FRATERNITY
Fraternity, one of the four pillars of Franciscan spirituality, is the way in which we Secular Franciscans live out our calling to a closer following of Christ. Fraternity has a special significance for Franciscans because everyone’s presence contributes to the creation of an atmosphere conducive to the Franciscan journey. In the General Constitutions under section Chapter III Life in Fraternity, Article 30 states, “The brothers and sisters are co-responsible for the life of the fraternity to which they belong and for the SFO as the organic union of all fraternities throughout the world. The sense of co-responsibility of the members requires personal presence, witness, prayer, and active collaboration, in accordance with each one's means and possible obligations for the animation of the fraternity.” Individually, none of us would be considered a complete member of the fraternity, but together with our own gifts, we collectively comprise the “Perfect Friar.” Fraternity makes living a Christian life easier as you are surrounded by others who are doing likewise. St. Francis knew this and had the brothers that God sent him live and work together. All in fraternity are called to be single minded in the goal to know, love and serve God. In fraternity, Franciscans do what Christ meant for them to do, to share the fruits he has blessed each individual with, each in his or her own way.
Fraternity is the basic structural unit in which Secular Franciscans are organized throughout the world, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. The establishment of a fraternity on a local level typically occurs at a local parish, where enough professed members come together to form a local fraternity. Council members are then elected for three years to animate the fraternity. The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order Chapter III Life in Fraternity states, “The local fraternity is to be established canonically. It becomes the basic unit of the whole Order and a visible sign of the Church, the community of love. This should be the privileged place for developing a sense of Church and the Franciscan vocation and for enlivening the apostolic life of its members.” (SFO Rule, Article #22). The fraternity provides a vehicle for continued education on the Franciscan way of life, encourages a deeper and more intimate relationship with Jesus and strengthens relationships with other like minded people who have been called to follow St. Francis of Assisi.
Locally here at St. Peter's, with our fraternity membership now at twenty plus and growing, we have established committees to better organize our efforts. Currently we have an Activity Committee, a Planning Committee, Vocation and Promotion Committees and our Constitution Guide. Each committee is comprised of two to four individuals who assist in the various activities of our fraternity. Of the individuals that sit on the committees, one member from the council is included to participate in that committee's effort and also to inform and keep the fraternity council up to date.
Activity Committee
The activity committee has been established to help those members who have a proposal regarding a certain activity. The committee reads the proposal and if approved, helps to organize and implement it.
Planning Committee
The purpose of the planning committee is to set themes for fraternity meetings. The agenda for many of our regularly scheduled monthly meetings includes presentations on various aspects of Franciscan life. With so many areas of Franciscan life to chose from, the presentation section of our meetings is an especially important one, as it continually informs and strengthens our understanding of St. Francis, Franciscan spirituality, fraternal life and more.
Promotions Committee
As Franciscans, we realize that we have been given the gift of faith, a gift that is not meant to be kept to ourselves but shared with others. One of the ways we seek to share our faith is by letting people know that we exist. We let people know we exist through a variety of advertising methods: word of mouth, information sheet insertion into parish bulletins, flyer postings, our web site and other ways. It is important that we let people know we exist, that there is an option for those who seek to follow Christ more closely.
Vocations Committee
Our fraternity hopes to do our part in promoting vocations, by encouraging people to a closer following of Christ. Becoming a Franciscan is a calling from God and our goal is to be informative and assist those who have been called to follow Christ in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi and live the Gospel life. We distribute our OFS Document, which provides readily available information on who we are, our origins, our web site address, contact name and number, email address and more. We also make ourselves available to field any and all inquiries.
Constitution Guide
During our regularly scheduled monthly fraternity meetings, our constitution guide selects a section for our General Constitutions, reads it out loud and everyone in the fraternity spends the following ten minutes quietly reflecting on the words just read. This segment of our fraternity meeting is strengthen and reinforce our understand of Franciscan life.