Queen of Peace Regional Fraternity

Food for Thought

 "While you are proclaiming

peace with your lips, be

careful to have it even

more fully in your heart."

   Francis of Assisi
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                                                          Peace,  
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Last Updated on Saturday, 01 October 2011 14:50
 
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Welcome...please linger awhile with St. Francis and St. Clare...fall in love with... 

The Secular Franciscan Order

The Secular Franciscan Order, or SFO, gives the religious life to Catholic men and women who cannot leave home and family for monastery, seminary or convent.  It offers to people of all occupation and conditions a Rule that makes their life rich and peaceful by centering it on God.  Secular Franciscans profess the Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order, to “follow Christ in the footsteps of Francis of Assisi” (Rule, Article 1),  preaching the Gospel…using words when necessary.   It fills them with the charity of St. Francis, engaging them in apostolic work, which flows out into the community, offering help and comfort to those in need.

Individual Secular Franciscans gather in local fraternities to share fellowship, pray, witness to one another and grow in the knowledge of the Lord increasing their Faith.  The local fraternities in the United States are organized into Regions.  Queen of Peace Region under the patronage of our Blessed Mother Mary, whose feast we celebrate on December 8th, includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and the western section of Wisconsin.

From the days of its founding, the Secular Franciscan Order of St. Francis of Assisi has been the inspiration not only of the poor and the humble, but also of some of history’s towering geniuses.  It has developed the spirit of St. Francis in outstanding men like the artists Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Murillo; musicians such as Palestrina, Liszt and Gounod; explorers like Christopher Columbus; the writers Dante, Cervantes, Johannes, Jorgensen and Francis Thompson; such scientists as Galileo, Galvani, and Volta.

"Oh, what a joy to walk with the Lord as St. Francis did.  May you hear the call and experience the peace of Franciscan life".
Last Updated on Monday, 23 January 2012 15:36
 
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Quinquinneal Logo 2012

 

Prayer for Quinquennial 2012


Dear and gracious, loving Lord and Father,
we bring to you the upcoming Quinquennial.
We thank you for the gift of our vocation to the Secular Franciscan Order,
and for our brothers and sisters whom you have also called.
Thank you for the example and inspiration of Francis and Clare,
and grant us a new understanding and vision of their calling, and ours.
Prepare our hearts to hear your call anew, 
and enkindle in us a new spirit of conversion and dedication.
Bless those who will share with us,
Bless those who will attend in person,
Bless those who will attend in spirit.
Let your Holy Spirit be poured out on our entire National Fraternity,
that through this Congress we may together discern your heart, 
and become all that you want us to be
in order “to bring about a more fraternal and evangelical world”,
bringing to life more fully the Kingdom of God.
We pray in the Holy and Blessed Name of Jesus, Your Son.
Amen.

 
Last Updated on Thursday, 16 February 2012 11:30
 
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St. Francis of Assisi Founder of the Franciscan Order - Feast Day Oct. 4th

 

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St. Francis of Assisi…

“A Simple Man”

 

This is the story of a great man, a wonderful and simple man. He died over 800 years ago, but he has never been forgotten and he never will be. Great men by the thousands have lived and died…kings and conquerors and millionaires, artists, musicians and scholars. But this man was a beggar, and he is remembered better than any of the others. And loved as none of them was ever loved.

It was not always that way with him. There was a time when his best friends touched their finger to their forehead when they mentioned his name. Children threw rocks at him. But he had set out on a high adventure, and he kept going. People stopped laughing. There was something about the way he looked at each man, something about the way he spoke. Birds flew down to perch on his shoulders as he talked, and a wolf came once to crouch at his feet. Nature lay quiet under this man’s touch, as she had done for Adam when he walked with God under the trees of Paradise, before the serpent came.

 

The world stood back in wonder. This little man had no money but he acted as if he were richer than a millionaire. His body was scarred and racked with pain, but he sang sweeter than any lark. He smiled as he dined with a prince; he laughed as he shared his last crust with a leper. Somehow he had learned to love everything that lived. And everything loved him. He had a secret worth knowing…and the world has been learning it from him ever since.

“The Hour of St. Francis”-1955


 

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St. Clare of Assisi
Foundress of the Order of Poor Clare Nuns
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St Francis of Assisi
Founder of the Franciscan Order
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St Elizabeth of Hungary
Patroness of the Third Order
Feast Day - Nov 17

Last Updated on Saturday, 13 November 2010 20:36
 

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Greetings from...

Sr. Mary Lou Eltgroth, OSF Regional Spiritual Assistant

 Sr. Mary Lou Eltgroth

February, 2012

 

Lent is upon us.  The beginning of the Prologue to the SFO rule says, “All who love the Lord with their whole heart, with their whole soul and mind, with all their strength, and love their neighbors as themselves, and hate their bodies with their vices and sins, and receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and produce worthy fruits of penance.”

“Penance” is the word for the Season of Lent.  How do we do penance?  Yes, it is giving up of things and also the DOING of good deeds.  It is growing in our love for Jesus.  It is helping our Faith to grow.  Faith in Christ as our Savior is life-changing.  It’s not just a rational acknowledgment that frees us to do as we please, assured of a future trip to heaven. Jesus showed us the path to life NOW.  He washed the feet of His followers and told them to do the same.  Acknowledging Christ as my Savior is one thing on the “head” level, but it is quite another on the “heart” level.  Jesus showed us how to live by loving God and neighbor unconditionally.  That same love is given freely to us even though we don’t deserve it.  He told us to do the same, even to love our enemies!
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Reflections

Ash Wednesday for TOR Religious and SFO Members

Lent is a special time of grace and conversion for the whole Church. It offers us a unique time and opportunity for serious reflection on the meaning of our vocation as  Franciscan Penitents and its value for the whole Church.


There are many paintings which depict the ash gray habit we once wore.  That color was no mere accident.  It was meant to be...for ourselves...and for the Church to whom our way of life is a Gift, a continual reminder of the message of Ash Wednesday's ancient liturgical rite on the imposition of ashes:  "Be converted and Believe the Good News".


In other words we are to recognize that we are sinners,  and yet penitents, struggling against evil within and without which blocks our total fidelity to God. The works and penance and charity that we are called to embrace during Lenten time and our lifetime are a means to strengthen our resolve to accept God's Pardon and the Grace of a New Life. These works of penance and mercy are also to be the result of our Conversion.  They are the "fruits of penance" which St. Francis mentions in his Letter to the Penitents...... having changed our hearts we change our conduct. The special form of Poverty for the Franciscans of Penance, whether Regular or Secular, looks to a self denial which enables us to share with others. The personal element flows into the social, for Franciscans do not form a "mini-Church" or a "Parallel Church" but are part of the One Community of Faith.
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From the Heart of Your Minister

Fraternity Focus

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Discernment is a process that both potential Secular Franciscans and fraternities go through. Whenever anyone is discerning a vocation, it involves both the discernee and the institution the discernee wants to be a part of. With vocations in short supply, fraternities may be so excited about a potential SFO that they fail to examine whether this person has a true Secular Franciscan vocation and if they would be a good fit for the fraternity.

What are some things that fraternities should do to help this process? To begin with, the formation director should ask detailed questions about the discernee.

Are they Catholic;
How often do they go to Mass;
What is their prayer life like;
What brought them to consider the Franciscans?
. 

Fraternities need to be spiritually aware. This can be difficult because no one wants to “rock the boat.”   Consider a couple of situations that have occurred in the Order.  There have been disruptive individuals, some with their own agendas. This can cause many faithful members to stop attending meetings resulting in a deactivation of the fraternity. Also, with the focus on abuse issues, we do not want to profess individuals who could be potentially abusive to members of their immediate family, and/or fraternity members.   This is a sad reality affecting our society.

 
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