A Franciscan Day of Reflection on Saturday, Sept. 16, sponsored by St. Joseph Fraternity, focused on three early Franciscan women and their relevance for the 21st century.
The speaker, Kevin C.A. Elphick, D. Min., discussed St. Angela of Foligno, Lady Jacopa, and Mother Juana of the Cross.
Members of three other fraternities attended: Holy Family in Vernon; St. Thomas More in Fonda, and St. Francis in Binghamton.
A member of the Franciscan Brothers of the Resurrection, Elphick works fulltime for the Department of Veterans Affairs as a supervisor with the Veterans and Military Suicide Prevention Hotline.
He holds a Doctorate in Ministry from Graduate Theological Foundation. He earned his master’s degree in Franciscan Studies from St. Bonaventure University, and a master’s in Religious Studies from Loyola University, Chicago. He is a member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. He taught at St. Bernard’s Institute as adjunct faculty. He is an inaugural board member with the St. Marianne Cope Shrine and Museum in Syracuse. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Franciscan Federation.
In May of 2017 he presented a paper on St. Francis of Assisi with the Franciscan Institute Panel at the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, and in July delivered a paper on the Third Order Franciscan, Mother Juana de la Cruz (1481–1534), at Leeds University, England. This paper is being incorporated into a forthcoming book from the University of Amsterdam Press.
