On Saturday, October 18th, from 8:30 am to 2:00 pm, the 5th annual Franciscan Spirit and Life Convocation will take place at St. Francis of Assisi Parish. Why is this gathering something you should consider attending? As Father Steve Kluge said when the friars ‘officially’ left the parish in 2020, “You are what makes this community ‘Franciscan’, not us. You are the Franciscans at St. Francis of Assisi.” If you are someone who seeks more insight into what it means to be a Franciscan in the world, the title of the convocation, ‘Journey Toward the Heart of God: A Franciscan Vision for Today,’ should pique your interest. It would be time well spent as part of your faith exploration.
Father Kenneth Paulli, OFM, the keynote speaker for the day, has been a Franciscan priest of Holy Name Province for almost three decades and is an associate professor of education at Siena College. Fr. Paulli holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Siena College, a master’s degree in systematic theology from the Washington Theological Union, and a doctorate in religion and education from Columbia University in New York City. “Outside the Walls: Encountering God in the Unfamiliar” is Fr. Paulli’s first published book. He is a gifted and popular speaker at conferences, retreats, and parish missions across the United States to further the faith experience for those, like many at St. Francis, who want a deeper participation in the Franciscan charism and to build their relationship with God.
Even as a teacher, Father Paulli isn’t here to homilize or lecture on ‘being Franciscan.’ As Father Paulli says, “I always tell people when I’m leading a mission, don’t forget, I’m missioning, too. I don’t sort of sit above this, because I’m a participant, not just a facilitator, or a keynote speaker in this case. I try to do things with a sense of humility. I have something to say, and it’s something to consider, but I know for sure the day is life-giving for me too.” The title of his talk comes from our theme of the day: Lead toward the heart of God, God is good all the time, all the time God is good. For more context, Father Paulli notes, “For over eight centuries, the Franciscan community has been known for its joy in and praise of the Lord. Perhaps St. Francis’ Canticle of the Creatures best exemplifies this, as the poem reveals to us God’s goodness in all of creation and that God is good in every moment of life, including the moment of earthly death.”
Father Ken’s keynote will celebrate this ‘goodness’ as he shares four stories to inspire our hearts to shout out: “God is good all the time, all the time God is good.” “So I am going to be telling four stories that speak to the theme,” he says. While, like any good speaker, he is creating and refining his keynote, Father Ken knows, “I definitely want to do something on Augustine. It’s a stretch to say that Augustine’s writings, those many centuries before the time of Francis, greatly influenced Francis’ own thinking or writing, because Francis really wasn’t a writer and not an academic. Still, there are definitely quotes from Augustine in Francis’ writings. However, the intellectual who Augustine definitely influenced was Bonaventure.” When he saw that the topic for the day spoke of the ‘journey toward the heart of God,’ he couldn’t help but think about Bonaventure’s “The Mind’s Road to God.” “I want to get there in this keynote, but I must include St. Augustine.”
He says, “I’m talking to some of my Augustinian colleagues, and I need to speak on how Augustine clearly reflects upon how ‘God is good all the time, all the time God is good,’ especially in his own weakness and brokenness.” “Like all of us, who are terribly flawed individuals, I think at some point Augustine had a breakthrough, or watershed moment, where he allowed that goodness to just flow over his brokenness and his sinfulness and his waywardness and draw him to the heart of God,” says Father Ken. This realization by Augustine leads me to speak about his influence on Bonaventure’s writings, not the details of ‘The Mind’s Journey into God,’ because it’s too philosophical, but also how Francis obviously inspired him too.”
Born shortly before Francis died, Bonaventure’s parents attribute his recovery from a childhood illness to Francis’ intercession for him, and this led him to be a Franciscan. “His work as a Franciscan was incredibly different from Francis,” says Father Ken, “He was an academic and intellectual who taught at the University of Paris, and was, I think, a large part of the Franciscan intellectual movement. Bonaventure lived in the world of the University of Paris and academic life, but he was asked to leave academia and become ‘Minister General of the Order’ because divisions had become rampant and grown to tremendous numbers.” These events took place about 20 years after Francis’ death, when factions threatened to change Francis’ movement in the Church.
“After being named Minister General, Bonaventure goes to Mount LaVerna, and has this sort of deeply religious, mystical, cathartic experience, saying, ‘Lord, you’ve got to help me because I don’t know that I can do this. And if I can, how to do it?’ Out of that comes the itinerarium, which I think is brilliant.” He adds, “Whatever is going on in life, for an individual, for a faith community, for a religious order, by God’s ongoing, never-ending goodness, we journey closer into the heart of God. I want to talk about some of the details that are in the itinerarium about how we journey toward God.” He hopes these stories will inspire people to, as he says, ”be on fire about the whole day, the entire convocation. I am going to stay true to the four-story format, but the point is to explain how Augustine shaped Bonaventure, and how both of them shaped me.”
That is but just one of the four stories in Father Ken’s engaging keynote address. The day will progress into two sessions after the keynote, with your choice of nine additional speakers giving talks on a variety of topics rooted in Franciscanism. Noted speakers include Father Jim Sabak, OFM, our local Franciscan Friar, Jim Wahl, Director of Music and Liturgy at St. Francis, and Gladys Whitehouse and Jenn Fiducci, well-known speakers and leaders here at St. Francis, as well as several other local and visiting presenters. It will be a day of reflection and introspection as we all “Journey Toward the Heart of God: A Franciscan Vision for Today.” To find out more, please see the website at 2025 Convocation for a list of speakers and to register to attend what will undoubtedly be a seminal event in your personal faith experience. Join us for an inspirational day discovering how to live out your Franciscan charism!
