From the Minister- Christina Imislund
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
May all of you rejoice in the freedom of being God’s children
as we celebrate our country’s
freedom. The gift of Jesus that has saved us from despair and misery
was constantly on the
mind of St. Francis. Can we truly say today, right now, that there
is nothing greater in our
hearts than experiencing this love? Do we feel really free? Do we really
understand what it
means to be loved and saved by our God? Think awhile about who you
are to this wildly
loving God. Also, I ask you to remember Fr. Paul in your prayers. He
is recovering from back
surgery. In addition remember all of our fraternity members and their
families who are
suffering. God be with them all.
Enjoy your summer and show God how much you love him.
Freedom of Spirit-
Fr. Paul Juniet, OFM (Spiritual Assistant)
On July 4th we as Americans celebrated the gift of our freedom.
So often we take it for
granted and think that the most important part of the day are the fireworks.
But what are we truly celebrating but the inner freedom of our Spirit.
Several years ago a friend of mine’s husband was dying. He wrote
a letter to his children
and told them that the greatest gift we have is our freedom. He was
born in Germany
around 1930 as a Jewish boy. He grew up with the developing hatreds
and the stigmatat of
his race and faith. Coming to America as a teenager he knew the gift
of freedom.
St. Francis was searching for freedom in his life and he tried
to find it in his dreams of being a knight. He didn’t find it there.
He searched on and in his Testament he tells us:
“While I was in sin, it seemed very bitter to me to see lepers.
And the Lord Himself lead me
among them and I had mercy upon them. And when I left them that which
seemed bitter to
me was changed into sweetness of soul and body; and afterward I lingered
a little and left
the world.”
Francis had found the Gospel message in the care of the lepers.
He had found Love. He
had found the truth. He had found freedom. The Gospel states very briefly,
“the Truth will
set you free.” Where do we filnd our freedom as Franciscan followers
of Francis? What and
Who are the lepers of our lives? The ways of the world call us to prestige,
power, fame, wealth
and many other things. Are we willing to let our lives be guided by
the Spirit and Life of the
Gospel?
If we want “sweetness of soul and body”, we need to let the
Lord set us free. Then we can
truly celebrate the freedom we have in our won country as not only
the people of the United
States but, more importantly, the people of God. Then we can truly
set off fireworks
celebrating the freedom of God’s Life and Love.
Be Free and may God Bless you.
Fr. Paul
Paso por Aqui:
Rev. Simon Conrad
St. Michaels, AZ.-Funeral Mass of the Resurrection for
the Rev. Simon Conrad, OFM, 63,
was held at 11 a.m. Monday, June 22, at St. Michaels Mission. The Rev.
Gilbert Schneider,
OFM was the officiant. Burial followed at the Franciscan Plot at St.
Michael’s School.
Fr. Conrad died June 17 at Lovelace Hospital in Albuquerque
and was born april 9, 1935,
in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Conrad was the pastor and superior of St. Michael’s Mission.
He entered the St. Francis Seminary for studies for the Franciscan priesthood
in 1949. In 1954, he professed as a Franciscan friar and in 1962 he was
ordained to the priesthood. He had served as pastor at St. Michael’s since
January 1988. He also served in Arizona at Klagetoh, Chinle, Keams Canyon,
Lukachukai and Fort Defiance, and in New Mexico at Navajo and Gallup.
“Paz y Bien” From the
Infirmarian:
LET US KEEP OUR FRANCISCANS IN OUR DAILY PRAYERS:
Franciscans can continue to be involved and help the fraternity even
if ill or homebound.
Here’s a brief list of SUGGESTIONS (From the SFO National Newsletter):
From:CIOFS Bulletin, 1998, N.2-Vol 4 N. 26
“The Unity of the SFO”
(The following excerpts are from an address of Friar Valentin Redondo,OFM
Conv. as pertaining to
spiritual assistance to the SFO—)
“Relying on the laity, one needs to entrust them with tasks
of service in the Church, allowing them
freedom and action, even inviting them opportunely to undertake activities
of their own initiative.” We need to help our Secular Franciscan
brothers and sisters to have an ever clearer notion of not only of belonging
to an order, the Secular Franciscan Order, but that they ARE the Order.
They received a “norm of life”, that was already found delineated
in the first Letter to the Faithful, and was somewhat more developed in
the second draft of the same, with these five elements:
a. love of God
b. love of neighbor
c. opposition to the spirit of the flesh, to sinful trends
and to evil.
d. celebration of the sacraments, in par ticular, the Sacra ment
of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.
e. to work in all that which leads to con version.
This “unity” of Rule contrasts with the called “obediences”
that they have been maintained until today, that are nothing more than
a reflection of disunity and separation betwen Conventuals and Observants.
Our separations have impinged on the theoretical but not real and practical
union of the Secular Franciscan Order which we are called to help recover.
They are “secular”, not friars; the SFO is not identified with any of the
branches of the First Order or the TOR, not even with their geographical
presence or structures......
The same Leo XIII considered the Third Order a “single Order”,
when he wrote: “when I
speak of social reform, I think especially of the Third Order of Saint
Francis.” And in other
part: “The Third Order of Saint Francis organized for social action
is capable of giving
wonderful fruits.” The “inter-obedience” that it appears in the Constitutions
of the 1977, was
the first step to achieve the union of the SFO, which existed from
its beginning, but was
darkened with the division of the First Order into several Families.
Prayer to St. Anthony for
the Sick
Dear St. Anthony,
because you experienced disappointments and sickness in your brief
life here, I salute you the more respectfully. Your own life assures me
that you understand my need.
There is nothing so humiliating as sickness. It forces us to
depend on others, leaves undone our daily tasks upsets our self assurance
and composure and makes us feel useless.
Help me, good St. Anthony in sickness and trouble. Teach me
how to profit spiritually fom my bodily ills. Intercede for me with God
so that my health may improve. When recovered in body, let me also be improved
in spirit.
(Franciscan Mission Associates)
Calendar of Saints/Feast Days:
July
1: Junipero Serra, Priest, 1st Order
1713-1784. Founder of the first California Missions.
Junipero Serra was a Franciscan of great passion for bringing
the Gospel to the frontier of the Church, and in his day, that was the
land along the Pacific Rim which we call California. He made incredible
personal sacrifices- indeed, he gave his life- to follow the footprints
of Jesus. In the American West today we have an understanding of
multiculturalism, politics and evangelization that differs from his and
is much more appropriate for our time, but in Serra we Franciscans still
find inspiration for carrying the Gospel to the edge of our Church. Today’s
“frontier” may not be geographic, but its needs are no less real.
The tomb of Blessed Junipero Serra is still located at
Mission Carmel , and his feast day
is July 1st.
July 4: St. Elizabeth of Portugal:
Elizabeth, known in Portugal as Isabella, was born in 1271 and
named after
her great-aunt, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Her birth was the occasion
for a reconciliation between her father and grandfather. Thus began her
reputation for bringing peace: she came to be called “the
Peacemaker.”
Married at 12 to Denis, King of Portugal, she bore
him two children and cared for his illigitimate children as her own. Elizabeth
led a disciplined life of prayer and good works, caring for the poor
and the sick. When her son twice led rebellions against his father,
she helped them reconcile. After her husband’s death in 1325, Elizabeth
became a Franciscan tertiary, giving up her rank and wealth for a life
of simplicity. She died in 1336.
July 14:Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha,Virgin
Kateri Tekakwitha was born in Ossernon (Auriesville, New York)
in 1656, the daughter of a
Christian Algonquin mother and a non-Christian Mohawk chief. Having
lost her parents in a smallpox epidemic at the age of fourteen, she
was raised among the Mohawks in the home of an uncle. There she first encountered
Christian missionaries. In 1675 she was instructed in the faith by the
missionary Jacques de Lamberville, who baptized her on Easter Sunday, April
5, 1676, at which time she took the name Kateri (Katherine). Because of
her conversion and baptism, her exemplary life, and her desire to remain
a virgin, Kateri suffered harassment and persecution. She fled to a Christian
village on the Saint Lawrence River. At Sault Saint Louis, on Christmas
Day, 1677, she received her first communion. Under the guidance of Father
Pierre Cholonec and an older Iroquois woman, Anastasia Tegonhatsihongo,
Kateri led a life of great virture and charity, making a private vow of
virginity on March 25, 1679. Kateri died at the age of 24 on April 17,
1680 in Caughnawaga, Canada. Devotion to Kateri, known as the Lily of the
Mohawks, spread throughout the United States and Canada. On June 22, 1980
Kateri Tekakwitha was declared blessed by Pope John Paul II.
JULY 16,OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL:
Sacred Scripture celebrated the beauty of Carmel where the prophet Elijah defended the purity of Israel’s faith in the living God. In the twelfth century, hermits withdrew to that mountain and later founded the Order devoted to the contemplative life under the patronage of Mary, the holy Mother of God. As Franciscans we, too, also have our contemplative aspect.
INQUIRER’S CLASSES:
July 11 at 12:30pm and July 26 at 1:30pm at Queen of Angels. Instructor:
Joanne Elfers
CANDIDATE CLASSES;
July 11 and July 26 at 1:00pm. Queen of Angels. Instructor: Rena Xuereb.
ONGOING FORMATION:
July 26 at 1:30pm. Queen of Angels. Series on the Holy Spirit in preparation
for the Jubilee
of the Year 2000 as requested by our Holy Father Pope John Paul II.
Come and celebrate the
“year of the Holy Spirit.” ALL PROFESSED MEMBERS WELCOME. Instructor:
Louise Baca.
FRATERNITY GATHERING:
July 26 at 2:30pm-17th Sunday.in Ordinary time. Topic: Clare of Assisi
COUNCIL MEETING:
August 1 at 1:30. Queen of Angels.Members are encouraged to attend.
SPECIAL WORKSHOP:
Annual Regional Retreat will be August 28 at Roger Bacon College, El
Paso, Texas from 10:00am to 3:00pm. All councilmembers are encouraged to
attend..
