Ad Dominum

Profession in the Secular Franciscan Order, November 21, Solemnity of Christ the King, Saint Margaret Mary Church, Parkersburg

[Saint Margaret Mary Church]

[Incensation of the Altar and beginning of Mass]

Minister: I will now call forward one by one, the candidates for profession into the Secular Franciscan Order.

Candidate: I am ready and willing.

Minister: God has consecrated you with water and the Holy Spirit. What do you now ask of God, the Church, and the Franciscan family?

Candidate: I ask to be admitted to profession of the Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order and to make a permanent commitment to the gospel life. The experience during my time of formation has strengthened me in the conviction that the Lord is calling me to observe the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ by following in the footsteps of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Minister: The Fraternity accepts your petition and is united with you in your prayer. May the Holy Spirit confirm in you the work he has begun.

[HOMILY]

Priest: Before this fraternity and the other members of the people of God gathered here, I ask you to express your will. Do you wish to embrace the gospel way of life by following the example and words of Saint Francis of Assisi, which are at the heart of the Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order?

Candidates: Yes, this is what I want.

Priest: You have been called to give witness to the kingdom of God and to build a more fraternal world based on the gospel, together with all people of goodwill. Do you wish to be faithful to this vocation and to practice the spirit of service proper to Secular Franciscans?

Candidates: Yes, this is what I want.

Priest: You have been made members of the People of God by your Baptism, and strengthened in Confirmation by the new gift of the Holy Spirit, in order to proclaim Christ by your life and your words. Do you wish to bind yourself more closely to the Church and to work intently to rebuild the church community and fulfill its mission among all people?

Candidates: Yes, this is what I want.

Minister: The local fraternity is a visible sign of the Church, a community of faith and love. Together with all the members, you now pledge yourselves to spend your efforts to make the fraternity a genuine church assembly and a living Franciscan community.

Priest: Let us pray. O Lord our God, your grace has led these your servants to live their faith more fully in the context of this world by coming to profess the gospel according to the life and rule of the Secular Franciscan Order. By the power of the Holy Spirit may they give witness to the life and teachings of your Son to all the world. Grant that they may be continually united to Christ through the gifts of their lives, in order that the Church may be rebuilt and her mission be fulfilled through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Priest: May the Spirit of your love penetrate their hearts, so that your grace will strengthen them to keep their commitment to the gospel life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Candidate: I, Thom, by the grace of God, renew my baptismal promises and consecrate myself to the service of His kingdom. Therefore, I promise to live all the days of my life, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Secular Franciscan Order, by observing its rule of life. May the grace of the Holy Spirit, the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and our holy father Saint Francis, and the fraternal bonds of community, always be my help, so that I may reach the goal of perfect Christian love.

Minister: Thanks be to God! I accept your profession and receive you into this fraternity of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary of the Secular Franciscan Order. Your membership in the fraternity is a cause of great joy and hope for all the members of the community and for the whole Church.

Priest: I confirm your commitment in the name of the Church. Our seraphic father himself encourages you in the words of his Testament: “May whoever observes all this be filled in heaven with blessings of the Most High Father, and on earth with that of His beloved Son, together with the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, and all the powers of heaven and all the saints.”

(Presentation of The Gospels)

Minister: Christ the gift of the Father’s love, is the way to him, the truth into which the Holy Spirit leads us, and the life which he has come to give abundantly. By your lifelong profession to go from the gospel to life and life to gospel, may you continually encounter the living and active person of Christ.

(Presentation of the San Damiano crucifix)

Minister: May you conform your thoughts and deeds to those of Christ and build a more fraternal and evangelical world by fulfilling your vocation as a “brothers and sisters of penance.”

(Presentation of a lighted candle)

Minister: By your profession you are the light of Christ in the world. Your light must shine before all so that they may see goodness in your acts and give praise to your heavenly Father.

(Tau cross on cord around neck)

Minister: You have been made a living member of the Church in Baptism: you have been united more intimately with the Church by profession. Through this special covenant of union, may you be a faithful witness and instument of her mission among all people.

Minister (to fraternity): You may now come forward to congratulate each newly professed with an appropriate sign of peace and goodwill.

Priest: At this time we may give each other the sign of peace.

Pax et bonum.