Refound in the Franciscan Tradition

Title

Download PDF (14.0 KB)
 

Copyright

Download PDF (71.1 KB)
 

Contents

Download PDF (52.5 KB)
 

Dedication

Download PDF (24.3 KB)
pp. v-

Acknowledgments

Download PDF (24.9 KB)
pp. vi-

These essays would never have been written were it not for the vibrant and dedicated Provincial Council elected with me in 1987: Flavian Walsh, Vicar Provincial; Vincent Cushing, David McBriar, Richard Biasiotto, James Nero, Kenneth Himes, and...

Abbrevitions

Download PDF (55.8 KB)
pp. ix-x

Preface

Download PDF (70.5 KB)
pp. xi-xv

The following essays provide a deliberate, thoughtful and insightful account of the refounding process of Holy Name Province. The chronological approach allows the reader to witness over time the dynamic dialogue between the provincial leadership and the friars, as well as the development, growth and refinement...

1. Franciscan Refounding A Case Of Study

Download PDF (107.3 KB)
pp. 1-6

This book of essays tells how one Franciscan Province grappled with its dreams, visions, and plans in a complex and changing society. The essays developed gradually during a refounding process in a Province of almost 600 friars faced with changing values, new self-understanding, and inevitable downsizing concomitant...

2. Where We Stand

Download PDF (142.8 KB)
pp. 7-18

We Franciscans too are storytellers, celebrators, and dreamers. We tell the stories of Francis and our early brothers as well as colorful tales of the early giants of our own Province. We celebrate memories not only at jubilees and funerals but also at meals and recreation. The present Provincial Council, composed of...

3. Refounding through Ministry

Download PDF (94.4 KB)
pp. 19-24

A minor but enduring legacy of Pope John XXIII is the phrase "signs of the times," lodged now in our ecclesiastical vocabulary since the fathers of the Second Vatican Council used it in Gaudium et Spes�. It has come to be an all-purpose reminder that we are constantly on pilgrimage, passing through new terrain, identifying...

4. Mirrors and Windows

Download PDF (183.2 KB)
pp. 25-42

Every three years we gather in chapter to review our life and ministry and "begin again" in the spirit of Saint Francis. Over the years chapter experiences have produced uneven results. Some united us; other, tragically, divided; some encouraged, others demoralized. But all had lasting effects. So as we prepare...

Appendix to Chapter 4

Download PDF (64.0 KB)
 

5. Choices for the 90s

Download PDF (127.0 KB)
pp. 43-54

August Wilson's Pulitzer prize winning play The Piano Lesson is about choices.� Boy Willie, its central character, travels from the deep South to Pittsburgh to persuade and, if necessary, force his sister Bernice to sell a valued carved piano. Boy Willie also values this family treasure, but wants to sell it to buy land. His...

6. Lost and Found

Download PDF (109.3 KB)
pp. 55-64

Every Franciscan has his favorite life of Saint Francis: Celano, Bonaventure, Chesterton, Boff, or one of countless others. Mine is Nikos Kazantzakis' fictionalized life with its startling portrait of Francis as a half–crazed, half–enamored man. I am especially intrigued by the novel's prologue, where Kazantzakis...

7. Triple Way for Refounding Contemporary Franciscan Life

Download PDF (131.5 KB)
pp. 65-76

A journey, even when well organized, does not always turn out as planned. Unforeseen events like car troubles or faulty directions often cause delays, tensions, and ill-tempers. Such is the case in Edna O'Brien's perceptive short story "Demon,"� in which a relatively poor Irish family has rented a car and driven for a day's outing...

8. Celebration 90

Download PDF (90.4 KB)
pp. 77-82

On an August afternoon at the beach, I sat gazing lazily at the ocean and sky as they melted together into multishades of blue. From the corner of my eye I caught a brilliantly colored kite contrasting its reds and yellows with the azure heights. In a quick flashback, I was reminded of the Myles Connolly...

9. City Lights

Download PDF (69.3 KB)
pp. 83-86

The burning and looting of Los Angeles; the presidential debates that seem to make us more and more concerned about the future of our country, since they are going nowhere beyond blame and name calling; and the newly found missionary vocation of a loved but all too sinful Irish bishop, are all signs that make us suspicious...

10. Bright Members, Big Mission

Download PDF (139.4 KB)
pp. 87-96

In his play Six Degrees of Separation, John Guare interprets the true story of David Hampton, a con artist who claims to be Paul Poitier, the son of Sidney. His victims are well-to-do New Yorkers who hunger for more of life's experiences. Financially overprivileged and emotionally undernourished, they are so taken...

11. Uniting Charism, Distinguishing Rules

Download PDF (88.6 KB)
pp. 97-102

As I begin, I am aware that all of us, individually and collectively, are essential to the fullness of the Franciscan charism. Without you, Franciscanism is diminished. Consequently, I want to reflect on the charism — the spiritual alliance that has bound Franciscans together through all these...

12. Lessons From Florence

Download PDF (151.9 KB)
pp. 103-116

Comparing the provincial directories of 1952 and 1992, I am struck with our dwindling numbers and the appearance and disappearance of place-names. I note with pride that some 1952 missions are now provinces manned by native friars, and some places have disappeared entirely from the current directory...

13. No Turning Back

Download PDF (141.4 KB)
pp. 117-128

Gathered here on the threshold of the third millennium after Christ, we look back in wonder at the vast sweep of ideas and events shaping the Church over these fifty years, beginning in the 1940s when Pope Pius XII encouraged the revival of biblical scholarship and liturgical renewal. Later came the dramatic consequences...

14. A Final Word for Beginning Again

Download PDF (96.2 KB)
pp. 129-136

In perusing Perfectae Caritatis,� I hardly recognize it as the radical document that once uprooted religious life. Its emphasis on the charism of the founder, the relational role of authority, and the gifts and talents of the individual are now commonly accepted. The document has provided endless insights, some refreshing, some...

Bibliography

Download PDF (65.0 KB)
pp. 137-141