Our fraternity gatherings are on the third Sunday of the month. We start with Mass at 12 PM (Optional) in the friary chapel. After Mass, our social begins at 1 PM in the friary refectory followed by a fifteen to twenty-minute business meeting. Around 3:45 pm we will gather in the chapel for Evening Prayer.
Next Month St. Joseph Cupertino Fraternity will hold elections for the new 2019 – 2022 Council
Elections in May 2019 – General Constitutions, Articles 50, 51 and 52
Who is eligible to be elected these offices? Any permanently professed sister or brother has the right to be elected to an office.
Who is eligible to nominate? Any permanently professed or temporarily professed sister or brother.
Who is eligible to vote? Any permanently professed or temporarily professed sister or brother can vote.
Below are the job descriptions for each office to be elected:
Duties of the Council from our SFO Constitution
It is the duty of the council of the local fraternity:
- to promote the initiatives necessary for fostering fraternal life, for improving the human, Christian, and Franciscan formation of its members and for sustaining their witness and commitment in the world;
- to make concrete and courageous choices, appropriate for the situation of the fraternity, from among the numerous activities possible in the field of the apostolate.
The duties of the council are also:
- to decide on the acceptance and admission to Profession of new brothers and sisters, (see Const. 39, 3 and 41, 1.)
- to establish a fraternal dialogue with members in particular difficulties and to adopt consequent measures.
- to receive the request for withdrawal and to decide on the suspension of a member from the fraternity;
- to decide on the establishment of sections or groups in conformity with the Constitutions and the statutes;
- to decide on the destination of available funds and, in general, to deliberate on matters concerning the financial conduct and economic affairs of the fraternity;
- to assign duties to the councilors and to the other professed members;
- to request from the competent superiors of the First Order and the TOR suitable and prepared religious as assistants;
- to perform such other duties as are required by these Constitutions or which are necessary to carry out its proper purposes.
The Duties of the Minister, who is the person primarily responsible in the fraternity, are to ensure that the directions and decisions of the fraternity and of the council are put into practice. He or she will keep the council informed concerning his or her activities. The minister also has the following duties:
- to call, to preside at, and to direct the meetings of the fraternity and council; to convoke every three years the elective chapter of the fraternity;
- to prepare the annual report to be sent to the council of the higher level after it has been approved by the council of the fraternity;
- to request, with the consent of the council, the pastoral and fraternal visits, at least once every three years.
- to put into effect those acts which the Constitutions refer to his or her competence.
- the minister represents the fraternity in all its relations with ecclesiastical and civil authorities. In addition, when the fraternity acquires a juridical personality in the civil order, the minister becomes, when possible, its legal representative.
The Vice-Minister has the following duties:
- to collaborate with the minister in a fraternal spirit and to support him or her in carrying out the duties proper to him or her;
- to exercise those functions which are entrusted to him or her by the council and/or by the assembly or chapter;
- to take the place of the minister in both his or her competencies and responsibilities in case of absence or temporary incapacity;
- to assume the functions of the minister when the office remains vacant.
The Secretary has the following duties:
- to compile the official acts of the fraternity and of the council and to assure that they are sent to their respective proper recipients;
- to see to the updating and preservation of the records and the registers, noting admissions, professions, deaths, withdrawals, and transfers from the fraternity.
The Director of Formation, has the following duties:
- to coordinate the formative activities according to Arts. 40 ff of these Constitutions;
- to instruct and animate the brothers and sisters in the period of formation, (see Const. 39 ff.) Concerning the participation of the spiritual assistant in formation, (see Art. 89,4 of the Constitutions).
- to inform the council of the fraternity concerning the suitability of the candidate(s), prior to admission and profession. (see Const. 41.)
The Treasurer, or bursar, has the following duties:
- to guard diligently the contributions received, recording each receipt in the appropriate register, with the date on which it was given, the name of the contributor, or the one from whom it was collected;
- to record in the same register the items of expense, specifying the date and the purpose, in conformity with the directions of the fraternity council.
- to render an account of his or her administration to the assembly and to the council of the fraternity according to the norms of the national statutes.
The provisions regarding the vice-minister, the secretary and the treasurer apply, with the appropriate adaptations, to all levels.
