We had a great couple of days for Project Joseph and the Franciscans of Life!
On Saturday, March 21st, the Franciscans of Life attended the 5th Catholic Men’s Conference of the Archdiocese of Miami. The event, which featured Catholic apologist Tim Staples, took place at St. Mark Catholic Church. We represented Project Joseph along with some of the mentors of Respect Life Ministry.
Our display included some literature and a poster describing the roots of Project Joseph and where it is today. It also featured pictures that the Project Joseph dads allowed us to share, either of their classes or of their beautiful children.
The event was well attended, and we had a chance to talk with several men, some of whom were dads themselves, and present to them information about Project Joseph, as well as invite them to our upcoming workshop.
On Monday, March 23rd we had the joy of receiving Brother Luis as a novice. He received the name Brother Luis Charbel, FFV.
As a secular brother, Br. Charbel exchanges the cord that holds the wooden tau around his neck from a brown one to a red one. The red signifies the Sacred Blood shed by Christ during His Passion, and constitutes for Br. Charbel a reminder that he is called to “obey as Christ obeyed, without murmuring, complaints and resentment”, in order to “live perfect charity as Christ taught us on the cross”.
The exchange of the color and the reception of a new name are for the secular Franciscan of Life “an outward sign of his desire for transformation from the old man enslaved by sin to the new man, liberated by the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ”.
It was a beautiful and moving reception, attended by the regular and secular Franciscans of Life and their families. Brother Jay directed the ceremony, and Brother Bernardo offered a reflection on the call and life of the secular brothers.
In the next days we will feature more news about FFV and Project Joseph…stay tuned! 🙂
3.
Franciscans of Life 
Leave a Reply