Gatherings

 
Are Your Goals Set for the Future? 
 Let Us Begin 
 Paz y Bien from the Infirmarian 
SFO International Council Weekly News 
Prayer for the Year of Forgiveness 
 Calendar of Saints/Feast Days: January 		 Classes and Meetings 
St. Anthony's Corner 
 Like a Light to the World 
 Miscellaneous 
 In Order to Serve 
 Librarian 
To Find Those Who are Seeking 
 
 

Are Your Goals Set for the Future?

*Set aside time to be alone with the Lord. God honors obedience, and when He sees that you are committed to seeking His wisdom in every area, He responds with a blessing.
 

*Before you begin to set goals, ask the Lord to reveal any area of your life that needs an application of his forgiveness. Make sure your heart is right before the Lord as you begin to seek Him.
 

*Have paper and a pencil or pen with you. List the areas of your life in which you want to set goals. God is concerned about your total life so include ALL areas in which you want to see growth and change.
 

*Set goals with the purpose of glorifying God and not yourself. He wants you to follow His plan for your life. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Pv 3:5)
 

*Be patient and diligent in your faith. God’s timetable for your life won’t be yours. You need to be patient and wait for His timing.  You can set goals for your life and live by faith.
 
 

 
Fr. Paul Juniet, OFM- Spiritual Assistant

"Let Us Begin"

    Beginnings, beginnings, each new year calls us to new beginnings. This year 1999 calls us to prepare for the new beginning of the twenty-first century. We have an entire year to reflect and enter into a new journey. St. Francis at the end of his life saw these new beginnings as he exhorted his friars, “Let us begin and proceed anew since up to now we have done very little.”
  In the Early Rule of 1221 Francis exhorts his friars to begin with their foundation in God  saying:
  “Let us desire nothing else
Let us wish for nothing else
Let nothing else please us and cause us delight except our Creator and Redeemer and Saviour, the   one true God.
Who is the Fullness of Good, al good, every good, the true and supreme good
Who alone is Good, merciful and gentle, delectable and sweet,
Who alone is holy, just and true, holy and right,
Who alone is kind, innocent, pure,
From Whom and through Whom and in Whom is all pardon, all grace, all glory of all the penitent and just of all the blessed who rejoice together in heaven.”
  Searching out our true relationship with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is truly the beginning of our deepest call to life. When we find this relationship our journey of life takes on a new beginning and entry into a new journey of life. Francis found his new beginning when he stripped and gave his earthly clothing back to his father and he could proclaim, “I now have my Father in heaven.” The rest of his life became an exciting journey into a beautiful union with God.
  At the beginning of this New Year let us enter into our own personal new beginnings. Let us reflect on our personal relationship with God. Let us take an inventory of how we are living out the gift of our Faith. Let us, like Francis, strip the clothing of the world from our backs. And let us begin anew our own exciting journey into a beartiful union with God.
  We have made our profession to live the life of the Gospels. May our New Year bring us to our own new beginnings. May God be with you in all you are and do.
Peace and All Good. Have a blessed New Year!
Love,
Fr. Paul
 

 "Paz y Bien" From the Infirmarian:

  •             LET US KEEP OUR FRANCISCANS IN OUR DAILY PRAYERS:
    • Paso por Aqui:
    MILDRED A. KELLEY
     
    Our sister in St. Francis passed away to her eternal reward on December
    10, 1998.
     
    Mildred was professed on March 20, 1970 at Queen of Angels Chapel in the
    St. Anthony Fraternity.
     
    As this new year begins, let us remember in our prayers all those who have
    entered the beginnings of a new and eternal life.
    Let us keep our sick and homebound Franciscans in our daily prayers. May our Infant
    Jesus bring them good health, love, faith and hope:
    ******************************************
    Eva Bevington  Dora Romero
    Alberia CdeBaca  Mary Lou Ruiz
    Barbara Heilman  Helen Slavinski
    Hazel Herrera   Caroline Schmidt
    Sophie Leyva   Frances Vigil
    Sara Placencio  Lydia Wroten
    Flora Gallegos and sister-in-law
    Tillie Rojas and daughters
    Anna Mae Wich and her son and sister
    John and Verena McMahan
    Gene and Jane Klecan
    John and Rosemary McNerney
    ******************************************
     Prayer for the Sick
     
       Jesus, Divine Physician and Healer of the sick, we turn to you in this time of illness.Comforter of the troubled, alleviate our worry and sorrow with your gentle love and grant us the grace and strength to accept this burden.
       Dear God, we place our worries in your hands.
    We place our sick under your care and humbly ask that you restore your servant to health
    again. Above all, grant us the grace to acknowledge your holy will and know that whatsoever you do, you do for the love of us.
    Amen
     
     
     

    SFO INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL Weekly News
    FROM: CIOFS BULLETIN, 1999, VOL 5    N.1(January)

    PROCLAMATION OF THE HOLY YEAR 2000 

      1. Contemplating the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God, the Church prepares to cross the threshold of the Third Millennium. Never more than at this time do we feel the need to make our own the Apostle’s hymn of praise and thanksgiving:
    “Blessed be the God and Father  of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will...For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Eph. 1:3-5, 9-10).
      These words clearly indicate that in Jesus Christ the history of salvation finds its culmination and ultimate meaning. In him, we have all received  “grace upon grace” (Jn. 1:16), having been reconciled with the Father (cf. Rom. 5:10; 2Cor 5:18).
      The birth of Jesus at Bethlehem is not an event which can be consigned to the past. The whole of human history in fact stands in reference to him: our own time and the future of the world are illumined by his presence. He is “the Living One” (Rev. 1:18), “who is, who was and who is to come” (Rev. 1:4). Before him every knee must bend, in the heavens, on earth and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim that he is Lord (cf. Phil 2:10-11). In the encounter with Christ, every man discovers the mystery of his own life.
      Jesus is the genuine newness which surpasses all human expectations and such he remains forever, from age to age. The Incarnation of the Son of God and the salvation which he has accomplished by his Death and Resurrection are therefore the true criterion for evaluating all that happens in time and every effort to make life more human.
    *********************
    (We will continue John Paul II’s Proclamation next month).
     
     

     
    Prayer

    Year of Forgiveness and Reconciliation

     O GOD,
    Through the centuries you have guided your people as we search
    for your will for us.
    During the Beginning of the Year of Franciscan Devotion, my prayer is that 1999 will
    be a year in which I seek to do your will as I discover it through prayer and listening,
    that I offer forgiveness rather than wait for it to come to me and that I remember it
    was an imperfect world into which your Son chose to be born.
     

    Calendar of Saints/Feast Days: January

    1.    Solemnity of the Mother of God
    2.    Holy Name of Jesus. (Memorial)
    4.    Epiphany of the Lord
    7.    Bl. Angela of Foligno (Opt Mem. III Ord.)
    12.  Bl. Bernard of Corleone (Opt. Mem.I Ord.)
    14.  Bl. Odoric of Pordenone (Opt. Mem.I Ord.)
    16.  Sts. Berard and Comp.,Protomartyrs of I  Ord. (Mem.)
    24.  St. Francis de Sales, bishop,  doct.,Cordbearer of St. Francis (Mem.)
    30.  St. Hyacinth of Mariscotti, Rel.(Opt.Mem.  III Ord.)
    31.  St. John Bosco,priest of III Ord. (Mem.)
     

     Bl. Angela Foligno- Third Order
      Blessed Angela of Foligno was born in Umbria in the year 1248. Putting aside the allurements of the world which attracted her for a time she joined the Third Order of  Penance of St. Francis and drew many women to follow her example. She was conspicuous for her fervent love of God and fellow men, especially the poor, and for her humility, patience and poverty. Blessed by God with heavenly favors she had a special devotion to the mysteries of the life of Christ and left remarkable writings on spiritual topics which gained for her the title “Teacher of  Theologians.”
     
      She died at Foligno in the year 1309.
     

    Our Lady of Lourdes Feast Day, February 11
      In 1862, the Bishop of Lourdes, France, decreed that the faithful were justified in believing that Mary had truly appeared to a young peasant girl named Bernadette. Soon millions of pilgrims, many of them sick, were flocking to Lourdes each year. Thousands have claimed healing. Millions have drawn closer to God. Skeptics have become believers because they saw undeniable proof of miracles at Lourdes. The faithful have grown in their love for Jesus and the sacraments. At Lourdes, Mary has “translated” God’s love into language we can understand.
     
    Rev. Oscar Lukefahr,CM
     

    MILLENNIUM MOMENT: Messenger of Peace
    A new sculpture of Francis of Assisi, a saint singled out by Time magazine several years ago as one of the 10 greatest people of the second millennium, now stands in the Peace Park of the University for Peace in Cost Rica. The sculpture honoring Francis stands as a symbol to the world of the
    possibilities for peace and human dignity in the new millennium. Dedication of the new bust was held on December 10, 1998, the 50th anniversary of the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
      University officials invited Franciscans International at the U.N. to commission the sculpture in light of Francis’ vision of peace for all of creation. In turn, Anneta Duveen, long-time Secular Franciscan, was invited to sculpt the new work. Mrs. Duveen sees her opportunity to depict St. Francis as her “millennium gift.” For her, Francis is “an exciting adventurous saint” who “simplifies things for us” and yet “keeps us on the cutting edge.”
      The University for Peace, created by the U.N. General Assembly in 1980, promotes non-violent solutions to conflicts and seeks to help create a true culture of peace in the world. Meanwhile, the sculpture of St. Francis will help reinforce this message well into the next millennium.

     

    Classes and Meetings

    INQUIRER'S CLASSES:
     
    Jan 9 at 1:00 pm and Jan 24 at 1:00 pm at Queen of Angels. Instructor: Joanne Elfers
     
     CANDIDATE CLASSES:
     
    Jan 16 and 24 at 1:00 pm at Queen of Angels.  Instructor: Rena Xuereb.
     
    ONGOING FORMATION:
     
    Jan 24 at 1:30-2:30 pm at Queen of Angels. Topic: Series- God the Father. The third and final year of preparation for the Great Jubilee. ALL PROFESSED ARE WELCOME. Instr.: Louise Baca

     

    "We are mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ when we carry him in our hearts and in our bodies... and give birth to him through the working of his grace in us which should shine forth as an example to others.”  
     
    -Letter to the Faithful 
     
     
    FRATERNITY GATHERING:
     
    Jan 24 at 2:30 pm at Queen of Angels.  Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
     Topic: To be announced.

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

     
    SPECIAL WORKSHOPS/ ACTIVITIES:
     
    Profession Retreat
     
    Feb. 27 Retreat for candidates making profession.
    Location: Felician Sisters House, 4210 Meadowlark Ln.,SE, Rio Rancho
    Time: 9am-3pm. Contact Rena if attending.