The Feast of St. Martha

In light of the feast of St. Martha, Brother Lawrence, a lay Carmelite from the 17th century, offers a compromise between the busy-ness of service and ministry of Martha and the consuming attentiveness and awareness of God among us of Mary-

“Our sanctification does not depend upon changing our works. Instead, it depends on doing those things for God's sake which we commonly do for our own. Brother Lawrence thought it was lamentable to see how many people mistook the means for the end, addicting themselves to certain works which they performed very imperfectly because of their human or selfish regard. The most excellent method he found for going to God was that of doing our common business without any view of pleasing men but purely for the love of God.

Brother Lawrence felt it was a great delusion to think that the times of prayer ought to differ from other times. We are as strictly obliged to adhere to God by action in the time of action, as by prayer in its time. His own prayer was simply a sense of the presence of God, his soul being at that time aware of nothing other than Divine Love. When the appointed times of prayer were past, he found no difference, because he still continued with God, praising and thanking Him with all his might. Thus his life was a continual joy.”

-Fourth Conversation from "The Practice of the Presence of God" of Brother Lawrence and friends

Pax et bonum, 2009-2010 FVMs!

Summer is a crazy time at St. Francis Inn! Between our week-long high school groups, to the comings and goings of our interns, and the end of the Franciscan Volunteer Ministry year to the beginning of the new one, and the stale, humid heat, the only thing that keeps us sane is water ice (or if you’re a local, wooderice)!

This past week, the FVMs attended their closing retreat in Buzzards Bay, MA. They joined the other two FVM sites from Wilmington, DE and Camden, NJ for a time of reflection on their year of service and rest before venturing on to their next steps.

As they depart, Mary and Celia will return to the Franciscan Volunteer Ministry program (though their placement is as yet unknown), Leo will be teaching at St. Michael’s Indian School in Arizona, and Rory has returned home to New Hampshire.

We pray for their future endeavors and we give thanks for their gifts shared with our community!

The Federal Strategic Plan To End Homelessness

By John Gill, ofm

On June 22, the Obama administration announced an ambitious plan to end homelessness among some of society’s most vulnerable groups within the next decade. The report was prepared by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. The full report, titled Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness is available at www.usich.gov. Opening Doors is the Obama Administration’s official policy position on homelessness. The plan has been shaped by the recommendations of state and regional interagency councils on homelessness, national and local advocacy groups, direct service providers, homeless people, and the general public.

The plan sets ambitious measurable goals that will be the key to driving progress. It articulates four major goals: 1) finish the job of ending chronic homelessness in five years, 2) prevent and end homelessness among veterans in five years, 3) prevent and end homelessness for all families, youth and children in 10 years, and 4) set a path toward ending all types of homelessness. The plan outlines 10 objectives and 52 strategies to accomplish these goals, and it provides an extensive overview of issues of homeless and all of the subpopulations who experience it.

Of course, plans are wonderful, but it is the implementation that will really make a difference. The Obama administration has already given some indication that it can and will make the necessary changes. It is good news having the federal government be an important player in the movement to end homelessness in our nation.

Ministry Update

On April 7, 2010, as all living things do, St. Francis Inn Ministries grew. Br. John and I (okay, mostly Br. John) developed a new idea for ministry. We were no longer satisfied with the stagnancy of the Urban Center ministry, feeling that we were not making any sort of long-term change with the work we were previously doing. If our goal was to break the cycle of poverty, it wasn’t going to happen within the existing framework.

Our ministerial venture was (is) overwhelming. In April, we signed papers for a 3-unit house with the hopeful vision to fill it with single mothers and their children. We had been planning for months; making forms, program-developing, doing some legal and logistical leg work, and anxiously awaiting the day that we could get in, get some work done, and get started.

Some major renovations had to take place, such as a rotted bathroom floor, new tile, new carpet, and twelve rooms to be painted. April 8, we were in the new house, assessing the work, making plans, and bracing ourselves for our new titles as contractors, homeowners, and handy-people.

We both got to work and now, three months later, putting the last mini-blind up and sweeping and mopping the third floor apartment, we are ready to start our supportive housing program. Supportive housing is defined as “a combination of housing and services intended as a cost-effective way to help people live more stable, productive lives.” Our target population is single mothers because we knew that by providing support and life skills to the mother, the child(ren) could be raised in a stable household, therefore breaking the cycle of poverty.

We’ve already begun this new ministerial venture with a mother and her 3-year-old son. We are all really excited to get to work; for me and John- to give this woman the tools she needs to make good choices in her life, and for her, to be in a safe, stable place for her and her son. Over the next couple of months we hope to fill the other two apartments and are energized by seeing our vision come to life!

Please say prayers for us and for our families!