We are trying to do the same thing here at Franciscan Media. We are a virtual company, so there is nothing to physically rebuild. But we work hard to carry out the message of San Damiano and offer stones upon which you can build—or possibly rebuild—your faith life. For some, that may mean starting from the ground up to restore a broken or run-down faith. For others it may be more of a shoring up process. 

Each month, this magazine helps with that process through columns and articles that demonstrate how people and organizations are helping to rebuild God’s Church. This month’s cover story (“A New Perspective on Christian Parenting,” by Carie Moore) tells of one mom’s experience with a new kind of Christian parenting that advocates for the dignity and rights of children and against domineering parental control. 

But you don’t have to wait until your issue of the magazine arrives to dive deeper into your faith. There are an abundance of resources, including daily news, Saint of the Day, and additional Ask a Franciscan questions and answers on our website at FranciscanMedia.org. Together, let’s rebuild.

We were thrilled to do so, anticipating being able to watch this feisty and energetic 2-year-old tumble and jump with her classmates. When we got there, however, we discovered that “class” actually meant open gym for kids her age with adult supervision and participation. Excuse me. What? And, of course, this was the day that Millie wanted nothing to do with her grandpa. Today, the task was going to fall to me. Suddenly, this out of shape grandma found herself jumping on a giant trampoline, rolling around and climbing on mats, and then jumping some more. We played for a solid 45 minutes. 

By the end of the gym time, my body was screaming and clearly reminding me that I needed to hit the gym more when I got home. My body felt broken, but my spirit was overwhelmingly filled with joy. 

A Three-Legged Stool 

The pain and joy that I simultaneously felt was not something new to me. I had experienced it after I completed my first half marathon and again following a workout with my 23-year-old son. The exhaustion of trying to keep up with him paled in comparison to the joy I felt knowing that my adult son was willing to spend time with his mom at the gym. Knowing that I was doing something to stay healthy was important, but the feelings of joy and fulfillment are what have stuck with me. 

Yet, often, it is that aspect that gets overlooked when it comes to our health. We home in on the physical and mental pieces and forget that feeding our spirit is just as much an important part of our health journey. Like a three-legged stool, if you take one leg away, it can’t stand. You need all three for balance. 

Finding Joy 

I’m not suggesting that everyone go out and start jumping on a trampoline like I did, but there are ways—simple ways—that you can feed your whole self and not forget your spirit. For instance, did you know that research has shown that 10 to 15 minutes of heavy laughter can burn between 10 and 40 calories? It’s not as effective as a walk, but it’s something that will feed your whole self. If you do go for a walk, instead of shutting off the world with headphones or getting caught up in everything that’s swimming around in your mind, find somewhere to walk where you are able to take in the sounds of nature. See if a friend wants to walk with you. In addition to catching up with someone you care about, you get the added benefit of physical exercise. 

There are a lot of ways that we can feed our bodies, minds, and spirit. We just have to remember to keep them in balance. We need all three to be fulfilled. 

Sidebar: Take Care of Yourself 

“Oh, sure, I’d love to exercise,” my patient says at her wellness visit. “But there’s just no time.” Between work, family, and her ever-present to-do list, she felt that taking care of herself was a luxury she couldn’t afford. 

She’s not alone. A news release from the World Health Organization on June 26, 2024, noted that nearly one-third of adults don’t get enough exercise. Many patients in my medical practice report mindsets and time limitations that prevent them from making consistently healthy choices. 

But is self-care a luxury? Not if you consider the number of chronic health conditions affected by lifestyle. Type 2 diabetes is a good example; for many people, it can be prevented by a healthy diet and regular exercise. Obesity is another example and can cause arthritis and breathing problems. A high-fat diet increases the risk of heart attack and stroke; smoking causes lung cancer and COPD; excess alcohol intake increases the risk of breast cancer and liver disease. 

Being sedentary increases the risk of depression, and chronic lack of sleep increases blood pressure and negatively affects mood. Even Jesus took time to take care of himself and encouraged the apostles to do the same. 

Honoring Ourselves 

When we are at our best, we are most able to carry out the work God has given us with energy and joy. Remember the air flight instructions? In an emergency, put on your own oxygen mask before helping anyone else. We can’t take good care of others if we don’t take good care of ourselves first. In Matthew 22:39, we are told to love others as we love ourselves, but how can we do that if we don’t treat ourselves with love? 

However, we shouldn’t make healthy choices just so we can take care of other people. God created us in his image, and that gift deserves to be cared for and respected. St. Paul reminds us that our bodies are not our own. Jesus paid for them with his life so that at the end of the world, those bodies will resurrect and join him in heaven. 

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body (1 Cor 6:19–20). 

Start Small 

So where does a busy modern adult even start? We’ve all heard the answer so many times that it seems too good to be true: with small commitments. Pick one, make it a habit, then pick another, and so on. 

Instead of cutting out certain foods, try adding more vegetables. Instead of jumping into a complicated exercise program, start by increasing movement throughout your day. Decide to drink more water, go to bed on time, or practice mindfulness. The choice is yours, but as you accomplish each goal, your enthusiasm for the next one will grow. 

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). —Colleen Arnold, MD

The poem “Footprints in the Sand” conveys a message that during our troubled times or when we’re feeling overwhelmed, God is there to carry us. It is a poem that may resonate with a lot of people, especially these days. That is because anxiety seems to be at an all-time high. It could be because of things going on in the world or things happening in our own lives. Whatever the reason, it can be overwhelming. And while God is a steadfast companion during the difficult times of our lives, we should remember that there are also people who can help us face our challenges on a daily basis. Saying that we need help is a sign of great strength.

Pray

Lord, give me the courage
and strength to reach out for help
when I need it.
Help me to remember 
that you are walking with me
during this difficult time.
I put my trust in you,
knowing that you are always with me.

Act

If you are struggling with your mental health, reach out for help.

We live in very divided times. Sometimes it seems as if there is nothing people can discuss without becoming defensive, angry, or hurt. In order to move forward, though, we must find a way to bridge those gaps.

Pray

Dear God,
Give me the strength
to be open
to those with whom
I may disagree.
Help me to be a unifier
and share your message of love
and fellowship to all.

Act

Have a discussion with someone with whom you know you may disagree. Be open to listening to what they have to say with an open mind and heart.

Franciscan charism, lifestyle, and mission—those were the three things discussed at the recent Franciscan synod.

When the Franciscan friars of Our Lady of Guadalupe Province gathered in January in Kansas City, Missouri, they came to do one thing—listen to where the Holy Spirit was leading them. They accomplished this through the culmination of much reflection, discussion, prayer, and camaraderie.

The Franciscan synod was inspired both by the Catholic Church’s current Synod on Synodality and the formation of the new Our Lady of Guadalupe Province in October 2023. Brother Keith Douglass Warner, OFM, says as part of that change, the friars also wanted to find ways to renew themselves. A synod seemed the perfect vehicle to help them do just that.

“It nicely aligned with the [2025] Jubilee Year theme of hope, because we’re trying to be messengers of hope and reconciliation in a world that’s struggling,” says Brother Warner, director of renewal for the province and a key figure in the planning for the synod.

Walking Together

The average Catholic may have heard of the term synod but not have a good understanding of what the process truly means or looks like. So what is it? “If you were to translate synodality into everyday words, it would be listening and discerning together,” says Brother Warner. Discernment is a part of our Christian tradition and has been practiced especially by religious orders, but not only them.

“I think that part of the universal call to holiness from Vatican II is going to be reflected in this desire for the discernment together as something that all people are called to do because it has to do with how we live the Gospel and respond together in community,” says Brother Warner.

The goal of the Franciscan synod was threefold: To discern the path the friars should walk together into the future, especially in the face of difficult choices about ministry, resources, and lifestyle; engage deeply in a process of renewal of their charism, lifestyle, and mission; and further form their identity and culture as one new province.

Brother Warner says that when the province reorganized, the friars made it clear that they didn’t want things to be business as usual.

“They didn’t want just an administrative restructuring; they wanted efforts to renew our life and charism,” he says. “We were doing what we’ve always done, and people started to realize we need a fresh approach that reflects the best of our tradition, the best of our imagination, and to discern that we need to do that together.”

When the friars gathered in January, they built on over a year’s worth of work. Friars and ministry partners gathered locally last winter and spring to discuss three questions: Which facets of our charism are we called to express in fraternity, Church, and world today? How are we called to live out fraternitas and minoritas concretely in our daily lives? What priorities should guide our mission and evangelization over the next three, six, and nine years?

The discussions continued in the fall, when almost 300 friars gathered for seven regional synodal assemblies to review and discuss the reports from the first round.

At the end of last year, a group of young adults from across the country gathered with friars to discuss three topics: the hopes and dreams young adults hold for the Church, the relevancy of Franciscan spirituality among young people today, and ways Franciscans can better accompany young people.

Finally, in January, the friars culminated the year of preparation by gathering with secular Franciscans, Franciscan sisters, and lay partners to discuss on a national level where the Holy Spirit was calling the order to go.

Darleen Pryds, PhD, a professor at the Franciscan School of Theology at the University of San Diego, was one of the lay participants. She says the discussions at the tables were thoughtful and spirit-filled.

“I noticed a breakdown of habitual reticence to speak truth. I noticed a deep listening with undivided attention and uncharacteristic pauses that allowed each person to consider their words and their thoughts/beliefs before sharing,” she says.

Prayer, she adds, was a key part of the gathering. “We prayed at the beginning of each session, and we had communal morning prayer, evening prayer, and Mass. Without the liturgical prayer, the synod is just another meeting.”

Brother Michael Reyes, OFM, served as a facilitator for one of the discussion tables. He says the process was a good one, for he believes we’ve become a society that has forgotten how to listen. “We think we’re listening, but actually we’re trying to come up with a response in our head or a judgment already in our head,” he says.
“I think the concept of synod brings us back to the very basic idea of listen without judgment, listen without any intention.”

A Messy, but Necessary, Process

But as with any discussion, there can be tension and disagreements. Father Roger Lopez, OFM, says that’s just part of the process, though.

“I would say one of my takeaways from the synod is that the synodal process is messy. It’s not linear. It’s not A+B will equal C. It’s like subset 1, subset 2, subset A234,” he says. The process may also “take us places that we don’t want to go and challenges us in ways that we are afraid. The synodal process requires patience. It requires being gentle with each other.”

The benefit, he says, “is that people are heard and listened to, and you come out where everyone realizes it may not have gone the way I thought, but I can get behind this because I was part of the process.”

He recalls a story about St. Francis, where the saint was asked, of all the friars, who was the perfect brother. “Oh, I know that. It’s Juniper because of his humility. It’s Leo because of his attentiveness to detail. It’s Ruffino because . . . and he started going through this list. He pulled out the attributes of every single friar.”

The point of the story, Father Lopez says, is that “the perfect friar is not found in one person. It’s found in the collection of all of us. We’re trying to bring about the best parts of who we are.”

Brother Reyes agrees. “I think that’s the beauty of the Franciscan Order. You come in bringing your gifts and then the brothers, the order, are somehow able to gather what you bring and use it for the good of the people of God,” he says.

Visual Representation of Themes

Brother Reyes is a perfect example of bringing out people’s best gifts on behalf of the friars. He created the images that served as a visual representation of the three themes of the synod: charism, fraternity, and ministry. Brother Warner had reached out to Brother Reyes asking if he had any existing images the friars could use for the synod.

Brother Reyes did one better, though, and created new images. He says he tried to use a lot of materials from the earth, such as walnut ink. He even used one surprising element for the illustrations. “I used coffee by accident. It was like a Bob Ross accident—a happy accident. I was doing the illustrations, and I was drinking coffee and it dripped. And I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s beautiful.’ So I had coffee in it.”

The three pieces, Brother Reyes says, “are supposed to be talking to each other. The first image I created is just the feet of the friar, barefoot and walking by himself. For me, that’s how we started our vocation. We entered the order by ourselves, so you’re walking alone.”

The second image is of three friars walking together. Brother Reyes believes it is a reminder that a friar never walks alone. “There’s always your community of brothers, your fraternity that’s always walking with you,” he says.

The final one, which shows a foot being washed, is his favorite. “It has a lot of meaning to me. It’s me serving my brothers, my community, so that in the long run I could serve the people of God much better. It’s us, each brother, washing each other’s feet.” Perhaps it’s his favorite because it is so personal. Brother Reyes lives in a retirement home with 30 older friars. It is a decision, he says, that he made by choice.

“There’s so much wisdom that I gain from that house,” he says. “It humbles me as a friar. I’m only able to wash other people’s feet because of my brothers who had walked this path before me. Whenever I see one of my 90-year-old brothers saying evening prayer or talk to them about their past ministries, victories, or failures, it’s life-giving to me. I like to think that it makes me a better servant to God’s people.”

Call to Action

At the end of the synod, participants gathered the fruits of their discussions and handed them over to the leadership team of the province. From there, the team developed a document that “charts a collective path into the future for the 637 Franciscan friars of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe and will help establish the culture and define the identity of the recently formed province.”

The eight priorities that were established in the report were:

Priority 1: We will work to be more fraternal with each other as brothers.

Priority 2: The Gospel compels us to respond to the needs of the poor, marginalized (including women) and vulnerable persons, and our common home.

Priority 3: We commit ourselves to listening to and accompanying young adults.

Priority 4: Each local fraternity will make lifestyle decisions (prayer, simplicity, finance) consistent with our vows and within general provincial guidelines.

Priority 5: We will deepen our ongoing formation in the Franciscan charism both for ourselves and with the larger Franciscan family.

Priority 6: We will deepen the contemplative dimension of our vocation.

Priority 7: In light of the Gospel, we will read the signs of the times and respond with creativity and hope to the reality we encounter.

Priority 8: We will advocate to change structures that adversely affect the poor.

The results of this collective discernment will be taken to an international gathering in Assisi this June, where it will help provide strategic direction for the international order. According to the document: “St. Francis and Pope Francis agree listening can change us. Pope Francis speaks of synodal conversion, a change that takes place in us when we listen to the religious experiences of others. Through this listening process we can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, the true minister general of the Franciscan Order. Our synodal discernment creates conditions that can change us.”

An Ongoing Process

Brother Warner says that this will not be the last time Franciscan audiences hear about synodality.

“We may be sort of trying to adjust the language a little bit so it’s not quite so specialized, but I think reviewing or renewing the spirit of discernment, as in community, is going to be really a big part of who Franciscans are in the years to come,” he says.

How does this process affect the average Catholic? Father Lopez says those are questions the friars are looking at as well, such as how can this process benefit Franciscan parishes, schools, nonprofits, families, our country, and the world.

The synodal process is about listening with an open heart and allowing everyone to speak at the table, says Father Lopez. “From there, start to talk like, OK, what are we seeing? Where is God leading us?” But he says it can’t be listening just for the sake of listening. There needs to be action.

“I think that’s the takeaway for whoever is reading this. Look at your family.

“How can I give my children a seat at the table? My grandparents a seat at the table? My spouse a seat at the table? Every family knows it’s challenging listening to each other.”

Brother Reyes says that, despite the challenges the friars face, such as declining numbers, he has hope. “Hearing the stories of our lay partners in ministry, hearing the stories of people that we’ve served in our parishes, in our ministries, gives me hope that they have Franciscan hearts, that through them we wash their feet and hopefully they’re washing other people’s feet, sharing that all-encompassing, unconditional love. It’s very simple.”

Are there topics still to be addressed? Yes, say participants. But the conversation has begun, and the friars and their partners are ready to go wherever the Holy Spirit leads them.

Those bells reside at the local Methodist church up the street from our house. That church has been a constant fixture in our family’s life, even though we don’t attend services there. It is where my two oldest children attended preschool. Our family has offered donations for some of their charitable events that benefit the needy in our local community. And every Christmas we go to their live manger scene. Yet, I know nothing of their beliefs or where they fit into the family of religions. 

Also, not far from our house is a Baptist church. I drive past it every day and go there to vote. But again, even though I have lived in close proximity to this place of worship my entire life, I also know very little about it. 

I suspect that many of the members of those congregations know very little, if anything, about my Catholic parish just down the road from both of them. Yet the purpose of each is very similar, and that is to bring people closer to God. Even within the Catholic faith and Franciscan order there are numerous branches. Sometimes, even after 30 years of working at Franciscan Media, I still have to pull out my cheat sheet to refresh my memory about the Franciscan family and its orders. 

Wake-up Call 

The other week, my lack of knowledge about the various faiths that surround us daily became abundantly clear when my youngest daughter, Kacey, asked how her friend, who is Methodist, was different than Catholics and what she believed. I am embarrassed to say that I didn’t have an answer for her, something parents often don’t like to admit. 

The subject of other faith traditions had never come up with her brother and sisters because they had all gone to local Catholic high schools. Other faiths were not often discussed, they said. But Kacey had decided to take a different route and go to the local public school, which exposed her to a more diverse environment. 

My first instinct was to tell Kacey to just ask her. But then I wondered if either one of them would know how to clearly articulate their beliefs or understand the differences. Instead, I said, “Let me get back to you on that.” 

Learning Curve 

I began educating myself on the basic tenets of the various faith traditions, sometimes reaching out to friends in those traditions. Other times I sought out reputable sources to find answers. I was astonished at how much I didn’t know and was fulfilled by what I learned. It’s also not as cut-and-dried as I would like it to be. 

I was reminded that the three major branches of Christianity are Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. Concerning the last one, while I had learned about Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, my knowledge pretty much ended there. I did not realize that beneath the Protestant umbrella there is a vast array of various denominations, including Southern Baptists and Quakers. Some of those denominations also have subsets. 

And while it might be a challenge to sift through the array of beliefs, it’s worth it. Following the trail of the various denominations and their beliefs filled in blanks for me and also answered questions I didn’t even realize I had. 

Sources of Inspiration 

The concept of interreligious dialogue is one that is not new to Catholics, at least it shouldn’t be. We have many examples of the power of such conversations. 

Time and again, Pope Francis has spoken about the importance of working with believers of other faith traditions. He placed a prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem during a papal visit in 2014. His two predecessors—St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI—also visited and prayed at the wall. 

In a 2022 address to participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, Pope Francis told those in attendance: “This is your mission: to promote, with other believers, in a fraternal and convivial manner, the journey in search of God; considering people of other religions not in an abstract way, but in a real sense, with a history, desires, sufferings, and dreams. Only in this way can we build together a world everyone may inhabit in peace.” 

St. Francis gave us a perfect example when he and his companions met with Sultan Al-Malik al-Kamil during the Crusades. And while St. Francis may have traveled to Damietta, Egypt, to convert Muslims, he was eventually welcomed by the sultan, who saw Francis as a holy man. The two, though devout in their respective faiths, spent nearly two weeks together. 

A Fulfilling Journey 

We can become complacent regarding different aspects of our lives, never traveling outside of what we already know. Sometimes, though, there is something that comes along and shakes us out of that complacency. For me, it was a simple question that I never knew I needed to be asked. But I’m glad I was.