On Feb 27th we had our first vocation evening for the 2022 called “Hanging Out with the Friars”.
A total of 19 young men turned up. They came from all walks of life and locations around Singapore.
The objective of this evening, is not so much about recruiting men to join the Friars.
Rather, following the last words of St Francis to his brothers, “I have done what was mine to do. May Christ teach you what is yours”, this evening was to invite young men to discover where God could be nudging them towards in the first place.
Could it be married, single, Religious or Diocesan life?
More important than the numbers, the vocation team feels that one must first know where could God be inviting them to, before they take the next steps.
This was why being the first gathering for the year, and with Lent approaching in a few days time (2 Mar), the theme chosen was on “Listening”.
The evening began with the Friars getting to know the participants. For safety, friars and participants were grouped in 5’s. This also allowed both friars and the participants to get to know each other better over the course of the evening.
Subsequently, the session continued with a short input on “Listening”, inviting the participants to listen not just with our ears, but also with the rest of our body such as our eyes and our hearts.
After the short input, our novice; Friar Sylvester Singh, shared his personal vocation journey to the Franciscan Order, before they resumed into their groups for further sharing.
The evening then ended with night prayer.
We hope through such opportunities, many would make use of this to first know where could God be asking of them.
Our next session will be held on May 8th from 6.30pm to 9.00pm. It will be on both “in person” and “virtual” to cater to anyone from Malaysia who would be interested to participate.
For further information, please contact the Vocation Office at: Vocations.ofms@gmail.com
This video was screened on 11 February 2022 during the World Day of Consecrated Life celebration through ZOOM organised by the Conference of Religious Major Superiors (Singapore).
Put together by the formandi of various religious orders and congregations, you will see them praying for consecrated persons and expressing their hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the future ahead!
Special thanks to:
Congregation of the Disciples of the Lord Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Vice Province of Malaysia-Singapore) Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (Malaysia-Singapore Province) Good Shepherd Sisters (Province of Singapore-Malaysia) Order of Discalced Carmelites Friars Order of Friars Minor – Custody of St Anthony (Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei)
Sambutan Misa Hari Hidup Bakti Sedunia peringkat Keuskupan Melaka Johor telah diadakan pada 12 Februari 2022 bertempat di Skudai Catholic Centre. Misa kudus tersebut dihadiri oleh para religious wanita dan lelaki yang datang dari pelbagai kongregasi lokal serta antarabangsa.
Pada masa sekarang, Friar Claurence Motoyou, ofm mengetuai Conference of Religious Major Superiors (CRMS) di peringkat Keuskupan Melaka-Johor.
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.
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.
