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Francis's
own life story and experience resonated with what I had come to
want in my life
Interview with Bob Mokry, ofm
I'll
give these dummies one more chance
Testimony from Gerry Clyne, ofm
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A
Variety of Apostolates
The
Franciscans were not formed to do a particular apostolate. Throughout
the ages we have responded to the needs of the times. Accordingly,
we are involved in a great variety of ministries. We are pastors,
chaplains (schools, hospitals and prisons), spiritual directors,
and counsellors. We are nurses, doctors, professors and journalists.
Friars can even be mechanics, stone masons and carpenters. We’ve
also founded parishes, places of pilgrimage, downtown chapels
and retreat centres. St. Francis told the friars that they could
do any type of honest work so long as it does not extinguish the
spirit of prayer to which all things are subordinate.
Although
ministry is a large part of what we do, it is not the primary
reason for our existence. We do not draw our identity from the
ministry we do. The primary reason why we come together in fraternity
is simply to follow in the steps of Jesus Christ. Our most fundamental
“ministry”, then, is first and foremost to be a communal
witness of Gospel to the world. This “ministry of presence”
flows from our life of prayer and permeates all our other specific
ministries. It is out of this understanding that we respond to
the missionary imperative of the Gospel by becoming involved in
different ministries according to each individual friar’s
gifts and the present need.
There are
only two apostolates for which the Franciscan Order as a whole
must assume responsibility and they are the work in the
Holy Land and the missions.
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