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July 16 – Regional Minister Message

July 16, 2024

Dear Fellow Ministers,

Good afternoon to you all…

I acknowledge that summer is a great time to rest, recreate and enjoy visiting with family and friends.  It can also be a time for quiet reflection and this is what I would like to invite you and your members to do: reflect about what a gift our vocation to OFS has been .

In preparation for the next issue of the Regional Update I would ask that you and your members consider sharing your thoughts/feelings regarding the following two questions by emailing me at gerry.rfec@gmail.com.

  1. What has given me the greatest joy in being a Secular Franciscan?
  2. How has being a Secular Franciscan enriched my life?

The intent is to include a selection of the responses in the Update…so we thank you and your members for their contributions! You may recall that our Lenten issue of the Update had two articles on Francis receiving the stigmata. This was in keeping with the Centenary celebration  recommendations.  In this next issue of the Update we want to devote some attention to St. Clare.  If your fraternity has any special celebrations of St. Clare (her feast day is August 11th), you are invited to highlight those as well,  We ask for all your responses no later than August 15, 2024.

I would like to suggest that reflecting on the above two questions might serve an additional purpose.  Our Regional Fall Workshop is focusing, in part, on our Vision and Mission as Secular Franciscans.   It may be that our individual and collective responses to these questions will also provide helpful input to determining how we see our Vision and Mission as members of the OFS. 

Once again, thank you for your interest and sharing!

Best regards,

Gerry

Minister, Regional Fraternity of Eastern Canada (RFEC)

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April 2024 – Regional Minister Message

April 22, 2024

Dear Fellow Ministers,

Good day…once again I write to you to stay in touch.  It is my hope that your Easter celebration was full of blessings and that the season of Eastertide is prayerful for you and your fraternal brothers and sisters.

I wish to share the following with you:

  • First, I want to thank you for all that you do on behalf of your fraternities.  Serving as Minister can be demanding at times.  Please know that your fraternal efforts are very much appreciated.
  • I am pleased to inform you that plans for our Regional Leadership Development Workshop are proceeding well.  As a reminder, this will take place on October 18-20, 2024 at Cacouna Quebec.  With the capable help of Paul Donovan, this week-end promises to be an exciting opportunity to grow our skills and abilities as members of our fraternity Councils.
  • Although the week-end gathering in Cacouna will be formatted more as a workshop, please be assured that there will be ample emphasis on our Franciscan spirituality. In this way, we intend that this Fall week-end together will build on the vibrant sense of fraternity and the collective joy in our Franciscan charism experienced at our 2023 Spiritual Conference. Truly there is renewal when we gather together…and the result is that we are stronger together!
  • In order to help your Leadership Development Workshop planning team, I would ask that you respond to these two questions:
  1.                a)  Are there aspects of your responsibility as Minister that you would like the 

                      Leadership Development Workshop to focus on?

  1.                b)  Are there aspects of leading Council (and thus your fraternity) that you would like 

                      the Leadership Development Workshop to address?

That is all that I have to share at this time.  I ask that you forward your response to the above two questions to my attention in the next two weeks…thank you! If there are any other issues or questions that you wish to raise with me do not hesitate to get in touch.

All the very best to you and your fraternal brothers and sisters.  May God give you peace and joy!

Warm regards,

Gerry Gabriel

Minister, Regional Fraternity of Eastern Canada (RFEC)

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RFEC News

OFS Regional Minister’s Notes

Gerry Gabriel
Minister

July 16, 2024

Dear Fellow Ministers,

Good afternoon to you all…

I acknowledge that summer is a great time to rest, recreate and enjoy visiting with family and friends.  It can also be a time for quiet reflection and this is what I would like to invite you and your members to do: reflect about what a gift our vocation to OFS has been .

In preparation for the next issue of the Regional Update I would ask that you and your members consider sharing your thoughts/feelings regarding the following two questions by emailing me at gerry.rfec@gmail.com.

  1. What has given me the greatest joy in being a Secular Franciscan?
  2. How has being a Secular Franciscan enriched my life?

The intent is to include a selection of the responses in the Update…so we thank you and your members for their contributions! You may recall that our Lenten issue of the Update had two articles on Francis receiving the stigmata. This was in keeping with the Centenary celebration  recommendations.  In this next issue of the Update we want to devote some attention to St. Clare.  If your fraternity has any special celebrations of St. Clare (her feast day is August 11th), you are invited to highlight those as well,  We ask for all your responses no later than August 15, 2024.

I would like to suggest that reflecting on the above two questions might serve an additional purpose.  Our Regional Fall Workshop is focusing, in part, on our Vision and Mission as Secular Franciscans.   It may be that our individual and collective responses to these questions will also provide helpful input to determining how we see our Vision and Mission as members of the OFS. 

Once again, thank you for your interest and sharing!

Best regards,

Gerry

Minister, Regional Fraternity of Eastern Canada (RFEC)

Gerry Gabriel
RFEC Minister

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Blessed Father Frederic
Photo credit: Daniel Robert, Photographer

Daniel Robert Attribution The photographical reproduction of this work is covered under the Canadian Copyright Act of 1985 32.2 (1)(b), which states that “it is not an infringement of copyright for any person to reproduce, in a painting, drawing, engraving, photograph or cinematographic work (i) an architectural work (defined as “a building or structure or any model of a building or structure”), or (ii) a sculpture or work of artistic craftsmanship or a cast or model of a sculpt

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