“The Lord told me, Brother Francis, to begin doing penance like this: when I was a sinner it seemed too bitter to see lepers but the Lord Himself led me amongst them and I showed mercy to them. Then by moving away from them, what seemed bitter to me was changed into sweetness of mind and body” (Test 1-3)
On behalf of the Minister General, we thank all the friars who responded to his call to share with the most needy, each from the reality in which he lives, we also thank the friars who carry out, as part of their apostolate, service to the poor which is sometimes transformed from serving to actually living amongst the poor and needy. In the context of the celebration of the 800th anniversary of the Rule, this gesture was also a way to renew the profession of friars and “minors” amongst “minors”.
May we share with you some testimonies that you sent to the Minister General:
As a parish community we have various services to give concrete help to the poor. We have the solidarity handout "Number 153" which aims to remind us of the episode of the miraculous catch taken from the Gospel of John. This solidarity pantry is open every week for the many families and individuals of our Parish and beyond. With pre-established shifts during the month, they come to do the "shopping": we do not prepare a package to be delivered, but people enter the solidarity pantry organized with shelves like a supermarket and take what they need.
Furthermore, in collaboration with the Mother Church of Francavilla Fontana, three times a week we offer lunch at the canteen: this allows us to experience first-hand what it means to live in poverty and solitude - amongst these brothers there are those who are separated, widowers and those experiencing difficult situations.
On the 19thNovember, The World Day of the Poor, Holy Mass was celebrated and presided over by Br. Giancarlo Maria Greco, in the presence of the Parish community and the people who come to eat at the canteen. During the celebration we remembered our brother Tommaso, who came every day with his bicycle from a nearby town to have a hot meal, who passed away a few months ago. Immediately afterwards we moved to the Parish Hall to share a community lunch with our brothers and sisters at the canteen.
Br. Giuseppe Pio Abbruzzese, Prov. Assumption of the BVM of the Friars Minor of Lecce (Italy), on behalf of the Guardian and Parish Priest Br. Giancarlo Maria Greco and the Fraternity of the friary - Sanctuary - Parish “Our Lady of the Cross” of Francavilla Fontana (BR - Italy).
Peace and joy from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The National Fraternity of the SFO operates in the central prison of Makala: designed to house around1500 prisoners, to date this prison hosts more than 14000 prisoners, including men, women, and young people.
Since 2008 we have been present in this area to save many souls in difficulty. Every year we manage to give our secular Franciscan contribution to free around 200 prisoners from irregular and illegal detention.
Unfortunately, the humanitarian and legal situation of the detained people is catastrophic. Our task is to listen to the people who bring their problems to us and help them resolve legal disputes, where possible.
Noël Nkodia, OFS Democratic Republic of Congo
Following the suggestion proposed by the Minister General, we accepted the invitation to host a young boy from Syria who arrived in Italy through the humanitarian corridor supported by the community of St. Egidio. We are waiting for the manager to inform us of the arrival of the young man, who will stay with us around 12 to 18 months. Furthermore, by serving as a fraternity at the Latina prison, we accepted the request of a young inmate, mother of two little girls, to be able to make a room in the Parish available to her in order to meet her daughters in safety and spend a day calmly with them.
Br. Stefano Marsili, “Immaculate Conception of the BVM” Parish (Latina, Italy)
Through the Good Jesus Social Solidarity Projects (ongoing since 2016) and FAE Social (ongoing since 2018), the Good Jesus Educational Group has sought to mobilize Friars, Teachers and Students to promote solidarity humanism amongst the least favoured, the poor, the homeless, the collectors of recyclable materials, the orphans in their orphanages, the elderly, the cancer patients, amongst the 'other Christs' of the current society in which we live.
From mid-October of this year until today, we have mobilized ourselves to carry out solidarity actions in favour of the poor and those most in need. In terms of food donated to the poor (orphans and elderly people in retirement homes), as of the 18th November 2023 we managed to collect 6,366 kilos of food which we delivered to poor families, elderly people, orphaned children, women with oncological pathologies, homeless people.
Br. Claudio Gilz, Coordinator of solidarity projects at the Franciscan College of the Good Jesus Social and the FAE - University Centre of the Province of the Immaculate Conception in Brazil
On the occasion of the World Day of the Poor, after Holy Mass, a group of friars and volunteers took to the streets near the friary and invited the homeless brothers and sisters to have lunch in their canteen, together with the fraternity. Fifty brothers and sisters came, and it was nice to share the meal together. Even the friars were touched by the initiative: Br. Geraldo Hagedorn, 93 years old, participated with joy and then commented: «It was a very evangelical attitude! ».
On the 16thDecember we will have a similar lunch to celebrate Christmas.
Br. Gustavo Wayand Medella, on behalf of the Guardian Br. Walter Ferreira Junior, from the friary of St. Anthony in Rio de Janeiro (Prov. Immaculate Conception BVM, Brazil).
A concrete gesture to help people in difficulty: the food collection promoted in the Abruzzo region in Italy. Sharing, gratuitousness and solidarity are the criteria to which so many have responded, even those who can only make a small contribution, but made from the heart. The friars of the Lanciano friary participated in this collection, giving voice of those who donate and also to the volunteers.
Br. Nando Simonetti, Guardian and Br. Francesco Concato, Parish Priest of St. Anthony in Lanciano (Province of St. Bonaventure in Italy) with the other friars.
Br. Ivan M. of the Province of St, Anthony in Italy experienced an 8-day pilgrimage on foot with three lay people and entrusted himself to Providence. fr Ivan says that “Along the Ligurian coast, we asked a greengrocer if he had waste fruit to give us to eat, and Aziz from Morocco gave us two bags full of fruit. We gratefully said goodbye to him, thanking him for his generosity and continued on our way. The fruit was very abundant, so we decided to stop with some non-EU citizens on some benches and eat what we had together with them; continuing we met others to share it and we gave it to other poor people we met along the way. Without knowing it, Aziz had multiplied 5 loaves and 2 fish, feeding many people. It was perhaps the first time that I felt that I was truly living the Gospel and that as a poor person I was sharing with the poor some of the food received as a gift from Providence who that day had the name Aziz, probably a Muslim.
On Sunday the13th November, however, I prepared lunch together with a friar for our fraternity and then I went to lunch with a family whose father attends our church every now and then and he repaired a broken window for us free of charge.
The lunch we had with them was a special moment of sharing with them, of listening, of involvement and of mutual gratitude. This family welcomed a poor man to lunch with them and they therefore enjoyed World Day of the Poor in style”.
