Gatherings

 
From the Minister 
Advent- Journey Anew 
 Paz y Bien from the Infirmarian 
SFO International Council Weekly News 
Prayer of Thanksgiving 
 Calendar of Saints/Feast Days: November 
 
Classes and Meetings 
St. Anthony's Corner 
 Like a Light to the World 
 Miscellaneous 
 In Order to Serve 
 Librarian 
 
 
 

From the Minister
Christine Imislund

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
 
  We prepare for our Lord in a new and deeper way each Advent. Jesus desires to be everything to us. He speaks to us in the song of a bird, the smell of a rain-washed day and in the laugh of a loved
one.
  This Advent I would like to challenge you. Do you bring Christ to a world hungry for His touch? Does your fraternity grow in God's Spirit of Love and concern because of your presence? Is the
Kingdom more present because of you?
  Let this new year shine with the love of Jesus coming more fully into the world. Be a true "Christ-bearer". Let His light shine through you into your family, your work, your fraternity. God will
bless you and be more present in your life.
 

 
Fr. Paul Juniet, OFM- Spiritual Assistant

"Advent- Journey Anew"

    As we enter into Advent, beginning the Church year of 1999, we reflect anew on our journey to Jubilee 2000. In the biblical sense a Jubilee was a time for a new look at our lives. A rebirth, a new life in the Lord. On my retreat recently Sr. Ramona Miller suggested four aspects of this renewal: Life, Learning, Love and Going Forth.
  First of all our Life. We are gifted with our own lives. At Christmas we celebrate the "life" of Jesus with us. How do we celebrate our own? Do we take care of our physical life? Are we good to ourselves with proper nourishment, rest, recreation, spiritual and psychological nourishment? At the end of his life, Francis apologized to Brother Ass, his  body, for not taking care of it. Francis is telling us to be kinder to Brother Ass than he was.
  Learning: Do we continue to nourish our minds and spirits? Francis was not against learning if it was done in the spirit of prayer and devotion. Our mental abilities are a gift to be used. Francis was very learned in the Sacred Scriptures through meditation and reflection on God's presence all around him. Have we journeyed into the scriptures? Good books, even novels and secular books expand our human wisdom. Experience is a great teacher. Are we open to grow in wisdom and knowledge as we read how Jesus did so in his young life?
  Love: How's your Love life? The greatest command that Jesus gave us was, "Love one another as I have loved you." Francis had to deal with his relationship with his father. He could not live the way of his father, but did that mean he did not love him? Do we let disagreements with family, friends, and people we share each day with, take away our love for them? The scene of Bethlehem with wise men and shepherds coming together celebrated the union of love that Jesus came to share.
  And finally, Going Forth: There is something about the birth of a child that calls each of us to share the good news. The shepherds went back to their homes dancing and singing proclaiming the Good News, Emmanuel is born. God is in our midst. Let us begin anew our own proclamation as we celebrate this Advent-Christmans season.
  The Lord is calling us anew to celebrate, as Francis did at Greccio, the presence of his love and gift of life in each one of us. Let us enter 1999 opening our lives to wholeness in his peace and love. Then truly, after journeying through 1999, we will be able to enter into Jubilee 2000.

 

 "Paz y Bien" From the Infirmarian:

  •             LET US KEEP OUR FRANCISCANS IN OUR DAILY PRAYERS:
  • Mary Ann Wich is requesting prayers for her  son, James
    ****
    Eva Bevington is requesting prayers for her  health. She has no
    transportation to the  Fraternity meetings. If anyone can help out
    call her.
    ****
    Harvey Partee, brother of Father Chrys Par tee, died Oct. 11 in Hamilton,
    Ohio. Father  Partee is our regional spiritual assistant.  Remember
    his family in our prayers.
    ****
    Mary Lou Ruiz continues to have vision  problems and may lose sight
    from one  eye. Pray for her.
    ****
    Homebound Reports:
    John & Verena McMahon are improving  from  broken bones (her) and cataract surgery  (his).
    Helen Slavinske needs Franciscan  visitations to help through her illness.
    Caroline Schmidt is doing better.
    Tillie Rojas' daughters are now recovering  from a hospital admission.
    Alberia C de Baca continues to feel ill.
    Anna Mae Wich requests prayers for her sister.
     
    Mass Intentions:
      At Queen of Angels Chapel
       Nov. 8: All Deceased St. Anthony Franciscans
       Nov.28:Lucia Sena. Anniversay of Death.
      By Franciscan Friars Association
       Healing Masses for Tillie's daughters,  Bernadette and Charity.
     
    Intercessory Prayers for:
      Gene and Jane Klecan* John and Rosemary McNerney* John and Verena
    McMahan* Winifred Klimka* Helen Slavinske* Caroline Schmidt* Frances Vigil*
    Steve Budenski* Hazel Herrera
     
    A Prayer in Sickness
    O God I am in your hands.
    You know me from my mother's womb.
    O wise creator, soothe my pain; heal my body and soul.
    O good Jesus, you went doing good and healing many.
    Once your hands raised the dead to life, restore my health to me.
    Once your hands gave sight to the blind, take me from the darkness of my fears.
    Once your hands made the paralyzed walk, let me walk again with my family and
    friends.
    Once your hands were nailed to the cross, strengthen me in sickness and pain
    ****************************
     
     

    SFO INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL Weekly News

    FROM: CIOFS BULLETIN, 1998, VOL 4    N.45,46(Nov. 1998)
    OFM Cap.Gen.Curia

    .To the Youth Gathering at San Giovani Rotondo for the
    Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Franciscan Youth

    5. Brothers and Sisters present in the world.
      St. Francis understood that the Church was born as a community and because of this he was profoundly convinced that the Gospel would continue to spread in the world by means of the fraternity. So he sent his brothers two by two to proclaim repentance and peace (I Cel.29;30; etc.; cfr Mc 6.7; Lc 10,1).
      Francis saw himself himself as brother; it defined his way of service and of proclaiming the Gospel. He saw in each person the features of Christ, "firstborn of a multitude of brothers" and because of this he welcomed "all men with a humble and courteous spirit, as a gift of the Lord and image of Christ". (Nostro Volto 6i)
      The challenge of creating evangelical fraternities involves the reconsideration of the way in which our fraternity serves the Church and the world. This shows that the services which require the collaboration of various members of the fraternity must have precedence over those that are individual expressions. The variety of gifts of grace and of nature must work together for the
    communal good. Social and cultural changes have shaped a new reality so that we all see each other with new eyes and we discover, the one in the other, all the gifts of nature and grace. 


    7.  A united and evangelical Fraternity.
       "That Order constitutes therefore a fraternity.." This very important declaration by the Pope to the Capuchins gives us a renewed impetus to live again the evangelical fraternal charism of St. Francis of Assisi, which for around 800 years has given evangelical vitality to the Church and the world.

     
    Prayer of Thanksgiving

      Bountiful God, you have blessed us in ways that we cannot even begin to number. We
    are aware that we take so much for granted. We assume the abundance before us will
    always be ours...Help us to become aware of your gifts and not to take even the
    smallest among them for granted. Help us to develop a thankful heart and a grateful
    spirit. Bless the food that we share today. Bless our family, our friends...and remember
    those who go without: the poor, the abandoned, the lonely, and the forgotten. We pray
    in the name of Jesus, our Lord, Amen.
    (Rev. Thomas M. Santa,C.SS.R.)
     

    Calendar of Saints/Feast Days: November

    1.  All Saints
    2.  All Souls
    4.  St. Charles Borromeo, bishop, III Ord.
    7.  St. Didicus of Alcala, rel., I Ord.
    8.  Bl. John Duns Scotus,priest, I Ord.
    13.St.Frances Xavier Cabrini,vir.,III Ord.
    14.St. Nicholas Trvelic,priest and comp.,
        martyrs, I Ord.
    17.ST.ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY, patroness
     III Order, FEAST
    18.Bl. Salome, virg.,II Ord
    19.St. Agness of Assisi,virg.,II Ord.
    22.CHRIST THE KING
    24.All the Deceased of the Franciscan Ord.
    26.Lt. Leonard of Port Maurice,priest,I Ord
    27.Bl.Francis Anthony Fasani,priest, I Ord.
    28.St.James of the March,priest, I Ord.
    29.FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
    29.All Saints of the Seraphic Order,Feast.

     
    November 17
    St. Elizabeth of Hungary-Widow (1207-1231) Patroness of the Third Order Feast

      Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew, king of Hungary, was born in the year 1207. As a young girl she was given in marriage to Louis the Landgrave of Thuringia and bore him three children. She was
    assiduous in meditating on the things of heaven and after her husband's death embraced a life of poverty. She erected a hospital in which she served the sick. Her death occurred in Marburg in the
    year 1231.
    *********************************************************************

    "Over and above all this, I speak before God, I have rarely seen a woman more absorbed in contemplation. Religious men and women frequently saw her coming from private prayer with her face glowing with a marvelous radiance and rays of light flashing from her eyes like the rays of the sun."
    (From a letter of Conrad of Marburg, the spiritual director of Saint Elizabeth,
    to the Pope, written in 1232).

     November 22
    Feast of Christ the King

      Make the Kingdom real for someone this week. Bring comfort to the afflicted, food to the hungry, joy to the sorrowing, good news to the poor. Give someone else a reason to believe that Christ is
    the king you serve. A strange king, indeed, revealing an even stranger God.
     

    Classes and Meetings

    INQUIRER'S CLASSES:
     
    Nov. 14 at 1:30 pm and Nov. 22 at 1:30 pm at Queen of Angels. Instr.: Joanne Elfers
     

     CANDIDATE CLASSES:
     
    Nov. 14 and 22 at 1:00 pm  at Queen of Angels.. Instructor: Rena Xuereb.
     
    ONGOING FORMATION:
     
    Nov. 22 at 1:30-2:30 pm at Queen of Angels. Topic: Series
    The Year of the Holy Spirit- Spiritual Life. ALL PROFESSED ARE WELCOME.
    Instr.: Louise Baca

     

    "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." 
      
    -The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order II:13 
     
     
    FRATERNITY GATHERING:
     
    Nov. 22 at 2:30 pm at Queen of Angels.  Feast of Christ the King
     Topic: To be announced.

     
    COUNCIL MEETING:
     
    Nov. 28 at 1:30 pm at Queen of Angels. PROFESSED MEMBERS ARE
    ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND.

     
    SPECIAL WORKSHOPS/ ACTIVITIES:
     
    Cuarto Centennial Event
     
    Plan to attend the archdiocesan celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe as "Reconciler of all Peoples" at 3:00 pm on December 13, 1998 at the Kiva Auditorium in Albuquerque.