“Renewing Our Common Vision as Lay Friars in a Fractured World: Franciscan Contemplatives Formed for Pastoral Ministry and Evangelisation” is the discerned theme and orientation for the 15 lay brothers from the South Asia, Australia and Oceania Conference (SAAOC) gathered at the La Salle House in Singapore. The entities represented: Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia-Singapore, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste and West Papua.
Br Massimo Fusarelli, Minister General, wrote a very encouraging letter to all gathered, inviting them to deepen their identity as brothers and minors and to also be very daring to welcome back the completeness of our vocation.
The 3 full days of presentation and fraternal sharings were focused on contemplation on the life of Lay Brothers; thoughts and ideas about Formation and finally on pastoral ministry and evangelisation matters. Throughout the week, Br David Leary facilitated the process of mutual deep listening, honest articulation of experiences and insights, and made sure that every voice in the room is heard.
From the richness of the discussions emerged several recommendations for the International Gathering to consider and these revolve around the structure and process of initial and ongoing formation that is essentially Franciscan but also human in its psychological and professional aspects. The recommendations also expressed the pressing need for intentional discernment to the lay brothers’ vocation and the appropriate accompaniment by formators and entity leaders.
To balance the serious work, event organiser Br Vernon Chua ensured that there were also recreational activities like visiting the various communities in Singapore and also touring some of the local attractions like Gardens by the Bay, not forgetting to enjoy a sumptuous seafood dinner by the beach, complete with tasting the famous Singapore Chilli Crab!
All in all, the participants sincerely felt that they had a week of directed fruitful discussion and life-giving fraternal experience.
From April 7 to 13, the General Definitorium and the General Offices of Formation and Studies, Missions and Evangelization, and Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation met with the brothers of the entities of the Franciscan Conference of Asia and Oceania (FCAO). The event was hosted by the Province of San Pedro Bautista at Manila (Philippines).
After the first day, the meeting proceeded, alternating plenary moments, thematic meetings, formal and cultural visits to Manila and its surroundings.
In his message entitled, “Living and Bearing Witness to the Gospel in Pluralism”, addressed to the representatives of the Conference, the Minister General, Br. Massimo Fusarelli, underlined how Christians are a minority in those places, and the Franciscans even more so. “We have the opportunity of being pilgrims and foreigners in this world, serving the Lord in poverty and humility (RB 6, 2). Following the Lord Jesus in his abasement as brothers and minors today, I believe, can mean becoming capable of remaining open, listening and communicating with many, without pretensions,” the Minister said, recalling also how the life of the Friars Minor in Asia and Oceania is characterized by a vast range of realities. Many brothers, in fact, are engaged in ordinary pastoral work, as well as in works of charity, education and social assistance, trying to respond to the needs of the population. And all this invites the Order to respond as brothers and minors in a synodal manner, just as Pope Francis invites us to do in his encyclical Fratelli tutti.
Br. Nikola Kozina e Br. Baptist D’Souza, respectively Director and Vice Director of the Development Office, presented the objectives and the services which the office offers, providing practical advice on project proposals. The presentation of Br. Albert Schmucki, Director of the Office for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Adults, aroused much interest among the assembled brothers, given the priority that the Order is giving to this topic.
The representative of the General Secretariats of Formation and Studies and of Mission and Evangelization met with their counterparts, sharing lights and shadows, challenges and strengths, various proposals to discuss, enrich and incorporate into the listing of resolutions which the FCAO will have to take into consideration. The same occurred for the JPIC offices.
The General Definitors had discussions with the Asiatic entities, addressing their concerns and recognizing the salient points raised by their ministers. In the meeting they also saw important documents such as resolutions, recommendations, and declarations. These documents were based on in-depth discussions during the secretaries’ and facilitators’ breakout sessions.
The brothers of the General Curia had the opportunity to visit some places of the cultural heritage of the Philippines, such as the historic Intramuros enclave of Manila, the cathedral of the city, the sanctuary of the parish of S. Antonio in Forbes Park, the recently built parish of Santa Chiara d’Assisi in Navotas-Malabon, the sanctuary of Nostra Signora degli Abbandonati. The group also visited a so-called “insertion community”, a new concept of formation in which the brothers live and work with the poor while pursuing their theological studies.
Friar Gerald Tan giving Ms Shivaun Goh, 23, from the Church of Saint Anthony a haircut. Photo: Friar Gerald Tan.
My name is Friar Gerald Tan OFM, and I am one of a handful of lay friars in the Franciscan order in Singapore.
In 2020, the year I made my solemn profession of religious vows, I discerned that the Lord was not calling me to the priestly ministry – in other words, not to become an ordained friar – at least, in this foreseeable season in my life as a fully-fledged Franciscan friar.
Choosing the path of becoming a non-ordained religious – what we call a lay friar or Franciscan brother – came to me as a surprise. It was as though the Lord threw a spanner in the works!
Earlier on my discernment journey, although I had been aware of the option of not moving into the ordained state in religious life, I did not understand why anyone would make such a decision and miss out on the “full package” of being ordained.
Being ordained a priest always seemed to be the default choice, since those who are not ordained undertake the same duration of seminary studies as those on the path to ordination.
Others felt it was a waste not to go “all the way”. At first, I believed this too, thinking ordination was the only option. I also feared that if I did not get ordained, I would be seen as lousier, lesser, or in the Singapore lingo, “CMI” (cannot make it).
But closer to my solemn profession, I realised that these “scripts” and socio-cultural beliefs were not at the core of my discernment. This was not about missing out, but instead, about a deep and personal call from the Lord Jesus, and through deeply knowing myself in responding to that call.
Later on, in my journey of formation and discernment, I realised that becoming a priest was just one of the expressions of ministry to God’s people as a Franciscan friar, as there are many other ways that a religious can be called to serve God’s people based on their personal gifts, talents, qualifications, and the needs of the community.
One key question I asked myself during my discernment was, “Do I have the stirring and desire to administer the sacraments?” To be honest, I did not.
I did, however, feel a growing desire to accompany and journey with others through their faith and personal struggles, especially through spiritual direction and other forms of individual and group accompaniment.
This desire to be available to others led me to minister to God’s people, without being an ordained minister of the Church, in four ways.
The first was through being formally trained in the ministry of spiritual direction, which I undertook in 2022. I regularly meet young adults for monthly spiritual direction sessions, and also direct individuals in their personal or silent retreats.
Secondly, I was appointed the local vocation director for the Franciscan Friars in Singapore. This allows me to journey with young men and to help them listen to and discern God’s will and vocational call for them, be it to the Franciscan order, or otherwise.
Thirdly, my theological and spiritual direction training allowed the Lord to use me to journey with young Catholic couples preparing for marriage within the Church.
Finally, a unique way for me to minister to others was through hairstyling, after taking up haircutting courses for men and women.
The Lord inspired me to do this through a YouTube video documenting the ministry of a Friar-barber in America.
Applying this in the local context, I was able to merge the aspect of spiritual direction with the bond between hairstylist and regular patron.
This helped me to bring God into the everyday life of His people, providing a safe space and time for them to share whatever they wanted with me, while getting a nice haircut in the process!
On 11 Mar 2024, AFFT programme was launched with the release of the introductory video of the first front loading module. This formators course was proposed and endorsed by the Ministers of FCAO (Franciscan Conference of Asia-Oceania) in May 2023. Br Derrick Yap, Custos of Singapore-Malaysia, was tasked to craft the programme together with a team comprising Secretaries of Formation of EAC (Br Joel Sulse) and SAAOC (Br Charles Bernard) and Br Azeem Lawrence, Custos of Pakistan. Co-ordinating this programme with Br Derrick is Dr Josephine Chin, together with Patrick Tan providing the digital support for the online platform @franciscanstudies.asia.
This programme is primarily conducted online with 2 in-person residency programmes in June and November, book-ending the programme with adequate time for group interaction and practicum. There are 16 modules in total, modelled heavily on Master in Formation programme at the Antonianum.
AFFT is the perfect acronym for the programme as it sounds like affect (Latin: affectus), indicating its strong affective emphasis and not merely intellectually downloading information. The main pedagogic vehicles are video lessons, facilitated forum discussions in small circle groups, personal accompaniment and zoom tutorials.
For this pilot cohort, there are 8 OFMs participants hailing from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. In future, the hope is to welcome potential formators from the entire Franciscan Family to participate in this programme. Minister General Br Massimo Fusarelli, and Asian Definitor Br John Wong both popped into the first Zoom Tutorial to meet and encourage the participants.
