Montreal.

10/13/2020

Our Lady of Czestochova Fraternity Council
2020-2023

Eva Masciasz - Minister

Janina Majka - Vice Minister and Formation Director

Renata Wrobel - Secretary

Jozefa Miernik - Treasurer

Fr. Jan Lempicki OFM Conv - Spiritual Assistant

Please join in welcoming the new council of Our Lady of Czestochova Fraternity in Montreal. This fraternity was established in 1953 in the Polish Parish of Our Lady of Czestochova on Gascon Avenue, Montreal. On October 4th, the Feast Day of St. Francis, they had a joyous Profession and Elective Chapter in their parish and were joined by their family members and Fr. Jozef Blaszak, OFM Conv, the Custos (similar to Provincial) of the The Canadian Custody of the Polish Friars Minor Conventual.

Their meetings are held in Polish with the support and guidance of Fr. Jan, their Spiritual Assistant, but 4 of the 5 members on Council also speak English. They are in need of our prayers and support.

Death of Bob Hunger, ofs

9/25/2020

It is with great sadness to advise that Bob Hunger, ofs passed peacefully at the Fredericton hospital on September 24. His wife Sharon was by his side. He was professed on Nov 28, 1998, and was a founding member of John XXIII fraternity in Fredericton.

Whenever he could, Bob continued to attend OFS meetings transferring to Blessed Fr. Frederic Fraternity, Moncton. He continued to do volunteer work in Fredericton, helping newcomers with language tutoring, working in the soup kitchen, among other activities.

We are confident that Bob now rests happily with the Lord and St. Francis. We also pray for Sharon and their two daughters who are forced to grieve separately due to COVID.

Funeral arrangements have not been finalized.

Many messages of condolences and witnessing of his life have been circulated. Here are a couple:

I was very sad to learn of Bob Hunger's passing after such a short period of illness.
Bob and I served together on the Regional Council when he worked very hard with us in developing a positive and united approach within our Region, which was a relatively new structure at that time. He then served as our Regional Conference/Elective Chapter Registrar. He worked hard in trying to negotiate arrangements with Le Cenacle in Cacouna and doing his very best in ensuring that our accommodation and meeting spaces were ready and as satisfactory as possible. Through all of this, Sharon was always present sharing her good humour, and her interest and concern for everyone.
Bob shared his unique talents, his good humour, his artistry and his faithfulness as a leader in our Region.
Bob and Sharon shared a great deal in life as well as a very special love and unique faith life.
We will miss Bob but are confident that he now rests happily with the Lord incompant with St. Francis and all our deceased sisters and brothers.
Our deepest sympathy and love to Sharon and his two daughters.
Rest in Peace, Good and Faithful Servant! - Tom Wilkinson, ofs

- Artwork by Bob

I was very sad to learn of Bob's passing. He was very engaged in our Region for quite a few years... it seemed I was always writing to him when I was registering for a spiritual conference or elective chapter at Cacouna... I remember once when he made a fraternal visit on behalf of Region to our fraternity (St. Francis of Assisi) , and he did a lovely job interacting with our members. More recently, I have seen him at the monthly meetings of Blessed Father Frederic fraternity in Moncton ~ his thoughtful contributions to those fraternity discussions will be missed ~

Requiescat in pace, Bob. Shalom, Martha
See more comments

Bishop Cullinan recalls sacrifice made by his friend Fr Ragheed Ganni

6/10/2020

Below is a link for Bishop Cullinan's speech on Sunday, May 3rd 2020 recalling Fr. Ragheed Ganni's, sacrifice.
Fr. Ragheed is our own Ghanim Ganni's (ofs RFEC), cousin and was assassinated 13 years ago.

Bishop Phonsie Cullinan of Waterford & Lismore used his Vocations Sunday homily to pay tribute to Iraqi priest Fr Ragheed Ganni, who was shot dead by Islamic extremists in 2007. On Good Shepherd Sunday, Bishop Cullinan recalled how the young priest, who was a fellow student and friend of his at the Irish College in Rome, had given “his blood for his flock”. READ THE STORY

Fr. Ragheed Ganni

Martyred Iraqi priest, who had stayed at the Irish College in Rome, returned to his home country despite the dangers because he felt that "Without their pastor the flock would be lost".

Death of Barbara Ann LeClerc, ofs

5/22/2020

Submitted by Margaret Ann Ashfield -

Barb was professed with me in 1980 and was an
active member of our fraternity until her illness took over her life. I am sure some of the older members of the PEI fraternity will remember her coming with me on the fall retreat. I was told that she always wore her Tau cross. Barb was living at Northwood Nursing Home where she died of covid-19.

For more information: Obiturary

May she rest in eternal peace with our Lord.

Margaret-Anne adds:

Liz Briggs, who also lives there, is not well. Besides her severe dizziness, she now has heart problem was rushed to the hospital with heart attack. Is now home where she lives in her own
apartment at Northwood. She does not have a computer but loves to get a phone call and mail. (1 -902- 425-5478) Address: 2630 Gottingen St. Apt. 904, Halifax B3K 3C6

Sing! Humility and Poverty

4/1/2020

The song is called

"Humility and Poverty"
by Doug Clorey.

It is followed with prayer intentions.

Wishing you peace and all that is good. - Doug and Marion

St Francis of Assisi, PEI, April Newsletter

4/1/2020

Urbi et Orbi Blessing

On March 27, 2020, Pope Francis delivered an extraordinary blessing “To the City and to the World” and prayed for an end to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In his meditation, the Pope reflected on the Gospel of Mark 4:35-41 in which Jesus calms the storm. The analogy to the COVID-19 storm is clear. Pope Francis reflects on the words of Jesus: “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” The following is an excerpt from his reflection.

“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”

Lord, your word strikes us and affects us, all of us. In this world, that you love more than we do, we have gone ahead at breakneck speed, feeling powerful and able to do anything. Greedy for profit, we let ourselves get caught up in things, and lured away by haste. We did not stop at your reproach to us, we were not shaken awake by wars or injustice across the world, nor did we listen to the cry of the poor or of our ailing planet.....

READ THE FULL NEWSLETTER

Navigating crisis: two blind spots to be aware of:

3/30/2020

by Br Benny Vincent, OFM Cap
Regional Spiritual Assistant

Let’s be honest! We did see it coming but we never imagined it to be this devastating. Like objects in the mirror, the particulars of this new crisis have become much closer than they appeared a couple of weeks ago. It now overwhelms us to the edge of Not-Knowing-What-to-Expect-Next. The situation is so volatile that we all now must brace ourselves to pivot on a dime. Welcome to the COVID-19 world! As they say, we can never motivate ourselves out of a crisis, what we must do is steer ourselves through it. Consider two blind spots to watch out for on our exodus through this current crisis:

1. Not seeing far enough beyond the crisis - No storm can last forever! Gradually, we will settle back to the normalcy of our daily lives. There will be a post-crisis era. That new normal is already in the making. Certainly, this crisis is not the end of the world, but the beginning of a new one. We do not yet know the shape of the things to come. Some businesses will be gone, never to return but many others will emerge stronger at the end of this crisis. Think of the video conferencing platform Zoom. They are having the best business moment ever! It is the same with

marriages. Some will be shattered and others will just manage to survive. But most of our homes will prevail this crisis courageously and it will make us closer to each other. It is crucial to understand how we see ourselves beyond the crisis. We may not have a detailed plan for it, but it is essential to have a vision about it. It is a bad idea to make long-term plans for life during a crisis and it is much more a worse thing to enter a crisis without a long-term vision about our survival. It is important to see far enough beyond the current crisis. Do we have a faith strong enough to see far enough beyond the crisis?

2. Shallow optimism - Shallow optimism can be a bad idea in a deep crisis. It is even more dangerous than outright pessimism. Let me try to say it differently: Would you feel safe driving above 100 km/hr on a highway in a heavy snowstorm with broken windshield wipers? Granted, there are some people crazy enough to do it. However, most of us will prefer prudence. Shallow optimism is a dangerous motivator. It will motivate us to venture on to that highway of uncertainties, but it will not lead us any further. We will be struck before long! Like any snowstorm, a crisis will certainly limit our

visibility. But it will do even more than that. It will break our windshield wipers – our traditional tools of problem-solving. Each crisis has a way of outmoding long-held practises and certitudes. Participating in the Holy Week liturgy exclusively via online streaming was not at all an option to many of us until a few weeks ago. Look where we are now today! It is the only option available to most of us unless you are a priest! A deep crisis can usher in new standards of social and spiritual practices. Do not be fooled! They are here to stay with full social acceptability. In the church world, online ministries are no longer seen as an add-on luxury of the rich congregations, they are now considered as an integral part of the front door entrance to any active community. It does mean that even those hesitant churches will now start considering adding online ministry services to their roster. But how can we change so fast? Are we flexible enough to accommodate such crazy changes? It seems so!

We cannot trust the momentary adrenaline rush that stems from shallow optimism, but we need the flexibility of hope. The real HOPE! It is a virtue that gives us the courage to prevail anything gracefully. As Christians, we know that we have our eyes fixed on the Resurrected one. His resurrection is the promise of our final triumph. He is our HOPE.

How deep is your Hope as we navigate this crisis?

St Francis of Assisi, PEI, May Newsletter

3/30/2020

Fraternity continues to meet during COVID-19 lockdown

Consecration to Mary in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic
On Friday, May 1st, 2020, the Catholic Bishops of Canada will consecrate their individual dioceses or eparchies to Mary, Mother of the Church, seeking her protection during the Coronavirus pandemic, similar to what other Episcopal Conferences throughout the world have already done. Along with the Bishops, pastors, families, groups, individuals and other faith communities may likewise choose to join the consecration as part of the global effort to unite in faith and prayer in this most difficult time. ...Read More

Read their newsletter

...you are all in our thoughts and prayers

3/23/2020

To: Members of St. Francis of Assisi and Brother Leo Fraternities (and all fraternities in our Region)

Dear sisters and brothers,

Below is the link to a short youtube video that Marion and I have created in an effort to remain connected to the fraternity while in a period of self isolation. We are considering doing one of these weekly (for a few weeks) if it can be useful to others; let us know what you think. In the meantime, know that you are all in our thoughts and prayers. Wishing you peace and all that is good.

Doug and Marion - from Prince Edward Island