Getting Ready for Christmas

For this year's December activity we returned to an old favorite:  making birdseed packets to distribute to parishioners so they can feed the birds on Christmas Day.  Although we've been doing this activity for quite a few years now, it doesn't seem to have lost its charm.  

We invited adults and children from Holy Family to join us, but we had no takers.  We did have Lynn and Ed join us to learn more about the fraternity and our Franciscan ways.  We hope to see them again soon.

Two of our deacons work as a team to label and fill.

Wow!  That's a lot of labels... and bags... and seed.

Some members are skilled at pouring seed directly into bags without any help.

Annual Picnic

This year the weather was so beautiful we were able to hold our annual picnic outdoors in the Family Pavilion at church.  For this meeting, out agenda was purely social and fraternal, offering all the opportunity to reconnect with one another.   Although we invited neighboring fraternities, sadly no one else joined us.  Their loss :)

Men's Conference 2024

The Worcester Diocesan Men’s Conference was held on Saturday March 16 at the DCU Center.  Like last year, our fraternity sponsored a table where we could share with the attendees some basics about what being a Secular Franciscan is all about.  At first, I thought that our table was a bit out of the way and off in a corner, then I realized that “being small” fit us as Franciscans very well.  The amazing thing was that the line for Confession was extremely long (as it always is) and wound right past our table, so there was ample opportunity to talk to men as they were waiting.  I brought our banner and resources provided by Paul (newsletters, the lending library), while Michele set out bowls of mini medals and prayer cards free for the taking.  I also did a lot of folding of our “Come and See” brochure and am happy to say that our stock of these is now running low.  Some men were familiar with Secular Franciscans, and I even chatted with a third order Carmelite and third order Dominican who stopped by.  Perhaps we will be blessed with some men who will check us out in the coming months.

Annual Pot Luck Picnic

Midsummer is such a great time to kick back and relax.  That's why in August we hold our annual Pot Luck Picnic.  There was lots a great food and social time for all.

Worcester Mens' Conference

Well, this was a good idea!  Our fraternity decided to rent a table the 2023 Worcester Diocesan Catholic Men's Conference.  The objective was to "get our name out there" and help explain to people what the Secular Franciscans are all about.

Tanya Connor, a reporter for the Catholic Free Press, captured Paul at our table
looking over a holy card with one of the conference attendees.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=6096057270429830&set=pcb.6096061027096121

Michele helped get things set up first thing in the morning.

Our "table neighbor" checked out our stuff, too.

I had to go down a couple tables, but this was the view of the speakers from our vendor area.

And here's a view of the 700+ men in attendance.

I don't know if we'll get any new people to join us at our meetings, but it was a great way to tell people who we are.

 

Renewal of Profession

There were no weather problems for our February meeting.  As a result of a great suggestion from a fraternity member, we conducted a renewal of our Secular Franciscan profession in the sanctuary.  Kathleen brought a stature of St. Francis and the crucified Christ for the occassion.

Epiphany Party

Since our fraternity meeting this month actually fell on Epiphany, we decided to have an Epiphany Party.  Even though we started with reflective activity examining and praying for Spiritual Gifts (in the spirit of the Magi), I only capture pictures of food - which was great!

You can't go wrong with a Three Kings Cake from Gerardo's.

Quite a spread.

Something for everyone.

These festive chips were good enough to eat!