VOCATIONS
Is God calling you?
As brothers (Society of Saint Francis) and sisters (Community of St Francis) of the First Order of the Society of Saint Francis, we live with the Lord Jesus as He walks through the cities and towns of industrial empires, and across fields, farms, and villages.
Jesus constantly asks His disciples questions: “What do you think? Who do you say I am?” He asks us the same questions. Too often, we don’t have the answer. Yet, we all feel an urgent call to a life beyond the one we are living. Life in a community brings us closer to those answers—it allows us to “live the questions.”
Throughout the process of becoming a professed brother or sister, we ask for God’s guidance. We strive to pay attention to our thoughts and feelings about the life we are trying to lead. We walk the Way of the Cross with Jesus, in the spirit of Saint Francis. We learn that God calls us—and that we call each other—to sacrifice our own will for God’s will and to surrender our personal desires to be at one with all God’s creatures.
Despite the struggles and challenges of religious life, the rewards are immense. What we give up, we receive in return. We discover part of that “treasure in heaven” which Jesus promises to those who serve—a life of simplicity, generosity, and freedom.
Could God Be Calling You?
If you are searching for a way to serve God and others, consider these questions:
Are you reasonably fit and willing to work hard?
Do you feel called to live in community and build real friendships?
Can you recognise your own inner poverty and see Christ in the poor and outcast?
Are you a member of the Church who longs to see her renewed?
Do you sense God’s love and desire to grow in the life of prayer?
Does the brokenness of the world grieve you, yet you believe in God’s reign of justice, mercy, and peace?
If your answer is “yes,” then perhaps God is calling you to become a Franciscan brother or sister. This means accepting Christ Jesus as Lord and Master, seeking to follow Him in the way of renunciation and sacrifice as an act of witness and loving service to His people.
Who We Are and What We Do
We have houses in Australia and overseas, mostly in urban areas, where we live a life of service to Christ. Rooted in daily prayer, the Eucharist, and community life, we commit ourselves to poverty, chastity, and obedience. We strive to live and preach the Gospel, working with those in need, engaging with local communities, and welcoming others.
Need More Information?
Do you need more information? Read our FAQ
Things we often get asked
- There is a structured process to becoming a life professed brother or sister. Postulancy, Novitiate, First Profession and then Life Profession. After some months as a postulant, we become novices and are given a habit (the brown Franciscan clothing). After a few years of training, living with our brothers, and working in various houses, we ask to be elected to First Profession. Three to six years after that we ask to be elected to Life Profession and take our final vows.
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Our ministries depend on our talents, interests and on the needs of our community. In Brisbane the brothers teach, are parish priests and hospital chaplains and provide pastoral care to the sick, the disabled and the disadvantaged.
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Jesus calls us to serve those around us, and all of us are involved in some way in our local communities. When asked to define our mission, one brother said that it is “to love and keep on loving.”
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Our lives are structured around the times when we meet together for formal prayer. In most houses this is four times a day – morning, noon, evening and night. In some urban houses, we may only meet for morning and evening prayer.
- Our praying together gives our lives a focus. No matter what other things we may do our very presence at prayer reminds us that we are with God and God is with us.
- The vows taken at profession are the three-fold vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
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The prospect of living in a religious community can appear to be frightening. Over time we realise that our fear is not that we will come to know our brothers (or sisters) but that they will come to know us.
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Through the disciplines of our life together we try to discover if a ‘constant recollection’ of God’s presence is possible.
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We all come from different backgrounds and cultural traditions. Living together can be hard, but we try to find a common ground, to communicate honestly with one another. It is not easy to confront another’s anger, to be vulnerable, to admit our own shortcomings and to change.
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Perhaps the most frightening, yet grace filled moment in community is when a brother or sister looks at one with whom they have had a long disagreement, and sees their own reflection looking back at them. Living with each other can be difficult. But God takes our imperfections and, in the mysteries of Christ’s body, makes us whole.
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We celebrate life’s important moments with considerable joy. We laugh together and come to learn not to take ourselves too seriously.
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We enjoy each other’s company when we work together in an important ministry or an issue of social justice.
- Study is an important part of our life. It starts with the scriptures. Franciscan spirituality and theology also form part of our study and education. Study can be both formal and informal. It is lifelong.
- Franciscans are known as Friars. Very simply a monk spends most of his life living in one community. A friar moves from house to house and over the course of his life can spend time in many of the Society’s houses and thus in a number of very different communities and ministries.
- There is no simple or easy answer.
- We would be happy to talk with you and explore your sense of calling and the options available to you,
Still not sure? We'd love to hear from you
If you'd like to learn more about us, visit one of our Houses, or explore a vocation to the religious life, please don't hesitate to contact us.