Franciscans serve the needs of the Church and strive to participate more fully in the mission of Christ, "to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God." Our Fraternal living provides a center from which our friars and sisters go out, and are nourished and strengthened in our shared resources to be of service to the whole Church.

Many of the religious communities in existence today were founded for a specific purpose or to meet a specific need in the Church.

For us, as the Apostolic Society of Franciscan Communities, as for our Seraph St. Francis, this is not the case. Francis gathered brothers around him, because of the way he lived out the mandates of the Gospel in his life.

Living the Gospel then is our reason for being and our form of life. Our primary apostolate is precisely this living out the Gospel and being heralds of the Good News.

 Whatever ministry a friar or sister is engaged in, must proceed from an intimate union with Christ. St. Francis observed, "We give birth to Him through a holy life which should enlighten others because of our example." Consequently, as friars and sisters we strive to see fraternal life as essential to our apostolic endeavors, as we witness to the Gospel values we profess to live.

these ministries include...

When the temperature in Atlanta, Washington, D.C. or other major U.S. cities starts to dip below 40° F, life on the streets and under the bridges can become even less bearable. Each year, our friars and sisters, and groups of volunteers across the country gather old blankets from their neighbours, local hotels and motels, and hospitals, and distribute them to the homeless on the streets.

Each year, the number of homeless folks increases, and as the winters grow colder and longer, more and more used blankets are needed. Volunteers are needed everywhere it gets cold -- not only in the big cities, but in smaller towns as well. To find out how you can volunteer and help out, please contact us at: blanketsoflove@franciscanlife.org

Started in 1983, by three of the four founding members of our community, the Brown Bag Project began bringing wholesome and comforting meals, in plain brown paper bags, to more than 250 homeless men and women on the streets of Atlanta each week.

As the project spread to other major cities, volunteers from local yoga centres, community service groups, churches and youth groups began to take the program and run with it.

It costs less than $2 to provide a homeless person with two sandwiches, a piece of fruit, a boxed juice and a cookie. For less than most folks spend every morning on a double latte at the local coffee shop, they could provide a homeless child or adult with a meal.

Friars and sisters also volunteer at local shelters and soup kitchens whenever possible, in literal response to Christ's command to "Feed His Lambs... Feed His Sheep." While we know that the true meaning of Jesus' statement was much deeper, we remember that St. Francis admonished us, "Preach the Gospel always... when necessary, use words." Sometimes a warm smile and offer of food can speak more of the love of Christ than all the theology books in every seminary combined.

PROJECT DIVERSITY

As a Catholic faith community, we believe that God created us, Christ died for us, and the Holy Spirit sanctified us in Baptism. Therefore, it follows logically that all people are due the same respect and right to live fully and experience the Sacramental Life of the Church. This includes those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered.

The Diversity Project's goal is to effectively network with national organisations such as Dignity and Integrity, to affirm the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons to the same respect and justice afforded to others, especially within the Catholic Church.

We affirm that GLBT Catholics can express their sexuality in a loving, positive and healthy manner, consistent with Christ's teaching. We also believe that through education, advocacy and support, we can help GLBT Catholics to act in an ethically responsible fashion, thereby doing our part to help curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS.

pastoral care
for people with AIDS

For every person memorialised by a panel on the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, there are hundreds dying, whom no one will remember.

Part of the work we do as a community is to reach out in a variety of ways to provide compassionate pastoral care, counseling, friendship and the hand of Christ to those suffering from AIDS, including the loved ones of those with AIDS.

Some friars and sisters work as case managers, others in direct care facilities. Some work in the medical and research fields, while others are pastoral counselors, chaplains and clinicians.

At all times, the members of our Contemplative expression are offering prayers and their daily Masses for those who are sick, suffering and alone.

Plans are underway to secure funding to provide shelter, education and pastoral care to at-risk youth on the streets of our inner cities, and to offer a quality respite care to those with no where else to turn. Presently, the Order is seeking benefactors to help us establish our first nursing home and residential counseling centre for those facing end-of-life spiritual and personal challenges.

"God doesn't ask us to do great things... Instead He asks that we do small things, with great love."

Blessed Theresa
of Calcutta

Young... gay... homeless...

Without help, it's just a matter of survival for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered youth living on the streets. For many, they've been dispossessed by their families. For others, the fear of being "found out" drove them to run away. Still others are victims of savage predatory behaviours, the sex trade, and drug culture.

Teenage and young adult years are a difficult stage for anyone. Standing on the threshold between childhood and adulthood, teens must reconcile issues of individuality versus community, and independence versus accountability. Yet these normal issues of yound adult life are eclipsed for many at-risk youth, when the more pressing question becomes, "where am I going to sleep tonight?".

Whether because of fear, shame, remorse or mistrust, most homeless gay kids are reluctant to be up-front about their situations with strangers. We know, however, that these kids are either runaways or throw-aways. While some kids run away as a misguided expression of teenage rebellion, far too many leave home because of fear of rejection or abuse. Throw-aways come from families that cannot or will not care for them -- often they are ejected from their homes deliberately by their own parents.

There are no throw-away people... and while resources for homeless youth are scant; programs that target gay homeless youth are nearly impossible to find.

The Bridges of Hope Project hopes to work with other Churches to provide a safe-haven for at-risk youth, and to eventually offer a comprehensive array of professional services, counseling, and residential shelter; while assisting kids and young adults to "get off the streets" for good.
   

franciscan communications network™

At the cutting-edge of technology, the Franciscan Communications Network™ in cooperation with Speak from the Heart, plans to take the message of the Holy Gospel to people around the world via Internet-radio, satellite television, video, CD-ROM and printed media.

Additionally, plans to link the Franciscan Communications Network to the Institute of Contemporary Theology in the U.S. (ICTHUS) would make that institution able to provide the highest standard in distance learning, and would permit the school to offer the first Internet-based Catholic home schooling curriculum for Kindergarten through 12th grade.