Friar John Wong is currently serving as one of the OFM General Definitors since 2021 and will end his term in 2027. He is overseeing and taking care of the friars in Asia and Oceania.
Br John Wong meets the new Definitory of the Province of St Francis in Vietnam.
On 9 February Br John Wong, General Definitor for the Conferences of Asia and Oceania, met the new Provincial Definitory of St Francis Province in Vietnam. The Provincial Chapter, in which the former Provincial Minister Br Inhaxiô Nguyễn Duy Lam and the Visitator General Br Rufino Lim Han-Wook took part, was held in Ho Chi Minh City and elected Br Gioan Thiên Chúa Nguyễn Phước as the new Provincial Minister.
At their special meeting on 9 February, the new provincial government affirmed their commitment to Fraternity, Formation (with special emphasis on the formation of future formators), Mission (in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and abroad), and to the continuous updating and implementation of their Province’s Security Plan for the Safeguarding of Minors and Vulnerable Adults.
Since 2019, the Province of St Francis has initiated 7 new local missionary communities, most of them initiated by the Province in response to invitations from local Bishops. All Franciscans live among the isolated poor and ethnic minority communities. The missionary presence in Vinh Chau began in 2021, has 3 friars and covers a 50 km stretch along the southern Mekong Delta; it is a 2,5 hour drive from the nearest friary, which is in An Phuc Can Tho. Most of the population in the area is ethnic Khmer and the prevailing culture is strongly Buddhist; the people are simple, kind and very friendly. The main mission of the friars in Vinh Chau is to be with the people. There are about 250 Catholics in the whole area and most of them are Vietnamese.
Before the arrival of the friars three years ago, there were no priests, no other religious, and no chapel to pray in. A Vietnamese Catholic family that runs a small restaurant has built a small chapel on their property so that the friars can celebrate Mass with the locals. The brothers simply live among God’s people and witness to the Gospel with their life as lesser brothers among the poor. Besides celebrating daily Masses, they perform pastoral and social services, give music lessons to children and adults and help poor students: all freely, joyfully and without discrimination.
The An Phuc (‘Grace’) Social Service House, on the outskirts of Can Tho city in the Mekong Delta, is a Franciscan Conventual community and ministry located 160 km southwest of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). Here, the fraternity was founded in 2013 to serve patients with mental illness. Today nine brothers live in this community and serve a residential facility of 50 male patients that is part of a foundation administered by the Bishop of Can Tho. The youngest patient is 16 years old and the oldest is 60. The friars also provide free tuition to poor local students, and the convent grounds provide a safe environment for local youth to play sports. In addition, with the support of the local church, the friars run a small ‘supermarket’ that provides free food to the poor. This presence and mission of the Franciscans is an opportunity for inter-religious dialogue and evangelisation through living the Gospel in daily life, through humble service and hospitality.
Most of the residents in the surrounding area are believers of a traditional religion of South Vietnam, but all are very supportive of the work of the friars, whom they recognise as serving today’s ‘lepers’ in the spirit of the Poverello of Assisi, who is the patron of the Province of St Francis in Vietnam.
The new Provincial Definitory is composed by: Gioan Thiên Chúa (John of God) Nguyễn Phước (Provincial Minister) Giuse (Joseph) Phạm Văn Bình (Provincial Vicar) Gioan B. (John the Baptist) Trần Khắc Du Vinh Sơn (Vincenzo) Trần Đức Hạnh Đaminh (Damian) Phạm Văn Đổng Giuse (Joseph) Ngô Ngọc Khanh Gioan B. (John the Baptist) Đậu Quang Luật
An Phuc Can Tho friary community meeting with Br John WongAn Phuc Can Tho friary community meeting with Br John Wong
Did you know that there is a rich Franciscan Intellectual Tradition?
The Franciscan Friars of the Custody of St Anthony (Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei) are pleased to be able to offer in April an opportunity to learn from Friar Wayne Hellmann OFM Conventual, a distinguished Franciscan academic and scholar.
Friar Wayne Hellmann OFM Conv
Friar Wayne will speak about his latest insights and scholarly research on Franciscan Spirituality in Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore.
Register here :
For Sabah 12 & 13 April 2023: Email to fsicsabah@yahoo.com (Sr Lilian Unsoh, FSIC)
For Sarawak 15 & 16 April 2023 : Email to genssfs@gmail.com (Sr Rose Wong, SSFS)
For Singapore 19 & 20 April 2023 : Sign up using Google Form.
We invite you to come and listen with your head and with your heart, to learn how Franciscan Spirituality can impact your life of prayer and your perspective on faith and living.
Conference on Franciscan Spirituality in SingaporeConference on Franciscan Spirituality in Singapore
Fifteen young men joined the Franciscan Vocation Discernment Retreats held in Singapore and Kuching last November and December. The aspirants accepted the invitation to Come and See Franciscan spirituality and the Franciscan way of life for different reasons, but they all shared the same desire: to seek the will of God in their lives.
Friar Giacomo Bini OFM, former Minister General of the Franciscan Order, said, “Nowadays, fraternal holiness is more effective than personal holiness.“ Inspired by this wisdom, the retreat was planned to help the aspirants learn more about God and about themselves through a fraternal living experience.
Over four days and three nights, they prayed, reflected, ate and shared as a fraternity. It was a safe space where everyone could be open and honest in sharing. The aspirants came as individuals, but it did not take long for each to feel a sense of belonging to the fraternity they formed during the retreat.
Vocation Retreat in Kuching, Sarawak, East MalaysiaVocation Retreat in Singapore
Eight aspirants (from Singapore and West Malaysia) at the retreats in Singapore (3-6 November and 15-18 December) and seven (from Sarawak, East Malaysia ) at the retreat in Kuching (1-4 December).
The new “fraternity” in Kuching was even inspired to compose a song together. They titled their song “Panggilan Hidupku” (My Vocation).
The aspirants left the retreat grateful for the brief experience of Loving God the Franciscan Way. Some expressed interest in discerning more intensively about a vocation to the Order in the next few years. Others said that the experience had opened their eyes to new possibilities and would help them make more informed decisions.
The friars involved too were grateful for the retreat experience. As Friar Robin Toha, who is part of the Vocation Team, said, “It is a joy to share life with the aspirants. Often, their stories inspire me and renew my commitment and desire to love and serve God and others as a friar.”
We ask for your prayers for these young men as we continue journeying with them, that they may discern the will of God for their lives.
The Franciscan Friars have been organising pilgrimages designed specifically for young adults since 2019. In fact, Friar John Paul Tan led a group of young adults, aged 18 to 35 years, on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land last December.
An objective of these pilgrimages is to help young adults make sense of what they have learned and heard – in their catechism classes and during the pilgrimage – and lead them to an encounter with the person of Jesus Christ.
Tagbha
As Yossi, our archaeologist tour guide in the Holy Land, is fond of saying, the distance between the human mind and the heart is about a foot but it can be the longest journey. By that he means that the historical, religious and cultural significance of the places we visit could remain at the head level without reaching the heart to make a difference at the faith level.
One of the places on the pilgrimage is the Benedictine Monastery of St Mary and the Church of the Resurrection which was built by the Crusaders. Located in the Arab village of Abu Gosh, this church commemorates the event in Luke 24:13-35 when Jesus appeared to two disciples on their way to Emmaus. They had become disillusioned after the crucifixion of Jesus.
Jesus taught the disciples as they walked, about Moses and the prophets and about himself being the fulfilment of the scriptures. But it was not until the “breaking of bread” that the disciples encountered Jesus in person and recognised him. “Were not our hearts burning …,” they said. It was the moment when the mind met the heart!
“During the pilgrimages, our pilgrims are invited to make their own Emmaus journey; to allow the knowledge that they have gained to move their hearts,” said Friar John Paul Tan.
The Church of the TransfigurationSea of Galilee
“Our young pilgrims have their lives ahead of them. Many obstacles and hurdles, disappointments and disillusions will block the journey from the head to the heart. It is our hope that these pilgrimages will give young adults the impetus to discover Jesus more in the scriptures, and reignite their faith in the person of Jesus who continues to be present at the Breaking of the Word and at the Breaking of Bread.”
