The 2025 National Chapter of Secular Franciscans opened with a Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit at the Bon Secours Retreat Center in Marriottsville, Maryland, on Tuesday, Sept. 9. The celebrant was Friar Gary Johnson, OFM Conv., vicar provincial and director of the Shrine of St. Anthony near Baltimore.
Gathered for the liturgy were the leaders of the Secular Franciscan Order in the United States: the National Executive Council, regional ministers, committee and commission chairs, CNSA friars, and special international visitors.
Friar Gary began by reminding those present that being together as Franciscans is about much more than “getting along” or “learning to lead.” At the very center of our vocation, he said, is praise. “I have a sense we have it figured out when it comes to praise,” he reflected. “Praise is how we publicly proclaim our love of God.”
Drawing from the day’s reading from a Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians, Friar Gary invited the listeners to reflect deeply on what it means to walk in Christ: “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him, and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
He noted that the Franciscan tradition affirms this truth. Our entire world is rooted and built upon Jesus Christ. When we remain grounded in Him, our lives are nourished in ways that allow us to proclaim the Gospel with joy and integrity.
“We live in the flesh,” Friar Gary said, “and show we are grounded in the witness of Jesus Christ, that same Christ who so enamored our founders.” He said praise is never private or isolated. “We can’t praise God without each other. Praise blossoms in community through liturgy, fraternity, and service to the world.”
For Secular Franciscans, this means that every act of daily life can become a song of praise: caring for family, serving the poor, fulfilling professional duties with integrity, and giving time and energy to the work of the Order. Praise draws us deeper into a relationship with God and strengthens our bond with one another.
“We recognize the call to leadership is grounded in the prayer and praise of Jesus. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus chose the leaders from among the disciples and commissioned them to go out with him and witness the faith. They knew that involved compassion, charity, sacrifice, and praise,” Friar Gary said.
Our encounter with God heals us. That’s what happened to the disciples. They were witnessing to the fact that they needed healing, and it came forth from God, he said.
Leadership, then, is not about status or power but about a willingness to walk with Christ, to serve others, and to embody the Gospel in word and deed, he said. In this way, Franciscan leaders continue the mission of the first disciples, proclaiming the Kingdom of God through lives marked by joy, humility, healing, and thanksgiving.
The Holy Spirit helps us to live it out in the everyday experience of our lives. Welcome the Holy Spirit into our Chapter and ask the Lord to help you be grounded in the ways our readings today invite us to lead, Fr. Gary said.
The work at the chapter will continue through Saturday when a new National Executive Council will be elected. On hand for the election are CIOFS visitors Ana Maria Raffo Laos, OFS, NEC elections presider, and Friar Tomas Ginga Panzo Suva, OFM Cap, general spiritual assistant to the OFS.
