SFO International Council - Weekly edition
Volume: 5 - N. 9 - 1999 - February - IV
From: Letter to the Assistants, 1998, N. 4
Benet Fonck OFM
The first-time, historic national convocation on spiritual assistance to the Secular Franciscan Order heard the T.O.R. Minister General Bonaventure Midili challenge the Franciscan provincials to "put the appointment of spiritual assistants on the same level of pastoral assignments." This convocation, gathered in Denver, Colorado, September 22-25, 1998, centered on the theme "Communion and Coresponsibility" to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order. It studied the successful growth of the SFO and the difficulties and creative initiatives to provide it with pastoral care and spiritual guidance. The gathering was made up of one general superior from Rome (Fr. Medili), the four general spiritual assistants from Rome, the four Franciscan friars charged with overseeing spiritual assistance in the USA (who were the sponsors of the convocation), over 20 friar provincials or their representative, more than 40 friars responsible for spiritual assistance on provincial and regional levels, and seven national lay leaders.
After an inaugural Eucharist with Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M.Cap., the 75 participants spent the first day looking at ways of "igniting a fire" among Franciscan Friars for the secular members of the Franciscan Family. Described as a process of "romancing each other," the SFO national leaders talked of their history, their advances in apostolic work and reorganization, their work in preparing new members, and their concern for "dark clouds" on the horizon. SFO National President (Minister) Bill Wicks from Santa Maria, California, set the stage by painting a picture of how the SFO intends to journey with the Franciscan Friars in achieving a deeper level of "communion and co-responsibility." Marie Amore SFO (metro Detroit), detailed the creative and successful efforts of the SFO in the USA to foster collaboration and interaction since 1920, through its national meetings and congresses, through the coming of the Pauline Rule in 1978 and the new General Constitutions in 1990, and through the differing kinds of participation of friars in the SFO gatherings. Mary Mazzotti SFO (Arnold, California), national coordinator of apostolic endeavors, impressed the participants as she related example after example of all that is being done to make the SFO Rule and Constitutions work, especially through the apostolic commissions; she cautioned that the SFO would quickly move ahead of the friars in living out the Franciscan charism, "leaving them trailing behind in the dust." National Formation Director David Ream SFO (Kirksville, MO) demonstrated the great strides that have been made to upgrade the quality of formation in the SFO, both in preparing new members for commitment and in strengthening professed members in their faithful and persevering following of the Franciscan way of life. The keynote dialogue was completed by the former national minister, Richard Morton SFO, from Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, who likened the journey to live the charism to an airplane ride in which too many seculars and religious are flying as tourists and not co-journeying pilgrims who concentrate on the dark clouds and merely "observe" the Rule as distant, objective bystanders instead of active, energized, committed participants.
In response, the Franciscan Friars pursued through workshops how to understand what spiritual assistance is meant to be, how to build an interest in the SFO among friars, how to prepare spiritual assistants. Nils Thompson, OFM, general assistant, led the second day's Eucharist and reminded the group that both Francis and Clare (and all "saints") were simply human beings who gave themselves to God; we are to invite our people to a realistic, human holiness. On the third day, Fr. Midili led the Eucharist and later spoke on behalf of the four Ministers General of the Friars. He stated "It is our special challenge to create a life-giving bond between salesman and priest, teenager and aged nun, bartender and hermit friars. It is no easy task We need the SFO to complete the Franciscan charism. We need that complementarity–like male and female–to be the basic source of communion and co-responsibility For the foreseeable future to honor this duty [of spiritual assistance will become increasingly difficult because of the reduced number of vocations and because most of our provinces are over-committed in our apostolates We need to find creative ways to stimulate the friars to dedicate themselves to the pastoral care to our SFO fraternities." He also called on Secular Franciscans to exercise their co-responsibility by promoting vocations to the Franciscan religious life.
The four friars responsible for providing and promoting spiritual assistance to the SFO on the international level, the "General Spiritual Assistants" shared with the participants the rationale and the worldwide plans to boost interaction and collaboration between secular and religious members of the Franciscan Family. Zvonimir Brusac TOR, from Croatia, introduced the goals and objectives for "communion and co-responsibility," especially in terms of shared activities in building community and realizing the apostolic life and in terms of the Franciscan religious' efforts to provide quality fraternal and pastoral service to SFO fraternities. Capuchin Ben Brevoort (Indonesia), related five specific problems which thwart those objectives, namely, and insufficient number of spiritual assistants, a lack of specific formation on giving spiritual assistance, a sketchy understanding on what it means to be Franciscan, differing and opposing visions of Franciscan living, and the divisiveness of over-emphasizing the distinctions between the different branches of the Franciscan religious. The American Nils Thompson OFM, talked of practical solutions, how to "just do it!" He called the participants to live out a "spirit of prayer and devotion" and to trust the work of the Spirit, to have confidence in their own judgment, to use common and practical sense, to recognize that the basic job of spiritual assistants is to animate the friars and to support the seculars with pastoral and fraternal service, to challenge the SFO to know and live the rights of the laity in the Church, and to support all efforts of spiritual assistance. Valentin Redondo, OFMConv, from Spain, who spoke for the first time publicly in English, outlined some specific hopes for the future: working on the al union of the SFO, promoting the autonomy of the SFO especially with good formation, developing the Order's character of secularity, strengthening efforts at evangelization, and promoting vocations to the whole Franciscan Family.
After an afternoon of lively exchange the group endorsed eleven practical actions to carry on the energy of this convocation. Four follow-up meetings were recommended: a congress of local spiritual assistants and animators form around the USA in 1999; a series of workshops in various locations in the year 2000 to help prepare assistants and certify animators a meeting between friar directors of formation and national SFO leaders; and a national assembly of Franciscan religious in formation on the SFO. Two other plans call for the General Ministers in Rome to discuss the re-prioritization of friars' apostolates and for the provincial ministers to find new ways to involve friars in spiritual assistance. Other action plans summoned the national level of both friars and Secular Franciscans to expand interaction with the Franciscan Federation of Third Order Religious. The convocation concluded with a dinner to celebrate the communion and co-responsibility between the Franciscan seculars and friars.