Michael O’Donnell
Around thirty years ago I worked as a social worker reaching out to people who were homeless and living on the streets. One night I was in the the city centre and noticed a crowd at a soup-kitchen. There, also, were two men in Franciscan habits.
Approaching them I said ‘hello’ and they offered me some hot soup and a roll. I gladly took them as it was a cold night. Since I already knew the Friars in the Gorbals I immediately thought two more had joined the community. However, when they introduced themselves I discovered that they were members of the Society of St Francis who had a friary in Barrowfield in the east-end of Glasgow, and they were Anglicans.
They had been in Barrowfield since the mid-1980s. I visited them in their flat. It was on the top-floor of a run-down close where poverty was evident. The close was spray-painted and the windows smashed. On the door of their flat was the San Damiano Crucifix, that is, the image of the cross before which St. Francis prayed and heard the words: ‘Go and rebuild my Church’. The door was open and in I went. (This was before the area was totally rebuilt with new houses and amenities).
I assumed I would meet the brothers in prayer but instead they were at table playing cards with a group of teenagers who were chatting, sharing their difficulties and enjoying a coffee and some cake! ‘Knock and the door will be opened’ (Mt 7:7). These young people had knocked and were welcomed in.
The Society of St Francis was founded in 1938 by several Anglican Franciscan brothers uniting to become the one group. Today, there are friaries in England with Friars, Sisters and Secular Franciscans. They are members of the wider Franciscan family and meet with members of the Catholic Franciscan communities as they share the same spirituality of St. Francis.
The Society has now been away from Glasgow since 2003. The people in Barrowfield appreciated their presence and ministry within the wider community, and in visiting them over the years I saw how they continued to go out and rebuild God’s Church.
Michael O’Donnell is a Deacon of the Archdiocese of Glasgow
Photo of Barrowfield used with permission of www.glesga.ukpals.com