June 27, 2014

In This Issue

"The heart and summit of the human, spiritual and vocational Franciscan experience is, therefore, to allow oneself be indwelt by the Spirit of the Lord, by living in openness to His inspiration and disposed towards His activity. Let us ask the Virgin during this Eucharist that we, like her, may live in obedience to the Spirit and support His work, despite our resistances and tiredness and even our most noble desires. Let us request her constant presence as a Mother so that we can discern what has to be our own personal and community style of Franciscan life, here and now, as we face the future."

 

Tuesday morning brought more information to guide the process.  Fr. Michael Della Penna, OFM, who had served as our Province representative on the Interprovincial Commission, reviewed the work of the Commission and the 95 page Interprovincial Commission Report which was made public last October and has been discussed in our regional meetings.

 

Following Michael's input, Fr. Thomas Washburn, OFM, Executive Secretary of the English Speaking Conference, presented related issues on the national level. He reviewed the Frequently Asked Questions that have been sent in by friars across the country, including our Province, related to the process.

 

After a break, the assembly was addressed by Provincial Minister Primo P. Piscitello, OFM, who encouraged the friars:

 

"Our future is not yet written, but it needs all of our prayers and our voices to bring us, and our way of life, successfully into the years ahead.  Let's be the change we want to see! Let's embrace this new chapter in our life together with the same faith in each other, with the same excitement for what God can do in us and with us and through us. The heart of the matter is this: will we dare to dream? Is this a process of 'circling the wagons' to protect what we have? Or are we willing to step out of our comfort zone in faith to dream as our founders did; to imagine our Franciscan life and revitalize it for our own times and our own place? Brothers, in hope, let us dream about what is possible for us to do.  Let us with our brothers across this country, dare to build a cathedral for our Franciscan way of life in the years ahead."

 

Following Mass and lunch, the friars gathered once again for an opportunity to ask any clarifying questions or to offer any other opinions or thoughts that had not yet been aired. After about an hour and a half of conversation, the brothers moved into a prayerful space to prepare for the vote.

 

The Proposal was then taken up and it was passed on the first ballot, the friars approving the proposal and taking a place at the table by a margin of 37-29. The result received the sustained applause of the assembly.

 

The Chapter came to a close Wednesday morning with a final liturgy presided over by Vicar Provincial Robert Campagna, OFM, and Fr. Armand Padula, OFM, offering the homily. 

 

With this vote, our Province became the seventh and final U.S. Province to say yes to be a part of this national process of reconfiguration. The next step in this process will be a meeting of the Provincial Administrations of all seven U.S. Provinces August 3-6, 2014 at Siena Retreat Center in Racine, Wisconsin. This gathering, too, will have about 70 friars from across the country participating.

 

WAPPINGERS FALLS, NEW YORK - Below are some highlights of the homily of Óscar Andrés Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB, to the Extraordinary Chapter.  A link to the full text can be found at the bottom of this article:

Cardinal Rodriguez

• "The word of God exhorts us to recover unity in the midst of the tendency towards dispersion. It encourages us to believe in spite of doubt and to hope in the face of despair. It is God who directs history and it is only when we declare our radical confusion before Him - "... We have no leader, no prophet or prince "- that He comes to meet us with His grace so that - following discernment - we can then have that serene and secure place where we can "offer the first fruits, sacrifices and incense". God waits for the time of mankind when it is not faithful to the time of God."

• "It was the fate of Francis of Assisi to live in very difficult ecclesiastical, social, geopolitical and religious circumstances and on finding he was weak, in need of certainty and radically poor, he took the path of Discernment according to the Spirit of the Lord. Spiritual discernment is always a contextual reality: it tries to find 'that which is the will of God, the good, the perfect, that which pleases Him', not on a general, theoretical or ideal level, but on a practical level in the personal and community here and now. Francis did so by following, for us, this paradigmatic scheme:
• The clarification of a situation: What is happening here, what is in play, what are the interests present in it?
• The search for the origin of a proposal or motion: Does it come from God, the devil or a human person?
• The knowledge of the will of God: What does God want me to do? What does God expect from us in the here and now?"

• "Let us be clear about what is NOT a spiritual discernment! It is not a 'recipe,' nor does it consist of the application of instructions from a manual. It is not a knowledge drawn from psychology, sociology or economics. It does not coincide with the sacrament of confession. It is not the same as the strategies of business administration, marketing, returning to the past or similar activities."

• "These 4 fundamental elements of a Franciscan discernment must always be included:
• The spirit of faith, prayer and seeking the light of God.
• A humble soul, conscious of external obstacles and internal limitations.
• An internal openness and heart of disciples: we must not discern in order to reaffirm ourselves in what we thought previously.
• The desire for obedience and coherence." 

• "The heart and summit of the human, spiritual and vocational Franciscan experience is, therefore, to allow oneself be indwelt by the Spirit of the Lord, by living in openness to His inspiration and disposed towards His activity. Let us ask the Virgin during this Eucharist that we, like her, may live in obedience to the Spirit and support His work, despite our resistances and tiredness and even our most noble desires. Let us request her constant presence as a Mother so that we can discern what has to be our own personal and community style of Franciscan life, here and now, as we face the future."

Full Text: Cardinal Rodriguez Homily

Provincial Minister Primo Piscitello, OFM, addressing the assembled friars.

WAPPINGERS FALLS, NEW YORK - Some highlights from the Address of Provincial Minister Primo P. Piscitello, OFM. A link to his full text can be found at the end of this article:

• "It may seem like overkill, but I think the solemnity with which we engage this one action speaks of the seriousness of the moment. This moment is a moment of history; perhaps of destiny. It is a moment that will set the course of our future.  And, so again I say, thank you, for coming together as brothers, in prayer to discuss with sobriety and seriousness the course we will take for our future."

• "Indulge me if you will with this small story, you may have heard it before. A laborer was breaking stones in a field one day and was asked by a passerby, 'What are you doing?' The laborer replied, grumbling, 'I am breaking my back to cut these stones.' The passerby walked on and came upon another laborer in the field who was also breaking stones and asked him the same question. He replied more mater-of-factly, 'I am working to feed my family and keep a roof over our head.' But, coming upon a third laborer and asking the same question again this laborer stopped and, with a great smile and a gaze towards the heavens, replied "I am building a cathedral." My brothers, I share this simple parable for the obvious reason.  There are any number of ways that we can view this moment that lies ahead of us.  We can view it as a problem; we can view it as a mere necessity or we can embrace possibility; we can embrace the dream."

• So, first, viewing this moment as a problem. I am aware that when we think about the possibilities of reconfiguration that this can raise a lot of fears within us. What does this mean? Does it mean the end of our beloved Province of the Immaculate Conception? What happens to what we have worked so hard for; to what we have built? To that understandable fear, let me say this: a process of reconfiguration is not the way that we lose ourselves, but it is exactly the way that we preserve who we are for generations to come. The reality that you have heard over-and-over again is this: we cannot survive alone. The numbers of men coming in each year are not even keeping up with the number of brothers who return to the Lord each year.  And there is not a vocation initiative that can cure that. I am fully confident in the work of our vocation and formation personnel - they are doing an excellent job. But, this is just the reality of the times in which we live.  We need each other. We need our brothers in this country; and they need us." 

• "Like you, I love our Immaculate Conception Province. I can't understand my life outside of the context of this Province. I was born and grew up literally in the Province's embrace, growing up mere steps away from St. Leonard's - and I'm not alone in that. I entered into religious life in 1951 and have never known a day of my life outside of the care of our beloved Province. My brothers, whatever new structures emerge, they will emerge not ex nihilo, but instead they will born from us - from who we are; they will be shaped by each one of us who are part of the process that gives birth to something new in this country. By being part of the conversation of reconfiguration, we will be at that table to make sure that the histories, the traditions and the ministries that we consider important and essentially 'IC' will persevere into the future. I want us to be at the table precisely because this is how we preserve our identity into the future; not how we lose it."

• "Another fear that I have heard others speak of is the fear that this process that we are being asked to engage in is a lie; even a conspiracy.  That 'the Provincials have already decided' what the future will be and it will be forced upon us. I cannot repudiate this strongly enough. First, for the most obvious reason: if it were true, why would the Provincials go through all of this effort? If I and my brother Provincial Ministers somehow felt that we simply needed to make this change, brothers, we would tell you that in open and transparent language. This is simply and without question untrue. And anyone who spreads such a rumor is spreading a lie. The reason that we are engaging this national process and asking everyone to come together is simply this: Provincials are friars too. We don't have some secret box of magical answers to these most pressing and difficult questions of our times. We share your uncertainty and need your wisdom about the best way to move forward."

• "It seems as though some want to approach this moment as though it were a situation of "US versus THEM".  What will happen to US?  What will THEY do?  Will THEY make US move?  And other questions like these.   My brothers, there is no US and THEM.  There is only US and US and US and US and US and US and US.  There is not a big guy ready to swallow up a little guy. This is not a hostile take-over. It is a matter of all of the Provinces in the United States realizing, perhaps for the first time, that our future will only be successful if we step into that future together."

• "The heart of the matter is that we are saying as your Provincial Ministers in the United States that we can no longer stand alone - the time has come for us to stand together to support one another. Being at the table allows us to have a voice in what a newly configured reality will look like...but only if we are at the table and don't choose to instead silence our voice before the conversation has even begun."

• But, all of this, my brothers, is at the fear level, is at the problem level or even the necessity level.  My deepest desire for each one of us is to let our hearts leave this level - if even for a brief moment - and dream.  Let's build a cathedral! There is so much potential; so much possibility just waiting in this moment if only we will have the courage to embrace it."

• "Let me again state what I firmly believe in my heart and what I hope that you can join me in believing: This is a moment of great hope and possibility.   We can be the change that we hope to see in our Province and in our country.  But, we can only be that change if we decide to sit down at the table with the rest of our brothers and let our voices be heard."

• "Our future is not yet written, but it needs all of our prayers and our voices to bring us, and our way of life, successfully into the years ahead.  Let's be the change we want to see! Let's embrace this new chapter in our life together with the same faith in each other, with the same excitement for what God can do in us and with us and through us."

• "The heart of the matter is this: will we dare to dream? Is this a process of 'circling the wagons' to protect what we have? Or are we willing to step out of our comfort zone in faith to dream as our founders did; to imagine our Franciscan life and revitalize it for our own times and our own place?"

• "We were all reminded recently of the energizing retreat that our beloved former General Minister Giacomo Bini, now recently deceased, gave us in 2007.  His words then, fit this moment so well.  He said to us:
• "Our hope is to be a taste of the future. We are not religious men for the services we can render. We don't measure our success because we are doing many things or even because we do them well. You could do all of that without a habit. We are called, my brothers, to create a milieu of enthusiasm. The seeds of eternity have been planted in your hearts. We must be pilgrims, always on the way. Today, we must have a Copernican Revolution. We must change the center of our lives. And so I ask you, to whom do you belong? To your work? Or to your God and to this fraternity?"

• "As I have met with my brother Provincials and heard their reflections on the state of affairs in the different provinces, one thing that I have taken away from those conversations is that all of the Provinces are going through process similar to our own. They have the same questions and anxieties as well as hopes that we do. It's a good reminder that just when we think we are alone in this process or that others are in a different place that we are all more alike than we are different. Despite their anxieties and questions, they have all found a way to say yes to being part of the conversation.  And now, the question today comes to us. I hope that we too will have the courage to say yes, to be a part of this process of brothers."

• "I'll leave you with one final quote from a favorite Pope of mine, the recently canonized Saint Pope John XXIII, who said: 

"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do."

• "Brothers, in hope, let us dream about what is possible for us to do.  Let us with our brothers across this country, dare to build a cathedral for our Franciscan way of life in the years ahead."

CO-DIRECTORS OF COMMUNICATIONS: Thomas Washburn, OFM | Alvin Te, OFM