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Senior Friar Fund | Mission Fund | Franciscan Missionary Union
Below is a message that Saint Francis of Assisi gave to his first friars:
Wherever the brothers may be and meet one another, let them show that they are members of the same family. Let each one confidently make known his need to the other, for if a mother loves and cares for her son according to the flesh, how much more diligently must someone love and care for his brother according to the Spirit! When any brother falls sick, the other brothers must serve him as they would wish to be served themselves […] and […] in case of the greatest need, they can entrust him to someone who should do what needs to be done for his sickness.
In his own lifetime, Saint Francis had to rely on his brothers to look after him, and 
when they did not have the resources, he had to entrust the care of his own sick and failing eyes to the Pope’s personal physician. Today, the Franciscans turn to you, our friends, coworkers and supporters in ministry.
Our elder friars spent their earlier years serving God and all of us. Whether we were just starting out in our life of faith, or starting a family, or grieving the loss of a loved one, or facing the challenges that come with any new beginning or ending, they comforted, encouraged and guided us when we needed their kindness, faith and wisdom.
Now we are the family that must help them, just as they have helped us. Today I ask you to give generously to support our elder friars, men who continue to give to us, even in the humble act of receiving our care.
Following the 800-year-old tradition of Saint Francis of Assisi and his followers, our elder friars preached the good news of Christ through the examples of their lives and through a great variety of works, each according to his own particular gifts and calling.
| “The Lord encourages us to be involved in the ecology of the earth. I do my little part to keep things growing and to keep things sacred, and everyone seems to enjoy it. But I haven’t got the credit. I just help. I give credit to the Lord. He’s responsible for it all. Working in the garden puts you close to God’s wisdom and God’s goodness and greatness. Once you’re working outdoors, you can’t help but see God and His beauty.” —Father Emmanuel Muessiggang (Photographed in retirement at San Damiano Retreat, Danville, California; now 99 years old and in skilled nursing care in Oakland) |
These elder brothers fed the hungry, sheltered the homeless, taught in schools and universities, prayed quietly while practicing skilled trades, guided others in private and public prayer, reached out to share the Gospel with people of other lands and languages, and reached in to visit those confined to prisons and hospitals.
Even now, living with the challenges that accompany physical aging, many of our elder friars continue to serve the larger community—assisting pastors and parishes, spending time with visitors at retreat centers and historic missions, holding us in quiet prayer.
Together we can express our appreciation for their dedicated work. You can help us to provide for friars who require skilled nursing care and for those whose various appointments, treatments and medications challenge us financially. It’s only with your assistance that the Franciscans are able to meet these needs adequately.
| Brothers Joachim Grant (with cross) and Maurice Peltier (with candle) celebrated their 50th Jubilee in the Franciscan Order with a Mass at the friars’ cemetery so that they could remember the classmates buried there with whom they began their Franciscan lives. Father John Vaughn, a friar for 59 years and former head of the whole Order, presided. |
Moreover, your gift will honor the memory of our friars who have died this past year. Their years of faith now find completion in the embrace of their Creator, and they also remain in the memories of those of us who knew them.
The Franciscans turn to you for a charitable contribution today. Please help us to provide the things our elder friars need. And as always, we ask for your prayers, the spiritual enrichment sustaining our strength and vision now and for the future.
