Franciscan formation is a gradual process of growth, in which the friar opens his heart to the Gospel and commits himself fully to being continually converted. It is based upon a personal encounter with the Lord, and begins with the call of God and the individual’s decision to walk with St Francis in the footsteps of the crucified Christ as His disciple under the action of the Holy Spirit.
In his Rule and Life of the Friars Minor, St Francis wrote: “If there are any who wish to accept this life and come to our brothers, let them send them to their Ministers provincial, to whom alone, and to no other is permission granted for receiving brothers.” From this Rule and Life, formation into the Order of Friars Minor today falls into several progressive stages, each of which involves the whole person, in his Human, Christian and Franciscan dimensions, and the radical living of the Holy Gospel, in prayer and devotion, in fraternity and minority.
On 12 February, the Franciscan Friars will welcome two men in their 30s into the Postulancy programme for 2022.
Postulancy, also called Pre-Novitiate, is the first stage of formation into Religious and Franciscan life. It is a full-time live-in programme that lasts about a year. The candidate (called a postulant) is not considered a friar, but is able to participate in the life of the Franciscan brotherhood. He is involved in the prayer, studies, ministry and life of the friary community. Through this, he is led to deepen his relationship with Christ and into a greater understanding of the Franciscan charism and life. He is also given opportunities for service and work with people who are in different kinds of poverty.
This transitional stage brings the candidate gradually from his secular lifestyle into a religious lifestyle, allowing him to verify his desire to follow Jesus Christ according to the example of St Francis. At the end of Postulancy, the candidate considers whether he would like to continue in the life of the fraternity. If so, he can apply to the Order for acceptance into the Novitiate.
We invited the candidates to share with you their requests to the brotherhood of friars.
Please keep Jorgerson and Nicholas in your prayers as they begin their discernment process.
With the launch of the Synodal process from 2021 to 2023, Pope Francis is addressing the systemic issues affecting the global Catholic Church.
Vatican Council II presented a vision of Church for the new era of Church life leading into the new millennium. Essentially, it invited the Church to a new way of being (self-understanding) and acting.
Following Vatican II, Pope Paul VI instituted the Synod of Bishops as a permanent vehicle for the Pope and Bishops to lead the Church in a more collegial and collaborative way. It was to recover a new balance to the role of the Papacy vis-à-vis the bishops of the world.
The genius of Pope Francis is in initiating the Synodal process for the global Church where every diocese in the world would embark on this Synodal process leading up to the Synod of Bishops together with the lay faithful in 2023. This essentially brings the Synodal process from Pope-Bishop to Pope-Bishop- Diocese; from global to local. This means that every bishop in the world will have to understand his role in leading and empowering in this new way of Church that Vatican II put forward in 1965.
This Synodal process has to be seen together with the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, which takes its title from the address of St Francis to his brothers.
In an article in 2020, Gerard O’Connell quotes Anna Rowlands, professor of Catholic Social Thought, saying at the launch of Fratelli Tutti that Pope Francis offers “an extraordinary example of thought leadership” in this encyclical. She said that Pope Francis has offered the world, in the midst of the profoundly disorienting global situation marked by the pandemic, thought leadership on a global stage.
Walking together as one Church
Principally, I think the process of the Synodal Church and the encyclical Fratelli Tutti invite us to a new level of dialogue among ourselves, among church hierarchy and laity. Vatican II offered a new paradigm of being and working, and now this process is inviting us to put this into practice, and actively engage one another with new eyes.
One of the challenges I foresee confronting dioceses is what I call the “choke points” to a smooth journey for the Church. As the Catholic Church’s hierarchy is built around a clerical structure of Bishops-Priests-Deacons, much of the Synodal journey will meet “choke points” at parish and diocesan offices. As it stands now, many programmes and projects that a parish or diocese undertakes depend very much on the powers that be; be it parish priest, priest directors, priest spiritual directors or bishops.
Much has been said in the past about “collaboration” in churches. Often what this means is “Father says this and we people carry out!” This new process of the Synodal Church calls for a change in mindset from “collaboration” as we have known and practised in the past to being “co-responsible”.
Laity, as Vatican Council II taught, is called to the apostolate, not by the largess of a priest or a bishop but by Jesus Christ himself, who at our baptism confers upon us the triple roles of Priest, Prophet and King; correlating to the roles of Sanctification, Teaching and Service.
A gift of St Francis to the Church is the sense of what it means to be in “fraternitas” (fraternity). This vision of fraternity invites us to see each other as more than roles and functions.
John Paul Tan, ofm
Every baptised person is called to the apostolate, each in his or her own way and capacity within the understanding of Church. The exercise of these three roles with renewed insight and empowerment will equip the Church to address pressing issues of humanity. We are called to be Church not only to worship in fitting liturgical settings and music, but also as Church to collectively read the signs of the times to discern what the Word is calling us to be and how we are to respond to the yearnings and cries of the men and women of our times, and yes, even to the cry of creation.
A gift of St Francis to the Church is the sense of what it means to be in “fraternitas” (fraternity). This vision of fraternity invites us to see each other as more than roles and functions. Fraternitas presupposes blood kinship from the Latin “fratres” meaning “brothers”. This relationship that is based on blood kinship links us more profoundly to one another than functional relationships in a commune (society or community).
Fratelli Tutti invites us to embark on a journey to dialogue and to see each other differently. Coupled with the Synodal process, can this be a new way of being Church?
For the new to emerge, the old ways of being and doing will have to give way, to be acknowledged and recognised as models that need to be reformed. The overly privileged place of the clerical class with the propensity for arbitrary decisions will need to be relooked in terms of service, empowerment of the laity, co-responsibility, transparency and accountability. In other words, a cultural overhaul is in order.
St Francis was a model of reform during his time. Pope Francis is proposing a radical reform of sorts, one that puts into practice what the fathers of Vatican Council II called for. My hope is that this Synodal way of being Church will not be a short- lived excitement for the Church but the beginning of a new way of being Church in the new millennium.
The Franciscan Friars had reason to celebrate in November. On 26 November 2021, the friars in Singapore gathered at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd for the diaconal ordination of Brothers Cosmas Francis, Crispus Mosinoh, Gerald Terence, Robin Toha and Sixtus Pitah. Due to Covid restrictions, only about 120 people were able to be physically present at the 4pm ceremony, presided over by Singapore Archbishop William Goh.
In his homily, Archbishop Goh said the Scriptures indicate who deacons are. The Book of Numbers refers to them as the Levites designated to assist priests and attend to the community, and St Paul speaks of the kind of disposition deacons must have, their role and their virtues. “A deacon has to read, meditate and even break the word. He also assists the priest in the celebration of the Eucharist in the preparation of the altar,” Archbishop Goh said. “Deacons also minister to the families. They are to be a good reflection of God’s servants serving only one Master.”
The ordination rite saw Archbishop Goh laying hands on the five friars and presenting them with the Book of Gospels, while Friars John Wong, Derrick Yap, John Paul Tan, Clifford Augustine and Aiden Peter assisted in investing them with the stole and dalmatic (an outer liturgical vestment).
For the new deacons, this is a step closer to priestly ordination. For those on the path to priesthood, the diaconate ordination usually takes place several months to a year before priestly ordination.
Deacon Cosmas and Deacon Gerald are serving in Sabah, Deacon Crispus in Penang, Deacon Sixtus in Johor Bahru and Deacon Robin in Singapore. They have begun to proclaim and preach the Gospel, lead people in prayer, preside over baptisms and marriages and conduct funeral services.
Our Custody concluded our year by preparing for the new year. For five days from 29 Nov to 3 Dec 2021, the friars in Singapore and Malaysia gathered in person (appropriately socially distanced, of course) and via Zoom (for those in Malaysia) for our Custody retreat. Sr Linda Lizada, a Cenacle Sister, journeyed with us as we reflected on the theme, “Hunger Pangs of Love”, and listened to where God is leading us and challenging us individually and as a fraternity.
We took this time of retreat and resting in the Lord to ready our souls for two big events in 2022. In July, we will gather as brothers for our Custody Assembly to reflect on the journey thus far and discern what the Lord is inviting and challenging us to. In October, we have the Chapter where we will make concrete recommendations and resolutions for the Custody Council to act upon for the next three years. Thus, the tilling of hearts at the retreat makes us ready to receive, plant and grow the seeds of hope and mission at the Assembly and the Chapter.
The seeds of hope and mission were also planted in our hearts for those of us who participated in the ordination of five of our friars as deacons. Friars Cosmas Francis, Crispus Mosinoh, Gerald Terence Saimel, Robin Toha and Sixtus Pitah Amit were ordained by the Archbishop of Singapore, Most Rev William Goh on 26 Nov 2021 at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. The new deacons began their Franciscan formation journey in 2014, and have since matured as responsible, empathic and authentic religious. It has been such a joy for me personally to witness their growth through the years. Let us keep them in prayer as they go about their diaconate attachments.
“With God, we are not merely rotating round an axis, but we are journeying in movement, and borrowing St Bonaventure’s words, our souls “journey into God”.
Derrick Yap, ofm
During these times, I sometimes ask myself if I have moved forward, if I am back in the same place where I started, or worse, if I have regressed. But is regression all that bad? Could it be that in regressing I actually open space for more growth to take place? And I am not in the same exact spot where I was years ago. Sometimes our vision is rather 2D, and the circle of life looks like it is bringing us back to the same spot. It could be that we are triggered by the same people, words and actions, or we spiral into the same patterns of behaviour or thinking that are not life-giving. However if we are intentional in our growth and place this growth in God’s garden of grace, then this 2D vision can morph into 3D. With God, we are not merely rotating round an axis, but we are journeying in movement, and borrowing St Bonaventure’s words, our souls “journey into God”.
As we enter the new year, we may make similar resolutions and have similar desires as in the past, and we may think to ourselves that we have not moved at all. Perhaps if we put God in our life’s equation, or rather, put ourselves in God’s equation, we may find ourselves actually spiralling into the depths of God’s peaceful presence. May this peace of the Lord be always yours.
On a quiet night two thousand years ago, God sent us the gift of His Son — Jesus, His gift of selfless love to redeem mankind from sin. We invite you to receive Jesus into your hearts and homes as you watch this video of Silent Night.
Wishing you and your family a blessed Christmas filled with Hope, Peace, Joy and Love and thank you for your generous friendship, continued prayers and unwavering support.
May the Lord bless you and keep you in the new year.
