Article 13 of the Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order is one of the most demanding invitations in our Rule, and it is the blueprint for how I engage with others. It calls me to recognize each person as a “gift of the Lord and an image of Christ,” to look beyond superficial differences, and to offer others the dignity and love they deserve.
Article 12 may be only one sentence long, but it offers a rich and powerful invitation: to witness to the good yet to come and to seek the purity of heart that frees us to love.
Do you have any possessions that you cannot live without? Anything? A few years after I professed, one of our sisters shared that during formation, the director asked her what can’t she live without? She thought about it and replied: “the washing machine.” She had a large family. The washing machine was truly a necessity.
Surrender is the willing offering of one’s own will, desires, and life to God in trust, obedience, and love. It is an active response of faith—choosing to yield oneself to God’s purposes, following the example of Christ, who entrusted himself completely to the Father (Lumen Gentium, 41).
When I reflect on Article 9, several Gospel passages come to mind. One is found in the Gospel of Luke, when Mary responds to the angel's message: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). Mary's response is a perfect example of trust and surrender to God's will.
Contemplative prayer can be a gift. But even when it is a gift, it is a discipline, of heart, of mind, of disposition.
God in his infinite mercy, understands that we will fall short, we will sin - but he does not leave us in that sin. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we can be restored to love and friendship with God and receive the grace to mend our relationships with each other.
On the night of my Profession, I realized how blessed I was to have had excellent formators, true witnesses of our faith and the Order. They taught me well because I knew that I would forever be more intimately united with the Church and her mission because of my Profession.
Our OFS Rule Article 5 reminds us that the heart of our vocation is encounter. As Secular Franciscans, we are called to seek the living and active presence of Christ in our brothers and sisters, in sacred Scripture, in the Church, and in the liturgy. This is not an abstract ideal but a daily way of seeing and loving.
In early December 2025, one of the daily gospel readings was from Matthew 7:24-25 “…like a wise man who built his house on rock…it did not collapse because it had been built solidly on rock.”. Article 4 of our Rule, placed at the beginning of Chapter 2, The Way of Life, is, to me, that rock, that foundation of what it means to live our Rule.