"Live the Gospel in the Manner of St. Francis" is the topic for a regional Day of Reflection on Saturday, June 11 at the Franciscan Church of the Assumption, 812 North Salina St., Syracuse.
The day features two speakers – Fr. Brad Milunski, OFM Conv., vicar provincial for the Conventual Franciscan Friars' Immaculate Conception Province, and Kathy Taormina, SFO, former national Youth/Young Adult Commission chair for the U.S. Secular Franciscan Order.
There will be Mass at 8 a.m., followed by registration at 9. There will be a break for a brown bag lunch at around noon. Coffee and dessert will be provided. The afternoon session will start at about 1 p.m. and end around 3. Sunday vigil Mass is at 4.
To pre-register or obtain more information, contact Rosemary Costa, SFO, at 315-288-5395. The Day of Reflection is being hosted by St. Elizabeth-St. Bonaventure Fraternity.
Fr. Brad Milunski, OFM Conv.
Topic: Building Our Foundation: Seven Pillars of Franciscan Spirituality
Description: What makes spirituality "Franciscan"? Isn't "Franciscan" spirituality just "Catholic" spirituality? It's a question of emphasis. What specific elements of the Catholic story stand out from the others when we put on Franciscan lenses? To use a kitchen analogy, what spices do Franciscans use more heavily that can flavor the Church today?
Kathy Taormina, SFO
Topic: Making It All Work – Living Within a Frternity
Description: How do we, as Secular Franciscans, live our primary apostolate? How do we live our Profession to "live the gospel in the manner of Saint Francis"? (SFO Rule, Article 2) How do we make it work? Here are six tools found in our Rule of life that enable us to have a fraternity which continues to "be the privileged place for developing a sense of Church and the Franciscan vocation." SFO Rule, Article 22.
Fr. Brad A. Milunski, OFM Conv., was born in 1965 and is originally from Amsterdam, New York. In 1989 he professed final vows as a Conventual Franciscan friar of the Immaculate Conception Province and was ordained to the priesthood in 1993. He currently serves as vicar provincial. Friar Brad studied philosophy and Franciscan studies at St. Hyacinth College and Seminary in Granby, Massachusetts, and received a Master of Divinity degree from Washington Theological Union in Washington, DC. In the year 2000 he was awarded a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, Italy. Father Brad is currently completing his Ph.D. in theology with a specialization in Sacred Scripture at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. For five years he served in Washington, DC, and Forestville, MD, as a formation director for both the pre- and post-novitiate programs, a collaborative effort of three Conventual Franciscan provinces in the USA. In August 2010, he was named Rector of the Franciscan Church of the Assumption in Syracuse.
Kathy Taormina, SFO, is married, has four children, ages 19 to 30, and has been working with parish youth for over 32 years and Franciscan youth for over 12 years. Since 1996 she has served on the SFO National Youth/Young Adult Commission, and in October 2002 she became its Chairperson, and in 2006, its Fraternal Animator. She aided in reestablishing a fraternity that has a Youth/Young Adult focus, with five of the newly Professed SFOs being under the age of 30. She attended five Franciscan World Youth Day Delegate Celebrations, representing the SFO-USA. Professed in 1994, she has also been a local minister, a local formation director, Lady Poverty Regional Youth/Young Adult Commission chair, Queen of Peace Regional formation director and a National Fraternity councilor. In 2009 she was installed as a Spiritual Assistant in the Brothers and Sisters of St. Francis Region, after completing the Franciscan Family Connections Course.
