Dearest Family and Friends,
In 2013, the words “Don’t forget the poor” were whispered to Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio in the Sistine Chapel. These words so deeply penetrated his heart that when asked what name he would take as Pope, he chose “Francis”, after St Francis of Assisi, becoming the first Pope to be named “Francis” or “Franciscus” in Latin, the name that is inscribed on his tomb.
As Franciscans, we could not have been happier for a Pope to take the name of our founder and father. Pope Francis truly lived out his name in the spirit of Francis – humble and simple to the end with the stark simplicity of his choice of coffin, funeral rite and place of burial within the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The global grief at his passing demonstrated clearly that his 12-year papacy had left a deep legacy that had impacted many lives.
Servant-leaders like Pope Francis are authentic in their words and works, and with this inner dynamic unity, they invite, encourage and exhort us to embody what Christ desires of us.
On 8 May, we welcomed Pope Leo XIV chosen by the Holy Spirit to lead the Church into the next frontier, but we do not forget the dream and vision of Pope Francis. Indeed, we are called to honour the legacy of Pope Francis, whilst embracing the vision of our new Pope Leo XIV, building hope upon hope, faith upon faith, to bring about peace with fraternal dialogue to impact the lives of the suffering.
This is a crucial year for Franciscan Friars in Malaysia and Singapore for we have our Custody Elective Chapter in September, during which we will elect our new leadership team.
Although we are voting friars to the various roles, the crux of it all is about listening to the Holy Spirit, to what God desires of us friars and our Custody at this season of our life and history, and which friar candidate’s vision can best fulfil the fruits of our collective discernment.
During my nearly six years as Custos, I have strongly advocated returning to our core identity as friars and minor: a more intimate prayer life and a closer relationship among us friars, so that we can truly be “contemplative fraternities in mission”, as the Order calls us to be.
I see this as a call to embrace a more intentional Fraternal Life Project (FLP) accompanied by a Personal Life Project of prayer, poverty and penance. Our Franciscan Life must flow from being grounded in God and then growing into more authentic Franciscans. Then and only then will our mission to the poor, especially the “new poor”, be firmly rooted in the Gospel life and freedom.
In this issue, Friar Cosmas Francis, our Custody’s Animator for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC), shares what friars are doing to serve the poor and needy in Asia. At their meeting in April, our Asian Network for JPIC made a commitment to respond promptly and adequately to the urgent need for relief funds for the earthquake in Myanmar.
Our Custody has a special reserve fund called “St Anthony’s Touch – Poor & Mission Fund” for such purposes, and St Antony’s Touch is one of the options in the donation tear-out of this newsletter. I see this as a concrete way of continuing the vision of our late Holy Father Pope Francis to not forget the poor. By the way, it was a Franciscan Friar, Cardinal Claudio Hummes OFM from Brazil, who whispered these memorable words to Pope Francis.
Now, let us entrust our new Holy Father, the successor of St Peter, to our Lord and our Lady as he guides the Church towards greater discipleship and life-giving mission. Allow me to end with the first words of our new Pope to the world, quoting the first words of the Risen Christ “Peace be with you all!”. May this peace deeply penetrate our hearts and our lives.
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