(This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Fall 2025  Issue #117)

Continued:

Fr. Jerome also cautioned against relying too heavily on niceness and surface gestures, but instead, offering our neighbors true compassion. “You don’t need to be smiling all the time,” he said. “Smiles have their place, but sometimes others need not a smile but an embrace.”

Fr. Jerome’s message underscored that authentic kindness grounded in Christ’s healing love goes deeper than politeness, calling Franciscans to embody humility, compassion, and courage in daily life.

Fr. John De La Riva, OFM Cap., Urges Franciscans to Be Instruments of Peace

In his homily, Fr. John De La Riva, OFM Cap., reflected on the hymn “Let There Be Peace on Earth and Let It Begin with Me,” calling upon Secular Franciscans to embrace their vocation as peacemakers in a world scarred by violence, division, and suffering.

He acknowledged that justice is not always immediate, yet the Christian response must be to seek peace through humility, sacrifice, and love. “We must sacrifice our pride to clear the air and appreciate someone in their humanity,” he said, reminding listeners that true unity comes from trusting in the Lord and showing genuine love for others.

Fr. John urged Franciscans to “train for the spiritual mission” with the same discipline the military shows in preparing for battle. This training, he said, should form habits of radical love, compassion, and forgiveness – even toward those who oppose us.

“Let yourself be pliable and let the Lord form you,” he said. By embracing the Franciscan charism, Christians can share God’s love and joy, accompany the suffering, and lift the broken.

Fr. Marek Stybor, OFM Conv.: Embrace the Cross, Welcome God’s Surprises

On the closing night of our chapter, Fr. Marek Stybor, OFM Conv., CNSA president-in-turn, offered us a homily filled with both challenge and encouragement. He reminded us that we are not the same people we once were – we have been shaped by the life and witness of St. Francis of Assisi. Our true “habit,” he said, is the Tau cross, the sign of Christ’s love and sacrifice.

Fr. Marek invited us to embrace the cross in our own lives, to touch the wounds of Jesus, and to accept and even welcome our own weaknesses.

“Let yourself be a loser,” he urged with Franciscan boldness, “because in embracing brokenness we also begin to see the hidden beauty of the world. There is power in that vision.” He challenged us not to cling to our hurts or celebrate our wounds, “but instead to forgive, to move forward, and to give God permission to act in surprising ways.”

With his characteristic humor, Fr. Marek shared a story about a woman who won a million dollars in the lottery. Fearing the news might overwhelm her husband, she asked her parish priest to help break it to him gently.

When the priest asked the husband what he would do if he won such a fortune, he replied, “Why, I’d give it to the church.” At that, it was the priest who was overcome by surprise, and who collapsed from a heart attack.

The story drew laughter, but it carried a deeper point: God is over-generous, and His surprises often exceed our imagination. As Secular Franciscans, we are called to live with open hands and open hearts, ready to receive both the cross and the joy that come from following Christ.