Dear Friends,

Welcome to our Vocation Ministry webpages! If this is your first time visiting us, please click here. We invite you to sign up for our new vocation e-newsletter, Followers of Francis, by contacting Sr. Mary McNally at fsavoc@aol.com. It is a great resource for information, reflection questions and more!

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Living the Gospel, Embracing the World in Hope!

This was the theme of our General Chapter held July 26 - August 3.

Every four years our sisters from throughout the community...US, Jamaica, Brazil and Bolivia gather at our Motherhouse in Allegany, NY. (We also use St. Bonaventure University…down the hill, as we can't all be housed in the Motherhouse.)

It is an exciting time to be together…to listen to the Spirit and each other… in prayer and dialogue… as to what God is asking of us for the future.
     ·   How to continue to faithfully live out our Franciscan call…
     ·   How to respond effectively to the future needs of God's people in our ministries, the church, and the          world.

One of the many highlights was an hour meditative walk that we took together through story boards of our various ministries. It was overwhelming and inspiring to see all the ministries and places where our sisters are truly living the Gospel, embracing those in need, and giving them hope! It gave us hope!

Another important element of our Chapter was embracing a ministry to meet the desires and needs of people of today: Franciscan Spiritual Development Ministry. This will be a focus for women who are interested in discerning with our Congregation. (We will be telling you more about it in our newsletter and updates on this page.)

Besides our sisters; our associates, women who are in discernment/relationship with us, and people with whom we minister, also participated in the festivities with us.

As we closed our Chapter, we opened a year of celebration for our 150th Jubilee!