St. Francis College

Here is our tenth perspective on what it means to be Franciscan:

Considering that the Franciscan movement has had over 800 years to grow, there is a vast array of answers to the question, “What does it mean to be Franciscan?” Franciscans impact every sphere of life these days. From our vantage point in Brooklyn, NY, the following points are what have come to our minds and hearts as we continue to grow, change, adapt (even move campuses) and, yet, still hold to our Franciscan values.

We are formalizing our core values in conjunction with a strategic planning update. Currently, we have three core values: Care for Creation, Service, and Radical Hospitality. These values are nicely intertwined.

Care for Creation at St. Francis College is all about interdependence. We emphasis the need for one another. Another word that pairs well with this value is respect – literally, to “look back at,” to re-spect. This notion of continually looking back is important not only for caring for creation in terms of the earth, but also oneself, others, and one’s community as a whole. Care for Creation includes re-specting and even re-conciling with all of creation, continually making a conscious effort to go back and make things right in order to create more conditions for peace moving forward.

The value of Service is unmistakably Franciscan, and it is especially important to how we follow the Franciscan path in our urban context. We think of Francis and the leper, and we aim to serve the marginalized people of our time and place with the attention they need. It is a notion of service unto transformation. In giving of ourselves, we do receive; we are also transformed when we yield our time to God in the service of others – when we set aside our agenda for the day and help (or just simply remain present with) someone else.

Radical Hospitality is the value that perhaps stands out the most in our community. Warmth, depth, appreciation – hospitality is a true hallmark of St. Francis College. In a city that never sleeps, we always want to provide a place of genuine rest and peace for everyone who walks through our doors. Moreover, we don’t want to wait for people to find us. We long to open our doors to everyone and go out of our own doors into the community to make outsiders insiders and to make strangers friends. It makes us think of the great feast we read about in Luke 14:15-24. These three values work together to knit our community closer together in love (Colossians 2). They motivate us to be a force for good in our community, and guide us toward a vision of shalom and wholeness.

This Franciscan Month of October has been a wonderful way to dive deeper into our rich tradition and to gain wisdom from one another. We will be looking forward to our Franciscan Month 2023, and we are glad we don’t have to wait until next October to continue living out the beauty of Franciscanism. Pace e bene!