FOCUS Summit Baltimore
Just came back from Baltimore a few days ago. I went for the FOCUS Summit. It was a great event meant to help young FOCUS Missionaries and Student Leaders. Many of those attending were Student Leaders or Disciples with FOCUS who were getting ready to start their first Bible studies on campus. I think there was something like 1300 who attended the conference.
They had some wonderful speakers including Curtis Martin (the founder), Dr. Tim Gray, Dr. Edward Sri, Fr. Michael Keating, and John Leyendecker. I didn’t get to all the talks but will be getting the recordings. I think there are a number of them that the sisters will enjoy listening to.
There were, of course, a lot of really good college students there. I pray that they will continue to grow in their faith and draw others to Christ, even after they have left college. They are a real ray of hope.
Curtis Martin addressing the student leaders and missionaries.
Singing Praise and Worship Music after Benediction
Franciscan Christmas Party
Just before Epiphany the Franciscan Friars at Sacred Heart and St. Joseph parishes in Peoria invited all the local Franciscans over for a party. We don’t have many chances to gather like this, so it was really nice for us to get to know each other a bit better. It was the OFMs from the Cincinnati province that held the party. There were also Conventual Franciscans from Holy Family Parish in Peoria, Sisters of St. Francis of the Immaculate Conception (Heading Avenue Franciscans as we call them), Franciscan Sisters of John the Baptist, Franciscan Apostolic Sisters and of course we were there too.
He prayed Evening Prayer together in St. Joseph Church. Fr. Larry did his best to lead us in Chanting the office. At the dinner, they made each table sing for their supper. They we had time to just visit and eat. I think everyone enjoyed our time together. Hopefully we’ll have more opportunities like this in the future. 
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Christmas 2011
Merry Christmas and Happy Feast of St. Stephen!
It always seems strange to go from celebrating the birth of our Newborn King to the death of the first martyr. But I guess it is supposed to remind us that Christ came to die for us. Mary and Joseph didn’t have much time to bask in peace and joy at Christ’s arrival either. But we will continue to celebrate the birth of our Lord for a while yet, even as we remember the hardships St. Stephen, the Holy Innocents, many others and Christ himself, have suffered.
Just though I’d share some pictures of our Christmas celebrations here at the house of formation. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
May God grant you His love and His peace.
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Christmas Novena
The last few days of Advent are very special as we prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of the Christ child. From the 16th to the 24th of December, our Sisters have a tradition of having a Christmas Novena. This practice within our community dates back to the 1930’s.
Each day of the novena highlights one of the “O Antiphons.” The O Antiphons are from Old Testament prophecies. We meditate on these titles of the Lord: O Wisdom, O Lord, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Rising Sun, O King of Nations, O Emmanuel. These titles can be found in the Gospel antiphons for Mass and the Canticle Antiphon for evening prayer.
The chapel is darkened and the novena is done by candlelight. This is so we may better reflect on being in darkness and awaiting the light of the world.
Advent Devotions
This past Sunday marked the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is a time of “new beginnings.” It brings the beginning of a new liturgical year. It also prepares us in both heart and mind for the coming of Christ at Christmas.
If you are looking for daily devotionals for the Advent season try: http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/Advent/
There are daily prayers based off of the Mass readings for the day and a number of traditions such as the Advent wreath and the Jesse Tree that are mentioned.
One tradition that my community holds during Advent that I especially love is the lighting of the Mary candle. In our prayer manual, it discusses this: During the Advent season a blessed candle on a stand, draped in white cloth, burns in chapel before the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It expresses our longing, in union with Mary, for the coming of Christ, the Light of the world.
As I have been preparing for Mass as the Sacristan this past week, I have been able to light this candle daily. It is a beautiful reminder, for me, of the LIGHT whose birth we are preparing for-Christ Jesus!
Steubenville Vocation Fair
In October, Sr. Rose Therese and I attended the vocation fair at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. It was a wonderful and spirit-filled day filled with both prayer and evangelization. We got the chance to speak with a number of young women who are discerning God’s call for their lives.
Transitus Painting
This year the Sisters were especially blessed at the transitus service to have a beautiful painting of our Beloved Father Francis passing from this life into the next.
Sr. Judith Ann, our major Superior, wrote a beautiful piece about the painting and its artist:
Demetrius was 17 years old when he was put into prison and could be for life. Now he is 44 years old. Donna Medina, our CEO of OSF Hospice, befriended Demetrius when he was first imprisoned through her participation in a prison ministry. She has written to him nearly every day over all these years. She is basically all the family he has known and enjoyed over all those years. Demetrius has come to know Christ and his faith has grown over the years, as Donna has been sending him reading material and encouraging him on his faith journey. Demetrius also discovered that he has a gift to paint. Donna has been supplying him with canvas and paints and the prison allows him to paint. Demetrius heard all about our Sisters through Donna and he wanted to paint something special for us, something that represented the entire life of Jesus. He painted on one canvas the baby Jesus being held by Simeon in the temple and Jesus being supported by Roman soldiers as he falls on the way to Calvary. The colors are strikingly beautiful and our Sisters have the painting hanging in our Motherhouse dining room. Demetrius heard about our desire to build a Hospice Home to care the terminally ill in a home-like setting and he painted 16 pictures, one for each patient room that will go into the Home when it is built. Recently, we asked Demetrius if he could paint the death of St. Francis that we could use for the Transitus Service in our Motherhouse Chapel each year, a service that commemorates the passing of St. Francis into eternal life. Demetrius painted the most beautiful image of Francis lying down with his hand raised up in blessing, supported by one of his brothers just at sunset. Our Sisters are grateful for Demetrius and his wonderful talent and gift and we pray for him.
Transitus Service
As a Franciscan Community, we have a special devotion that takes place on the third of October each year- the transitus. The transitus recalls the passing of Francis of Assisi from this life to God. With this special event, we remember Francis’ total commitment to Christ and reminds us how we are called to follow in the footsteps of the poor man of Assisi.
After a period of prayer, song and praise, we venerated a relic of our beloved Father, St. Francis of Assisi.
Charlotte Eucharistic Congress
Have you ever been to a Eucharistic Congress? There are a few diocese that have one annually, Charlotte, NC being one of them. It is a wonderful way to re-enliven our devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
Last week Lucy and I drove all the way down to Charlotte to participate in their Eucharistic Congress. I was a beautiful event. They were expecting about 10,000 to attend. I don’t know what their final count was, but the place was sure full!
We got in Friday, attended Mass at the nearby parish and went to set up our booth. That night the Cardinal Arinze spoke on the necessity of Sunday Mass. There was a young adult track, and all night adoration at St. Peter’s Parish. Saturday began with the Eucharistic Procession through the streets in downtown Charlotte. They were kind enough to include us in the procession. The procession ended in the main hall at the convention center where we had a Holy Hour with Benediction. The afternoon there were many talks in different tracks, people could go and visit all the booths, go to Confession or Adoration. It ended with Holy Mass.
We didn’t get a chance to hear many of the talks because it was rather busy at the booth, but we did get the chance to meet a few people, some who were from the Peoria diocese. We also met some Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration who are trying to establish a monastery there.
It was beautiful to see the Church, in all its diversity, gathered to give public witness to the presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.
P.S. The Patron Saint of Eucharistic Congresses is also a patron of our community, St. Pascal Baylon, a good Franciscan Friar.
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OSF Hospice Groundbreaking
Another big project is underway for OSF Healthcare! Mid-September brought the groundbreaking for the OSF Richard L. Owens Hospice Home.
The new hospice home will have 16 beds for both adults and children. It will provide around the clock care for those with terminal illness so that they can spend these moments in a homelike setting surrounded by family and friends. As sister Judith Ann mentioned, the home will continue the Sisters mission of serving with the “greatest love and care.”
To Read more about this project check these sites:
http://www.osfhomecare.org/hospice-home/
http://www.pjstar.com/business/x227168750/OSF-set-to-break-ground-on-areas-first-hospice-home
