The IFC-TOR web site is conceived of as an instrument of collaboration and peace. It is a meeting point for those who wish to know about us and have news of the International Franciscan Conference-TOR.
It hopes to be a source of information and a means to know the history of the Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order Regular, the aims of the Conference, in how many and which countries of the world they are present members, their addresses and information about each associated Institution.
In addition the site has the messages issued during the last General Assembly (a meeting held every four years in Assisi).
The IFC-TOR publishes a periodical Propositum, as a further means of sharing the message of the Franciscan Family.
In becoming God’s dwelling place, therefore, this is not an intimate solitary experience but it expresses itself and opens up to vivify all the most beautiful expressions of the relationship with God and in Him of the relationships with brothers and sisters.
We remember our own brokenness, limitation, and inclination to sin, and we feel anew the need for mercy and healing. We may perceive within us hidden anger of experienced powerlessness, but anger and confusion prevent love. Thus, we do not allow ourselves to be determined by it. From within we swing in to welcome each one like God again without reservation.
The charism does not die with the founder or the foundress but is kept alive in the lives of the followers. The Franciscan charism is the Gospel message which Francis lived and which guided him up to the end of his life. In this century we experience cultural, racial, color, religion and political differences which prevent us from being the family of God. But to the wicked God says, “Why do you recite my commandments and profess my covenant with your lips. You hate discipline, you cast my words behind you.” (Ps 50:16-17)
How am I a true adorer of the Father? What are the ways that the Word of God grounds my call to the Franciscan way of life? What would Francis say to me today about love and about devotion expressed in my personal prayer in “the solitary places I choose to focus my heart entirely on God”? Francis chose caves, clefts of rock and abandoned churches to be alone, where is my heart most attuned to the soft, gentle words of God?
As we commemorate this 800th Anniversary of Francis’ letter to us, may we desire the one thing alone, the working of God at work within us. (TORule 32) The IFC-TOR Council proposes that we celebrate and remember together, and has prepared ways to keep the celebration before us, individually and in our communities.
We would like the sisters or brothers of your congregation to tell how they are giving witness to the aspects of the Second Letter of St. Francis to the Faithful in light of living the Third Order Charism. We will include a copy of this letter with this letter, as there are many ways the letter has been documented over the years. Copies in all our languages will also be posted on our website. It will be helpful if we all refer to the same version of the Second Letter to the Faithful.
As you know, the IFC-TOR Council met in November in Rome. One part of the meeting was dedicated to remote planning of the General Assembly 2021 (postponed 2022) which will be held in Assisi. You had given us good input in the evaluations of the General Assembly 2017 and your ideas were helpful to us.
Hope is bold! – The language of Christmas is full of music and light
Pope Francis states in Fratelli Tutti (FT) #8, “Let us dream as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all.”
We would like the sisters or brothers of your congregation to tell how they are giving witness to these aspects in light of living the Third Order Charism. The articles should be submitted electronically to the General Secretary to be translated and prepared for the website.
IFC-TOR Council Meeting in Rome / Group picture
Second Letter to the Faithful: “Let us love God, therefore, and adore Him with a pure heart and a pure mind… And the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon all those men and women who have done and persevered in these things and [the Spirit] will make a home and dwelling place in them…” In these days of pandemic, Francis would say the same to us. Perhaps we can help our world turn the pandemic of disease into a worldwide venture into newness of life, a pandemia of love, justice and peace.
Looking ahead, we ask ourselves questions about the meaning of the international gathering in light of our Franciscan heritage and our charism of fraternity. We have not answered all these questions yet, however, we feel that it is in the best interests of all the members of IFC-TOR to postpone the 2021 General Assembly until May of 2022. With this letter we come to you for your affirmation of this proposal. We would also like to know your comments, questions and suggestions.
Dear Sisters and Brothers, Let the sisters and brothers always be mindful that they should desire one thing alone, namely, the Spirit of God at work within them. TORule #32 The Spirit of God…ruah…the breath of God… We are Franciscan Sisters and Brothers of the Third Order Regular who follow St. Francis, in whose unique way saw through everything false and divisive.
Please send your contributions about INCARNATION for Propositum to Sr. Margherita Merlino, the General Secretary, at her email: secretary@ifc-tor.org by September 1, 2020. At our IFC-TOR Council meeting, we discussed your input from the General Assembly in May, 2017. You have indicated that you like the way Propositum is being done and we thank you for the contributions that have been made: in the past four years, 70 Sisters and Brothers have contributed an article to one of the ten issues. We are grateful for your sharing.
Please send your contributions about conversion for Propositum to Sr. Margherita Merlino, the General Secretary, at her email: secretary@ifc-tor.org by March 1, 2020. Please give the name, congregation, country and language of the sister or brother who wrote the article.
Preface
This writing may have been written upon Francis’s return from his journey to the Middle East in the Spring of 1220, for not only does it speak of his weakened condition but also suggests the post-conciliar concerns of Pope Honorius III. At the same time, it recalls Francis’s earlier exhortation to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance and encourages its observance in light of many of the teachings of the Fourth Lateran Council.
How to Use this Guide
1. This guide can be used with small or large groups and for personal reflection.
2. Feel free to share with others the URL where you found the guide. You are free to print it for others who prefer a printed text. This guide is free.
3. This guide serves as an overview to the chapter featured but cannot in the space available do justice to the richness of each chapter.
This is a cooperative venture of several Franciscan organizations. This study guide series is posted at:
https://franciscanmissionservice.org
https://franciscanaction.org
https://franciscanpilgrimages.com
https://secularfranciscansusa.org
https://franciscancollegesuniversities.org
https://franfed.org
info@franciscanmedia.org
Feel free to duplicate and share this page.
Margaret Carney, OSF and Pat McCloskey, OFM coordinated this study guide series.
Our writers:
Nancy Celaschi, OSF
Caryn Crook, OSF
Bill Hugo, OFM Cap.
Mary Esther Stewart, OFS
Michelle Balek, OSF
Charlie McCarthy, OFM Conv.
Margaret Magee, OSF
Jim Puglisi, SA
URL for the Encyclical “FRATELLI TUTTI” English text:
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals.index.html
Introduction — Summary and quotes from the Encyclical Introduction · Pat McCloskey, OFM
A Stranger on the Road — Summary and quotes from the Encyclical chapter 2 · Father William Hugo, OFM Cap.
A Heart Open to the Whole World — Summary and quotes from the Encyclical chapter 4 · Margaret Carney, OSF
Dialogue and Friendship in Society — Summary and quotes from the Encyclical chapter 6 · Charlie McCarthy, OFM Conv.
Religions at the Service of Fraternity in Our World — Summary and quotes from the Encyclical chapter 8 · Fr. Jim Puglisi, SA
Dark Clouds Over A Closed World — Summary and quotes from the Encyclical chapter 1 · Caryn Crook, OS
Envisaging and Engendering an Open World — Summary and quotes from the Encyclical chapter 3 · Mary Esther Stewart, OFS
A Better Kind of Politics — Summary and quotes from the Encyclical chapter 5 · Michelle Balek, OSF
Paths of Renewed Encounter — Summary and quotes from the Encyclical chapter 7 · Sr. Margaret Magee, OSF
Additional TOR Resource Available
The TOR Conference was asked to distribute the English language issues of the TAU Series.
The TAU Series contains materials/articles which may be used for formation and Franciscan spirituality.
These reflections are provided by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia with Sister Kathleen Moffatt coordinating the project.
We are grateful to the congregation and to all the Sisters who are contributors.
These articles will be posted monthly on the IFC-TOR website, beginning in January 2019.
“The Letter to All The Faithful – Recensio prior” from A Biblical-Theological View of Penanceand Its Present Day Expression
Evangelical Identity, Chapter 1 – The unity of the whole Franciscan movement is expressed in this opening article
Rule and Life of the Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis – ORIGINAL COMMENTARY
In becoming God’s dwelling place, therefore, this is not an intimate solitary experience but it expresses itself and opens up to vivify all the most beautiful expressions of the relationship with God and in Him of the relationships with brothers and sisters.
We remember our own brokenness, limitation, and inclination to sin, and we feel anew the need for mercy and healing. We may perceive within us hidden anger of experienced powerlessness, but anger and confusion prevent love. Thus, we do not allow ourselves to be determined by it. From within we swing in to welcome each one like God again without reservation.
The charism does not die with the founder or the foundress but is kept alive in the lives of the followers. The Franciscan charism is the Gospel message which Francis lived and which guided him up to the end of his life. In this century we experience cultural, racial, color, religion and political differences which prevent us from being the family of God. But to the wicked God says, “Why do you recite my commandments and profess my covenant with your lips. You hate discipline, you cast my words behind you.” (Ps 50:16-17)
How am I a true adorer of the Father? What are the ways that the Word of God grounds my call to the Franciscan way of life? What would Francis say to me today about love and about devotion expressed in my personal prayer in “the solitary places I choose to focus my heart entirely on God”? Francis chose caves, clefts of rock and abandoned churches to be alone, where is my heart most attuned to the soft, gentle words of God?
As we commemorate this 800th Anniversary of Francis’ letter to us, may we desire the one thing alone, the working of God at work within us. (TORule 32) The IFC-TOR Council proposes that we celebrate and remember together, and has prepared ways to keep the celebration before us, individually and in our communities.
Hope is bold! - The language of Christmas is full of music and light
Two important events are marked during 2016: the anniversary of the date tradionally associated with the granting of the Portiuncula Indulgence and the celebration of the Jubilee of Mercy, inspired by the Pope who bears St. Francis' name.
Dear young Franciscans all over the world! Our Seraphic Brother Saint Francis showed himself to be a true lover of God's mercy. Finding himself deeply loved by the "Father of Mercies" (Cf. 2 COR 1.3) while still in his youth, the poor man of Assisi allowed this virtue to embrace his life and become in him availability, movement and liberation.
The Ministers General of the Franciscan Family offer their joy and thanks for publication of Pope Francis’ Encyclical “Laudato sì, on care for our common home.” In the letter Saint Francis is cited twelve times, making him the key to reading the entire text...
We, the Ministers of the Conference of the Franciscan Family (CFF), wrote to you regarding the financial situation of Franciscans International (FI), and asking for your assistance. It is with joy that we write once again, this time with good news about the organization and its work.
For more than a year the Conference of the Franciscan Family (CFF) has been discussing how we might commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace, which was held in Assisi on October 27, 1986.
The Outreach Officer (OO) is based in New York and supports the global outreach program of the organization. The OO contributes to enhance the visibility of and the knowledge about Franciscans International (FI) within the Franciscan Family worldwide.
On 25 January, a tailing dam in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state breached, killing over 214 people. It soon emerged that its owner, mining company Vale, had repeatedly ignored warnings and failed to take measures that could have prevented this disaster.
By meditating on the passion of Christ through the lens of migration, we hope to engage in a deep, spiritual reflection on the realities faced by many of our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters.
Franciscans International’s Advent 2017 Reflection focuses on the four women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.
Our involvement in Franciscan International enables us to know the international efforts being made for peace and justice all over the world.
First anniversary of the publication of Pope Francis’ Encyclical on Care for our Common Home, with its incipit taken from St. Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures.
We, members of Romans 6, the delegates general and representatives for JPIC for the worldwide Franciscan family, want to remind you of the invitation and encouragement that we received from the Conference of the Franciscan Family to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the “spirit of Assisi” and to keep alive the values promoted in that celebration at all times.
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