1. CHARACTERISTICS OF FORMATION COMMUNALWhy? Not a matter of “head knowledge.” Relates to each individual’s life experiences. MUST be shared.

2. When? From the beginning. Continuing forever. Where? Within the fraternity, which IS the community.

3. How does it work? Through individuals sharing their experiences with one another. What is accomplished? The individual’s Franciscan personality and character is formed. The individual’s Franciscan attitudes are formed.

4. WE FORM EACH OTHER. MUST meet in small groups – three or four. Promotes sharing. Gives everyone an opportunity to speak AND to respond to other speakers. AND to respond to other speakers. Each person will be at different places in his/her journey. his/her journey.

5. EXAMPLES Jesus and the Twelve Early Church Early monastic communities Francis and his first brothers Others??

6. Rule – Art. 22 “The local fraternity...[is] the community of love. This should be the privileged place for developing a sense of Church and the Franciscan vocation and for enlivening the apostolic life of its members.”

7. RULE – Art. 24 “To foster communion among members...regular and frequent meetings of the community... Encourage everyone to a life of fraternity....”

8. “Where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.” Matt. 18:20 “...[T]he Lord gave me some brothers...” 1Celano Francis constantly stressed the important of community.

9. After baptism of the 3000: “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” “Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together...” Acts 2:42, 46

10. LIFE IN THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY “The community...was of one heart and mind” “They had everything in common.” “There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need.” Acts 5:32-35

11. “Living community is our way of responding to the inner urge to express in some outward action our belief that we are all adopted sons and daughters of the Father who shares his life with us through Jesus.” “Called t Make Present the Charism” Benet A. Fonck, OFM

12. What do we learn living in community? Compassion for each other Forgiveness of one another Tolerance of each other’s shortcomings Inspiration from one another Encouragement to each other Gives us new life! We draw strength from community.

13. COMMITMENT TO FRATERNITY LIFE What is being committed to fraternity life? Increasing our personal involvement in our fraternities. Volunteering ourselves to help the council. Injecting ourselves into the mainstream and not just standing on the edges.

14. Having a shared responsibility on all levels. Always having a prudent balance of the spirit and the law. Emphasis on persons, not things. “See how they love one another.” Be “a visible sign of the Church, the community of love.” (Rule, Art. 22)

15. SUMMARY OF COMMUNAL Living and working together so that each individual may come closer to Our Lord Jesus Christ, on a personal level. He is not only our Lord and Master, but above all, our Brother and our Friend. Only together can we be strenghtened to model that reality to the world.

16. CENTERED ON JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL EACH branch of the Franciscan family has a Rule that begins the same way: “The rule and life...is to observe the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Rule, Art. 4:

17. RULE – Article 4 “The rule and life of the Secular Franciscans is this: to observe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ by following the example of Saint Francis of Assisi, who made Christ the inspiration and the center of his life with God and people....”

18. Francis did not try to build anew, but in his beginning, repaired an old church. “He did not tear out the foundation, but he built upon it, ever reserving to Christ His prerogative, though he was not aware of it, for other foundations no one can lay, but that which has been laid, which is CHRIST JESUS.” 1 Celano 18

19. “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life: no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 “Training for the apostolate should begin from the start of a child’s education...should be continued all through life....” Vat. II – Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity”, 30h

20. The Secular Franciscan must come to know Christ. Two ways to do this: 1. By observing the Gospel of Jesus Christ 2. By following the example of St. Francis

21. We learn to follow the Gospel by first following Francis: He learned that Christ did not come to make the way easier for mankind. Nor did Christ come to make the way clear for Francis – nor for us.

22. RULE – Article 5 “Secular Franciscans, therefore, should seek to encounter the living and active person of Christ in their brothers and sisters, in Sacred Scripture, in the Church, and in liturgical activity....”

23. “In the Secular Franciscan quest nothing is more important than to seek out the presence of our Lord Jesus.” (Benet Fonck, OFM) We must seek His presence in the world about us, in our brothers and sisters in communal life through whom we gain strength to see Him in the rest of the world.

24. RULE – Article 7 “United by their vocation as ‘brothers and sisters of penance,’ and motivated by the dynamic power of the gospel, let them conform their thoughts and deeds to those of Christ by means of that radical interior change which the gospel itself calls ‘conversion... [which must] be carried out daily....”

25. This Article of our Rule is a call to personal holiness, which takes shape by following the example of St. Francis. “We shape our everyday life and affairs in such a way that Jesus Christ becomes our central focus. We want to know Him intimately. We want to interact with Him in all the different circumstances of life….” (Benet Fonck, OFM)

26. “If we are to know and unite with the Lord Jesus in such a way that we can encounter Him anywhere and take His message to every corner of our lives, then we must be intent upon turning our lives in a new direction (conversion), communicating with him constantly (worship), and adopting the self- giving and prayerful life-style of Mary His mother.” (Benet Fonck, OFM)

27. The inspiration for this Article of our Rule came from the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 8.

28. When professed, the candidate will be professing to follow our Rule – including Articles 5 and 7. Therefore, formation MUST be a time to help the inquirers and candidates come to know Jesus Christ and learn the meaning of His Gospel.

29. HOW do we do this? YOUR part – as Formators and Spiritual Assistants, that is: SERVANT LEADERS

30. ECCLESIAL Refers to the things of the Church. How does it apply to us? Vatican II documents: “The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church”

31. “The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World” “The decree on the Apostolate of the Laity” U.S. Bishops’ Pastoral: “Called and Gifted: Catholic Laity” (1980)

32. Formation must create that vision of a dynamic and inspiring Church. It must convince each of us that we are not only part of the Church but that we are here for the Church.

33. Every potential member MUST be convinced that the Church IS the PEOPLE OF GOD. The Church is a Communion, the basic Sacrament of Christ’s real presence – above all groups and nations, yet present to every group and nation.

34. The Council’s vision of the Church is a concept of mission. Therefore, every Franciscan should have a missionary spirit.

35. RULE – Article 1 “The Franciscan family, as one among many spiritual families raised up by the Holy Spirit in the Church, unites all members of the people of God – laity, religious, and priests – who recognize that they are called to follow Christ in the footsteps of Saint Francis of Assisi....”

36. Source of this Article – Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, 43, from an address by Pius XII “Allocution to Tertiaries” #1, July 1, 1956, and from the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, 4m.

37. SIMPLICITY A virtue stressed by St. Francis Essential for the Secular Franciscan lifestyle

38. BUT WHAT IS SIMPLICITY?

39. LATER ADMONITION & EXHORTATION Directed to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance “We must be simple, humble and pure.”

40. IN THE WORDS OF FRANCIS “In his desire for holiness he was simple with the simple, humble with the humble, and poor with the poor.” (1 E arly Documents 269) “I must be simple like a dove, flying up to heaven with the feathered strokes of virtue.” (2 Early Documents 105)

41. “HOLY SIMPLICITY” “Holy simplicity, the daughter of grace, the sister of wisdom, the mother of justice, with careful attention he showed in himself and loved in others. It was not just any kind of simplicity that he approved, but only that which, content with her God scorns everything else.

42. “This is she who glories in the fear of God, who does not know how to do evil or speak of it. This is she who examines herself and condemns no one by her judgment; who grants due authority to her betters and seeks no authority for herself. This is she who does not consider the best glories of the Greeks and would rather do, than teach or learn.

43. “This is she who, when dealing with all the divine laws, leaves all wordy wanderings, fanciful decorations, shiny trappings, showy displays and odd curiosities, who seeks not the rind but the marrow, not the shell but the kernel, not the many, but the much, supreme and enduring good.” She was what the most holy father demanded in the brothers, learned and lay; not believing she was the contrary of wisdom but rather, her true sister, though easier to acquire for those poor in knowledge and more quickly to put into use.

44. Therefore, in the Praises of the Virtues which he composed, he says: “Hail, Queen Wisdom! May the Lord protect you, with Your Sister holy pure Simplicity ! (From The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul by Thomas of Celano, chapter 142)

45. THE RULE – Art. 11 “Trusting in the Father, Christ chose for himself and his mother a poor and humble life, even though he valued created things attentively and lovingly. Let the Secular Franciscans seek a proper spirit of detachment from temporal goods by simplifying their own material needs. Let them be mindful that according to the gospel they are stewards of the goods received for the benefit of God’s children.”

46. Jesus Christ by His gospel life and Francis as Jesus’ ardent follower ask us to be different – different in the sense that we must work within the structure of an affluent society, yet be ever mindful that we are called to a “poor and humble life.”

47. OPEN-ENDED Perhaps another word for “open- ended” might be “ongoing” or “never ending” as in formation is ongoing/never-ending, conversion is ongoing/never ending, the journey we are on is ongoing/never ending.

48. THE RULE – Art. 13 As the Father sees in every person the features of his Son, the firstborn of many brothers and sisters, so the Secular Franciscans with a gentle and courteous spirit accept all people as a gift of the Lord and an image of Christ. (See Rom. 8:29)

49. A sense of community will make them joyful and ready to place themselves on an equal basis with all people, especially with the lowly for whom they shall strive to create conditions of life worthy of people redeemed by Christ.

50. THE RULE - Art. 14 Secular Franciscans, together with all people of good will, are called to build a more fraternal and evangelical world so that the kingdom of God may be brought about more effectively. Mindful that anyone who follows Christ, the perfect man, becomes more of a man himself, let them exercise their responsibilities competently in the Christian spirit of service. (Lumen Gentium, 31; Gaudium et Spes, 93)

51. THE RULE – Art. 17 In their family they should cultivate the Franciscan spirit of peace, fidelity, and respect for life, striving to make of it a sign of a world already renewed in Christ. (Par. 1)

52. WHAT ARE WE TO DO? Live in the real world. Look at the world situation. Read the signs of the times. Get involved in the real and human concerns of the world. Dissolve the self-centeredness found in us all. Be open to the Holy Spirit to lead and challenge.

53. FORMATION BY MEANS OF LIFE AND FOR THE SAKE OF LIFE The end of formation is conversion, not just knowledge. The knowledge we receive must take root in the sorrowful and joyful events of our personal lives. God forms His people by means of the events of life.

54. In following the Gospel, we are forced to question ourselves as to the good and bad choices of life. We must give witness more by our lives than by our words, as Francis did. Christ has placed the destiny of the Church and the world in our hands.

55. FORMED BY MEANS OF LIFE Accept life as it is – not as we would like it to be. Know oneself: who I am, what I do, and that which I undertake.

56. COMMITTING MY LIFE IN THE WORLD We must take risks. We must reflect upon our own life experiences. We must urge others to reflect upon their own life experiences. We must share our life experiences with one another. We must share our needs and desires with one another.

57. FORMING EACH OTHER By sharing our life experiences I allow others to: ● C hallenge and enlighten my life; ● Transform my judgments; ● Spur me on to solidarity with the Lord and my brothers and sisters.

58. SUMMARY 9 characteristics are required for a program of Initial Formation to be authentic and effective: 1. Active 2. Communal 3. Centered on Jesus Christ and His Gospel 4. Ecclesial

59. 5. Secular 6. Franciscan 7. Joyful 8. In the spirit of Simplicity 9. Open-ended