BOSTON — Holy Name postulants Scott Carey, Gerald Hopeck, and Michael Reyes are joining their counterparts from the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) to share classes and workshops throughout the year. Their first shared experience took place Sept. 6 at St. Anthony Shrine here.
John Maganzini, OFM, the Province’s director of the pre-novitiate program, recently met with Sister Loan Nguyen, FMM, the director of the FMM program, to plan the joint workshops and classes for OFM and FMM postulants. Since the FMMs recently relocated their pre-novitiate program to Our Lady of Hope Community, a convent in Brighton, Mass., it is convenient to partner with the shrine, John said.
On Sept. 6, Sr. Loan and the two pre-novices arrived at the shrine for an all-day workshop on “Oral Proclamation,” presented by Gary Maciag, OFM. Before the workshop, the HNP postulants met the FMM sisters.
The morning session of the workshop included “The Theology of Proclaiming the Word.” Gary offered drills and exercises in the use of the body and voice in proclaiming the Word. Just before lunch, Gary led the group through an exercise in proclaiming a psalm together.
“I learned that when it comes to lectoring, the measure of good proclamation is the extent to which it causes faith to grow,” said Scott. “The workshop introduced us to the theology of proclaiming the Word. But in order to convey this, in order to proclaim a living and dynamic Word, we were also taught the techniques of public speaking and oral delivery.”
Over an enjoyable lunch of soup, pizza, and salad, the postulants interacted and shared stories. Scott added, “During lunch we were able to share our experiences of first-year formation and discuss our faith journeys.”
After lunch, Gary invited everyone to the friars’ chapel, where each of the formation students proclaimed a reading and received constructive feedback.
”It was a very successful and enjoyable workshop and the five formation students and two directors left enriched,” said John.
“This was a great introduction on how to minister as a lector to God’s people,” said a FMM pre-novice, Kyong. Another FMM pre-novice, Thuy, added, “It was wonderful for both the women and men in initial formation to Franciscan life to share and learn from one another.”
The next joint formation program is a workshop on Sept. 27 with Sister Marie Puleo, MFIC, who will speak about Franciscan sources, John said.