How do I say how I feel on my journey? For seven years, I have been listening and discerning during this part of my life. I have had great insights, and experienced moments of frustration and fear. I have a sense of hope, and the certainty that Christ is with me, and inviting me to live and be a herald of the Gospel. As a friar, I am working at ensuring Christ is my centre always, and not myself. I am moving beyond fear, beyond looking at the unknown blankly, beyond my comforts. I am moving deeper into the reality that the joy of the Gospel calls me to.
Friar Nelson posing at Greccio Friary’s staircase.
I know I must embrace this time with hope as this is a key sign of joy. I must embrace this time with faith as this is central to the Gospel. I must embrace this time with love as love is the face of Christ I meet in each of my brother friars, and in creation and every place the friars live.
As I prepare for my Solemn Profession, I am glad to have this time to go back to the moment when I was first called to this journey. In reflecting on the call of Moses, Abraham, Mother Mary, John the Baptist and St Francis, I realised that we are called in different and unique ways.
I will promise the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, and now I know that these formidable– sounding promises are meant to be liberating and not restrictive, even though they mean living within certain boundaries.
Bread freshly baked by Friar Nelson.
For me, poverty is best expressed in trying to live modestly, in not getting attached to or obsessed with material possessions, and in attempting to live a life of generous service to others, putting their needs before mine. I see celibate chastity as sharing generously with the people with whom I live and work, and promoting the idea that the deepest kind of intimacy involves reverencing and respecting others as whole persons, not just an exchange of bodily fluids.
As for obedience, there was a time when I defined obedience in a very narrow way, thinking that becoming a friar meant giving up my own will, and regarding the directives of the community’s leaders as the will of God. I have come to understand that the Franciscan vow of obedience is about giving public witness to the importance of listening and responding to God’s call. In other words, the vow of obedience expresses our Christian conviction that it’s not about me. Being a follower of Jesus means dying to ourselves and living for God.
The journey towards Easter at St Ann’s Mission in Sarawak is part of the ongoing Franciscan celebration of simplicity, goodness and beauty. The liturgies enhance the experience of prayer, contemplation and community in this large parish where the Franciscan community, comprising two priests, serves the pastoral and sacramental needs of about 25,000 parishioners in 40 villages spread over a land area approximately the size of Singapore.
The faithful are mostly indigenous Dayan people of Bidayuh heritage. Masses are celebrated in English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin in the main mission centre, and in Bidayuh in the village chapels that serve the sacramental needs of the rural communities.
Over the course of Lent, the mission centre and village chapels were active centres for communal gathering and prayer. Prayer leaders in the individual villages led the Stations of the Cross every Friday, and monthly Praise and Worship sessions were adapted for the Lenten season. The Sacrament of Reconciliation was celebrated over two consecutive weeks with the help of visiting priests.
For the Easter Triduum, the parish friars and a visiting friar-priest will celebrate masses and services from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday in five locations.
In Singapore, the Church of St Mary of the Angels celebrates Lent this year with the theme “From Cosmic Dust to an Easter Garden”. Parishioners have been invited to make amends for their sins against God’s creation and to take time to pray for our common home and for those who depend on it. As a community of faith, we treasure God’s creation and seek to protect those who share it, our vulnerable brothers and sisters above all.
We recognise that our misuse of creation has led to tragic and unjust suffering for people around the globe. Hence, this Lent, parishioners have been invited to turn away from harming the good gift of creation, and take actions that will bring us into a new relationship with God, our world and one another. The parish team has prepared a booklet of weekly reflections focusing on creation, and a Lenten Kit for use in Lenten preparations. Details can be found at stmary.sg/lent and the parish YouTube channel.
Our Seraphic Father Francis composed a psalm for his Office of the Passion which he recited every day during the Easter season: “Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wondrous deeds. The Lord has made his salvation known. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Office of the Passion, Psalm 9). What strikes me about this prayer is that St Francis is calling himself and us to sing a “new song” because “this is the day the Lord has made”, to make His salvation known today in ever-new ways.
In the first quarter of 2022, the Franciscan Friars in Malaysia- Singapore-Brunei celebrated the gift of fraternity in several ways. In January, two of our student- brothers resumed their full-time studies in Philosophy and Theology at the Major Seminary in Upper Bukit Timah. They were joined by our novices. The studies at the seminary, supplemented by in- house formation programmes, will equip our brothers for their future ministries in sharing the message of life of the Gospel in this region and beyond.
On 11 February, we celebrated World Day of Consecrated Life together with other religious orders and congregations. Approximately 90 religiousbrothers and sisters participated in the online event organised by the Conference of Religious Major Superiors. Formandees (students) in the various religious orders also shared their hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the future in a video which you can watch in the Franciscan Friars YouTube channel.
The next day, 12 February, two postulants, Jorgerson Japar and Nicholas Ambrose Lee, entered the pre-novitiate programme that, due to Covid border restrictions, has to take place in two locations – Penang (Jorgerson) and Singapore (Nicholas). We are grateful for the continued gift of vocations. We are also grateful that our Vocation Evening on 27 February drew a sizeable group of young men who had the opportunity to meet friars who have served as pastors, missionaries, chaplains, administrators and other roles within our Custody.
In June and July, we have the Sacerdotal Ordinations of five friars – Friar Robin Toha on 21 June at the Church of St Mary of the Angels, and Friars Cosmas Francis, Crispus Mosinoh, Gerald Terence Saimel and Sixtus Pitah on 2 July at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Then on 9 July, Friar Nelson Evarinus will make his Solemn Profession at the Church of St Aloysius in Kota Kinabalu.
Also in July is our Custody Assembly. Preparations have already begun, and during the Assembly, to be held from 4 to 8 July, we will review the last three years and discuss possibilities for the way ahead. This lays the ground for the Custody Chapter in October when we will decide on the Custody leadership for the next three years, install the Custos and his Council, and set out our commitments to action for the next few years.
Brothers and sisters, please pray for us as we discern how we can sing a new song to the Lord and make known His salvation across Malaysia, Singapore and beyond.
As we journey towards Easter, may a new springtime of faith, hope and love take root in us all. On behalf of the Franciscan Friars of the Custody of St Anthony, may Peace and all Good be yours!
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.
