BROTHERS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: REVITALIZING AND RESTRUCTURING FRANCISCAN LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES

THE BLESSING OF CHANGE

Call to Prayer

Leader: Wherever we are, in every place, at every hour, at every time of the day, every day and continually, All: let all of us truly and humbly believe, hold in our heart and love, honor, adore, serve, praise and bless, glorify and exalt, magnify and give thanks to the Most High and Supreme Eternal God, Leader: Trinity and Unity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, All: Creator of all, Savior of all who believe and hope in Him and love Him Who, without beginning and end, is unchangeable, invisible, indescribable, ineffable, Leader: incomprehensible, unfathomable, blessed, praiseworthy, glorious, exalted, All: sublime, most high, gentle, lovable, delightful, and totally desirable above all else for ever. Amen.

—The Earlier Rule, 23:11

Song of Praise: Psalm 40

Cantor: I waited, I waited for the Lord who stooped down to me, and heard my cry.

All: God drew me from the deadly pit, from the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and made my footsteps firm.

Cantor: God put a new song into my mouth, praise of our God. Many shall see and fear and shall trust in the Lord.

All: Happy those who have placed their trust in the Lord and have not gone over to the rebels who follow false gods.

Cantor: How many, O Lord my God, are the wonders and designs that you have worked for us; you have no equal. Should I proclaim and speak of them, they are more than I can tell!

All: You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings, but an open ear. You do not ask for holocaust and victim. Instead, here am I.

Cantor: In the scroll of the book it stands written that I should do your will. My God, I delight in your law in the depth of my heart.

All: Your justice I have proclaimed in the great assembly. My lips I have not sealed; you know it, O Lord.

Cantor: I have not hidden your justice in my heart but declared your faithful help. I have not hidden your love and your truth from the great assembly.

All: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.

Reading I

Leader: Brothers, let us be attentive to the experience of Second :

Lector:

“Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters … ‘Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. … I will give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.’ ”—Isaiah 43:16, 18-19, 20b-21

Quiet reflection

Reading II

Leader: Brothers, let us be attentive to the experience of St. Francis

Lector:

“[The holy man of God] used to say: ‘Let us begin, brothers, to serve the Lord God, for up until now we have done little or nothing.’ He did not consider that he had already attained his goal but, tireless in pursuit of holy newness, he constantly hoped to begin again.” —Thomas of , The Life of Francis, II, 6:103

Quiet reflection

Fraternal Conversation

Leader: Brothers, let us be attentive to our experience.

Personal sharing and reflection by each attending the house chapter

Share with your brothers a time (the more recent the better) when you experienced change as a blessing in your life. What made it a positive experience for you? What were your feelings as you worked your way through the change? Who and what helped you to embrace the experience?

What did you value in that experience that still enriches your life?

Communal reflection by all the attending the house chapter

How might these past experiences of change as a blessing, and what we still value about the experiences, help us and our Franciscan brothers throughout the United States in the process of interprovincial renewal and restructuring?

Response:

Leader: You are the holy Lord God Who does wonderful things. All: You are strong. You are great. You are the most high. Leader: You are the almighty king, You holy Father, King of heaven and earth. All: You are three and one, the Lord God of gods; Leader: You are the good, all good, the highest good, Lord God living and true. All: You are love, charity; you are wisdom, You are humility. Leader: You are patience, You are beauty, You are meekness. All: You are security, You are rest, You are gladness and joy. Leader: You are our hope, You are justice, You are moderation. All: You are all our riches to sufficiency. Leader: You are the protector, You are our guardian and defender. All: You are strength, You are refreshment. Leader: You are our hope, You are our faith, You are our charity. All: You are all our sweetness, You are our eternal life: Great and wonderful Lord, Almighty God, Merciful Savior.

—St. , The Praises of God

Concluding Prayer

Leader:

Creator God, who brought light out of darkness, a fruitful land out of a barren desert and freedom to despairing Israel, give us a deep and abiding trust in your providential care for us. As we thank you for the marvels you have worked for us and through us, we ask you to loosen our grasp on past and present blessings so that our hands might be free to receive what your hands so lovingly bestow: life in abundance, a future full of hope. We ask this through him who makes all things new, Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

All: Amen.