Brother Thomas More, FFV
St. Francis conformed himself closely to Christ. His deep prayer life, fidelity to the Church and detachment from the secular culture serves as an inspiring example for my own vocation as a husband and father. As a husband, I am called to love my spouse unconditionally. In doing this, I model Christ’s love and desire for the salvation of my wife’s soul as well as my own. My Franciscan vocation deepens my commitment to this salvific mission of love by establishing a prayer life that is centered on communing with God Himself. With a vibrant prayer life, God’s love and Spirit can blow across my everyday life as it is lived out along side of my wife.
I am blessed with four children, each reflecting the beauty and love of God. Guarding my children’s spiritual and physical development requires the protective and providential embrace of a father. Saint Francis became the spiritual father of many brothers and sisters by caring for their souls. By embracing a poverty of spirit and a detachment from material possessions, Saint Francis serves as a constant reminder on how to detach from our own secular culture and to focus on providing for the spiritual
life of our families. My Franciscan journey, with its spirit of poverty that reaches upward and outward, mediates God’s grace and peace. In letting go and emptying myself from selfish preoccupations and secular concerns, I’m discovering how to spread the joy and peace that St. Francis so beautifully exemplified as a spiritual father to the sons and daughters of the Church.
Charged with the Franciscan spirit, I hear a call to reach outward and to embrace the faith and mission of the Church. The faith of the Church has helped me grow in holy attentiveness to God’s plan for me, my family and the wider community of God’s people.
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Franciscans of Life 
