In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

1 Franciscan Refounding: A Case Study 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 selfunderstanding , and inevitable downsizing concomitant with aging members and numerically declining numbers.1 Such challenges could easily have become demoralizing concerns; instead, they became the stuff of new dreams, clearer visions, and revitalized plans. Like Bernanos' country priest,2 we have been able to find grace amid harrowing events. Not that all is neat and clear. Perhaps that is why I am amused and encouraged by Francis of Assisi's exhortation to a minister that he "make himself available to be plucked by all..." (2Cel 185). What an image! —leaders running about sans plumage, having been plucked by sharp-witted brethren who can spot a potential plucking in every situation! Francis' image makes me smile as I occasionally recall my own plucking experiences. How realistic of the Poverello to forewarn and forearm us through an image so vivid and entertaining . Particularly for someone like me, who grew up in a family of butchers! But the Saint's advice also reminds me of the beautiful biblical image of Jesus as nurturing leader: "How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings" (Mt. 23:37; Lk. 13:34). Certainly the provincial to whom Francis wrote the now famous Letter to a Minister understood this experience of being plucked. 1 The Province's mission statement, developed as an integral part of this process, reads as follows: Holy Name Province of the Order of Friars Minor is an evangelical and missionary fraternity called to minister in the Eastern United States and abroad. Rooted in the Catholic and Franciscan tradition, we are disciples of Christ who seek to bring the Gospel into the everyday experience of all people through popular preaching, teaching, and pastoral leadership . We foster Christian discipleship by collaborating with those whom we serve and by standing in solidarity with all people especially the alienated, the immigrant, and the poor. 2Georges Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest, trans. Pamela Morris (New York: Image Books, 1962). 2 Anthony Carrozzo, O.F.M. Francis' letter cautioned his brother-minister, who wishes to avoid further harrowing experiences by taking off to a hermitage, to stay put and care for the brothers, even to the point of Francis admonishing the hurting minister "not to wish that they be better Christians" (EpMin). Troubling words for that minister and for me! But the Poverello's advice is well taken, from the minister's perspective, for by accepting the brother-sinner, the minister will be at peace with himself even in the midst of fraternal scurrilousness. At the same time, however, it is not an absolute statement, as should be obvious from the 1223 Rule's insistence on fraternal correction, the admonitions' constant concern for personal betterment, and Francis' own unhesitating ability to severely correct the brothers when necessary. Being plucked and forgiving — correcting, too — requires a talent for focusing on basics from me and any other contemporary Franciscan leader. An obvious danger is allowing the plucking experiences to so overwhelm us that we cease to dream, to envision, to plan with the brothers. These affirmative, life-enhancing functions are as urgently needed now as in the days of Pseudo-Bonaventure's Six Wings of the Seraph, where the author listed discernment — "foresighted consideration of things to be done" — as a top quality of a good leader (6: 1). While we don't think of Francis as a planner, he could clearly rise to the need. In The Mirror of Perfection , for example, he tells a brother of a four-step plan in building houses for the friars. First, the land must be received as a gift; second, keep poverty in mind; third, seek appropriate permissions from the bishop; and lastly, provide for a second stage of planning for the purpose of marking the boundaries of the land, planting hedges, and erecting huts (SP 10). Francis the planner foreseeing what needs to be done! But, as always, the plan is based upon his dreams of rebuilding his Father's house by evangelical living. After I was elected Provincial Minister of Holy Name Province in 1987, I felt a genuine need for us to return aggressively to planning, an on-again, off...

Share