It is not surprising to see friars singing and dancing. You may have seen performances in various Franciscan Jam productions and in the Jerusalema Dance video. Truly, what sets a Franciscan friar apart is his sense of creativity and openness to bringing alive the word of God and the spirit of Francis in timeless ways. Magic fills the air when brothers pool their gifts and charisms together on stage. The recent Mother’s Day concert also paid tribute to the manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit among the people. It was a splendid evening of Franciscan joy.
One thing Franciscan formation seeks to do is develop a friar’s innate talents especially those of artistic expression. The Friars in Formation (FIF) are given opportunities to try different art forms and allow these experiences to shape their sense of Franciscan spirit. This aspect of formation enables them to explore their individual creative and affective capacity. It also helps them learn to blend and support each other in a fraternal environment. Hence, besides studying in the seminary and ministerial work, the FIF also put on concerts and other performances.
In early August, the FIF will present a soul-provoking theatre production to celebrate the gift of life and vocation. This original play is co-written and produced by the FIF. As part of their formation programme, the FIF took a speech and drama programme with the University of West London. Producing this play enables them to put into practice what they learnt, and it takes them out of their comfort zone. Our hope is that this experience will help form them to share the creative and joyful spirit of Francis with everyone they meet.
My heart is full as I look back on the first half of the year. I feel like I have been running non-stop especially from April onwards with the Spirituality Conference by Friar Wayne Hellmann, followed almost immediately by the declaration of our Custody as autonomous on 25 April, and the quick trip Friar John Wong and I made to Kota Kinabalu to show our Minister General Friar Massimo Fusarelli our latest mission. Then, with only a few days to catch my breath, I found myself in the thick of the Franciscan Conference of Asia-Oceania meeting in Bali, which you can read about in the News section.
In most of these trips, there was prior discernment and preparation to be done, work work work during, and follow-up action and more discernment after. But what anchored all this labouring was fraternal dialogue and intentional relating.
With Friar Wayne Hellmann for example, well, he and I have been in contact since he conducted a retreat for us in 2015. When I was in Rome for studies, Wayne made it a point to have a meal with me whenever he was there to find out how I was doing. This relationship and trust made planning the Spirituality Conference together so much easier. Accompanying him to each location was a joy. I felt I had a spiritual father and brother guiding and teaching me as we shared deeply about our prayer life and all things Franciscan.
I also found connecting with Friar Massimo very refreshing. It has never been clear to me how to relate to people in top positions, but Massimo was very brotherly and genuinely concerned about how I was doing and how the Custody was doing. There were several light[1]hearted moments in Kota Kinabalu where I saw a very human side of the man in charge of the entire Franciscan Order. He is my brother in Christ and in Francis, and I related to him from the authentic core of who I am, as Derrick. This is part of a deepening of my discovery of who I am and how I am to relate to those around me, simply as a brother, like Francis did.
Now that our Custody is autonomous, I am fully aware of the greater responsibility I have. The buck now stops at me, so to speak; no longer can I refer to the Australia Provincial for decisions and approvals. Fortunately I have a team of Councillors and office bearers who also desire a more authentic expression of Franciscan living.
I pray that this Franciscan spirit of fraternal dialogue and intentional relating can be experienced by everyone, especially those we friars encounter. We all journey together with St Francis who knew that these earthly fraternal encounters spark a deathless hope in our hearts.
So with these graced encounters in the past months, how can my heart not be full?
Have you wondered why St Anthony is associated with bread? It is the power of his intercession. One legend is that when a boy drowned near the Basilica of St Anthony in Padua, his mother in her desperation called out to her beloved saint to restore her son’s life, promising a gift of grain to the poor equal to her son’s weight. We know how this story ends: restoration of life and the beginning of a beautiful tradition of giving to the poor because of graces received.
Blessings of God are everywhere if the eyes of our heart are open to them. We do not need dramatic stories to remind us that God is looking out for us and for those who are suffering and need a helping hand.
After the example of our father Francis, Franciscan Friars look out for those in the peripheries, and those who fall through the cracks. We have friars on the ground working with the people, knowing their pain and their desire for a better life.
When our Custody become autonomous on 25 April 2023, we wanted to underscore our commitment towards living out our mission and evangelisation, while promoting justice and peace among all.
So, we revived our Poor and Mission Fund which, remembering the origin story of St Anthony’s bread, we call “St Anthony’s Touch”. There is a new tick box in the tear-out slip that comes with this newsletter, and we hope you, our friends, donors and benefactors, will partner with us in reaching out to those in need and in bringing them the Gospel of love and hope. In addition to touching the lives of those in need within the Custody boundaries of Malaysia and Singapore, we hope to use this fund to respond directly to crisis needs on the ground via the Franciscan network.
We announced our first St Anthony’s Touch commitment during the Thanksgiving Mass for our new autonomous status. The Custody has pledged a sum of RM50,000 (SGD14,500) in support of Projek Sentuhan Murni, a project of our Franciscan parish of St Ann’s in Kuching to provide decent housing for the poor and marginalised in the kampungs in which we serve.
St Ann’s parish launched Projek Sentuhan Murni (which translates loosely to “A Touch of Blessing”) in 2021 as a direct response to the hardships faced by the people during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the lockdown, the parish provided food aid to more than 70 families.
Following feedback from the community, the parish began looking for a more permanent way of assisting the poor and marginalised. After much prayer and discernment, it decided that the project’s primary focus would be the building and renovating of homes. The permanence of a home would allow for the continual witness of God’s care and providence not only to the direct beneficiaries, but also to the community at large. Building homes would also provide jobs as village carpenters and workmen would be employed for the work.
In May 2022, the parish embarked on a pilot project to build two houses. The first house was for a family of seven living in a cramped wooden house perched on a precarious ledge. The head of the household had suffered an accident which had left him unable to work. The second house was for a destitute young man living in squalor.
Work began in mid-June, and six weeks later, the two single-storey houses were completed at a cost of RM58,000 (SGD16,800). A house blessing and simple handover ceremony took place on 6 August.
In 2023, the parish has allocated a budget of RM120,000 (SGD34,800) for Projek Sentuhan Murni. The commitment from St Anthony’s Touch will go towards this. Already, five applications have been received and more are likely.
The friars in our other parishes and ministries know to alert us of any dire and pressing needs that we can help alleviate through St Anthony’s Touch. I am certain more opportunities will present themselves as we open our hearts to those in need and collectively discern the voice of the Lord.
Please join us in praying that through this humble effort, the Lord’s presence and care may become more incarnate in the lives of the poor.
So many more came to our first Franciscan Spirituality Conference than we had dared to hope. We expected many friars, sisters and Secular Franciscans. After all, the conference was part of the celebration of the 8th centenary of St Francis writing the Later Rule, and it was an opportunity to gather as a Franciscan family to witness to the fraternal journeying together, male and female Franciscan religious, young and senior members, contemplatives and actives. However the conference also drew a good number of the greater body of the Lord’s faithful, showing that there is a clear interest in Franciscan spirituality.
The conference was held over two days each in three locations – Kota Kinabalu (12-13 April, below), Kuching (15-16 April, top, right) or Singapore (19-20 April, right) – so that more people could join us in learning from Friar Wayne Hellmann OFM Conventual, a distinguished Franciscan academic and scholar. It was organised in collaboration with the Secular Franciscans in Singapore and Franciscan sisters congregations in Malaysia.
Franciscan Sisters of Immaculate Conception (FSIC) SabahSecular Franciscans (OFS) SingaporeSisters of St. Francis of Sarawak (SSFS)
Friar Wayne is one of the most brilliant and prolific Franciscan scholars of our time. He specialises in the writings and theology of St Bonaventure, and is professor emeritus at Saint Louis University, USA.
Over four talks, Friar Wayne brought us on a Franciscan spiritual journey. He began with the heart of St Francis in the first talk, “Francis, Teacher of Prayer”, where he delved into the meaning of the prayers Francis prayed throughout his life and taught his brothers. Several sisters and seculars said this session brought them closer to the heart of Francis, and made them feel closer to our spiritual father and his way of journeying into God.
In the next talk, “Franciscan Vision in the teachings of Pope Francis”, Friar Wayne helped us to recognise this privileged springtime of Franciscanism when a Pope has chosen to embody the vision and spirituality of St Francis of Assisi in his teachings and Petrine ministry.
On the morning of day 2, by expounding on Bonaventure’s theological insight on the Holy Spirit, Friar Wayne helped us to recognise the Holy Spirit as “The Culminating Gift” given to us. In the evening, in the final talk of this conference journey, “Recapturing our Symbols”, Friar Wayne used Desiderio Desideravi, the Pope’s Apostolic Letter on the liturgical formation of the people of God, to guide us through how we can grow in earnestly encountering God in the Sacraments and Liturgy.
For Russell Tan, who attended Friar Wayne’s final talk, the Franciscan perspective of Desiderio Desideravi was something new. “Friar Wayne reminded me that we are called to be fraternally One in Christ in our worship,” he said.
As for the Franciscan family, Friar Derrick Yap, who accompanied Friar Wayne to all his talks, said he heard many sisters and seculars express the hope that there would be more such sessions to deepen their knowledge and passion for Franciscan living and mission.
Dearest Family and Friends, Divine intimacy. Is there intimacy within the Trinity, where there is such a deep connection between the persons of the Trinity? I say yes.
St John tells us that God is Love, and the source of this Love is the Father, who is the fountain fullness of self-giving love. For love to be love, it has to be poured out freely on another. Who is this other? It is the Son, who receives this love completely. And because the Son is like the Father, he pours out the love he receives completely and freely back to Father who also receives this love completely. This intense powerful exchange of love is the Holy Spirit, or we can say that it is intimacy within God.
This divine intimacy is shared with us who dare to open our hearts to God, and we celebrate this intimacy at Pentecost! The tongues of fire that rested upon Mary and the Apostles represent the passionate fire of love that came from above to fire up fearful souls, so that these Apostles preached what was bursting from their souls – that “Jesus Christ is Lord!”
This is the raging outpouring of pure love we receive from the Holy Spirit through our baptism that frees us to be who we were created to be: sons and daughters of the Father, the source and giver of life.
On the morning of 25 April 2023, our Custody of St Anthony (Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei) was declared autonomous by OFM Minister General Friar Massimo Fusarelli. This means that our Custody is free to chart its own course through its own discernment, guided of course by the Holy Spirit. For it is only with the Holy Spirit, that we can truly love and forgive each other as brothers, and it is the Spirit who will empower us to reach out and heal lives that are fragile and broken, even as we struggle with our own imperfections.
I would like to acknowledge in a special way the Province of the Holy Spirit in Australia, that cared and nurtured our Custody for many years enabling us to mature into the Autonomous Custody that we are today.
Even as we rejoiced, we wanted a concrete act in solidarity with those who are in need. Hence, we launched “St Anthony’s Touch”. This is our Poor & Mission Fund that will support our outreach to the poor, our evangelisation efforts and projects in the area of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation. There is a new tick box for this in our donation slip.
On this feast of Pentecost, my heart is full, full to overflowing. There are so many to thank but I want to mention two especially – Friar Phillip Miscamble, who is the Provincial Minister of Australia and our Custody’s first Custos, and Friar John Wong, the previous Custos and currently Definitor General for Asia-Oceania, who played a huge part in our journey to autonomy. I have asked them to share their thoughts on this milestone in this issue of St Anthony’s Bread.
Finally I thank you, our friends, collaborators and benefactors, for your constant support and wish you the divine intimacy that God desires to give us. May we live our Christian lives to the full, and bring all Creation back to God the Father, the source of all life and love! Happy Pentecost!
The Franciscan Friars, also known as the Order of Friars Minor, have a rich and continuous history in Singapore over the last 65 years. On 26 August 1958, the Order entered into a contract with the Archdiocese of Malacca-Singapore, which allowed the Franciscan Friars to establish their first official foundation, consisting of a friary and attached public oratory, at 8¾ Mile Old Jurong Road. The first community of friars in what is now the residential township of Bukit Batok comprised friars from America, Europe and Asia.
During the first 10 years, the friars were involved in activities such as translating the scriptures and social teachings of the Church, providing pastoral care to Catholics in Jurong-Tuas, conducting catechetical training and retreats, and serving as professors and chaplains at Nanyang University.
In 1969, the Province of the Holy Spirit in Australia agreed to accept the friary as a house of the province, and a year later the friary oratory was formally established as the church of the parish of St of St Mary of the Angels in Singapore. In the 1980s, the friars began to attract local vocations, with young men joining their ranks such as Friar Michael Goh, the first local member of the Custody to be solemnly professed, Friar John-Paul Tan, the first local member to be ordained, and Friar Arul Sagayaraj Mariadass, the first Malaysian member to be solemnly professed and ordained.
In 1991, the Custody of St Anthony of Padua (Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei) was formally established, assisted by friars from Australia and India who served as leaders, formators and pastors.
On 25 April 2023, the Franciscan Friars celebrated another important milestone in their development and in the history of the Order. On the feast of St Mark the Evangelist, the Custody of St Anthony (Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei) was declared an Autonomous Custody during a Special Assembly. The declaration of autonomy by the Minister General of the Order, Friar Massimo Fusarelli, was a moment of great joy and pride for all the members of the Custody.
This declaration of autonomy followed a process of careful study by the General Government of the Order, consultation with and documentation by local friars and Provincial leadership, and the recommendation of the leaders of the Franciscan Friars in the region of South and Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania.
For more than three decades the Custody has focused on formation, pastoral ministry, missionary commitment and expansion into Sarawak, Johor, Penang and Sabah. The growing number of friars living and transmitting the Franciscan charism, together with the active commitment to formation and evangelisation, provided the basis for the autonomy of the Custody. By the mid-2000s, the leadership was made up entirely of local friars, and the leadership and financial sustainability of the Custody also played a decisive role in its recognition as an autonomous entity.
I am truly grateful to have been able to be present at this significant moment in the history of our Custody, both in my official capacity as Definitor General for Asia-Oceania and as a member of this Custody. As a member of the Custody who serves in the international leadership of the Franciscan Order, I have a dream that this Custody will continue to grow and broaden its focus. My hope is that the friars will continue to be radical in their witness to the Gospel, unafraid to proclaim the Good News in ways that are meaningful and relevant to all people.
The Franciscan tradition has always been about living the Gospel in a practical way, with a focus on fraternity and minority. This means reaching out to those who are suffering and have not yet encountered the Gospel as Good News in traditional ministries and in new. The Custody could extend its presence into the digital realm, including online platforms and the metaverse. It could also share the rich heritage of Franciscan spirituality through prayer communities and hermitages.
The Custody would benefit from engaging in dynamic partnerships with non-governmental organisations, as well as ecumenical and inter-religious organisations, in order to uphold shared values and work towards common goals. These partnerships can be a powerful means of caring for our common home, upholding the dignity of human persons, and building up the wider Kingdom of God. Finally, the Franciscan intellectual tradition is another important aspect of the Custody’s heritage which should be developed and shared more widely.
With a strong commitment to the Gospel and a willingness to reach out to all people, the friars of the Custody of St Anthony (Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei) can make a real difference to the lives of those around them. This Custody has the potential to be a beacon of hope and witness to the Gospel of Christ, not only in Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei, but throughout the world.
Friar John Wong OFM
Definitor General for Asia-Oceania
A recording of the Thanksgiving Mass can be found in the Custody’s YouTube channel – FranciscanFriarsMySg.
