By Diane Menditto, OFS
National Vice Minister

Listen Audio: 5:10 min.

At our National Chapter in October 2022, the National Fraternity Council decided that the priorities for the following three years would be Vocations, Communications, and Relationships.  As we enter 2025, we have a year-long opportunity to assess our progress and plan for the future.

Diane Menditto, OFS National Vice Minister

“Vocations” was also named one of the Secular Franciscan Order’s worldwide priorities at the General Chapter in November. It is easy to see why this is so. Our order, like many religious orders, is shrinking. While some fraternities are growing with more professions than before, and some new fraternities are being established, we, as an Order, are not keeping up. Take a look at fraternities that are growing. What do you see? What do I see?

I believe the path to stronger and more numerous vocations lies with our other two priorities: relationships and communications.

The heart of fraternity lies in the relationships we form, first with God, next with St. Francis through his example and our Rule, and then with one another. The healthiest fraternities have an excellent spiritual life. They pray together at gatherings as a fraternity and individually at home or at Adoration. Deepening our relationship with God and being open to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit allows the Spirit to lead us to daily conversion and helps us to love one another.

How is our relationship with St. Francis? We’re Franciscans, so it must be great, right?  We need to take a serious pause here to see how we are doing! Through his example, his writings, and our Rule and Constitutions, we grow as Franciscans, become fluent in the charism, and strengthen our vocation. We are fortunate to have so many of the writings of our founder. These and other excellent works by classical and modern Franciscan authors are easily accessible online at franciscantradition.org.

Perhaps we take the third aspect of relationship for granted: our relationship with one another. What does a typical fraternity gathering look and feel like? Is it a happy and nourishing experience? Do I look forward to being with my brothers and sisters? Building relationships in fraternity takes work, but they make the fraternity come alive and provide the “glue” that keeps the fraternity together.

I’ve saved communication for last because it is the key to attracting, retaining, and strengthening vocations. First and foremost, are we willing to listen to one another? Listening to what our brothers and sisters have to say is crucial to collaboration and building strong relationships. We don’t need to agree with everything that is said, but the courtesy we give to others helps the fraternity to be a welcoming place. Guests to our fraternity will sense how well we get along by how well we communicate with one another.

Good communication also involves when and how we speak or write to one another. Do we think of the effect our words will have on others? Many times, the way something is said or written has an impact that we never intended!

Communication plays a large part in attracting vocations to the Order. The first way we communicate the love of our vocation to others is through our example. Those who are searching will be attracted to someone who appears to be at peace. They would like to feel that way too!

Telling others why we love our Franciscan life gets them thinking. Whether it involves a “Come and See,” a witness talk at mass or a prayer group, or just a short testimony to a friend or acquaintance, spreading the word opens the minds and hearts of others to recognize the vocation they may have lying dormant within them.

So, if we live authentic Franciscan lives and communicate our commitment through our words and actions, we will have gone a long way in fulfilling our National Priorities before 2025 turns into 2026.