Conference of General Ministers Message to OFS

​Following are portions of the letter. To read the full letter just click on link below:
Circular letter of the Conference of General Ministers of the Franciscan First Order and Third Order Regular to all the friars and the brothers and sisters of the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS) and Franciscan Youth (YouFra) on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the promulgation of the OFS Rule
 
Dear sisters and brothers, may the Lord give you peace!

... On June 24, 1978, the Holy See approved the renewed Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order with the publication of the apostolic letter Seraphicus Patriarcha. It was the recently canonized Pope St. Paul VI, himself a postulant Franciscan tertiary in his youth, who gave this gift to the Franciscan family just a few weeks before his death. Forty years have passed since the promulgation, and this anniversary seems to us a fitting occasion to address to you this celebratory letter….
It would seem that the possibility of serving the Lord fully in every state of life was already in the intuition of Francis. Thus, in some sense he anticipated the wisdom that every Christian in the Church is called to holiness, that wisdom that Vatican II emphasized strongly and Pope Francis has recently recalled in his apostolic exhortation Gaudete et exsultate: “Strengthened by so many and such great means of salvation, all the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord – each in his or her own way – to that perfect holiness by which the Father himself is perfect.” (n. 10, quoting Lumen gentium 11) ….
 
As Franciscans, we see ourselves as particularly in harmony with the invitation of the Pope to live as a Church that goes out toward the geographic and existential peripheries of the world, so full of divisions, injustices, and sufferings. We are called to help build a universal evangelical fraternity, to work for the care of creation and for peace and justice, with a special consideration for the poorest and most needy, after the example of our Seraphic Father Francis, who “was particularly concerned for God’s creation and for the poor and outcast ….

How to Celebrate 40 Years of Our OFS Rule

Suggestions of Members of St. Francis of Assisi Fraternity, PEI, July 2018
categoriesofsuggestionscelebratingrule__1_.pdf
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This list of categories covers many aspects of living our Rule. Each of the categories listed below has several suggestions for each. This is a wonderful tool to help fraternities explore the Rule in their fraternity meetings.​
  • Discussing the Rule at Fraternity Meetings
  • History of the OFS Rule
  • Celebratory Events
  • Celebrate the Rule at Secular Franciscan Events
  • Individual Actions
  • Reaching Out to the Wider Community
NOTE: These reflections are being posted in the order that we receive them from CIOFS not necessarily in numerical order of The Rule.
​40th Anniversary of the Rule
of the Secular Franciscan Order​
Minister General Tibor Kauser has announced the celebration of a Jubilee Year from June 6, 2018, to June 6, 2019, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the current OFS Rule. Pope Paul VI approved this Rule on June 24, 1978, with the apostolic letter Seraphicus Patriarcha.
Thank you to the St Francis of Assisi Fraternity for doing this work and sharing it with all of us.

CIOFS 1978 RULE REFLECTIONS