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A Church that is "messy" and "goes outside"

4/30/2014

On April 13 during their monthly meeting, St. Francis of Assisi Fraternity, PEI collected the following written anonymous responses to share about Fasting and Feasting:

I am trying to be more positive.
I tried to recognize the positive first in situations.
I was about to purchase an article of clothing at WalMart.and noticed ‘Made in Bangladesh’ on the tag. In solidarity with the victims of the factory fires last year, I consciously did not purchase the article. I ‘fasted’ on solidarity with injustice and ‘feasted’ on self-denial and awareness of how I can practice justice, in a small way.
During the past month when negative thoughts entered my mind, I ‘feasted’ on thanking God for his many blessings.
During Lent, I "feasted’ on trying to exercise more regularly.
This winter, I sensed a greater appreciation for the sun as it valiantly shone – maybe the snow made it brighter. It was a positive and helped me look for more positives in a slightly difficult friend.

The St. Francis of Assisi Fraternity, PEI focussed on Pope Francis' fourth goal in his vision for the Church: A Church that is ‘Messy” and Goes Outside the Sacristy.

Pope Francis wants us to be "radically disobedient". Just as St. Francis renounced worldliness and set about building God's church, Pope Francis wants a decentralized, less bureaucratic church where parishioners are involved in decision-making. He wants the church to be love in action for everyone and most especially the marginalized, for us to go out and spread the faith rather than to be concerned with administration.

With this in mind, the St. Francis of Assisi Fraternity action for April will focus on reading passages 1-39 of The Joy of the Gospel by Pope Francis. Each member has purchased their own copy with a view to studying the 60-page document before their retreat next October 2014.

From the St. Francis of Assisi JPIC Comm.
(Mike C., Doug H., Louise L., Marion M.)

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St. Francis Fraternity, Toronto - Advocacy mission

4/25/2014

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In April 2014, the CRTC required that the Video Relay Service (VRS) be offered nationally to American Sign Language (ASL) and Langue de signes québécoise (LSQ) users.

We look forward to hearing about their efforts on a monthly basis.

The Franciscan Voice Canada team is delighted to add another fraternity to Spotlight - St. Francis Fraternity, Toronto. This fraternity has decided to advocate locally for the following groups:

People who are hard of hearing
People living with deafness
People living with mental health and
Creation/ecology issues.

The St. Francis Fraternity inspired by the charism of our seraphic father, St. Francis, will "spread the word by good example and in peace".

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A Church that is "messy" and "goes outside"

St. Francis Fraternity, Toronto - Advocacy mission

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