OFS Oxford

Time: 2 pm to 4:30 pm

No. of Attendees: 9

Venue: Greyfriars, 182 Iffley Road, Oxford OX4 1SB

2 pm Devotions: Franciscan Crown Rosary

3 pm Discussion: ‘The Apostolate: Repair my church’ from ‘Live Like Francis’, Reflection 44

Summary:

We started our meeting with our Franciscan Crown Rosary, where we laid down all our prayers and supplications at the feet of the cross and the intercession of our dear Mother Mary.

Franciscan spirituality lays emphasis on the contemplative life and hence this short time of prayer is followed by silence where we contemplate on the wondrous mercy of Jesus in our lives.

After this time of prayer, we caught up with fellow Franciscans over some yummy cake along with tea. We then settled into our seats to begin our discussion.

We began with St. Francis’ rebuilding the church of San Damiano.

Excerpt from the Reflection:-

One of the great turning points of Francis’s life was the occasion when Christ spoke to him from the crucifix. He had been walking near the little church of San Damiano, He was sad at its crumbling, unkempt condition and went in to pray before the altar. As he prayed, he heard a voice speaking to him from the crucifix: “Francis, go and repair my Church which as you see is wholly in ruin.”

Colloquially, ‘Repair my church’ would have roughly translated to ‘Repair my house’ in Italian as one of the OFS members pointed out. As any great work starts physically by sweat and tears, St. Francis toiled very hard to build the church brick by brick. It inspired others from the village to join him as well. Perhaps this initial start was the catalyst of rebuilding the church on a philosophical and an ideological level, which St. Francis would undertake for the rest of his life.

We then pondered on what ‘Repair my church’ would mean for us Franciscans in 2023. We all agreed to the sad fact the church attendance in the West is at an all time low and the faithful have drifted away from the Catholicism and it’s teachings.

What are some of the practical steps we could undertake to rebuild Christ’s beloved church?

Here were some of the answers given by fellow Franciscans:-

1. As Franciscans called to repair the Church, the manner in which we conduct ourselves and relate to those of differing positions must always come from a position of love. The Church is ‘we’ and all voices deserve courtesy and respect; we are all touched by the grace of God.

2. Remain faithful to the “One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church”.

3. OFS can spread the message of peace and love between various polarising groups like Liberals and Conservatives, Monarchists and Anarchists, Vegan and Non-Vegan etc. and many such dichotomies that exist in today’s world.

4. The world outside has complex issues – gender ideology, climate change etc. but perhaps we could start off with small initiatives in our vicinity to make a difference.

Few initiatives that we discussed that could help rebuild Christ’s church:-

      a. Organise a recollection for the faithful of Greyfriars church.

      b. Have a soup kitchen in the winter to generate some funds for the poor.

      c. Have a casual street cafe where we could have a chat with someone who’s lonely and who might just need a ear from us.

Our eyes lit up and our spirits were lifted when we discussed about these initiatives and the impact it could have on those around us.

Further steps on these initiatives would come by in the following meetings, but we were all united in wanting to make a difference.

We concluded the meeting with a closing prayer feeling edified and determined to rebuild our Holy Mother Church in these challenging times.