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Posted By Kate Kleinert, on October 1st, 2019 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
October 2019
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace!
For centuries, the Franciscan Family has praised the goodness of God for blessing the world with St. Francis of Assisi and for calling us to follow his example in living the Gospel life. The impact St. Francis continues to have on our world has continued for more than eight centuries. Since the time of St. Francis himself, the I, II, III, and Secular Franciscan Orders strive to foster a spirit of peace and goodness, and universal brotherhood. The spiritual children of our Seraphic Father St. Francis and our holy Mother St. Clare have affected the universal Church, as well as societies and cultures in every corner of the world. They have influenced governments and help transform the thoughts of multitudes over the years. They have challenged people to open their hearts and minds to the world recognizing it as the theater of redemption, thus a place to love and in which to live the Gospel life that all things may be restored in Christ. There is an obvious question that arises, however, regarding St. Francis. One of his first followers, Brother Masseo, is recorded to have asked the question: Why after you? … Why does the whole world come after you? It is an interesting and quite challenging question that certainly goes far beyond the expected response of a pious platitude.
Once Saint Francis was staying in the place of the Portiuncula with Brother Masseo of Marignano, a man of great holiness, discernment and grace in speaking of God, for which Saint Francis loved him very much. One day Saint Francis was returning from the woods and from prayer, and when he was at the edge of the woods, that same Brother Masseo, wanting to test how humble he was, went up to him and, as if joking, said, “Why after you, why after you, why after you?” Saint Francis responded, “What do you mean?” Brother Masseo said, “I am saying why does the whole world come after you, and everyone seems to desire to see you and hear you? You are not a handsome man in body, you are not someone of great learning, you are not noble; so why does the whole world come after you?” (Little Flowers 10)
How might we have responded to such a situation if the question were asked of us? It is an honest consideration posed by someone who gave up everything to follow St. Francis. And what about the multitudes that sought to follow Francis Bernardone either by living the Rule for friars, or by living a Rule for those in society who still wanted to be of Francis’ Family and Gospel life experience. Some undoubtedly would have been put off by the reason Bro. Masseo gave for asking the question had the reasons given concerned them. When “ego” gets in the way we suffer from nearsightedness. We see, hear, accept, and I dare say love, only ourselves, so that when others make us aware of our “deficiencies” or definite faults we either retreat or react. The attributes (or lack thereof) that Brother Masseo presented were rather peripheral. Nonetheless, how would any of us like to have been told rather bluntly: “You are homely looking (aesthetically challenged), of an inadequate intellect (“academically limited”), and come from an insignificant level of society (“socially modest”)? How might we have responded? Masseo was thinking out loud. He had seen, believed, and followed Francis. Why?
At times, when people place their trust in another, there comes a moment when they want to know concretely what their heart tells them is true, good, and necessary for personal fulfillment concerning the other. Reassurance does not so much express a doubt as much as a desire to corroborate and reconfirm a decision made with firm conviction and total commitment. Brother Masseo loved and trusted St. Francis, but he wanted to hear the answer from St. Francis himself. In the depths of his heart Brother Masseo knew God was with Francis. He believed in the man he had chosen to follow in response to God’s call. Life changing decisions, such as marriage, religious life, priesthood, becoming a Secular Franciscan, committing ourselves to any life that ultimately aims to transform a person from within as well as without, require prudence, trust, prayerful discernment, and courage to decide wholeheartedly.
Courage urges us to take the step, and fidelity assists us to experience the value and fruitfulness of the “yes” with which we surrender to the call. A simple rule is “Live it and you will love it”. It is only in living our decision that we grow into loving it day-by-day. The questions and explanations are valuable and valid, but ultimately when I believe God is in the midst of the call and my response, I must make the decision trustingly, regardless how others encourage or discourage me by their words or actions. Remember, your vocation is yours, none other’s. A community, fraternity, Order is made up of many individuals who have personally responded with the same affirmative reply and share a life of mutual support, encouragement, familial love. It is a personal individual choice rooted in the conviction that expects and urges one to keep on moving forward, even if all others opt to change course.
The immediate response of St. Francis to Brother Masseo continues from the Little Flowers: Hearing this, Saint Francis was overjoyed in spirit and, turning his face to heaven, stood for a long time with his mind lifted up to God. Then returning to himself, he knelt down and gave praise and thanks to God. (Little Flowers 10)
The key word is “immediate response”. Francis, with all of his idiosyncrasies, was centered on God. God was the focus, center, and source of all Francis desired to live and do in this life. Even a response to his brother was not made until his attitude of prayer lifted him in spirit so that it was not I who live but Christ who lives in me, as St. Paul writes to the churches. To paraphrase, ‘It was not Francis who responded, but Christ who responded in Francis’. We read in Scripture how Jesus, before He did anything of importance, would often spend the night in prayer. Before performing a miracle Jesus would groan from the depths of his soul and gratefully acknowledge the Father’s willingness to hear His request. When we take time to enter that vertical relationship of prayer with/in God, every response we make, whether in words, actions, or both, lead us to enter the horizontal relationship with our sisters and brothers. Thus humility.
Then with great fervor of spirit (St. Francis) returned to Brother Masseo and said, “Do you want to know why after me? You want to know why after me? You want to know why the whole world comes after me? I have this from those eyes of the Most High God, which gaze in every place on the good and the guilty. Since those most holy eyes have not seen among sinners anyone more vile, nor more incompetent, nor a greater sinner than me; to perform that marvelous work, which he intends to do, He has not found a more vile creature on the earth, and therefore He has chosen me to confound the nobility and the greatness and the strength and beauty and wisdom of the world, so that it may be known that every virtue and every good is from Him, and not from the creature, and no person may boast in His sight. But whoever ‘boasts must boast in the Lord’, to whom is every honor and glory forever. Brother Masseo was shocked at such a humble response, said with such fervor, and knew certainly that Saint Francis was truly grounded in humility. (Little Flowers 10)
Seeing himself before the awesome love and majesty of God, he recognizes his lowliness and the greatness of God, and thus can give Brother Masseo the answer he seeks. Francis acknowledges how insignificant he is before the immensity of God, and it is for this reason that God can work through him. Filled with ourselves there is no room for God; the humble soul is empty of itself and offers God all the space God wills. There can be no pride in one who recognizes at every moment the sovereignty of God and himself as nothing more than the ‘Herald of the Great King’.
The herald proclaims the message of the other, not their own message. The herald must be a subject of integrity who can be trusted to communicate the message of the one who sent him, and not his own personal issues and agendas. It is here that St. Francis explained in his response the prayer he so often would say, Who are You (Lord). Who am I, repeating the words of St. Augustine centuries before: That I may know You (Lord), that I may know myself. There is a powerful nuance here I think should be mentioned. Many translate the words of Augustine to mean: ‘Let me know you Lord and let me know myself’. It seems more Augustine and even Francis to translate the phrase to mean; ‘Let me know You, Lord, so that I may know myself’. Once Francis’ heart lifted up, saw himself in the mystery of the One Whom he sought to know, he understood more deeply the purpose and call of his own life and could rejoice in the transforming power of grace that had worked such wonders in him and, through him, in so many others. Humility is truth.
The response St. Francis gave impressed Brother Masseo for its simplicity and truthfulness. St. Francis had him understand the meaning of St. Paul’s words, It is when I am weak that I am strong. It is when we recognize our nothingness without God that God can work in-with-through us and not only give glory to His Name but raise us up in Him. True humility that does not seek applause nor put on airs of superiority, attracts and encourages. Humility recognizes the Lordship of God over us, and therefore, all things are given besides. We accept our dependency on God for all things, and his dependency on us to cooperate with Him in the re-creation of our fallen world and its restoration in Christ. St. Francis told Brother Masseo that only in admitting the supremacy of God can we begin to fulfill our lives and call others to experience the same fulfillment in sharing the same gift.
G.K.Chesterton offers a brief and interesting picture St. Francis: Saint Francis was a lean and lively little man; thin as a thread and vibrant as a bowstring; and in his motions like an arrow from the bow. All his life was a series of plunges and scampers; darting after the beggar, dashing naked into the woods, tossing himself into the strange ship, hurling himself into the Sultan’s tent and offering to hurl himself into the fire. In appearance he must have been like a thin brown skeleton autumn leaf dancing eternally before the wind; but in truth it was he that was the wind.
Why you? Why does the whole world go after you, Francis? Because like the wind: lively, vibrant, plunging into the depths, darting after the marginalized and alienated, dashing into the seclusion of prayer with nothing but his soul enamored of God, tossing himself into the strange events that God allowed to come his way, hurling himself into the midst of danger for the sake of the Name with a courage surpassing even that of the Crusaders of his time, Francis was the image of the freedom all people desire in life. Shackled, held down by no one and nothing. Francis was and still is free. He believed firmly God was with him, thus he had nothing to fear. A frail body was the vessel of a magnificent heart and soul. So great was his desire to be one with the Father-Son-Holy Spirit, that towards the end of his life he not only carried the dying of Christ in his soul but was privileged to carry the wounds of the Savior on his body for all the world to see. Why you, Fancis? He might reply, “Because through me the Lord has seen fit to make Himself known and seen, that others may be encouraged to trust in God, disarm their hearts to one another, and rebuild a falling world, for as we can see is falling into ruin”.
As spiritual children of the Poverello of Assisi, reflect on your own response to that situation of St. Francis and Brother Masseo. Why would you ask Francis the question in the first place? What have you not understood about the one whom you have chosen to follow that he might help you live Jesus? Why did you accept to follow the Little Poor Man of Assisi? What does St. Francis say to you after eight centuries? Is he still alive and well in your fraternity, in your own personal life? Are the life and words of St. Francis, his free spirit and total humility, his all-embracing disarmed heart towards all, a source of enthusiasm, encouragement, excitement, JOY? Is there an awareness of being a son/daughter, brother/sister in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi? Do you allow this awareness to affect your life and encounters with the world in which you live? Does the vibrancy and relevancy of the Franciscan Charism help you to ‘come alive in the spirit’?
Remembering that Francis was so enamored of Our Lady that he called her the Virgin made Church, may we, the living Mystical Body of Christ, reflect upon the life of Jesus during this month of the Most Holy Rosary and look at Jesus with the eyes of Mary. Sharing the great gift of life and our Franciscan charism let us strive to “infect” others with the spirit of the Poverello of Assisi. May we all be instruments of God’s Peace and Blessings to our world.
God bless us; Mary, Queen and Mother of our Seraphic Family, keep us in the depths of Her Immaculate Heart; and Our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi and our Holy Mother St. Clare of Assisi watch over each one of us, their Spiritual Children, with loving care.
Happy Saint Francis Day to all! Let us remember one another at the altar of the Lord both during the celebration of the Transitus and during the Eucharistic celebration of the Solemnity. All of you and your loved ones and intentions will be in my prayers and Masses in a special way as we all celebrate St. Francis of Assisi, God’s ‘crazy one’ who has infected so many to follow that same lunacy of love that seeks to transform us all into Fools for the sake of Christ, living gospels in a world so in need of the “Good News” of God’s extravagant love.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on September 11th, 2019
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on September 6th, 2019 Saint Katharine Drexel Region
Secular Franciscan Order (USA)
Justice, Peace, & the Integrity of Creation
September 2019
· Greetings
I am again looking at what has been on the news this past month and asking myself, what should I bring up as some subjects for this month, September 2019. To start off the month, I keep thinking about the some of the news stories that are making the news. It is sad to keep hearing another shooting taking place here in our country. The question that comes to mind is “What makes them do these things? Is there no other way to solve whatever the problem is.” I just went to the Annual JPIC Animator Conference and there were so many issues talked about. I still have to get my trip report done and sent out. But I would like to send an invitation out to all fraternities that I would be willing to come talk to you about what I learned about JPIC. One of the main themes is that we as Franciscans are doing JPIC in our daily lives as we live out our profession. It is part of who we are, being loving, kind, compassionate, and merciful. One of the other main themes, avoid violence in how we deal with others and respect others as human beings, as we are all born in the image and likeness of God. Love our neighbor as our selves. All sounds easy, but not so easy to put into daily practice. With being open to the power of the Holy Spirit and letting God guide us, we can do these things. Also, with the help from each other, being family.
As we look at some of the positive events that have happened. The Pope announcing 8 new Cardinals to the Council of Cardinals. Mostly from third would countries, giving more voice to these people. This is all part of Peace and Justice. Must have peace to have justice. Let us keep the Pope and all the leaders of the Church in our daily thoughts and prayers. They have a very hard and pressing job to deal with each day. It is sad to hear about people trying to attach and take down our leaders. Check weekly on the United States Bishops Conference website to see what is happening in our country. Also, check with what is going on at the local level both with the Church and local government. Lots of good being done. We as Franciscans should be helping with spreading that good news. Again, as I read my different magazines, I see and read about how many different people are working to save Mother Earth so she will be around for many years for our grandchildren to enjoy as we enjoy the earth today. I will be gone to Italy from 12 Sep. to Oct 7th. So when I get back, I will give a report on the Franciscan Pilgrim Study. Teresa and I am looking forward to the trip and all the learning about both SS Francis and Clare. My email is: jcredder@gmail.com
PEACE & ALL GOOD IN THE LOVE OF CHRIST!
JEFFREY C REDDER, OFS
SKD JPIC ANIMATOR
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on September 2nd, 2019 “You are Beauty”
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever
is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think
about these things. (Philippians 4:8)
**********
In the fall of 1224, St. Francis of Assisi spent forty days on the cold and windy heights of Mount Laverna in Tuscany. It was at that time that he experienced the vision of a six-winged Seraph, after which the wounds of Christ’s crucifixion appeared on his body. In the aftermath of this extraordinary experience, Francis took a small piece of parchment and wrote, on one side of it “The Praises of God.”1 He begins by addressing God: “You are the holy Lord God Who does wonderful things.”2 In twenty lines or so he names attributes of his Heavenly Father and King, who is “the good, all good, the highest good.” On some points he repeats himself. For example, twice he says, “You are beauty, You are meekness.”
The inspiration to call God beauty is one of Francis’s insights. Francis had an innate appreciation
for true beauty. We know from his “Canticle of the Creatures” that he saw beauty in the natural
world, and he describes the Sun, Moon, Stars, and Fire as “beautiful.” His own taste for beautiful
music and poetry were plain for all to see. Working in his father’s cloth business, he would have
developed an appreciation for the beauty present in human design and craft. But it was his
spiritual insight—his gift and grace—to see true beauty as emanating from God’s divine beauty.
We live in a culture that often promotes the ugly and vulgar as trendy and stylish or uses the
unbeautiful to obscure and diminish true beauty. With St. Francis as our Seraphic Father, Secular
Franciscans should claim love for God who is beauty as a spiritual inheritance and use it to
evangelize our world.
In doing so we certainly are not alone. Bishop Robert Barron in his documentaries on
Catholicism has identified beauty in Catholic art, architecture, music and writing as a way to
reach people who hunger for truth and who seek meaning in their lives. In this he echoes Pope
Benedict XVI who sees the Church’s legacy of beauty and the lives of the saints as central to the
spread of Christianity in the 21st century. “The only really effective apologia for Christianity,”
Pope Benedict says, “comes down to two arguments, namely the saints the Church has produced
and the art which has grown in her womb.”3
In speaking to a group of clergy, he said, “All the great works of art, cathedrals—the Gothic cathedrals and the splendid Baroque churches—they are all a luminous sign of God.”4
And to a gathering of artists he added, “the experience of beauty…leads to a direct encounter with the daily reality of our lives, liberating it from darkness, transfiguring it, making it radiant and beautiful.”
5
How can we as Secular Franciscans respond to beauty to grow spiritually and to evangelize those
around us? Consider a few that are simple and obvious:
• In the splendor of nature. Clouds, sunsets, storms, mountain vistas, fireflies, birds, streams of
water, night skies—the manifestations of natural beauty are endless. St. Francis has given us
the perfect formula for responding to such beauty: “Be praised my Lord for
Brother/Sister….” Join with him often in that hymn of praise.
• In the beauty of liturgy, scripture and sacred art and architecture. There is a sublime beauty
in the Mass, in the parables of Jesus and in the Psalms and hymns of praise throughout
Scripture. Be attentive also to the beauty of sacred art and liturgical spaces, especially those
that have stood for a long time and which echo with the prayers and praise of generations.
• In the honest handiwork of men and women. A well-cultivated garden, food lovingly
prepared, a magnificent suspension bridge, light through a stained-glass window, a pitcher’s
curve ball. God may be glorified through the beauty of human works both humble and grand.
• In the lives of others. St. Francis said of his encounter with lepers that, “when I left them,
what had seen bitter to me was turned into sweetness of soul and body.”6 The priest-poet
Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote in one of his great sonnets: “Christ plays in ten thousand
places,/ Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his.”
Finally, be open to the great effect of beauty, which is joy. Jesuit theologian John Navone wrote,
“Joy, as a fruit of the Holy Spirit, always evidences the experience of God’s beauty.”
7 By living the gospel life, we participate in God’s beautification of the Church and the world. Let us join
with Francis and utter joyfully to our Lord with awe and deep gratitude, “You are beauty.”
**************************************************
From the OFS Rule and General Constitutions
• Trusting the Father, Christ chose for Himself and His mother a poor and humble life, even
though He valued created things attentively and lovingly. Let the Secular Franciscans seek a
proper spirit of detachment from temporal goods by simplifying their own material needs.
Let them be mindful that according to the gospel they are stewards of the goods received for
the benefit of God’s children. [Rule, 11]
• They should love and practice purity of heart, the source of true fraternity. [GenConst., 15.4]
For discussion or reflection
• Read aloud St. Francis’s “Praises of God.” How does his impassioned prayer move you?
• Think of a moment in which you encountered beauty today. How might such an experience
inspire you to give praise and thanksgiving to God. What form would your praise take?
1 Regis J. Armstrong, OFM Cap., et al., editors, Francis of Assisi, Early Documents, Volume I, The Saint (New City Press, 1999), 108.
2 Armstrong, 109.
3 https://www.benedictinstitute.org/2018/01/the-splendor-of-holiness-and-art/, accessed August 12, 2019.
4 Pope Benedict XVI, Meeting with the Clergy of the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone, Cathedral of Bressanone, August, 6, 2008.
5 Pope Benedict XVI, Meeting with Artists, Sistine Chapel, November 21, 2009.
6 Armstrong, 124.
7John Navone, SJ, Enjoying God’s Beauty (The Liturgical Press, 1999), 7.
Image: Crucifix in the Basilica of Santa Croce. https://travelpast50.com/basilica-santa-croce-florence-italy/
Copyright ©2019 by Justin Carisio, OFS
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on September 2nd, 2019 “Look at the birds of the air”
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:26)
**********
Of all God’s creatures, perhaps those we most readily associate with St. Francis of Assisi are the birds.
Francis is forever linked to them because of an episode that occurred in 1213 when he was experiencing
something of a vocation crisis. Although the sources offer other moments of interaction between Francis
and birds, this one was seminal. Endeavoring to discern if he was being called to a contemplative life
or if he should pursue an evangelical life of prayer and itinerant preaching, he was encouraged by Brother Silvester and Sister Clare to continue the latter. Reassured, Francis set out joyfully, and encountering a field with birds, he began anew by preaching to them.
From the early biographers to present day commentators, much has been written about this
incident. Of central importance is what Francis actually said. His earliest biographer, Thomas of
Celano, writes that he exhorted the birds, saying, “My brother birds, you should greatly praise
your Creator, and love Him always. He gave you feathers to wear, wings to fly, and whatever
you need. God made you noble among his creatures and gave you a home in the purity of the air,
so that though you neither sow nor reap, He nevertheless protects and governs you without your
least care.”1 Celano recounts that he blessed them with the sign of the cross and gave them
permission to fly off.
As always, Francis had the gospel in mind—in this instance the words of the Sermon on the
Mount when Jesus’ urged the people to “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap.”2
However, Francis also employed an innovation: he addressed the birds as “my brothers.” This
became the paradigm he would employ throughout his ministry—all creatures would be seen as
brother or sister. The Franciscan concept that today we call “universal kinship” was present in
the saint’s outlook and view of nature. Roger Sorrell adds that Francis’ preaching to the birds
“reveals the new feelings of mutual love and respect between the saint and creatures.”3 Mutuality
implies the encounter went both ways, and Sorrell suggests that while Francis had a message for
the birds, he also saw the “creature as teacher.”4 Later he would bluntly remind the friars of the
powerful lesson the creatures teach: “All creatures under heaven serve, know, and obey their
Creator, each according to its own nature, better than you.”5
As Secular Franciscans, an immediate way to grow in universal kinship is by taking time to
“look at the birds of the air” and in so doing develop a relationship with them and increase our
love and understanding of God.
In an essay titled, “The Birds Preach Back,” Daniel Barica, OFM, a friar, birder and nature
photographer, writes that “Francis practiced and promoted a truly incarnational spirituality,
experiencing God in the entire created world.” Fr. Barica believes that taking time to observe
birds can teach us patience, acceptance and understanding, awe, and intimacy with God.6 Of
course, when we listen to Jesus and look at the birds of the air (and the lilies of the field) we are
also instructed in gospel poverty, total dependence on God, and authentic praise of our Creator.
The key is actually to look. Thinking about the natural world or watching nature shows on
television is not the same as physical interaction, as going to a window or stepping outside. To
sit motionless in a yard or park or garden and look at the birds is to know God’s grace and beauty
in a direct and joyful way. To rise at dawn on a summer morning and listen to what
ornithologists call the “morning chorus” is to hear a Gloria sung in voices not our own. As
Franciscans, we should stop, look, and pray. For St. Francis, universal kinship was not a
theological idea or mental construct. It was a physical, lived, spiritual reality. Let us follow his
example. There is no easier way to begin than to “look at the birds of the air.”
**************************************************
From the OFS Rule and General Constitutions
• Moreover they should respect all creatures, animate and inanimate, which “bear the
imprint of the Most High,” and they should strive to move from the temptation of
exploiting creation to the Franciscan concept of universal kinship. [Rule, 18]
• Following the example of Francis, patron of ecologists, they should actively put forward
initiatives that care for creation and should work with others in efforts that both put a stop
to polluting and degrading nature and also establish circumstances of living and
environment which would not be a threat to the human person. [Constitutions, 18.4]
For discussion or reflection
• In his encyclical Laudato Si, Pope Francis says, “nature cannot be regarded as something
separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature,
included in it and thus in constant interaction with it.” (139). Reflect on a time in your
life when the creature was teacher—when interaction with creation, animate or
inanimate, moved you to praise or to a deeper love, understanding, or knowledge of God.
1 Regis J. Armstrong, OFM Cap., et al., editors, Francis of Assisi, Early Documents, Volume I, The Saint (New City Press, 1999), 234.
2 Matthew 6:26, The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, The New Testament (Ignatius Press, 2010).
3 Roger D. Sorrell, St. Francis of Assisi and Nature, Tradition and Innovation in Western Christian Attitudes toward the Environment (Oxford University Press, 1988), 68.
4 Sorrell, 46.
5 Armstrong, 131.
6 Daniel Barica, OFM, “The Birds Preach Back,” Franciscans for Justice, www.franciscansforjustice.org/2012/02/10/
the-birds-preach-back-by-fr-daniel-barica. Accessed July 6, 2019.
Image: Giotto, San Francesco predica agli uccelli, 1297-99. Wikiart.org, public domain.
Copyright ©2019 by Justin Carisio, OFS
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on September 2nd, 2019
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on September 2nd, 2019
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on September 2nd, 2019 September 2019
I bend my knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
so that, through the prayers and merits of the
holy and glorious Virgin Mary, His Mother,
and of our most blessed father Francis and of all the saints,
the Lord Himself, Who has given a good beginning,
may give increase and may also give final perseverance.
Amen.
(The Testament of St. Clare of Assisi)
The daily excerpts continue from the Papal Decree of Canonization
and Legend of our Holy Mother, St. Clare of Assisi
1
(St. Clare) established in the estate of the Church a garden of humility hedged in by need of a multiplicity of things in which a great abundance of virtue flourishes. – Christ alone is the world’s salvation!
2
This woman built in the area of religion a citadel of strict abstinence in which a vast abundance of spiritual food was administered. – Only (Christ’s) death and resurrection represent true liberation from evil and death.
3
This woman was the first of the poor, the leader of the humble, the teacher of the continent, the abbess of the penitents. – (Christ’s) cross is the force of reconciliation and peace; it forms the basis of hope for believers in every time and place.
4
This woman governed her monastery and within it the family entrusted to her with solicitude and prudence, in the fear and service of the Lord, and with the full observance of the Order: vigilant in caring, assiduous in ministering, attentive in exhorting, diligent in admonishing, moderate in correcting, measured in commanding, unwavering in compassion – … no one can consider himself the master of his brothers and sisters. The Creator is the only master of time and history.
5
This woman governed her monastery and within it the family entrusted to her with solicitude and prudence, in the fear and service of the Lord, and with the full observance of the Order: … discerning in silence, mature in speech, and experienced in everything pertaining to perfect government, wanting to serve more than to command, to honor than to be extolled. – Look with unyielding trust upon Christ, light in difficulty, support in time of trial, and guide in every moment of life.
6
Her life was an instruction and a lesson to others: in this book of life some learned the rule of living, in this mirror of life others learned to behold the paths of life. – God wants peace and mutual understanding among all human beings, who are called to be one great family.
7
She remained in the body on earth, yet she was dwelling in the spirit in heaven: a vessel of humility, an armoire of chastity, the fire of love, the fragrance of benevolence, the vigor of patience, the bond of peace, and the communion of familiarity; meek in word, gentle in deed, and lovable and accepting bin everything – It is in being people of integrity that we are pleasing to the Lord: ready to meet him in prayer and liturgical celebration.
8
Because each one is stronger after overcoming an enemy, she had only the bare ground and sometimes twigs for her bed, and a piece of hard wood as pillow for her head in order to grow stronger in spirit after her body was repressed. – We must tell the good news to all who are willing to listen.
9
Content with one tunic with a mantle of poor, discarded, coarse material, she used these lowly clothes to cover her body … – To build a future of serenity and solidarity, it is right to turn our gaze to the disciple of Christ … courageously presenting anew to the contemporary world the saving message of the gospel.
10
Strict as well in food and disciplined in drink, she restrained herself so much by abstinence from these things that for a long time she did not taste any food three days a week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. – Love enables people to dwell spiritually in one another.
11
She spent day and night especially giving herself assiduously to vigils and prayers. When she was finally laid up with long-term illness so she could not raise herself by physical exertion, she was lifted up with the help of her sisters. – Christian leaders are challenged to bear witness to the Christian truth, which inspires us to place all our talents, intellectual resources, persuasive abilities, experience, and skills at the service of God, our neighbor, and the common good of the human family.
12
With support for her back, she worked with her own hands not to be idle even in her sickness. – Men and women are on a journey which is humanly unstoppable – a search for the truth and a search for a person to whom they might entrust themselves.
13
Out of the linen made by her skill and labor, she made many corporals for the sacrifice of the altar and had them distributed throughout the plains and mountains of Assisi. – To avoid losing his way, contemporary many needs more than ever to rediscover God to rediscover himself in God.
14
She was above all, a lover and supporter of poverty. She so rooted it in her spirit, so fixed it in her desires, that, firmer in love of it and more ardent in its embrace, she never departed from her stronger and delightful union with it for any necessity. – (To rediscover God and oneself) is possible only when the heart listens to the Lord in silence and in prolonged contemplation.
15
She could not be induced by any persuasion to consent to have any possessions in her monastery, even though Pope Gregory of happy memory, our predecessor…generously wanted to endow sufficient and appropriate possessions for the sustenance of her sisters. – May Mary help us to understand the great value of prayer. Let us ask (Her) to open our hearts to greater confidence in the Lord.
16
In truth, because a great and splendid light cannot be restrained from displaying the brilliance of its rays, the power of holiness shone in her life with many and various miracles. – Faith teaches us that man’s destiny is written in the heart and mind of God, who directs the course of history.
17
She restored the voice of one of the sisters of the monastery after it had been almost totally lost for a long time. She healed a certain brother of the Order of Lesser Ones from insanity. – Faith also teaches us that the Father puts in our hands the task of beginning to build here on earth the ‘kingdom of heaven’, which the Son came to announce.
18
Once when, by accident, the oil of the monastery was totally depleted, she called for the brother assigned to gather alms for the monastery. She took a jar, washed it, and placed it empty by the door of the monastery so that the same brother would take it for acquiring oil. When he went to pick it up, he found it filled with oil, a gift of divine generosity. – Christ is the only Savior of humanity. This proclamation is still as effective today as it was in the days of the early Christians.
19
One day only half a loaf of bread was available for feeding the sisters she commanded that half of it be distributed in pieces among the sisters. He Who is the living bread and gives food to the hungry multiplied it in the hands of the one who broke it so that there were fifty sufficient portions made and distributed to the sisters seated at table. – Do not be afraid to welcome the cross of Christ into your life!
20
When she was about to die, a white-robed choir of blessed virgins crowned with glittering crowns was seen to enter the house where the servant of Christ lay ill (and) seen to approach Claire’s bed to show, as it were, the duty of visitation and comforting the sick with a certain human zeal. – (The Cross of Christ) gives full value and meaning to life’s joys and sorrows, helping every person to make his own life a gift of love for God and neighbor.
21
The venerable virgin shines with glorious deeds and miracles. What her mother heard when she was pregnant with her and was praying appears to be clearly fulfilled: that she would give birth to a light that would illumine the entire world. – A spirit of prayer and contemplation, vital to the Christian life, must be the hallmark of all we say and do.
22
Therefore, let Mother Church rejoice that she had begotten and reared such a daughter who as a parent fruitful with virtues has produced many daughters of religion by her example, and has trained them for the perfect service of Christ by her thorough teaching. – Those who believe in Jesus, crucified and risen, carry the cross in triumph as an indisputable proof that God is love.
23
Let the devout multitude of the faithful be glad that the King and Lord of heaven has chosen their sister and companion as His spouse and has introduced her with glory to his lofty and brilliant palace. – With the total gift of himself on the cross, our Savior decisively conquered sin and death.
24
Let the multitude of saints rejoice that the nuptials of a new royal bride are being celebrated in their heavenly midst. The universal Church venerate(s) on earth her whom the Lord exalted in heaven, because her sanctity of life and miracles are evident from the thorough and careful investigation … even though, both near and far, her deeds were widely known before this. – The vocation of a Christian is holiness.
25
Truly dead to the flesh she was thoroughly a stranger to the world continually occupying her soul with sacred prayers and divine praises. – The vocation of Christian holiness has its roots in baptism and is proposed anew by the other sacraments, and principally by the Eucharist.
26
The usual signs prove how much strength she received in her furnace of ardent prayer, how sweet the divine goodness was to her in that enjoyment. For when she returned from holy prayer, she brought from the altar of the Lord burning words that also inflamed the hearts of her sisters. – God wishes to save all his children, especially those who have gone away from him and are looking for the way back.
27
In fact, (the sisters) marveled that such sweetness came from her mouth and that her face shone more brilliantly than usual. Surely, in His sweetness, God has waited upon the poor, and the True Light which was already revealed outwardly in her body, had filled her soul in prayer. – Christ is the true answer, the most complete answer to all the questions which concern the human person and his destiny.
28
In a fleeting world, united unfleetingly to her noble spouse, she delighted continuously in the things above. – Do not be afraid of presenting Christ to someone who does not yet know him.
29
On the wheel of an ever-changing world, sustained by never-changing virtue, and hiding a treasure of glory in a vessel of clay, her mind remained in the heights, her body in the depths. – Without Christ, the human person remains an unsolvable riddle. Therefore, have the courage to present Christ!
30
(In St. Clare) There was no place for tepidity, no place for idleness, where a sharp reproof prodded laziness to prayer and service of the Lord. – The fullness of our human vocation: to be like God, filled with love, since it is he who ‘makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust’.
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on September 2nd, 2019 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 email: pppgusa@gmail.com
September 2019
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace!
A young person graduates from college and is given a wonderful position in a profession about which he or she is excited and is overflowing with vision and creative ideas. A young man and young woman, deeply in love with each other, fulfill their life’s dream and are married with God’s blessings. Someone is called to enter religious life in a community that responds to all they believe God is calling them to live and do, and they happily surrender themselves totally to everything expected of them. A young man responds to the call to be another Christ, one who lives and acts “in persona Christi”, and experiences a joy and fulfillment that enhances his prayer, the celebration of the Liturgy, and his relationship with God and the people entrusted to his care.
These examples are only a few of many that any of us could offer for reflection of people happy with their lives and the decisions they made. The reflection is not so much on the wonderful blessings that these persons have experienced and for which they are grateful, but rather what happens to so many after a period of time. Almost without noticing it, the wonder, excitement, enthusiasm, creativity, JOY begin to diminish. Once happy about their lives and professions, some come to seriously question their decision. Was it really God’s will?! They felt an inner joy and were truly happy. There is no sin in that! But, now, what happened?! Where is the wonderful life and future of which they dreamed, the life filled with joy, fulfillment, success, happiness?
At one time or another, we might possibly admit that there was a moment or period when we may have felt that matters were taking a less joyous and less fulfilling turn in our lives. Moments like these are not as terrible as they initially can seem. There is always something to learn from any situation. So much time is wasted fearing problems and lamenting mistakes. We should rather accept those moments as challenges to go beyond the limitations we see in our lives. Take time to reflect on how we have changed and why. What has brought us to this moment, this crossroad that seems so perplexing?
The finding of the body of our holy Mother St. Clare of Assisi, that the Order recalls now on September 25, offers us an insight into the answer to the situations and questions posed. The historical moment for the Poor Clares to have the body of our mother St. Clare once again at arm’s length for veneration after centuries of lying hidden is not a question of physical proximity. It has nothing to do with the possibility of looking at the remains of someone who passed into eternity six centuries before; that might even be considered by some to be somewhat macabre rather than devotional. It really goes far beyond the privilege of offering the relic of St. Clare’s body to the veneration and edification of the faithful, especially those of the Franciscan Family who revere her as mother, just as they revere St. Francis of Assisi our Seraphic Father, whose body rests in the crypt beneath the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi.
The excitement of knowing God called us to be Franciscans, regardless of the Order (I, II, III Regular, Secular), and knowing the joy of acceptance by God through the Fraternity, makes the initial years of religious life exciting. Just like a couple in love, we enter a loving relationship with the Fraternity/Family. We seek to learn all there is to learn about everyone with whom we desire to become more deeply one in mind and heart. We come to realize how our lives are so unique and valuable to the spreading of the Gospel and the life of the Church. We speak to others with an enthusiasm that could convert the world. In our youthfulness – here I mean youthfulness in spirit and not necessarily in a chronological sense – we find it difficult to understand why so many others do not feel a call to be Franciscan as we, and we are grateful for having been called and having responded affirmatively to this wonderful gospel life. We bring our Franciscan ‘spirit and life’ to all the ministries and apostolic works entrusted to us. We make Franciscan values and principles the foundation of all we say and do. Like a wonderful marriage, no one can separate our spirit of commitment from our daily life, duties and other activities. We are cautious never to allow the ‘spirit of the world’ to enter our relationships with the people we encounter and with and for whom we minister. You get the idea. It is a veritable paradise for the first months and possibly years, until, and possibly for a good while after, our definitive Profession or commitment. Then what happens?! Boredom? Indifference? Doubt? Apathy? Any, all, and more! But, why?!
Between the dream and the vision, there is the plan. You have heard and read this before. The plan is the journey that helps the dream to become the vision of a real happening that goes beyond a heart that hopes. To live in hope without ever attempting to achieve what as yet is not seen but attainable, is to journey to disappointment and even despair. This is not a journey but a lingering spiritual death that does not enliven, encourage, or attract. In fact, people like this repel others. The journey itself is already the source of joy as long as we keep on the path and move forward.
The study that never ends because there is always so much more to know that will enhance the love that urges me on; the encounters with the same people, and new ones who seek to follow our life because of all they heard and have seen in us; the fraternal gathering of prayer, reflection and being together as ‘family’ whose goals are the same and achievable by people whose personalities are so different; diverse external expressions of service to those who will never become effective members of our fraternities but whose lives are touched with joy and made better because of us, and so many more examples, are all reminders of what the finding of the body of Saint Clare says to us.
Too many, and we Franciscans are no different, die at 20, 30, 40 years of age and are buried decades later. This is not a physical death but a spiritual, psychological, affective death. We are alive physically but distant, and disinterested in spirit-mind-heart-availability-caring.
We are not called to don the attractive robes of some plastic image that appears holy but has no life. We have not achieved the goal when we make perpetual profession. Like so many other moments in life, secular as well as religious, one goal achieved becomes the first step of another journey that leads to another goal that continues to lead us forward until the perfection of which Scripture speaks is achieved. Remember that ‘perfection’ in Scripture pertains to the fulfillment of the purpose of a life. No one can ever justifiably say that their life is fulfilled when they have more time allotted them. Too many stop striving to become more in God’s sight. They admire past failures overcome and gloat over successes achieved. It is as though they were venerating the relic of a Saint without learning from the life of the saint. They are not encouraged nor strive to reach beyond, and thus become spiritually stagnant.
The external insignia we use for one reason or another: habit, tau cross, crucifix, cord, scapular, and the like, encourage us to participate more fully in the life of the Order. What we wear reminds us of who we are called to be more fully each day. Until we hear the words ‘good and faithful servant, because you have been faithful in small matters, enter into the joy of your Master’ we are always moving, hopefully forward. We must be aware of the dangers of self-seeking, self-aggrandizing, self-satisfying. We cannot allow ourselves to ‘become the object of our affections’ and forget all others. Self-centeredness is problematic in community, and spiritually dangerous for anyone. More often it leads to full blown pride that sees others as less than one self, and also to indifference to opportunities offered to grow in fraternal spirit and sharing of God’s gifts with and for the sake of others.
As spiritual children of Saint Francis of Assisi we have a wonderful gift left us to enflesh in our lives. While the Incarnation took place only once in historical human form in Jesus the Christ through Mary, Christ and His Gospel must be enfleshed over and over again in the lives of those who seek to follow Him. Our Seraphic Father sought not only to live the Gospel message but to live Jesus. This is also the mission of the Franciscan. The formalities we encounter that prepare us for full insertion in the Franciscan Family (Fraternity), are the preparatory stages that help us know if this is truly the life to which God is calling us. Professing our life in the Franciscan Fraternity is an explicit acceptance of the daily challenge to grow every day of our life until we are called to the fullness of life in eternity.
Unlike the body of our Holy Mother Saint Clare placed on view for the faithful to venerate the woman with whom Saint Francis of Assisi inaugurated a Family that even today speaks volumes to a world grown cold in its love for God and desire for Eternal Life, we are not static images. Viewing the body of St. Clare most certainly reminded her daughters of the >little plant’ St. Clare called herself that produced a flourishing fragrant bouquet of holiness in the Church. Thousands of women for eight centuries have accepted to live the form of exalted Poverty that St. Clare was granted by Pope Alexander IV only days before her death. She never ceased requesting this ‘privilege’ of poverty. Her daughters, adapting themselves to the demands of the changing world, while not jeopardizing the centuries’ old and proven values that their Mother St. Clare of Assisi lived and sought to instill in all her daughters, in their fidelity to their vocation have continued to be a ‘bright light’ in the Franciscan Family and thus in the Universal Church. Each sister sought and seeks to grow in her vocation by living a committed life of constant growth, not >being conformed to this age but transformed’ in the ever-valid Gospel Life.
The process of Franciscan conversion expects a daily surrender to God that leads us to grow in all we profess. Profession is not the goal! Never! The goal is heaven! Our Franciscan Gospel Way is the road God has called us to follow to make the destination easier to reach. We cannot sit back and let others do the walking. Not only must we talk the talk but we must walk the walk, otherwise we will never get there, the true goal of life, God. There are many opportunities offered our Secular Sisters and Brothers to grow in our charism and particular vocation. Do not let someone else do ‘it’. Whatever the ‘it’ is. The one insect St. Francis disliked was the fly, not only because of the things it ate off of, but because it was a parasite, eating off the work of others. Let us make sure we do not incur the ‘curse’ of St. Francis. We must all realize that fraternal living involves active participation in fraternal life. The official nomenclature may differ, but the substance is still the same. We all have the Rule and Constitutions of the Order to give us a general guideline that all seem to accept. Even the International and National Councils offer us ‘reflections’ we all are willing to consider and strive for. But it is the Regional and Local challenges and decisions that so many seem to think can be put off, or not even considered. Let us not forget the words of the Master Who tells us that if we cannot be faithful in small matters how can we expect to be entrusted with greater things.
The discovery of the body of St. Clare is celebrated by the Order on September 25th. Let us remember how this event, as strange as it may seem at first glance, is a reminder for us to rediscover our roots and the beauty of that original oblation and dedication we made of ourselves. Let us rediscover the initial enthusiasm and joy at being called and accepted to be a Franciscan. With the passing of time and experience we have so much more to learn and offer one another. Each bringing his/her gifts enhances the richness of the fraternity and strengthens the spirit of Franciscan Brother/Sisterhood. May the reminder of the ‘discovery’ and exposition of the body of St. Clare encourage us to re-discover our roots, enthusiasm, and commitment so that we can be ‘on display’ for a world that seeks authenticity and integrity of life.
May God bless us; may Mary, Queen and Mother of our Seraphic Family, keep us in the depths of Her Immaculate Heart; and may Our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi and our Holy Mother St. Clare of Assisi watch over each one of us, their Spiritual Children, with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on September 1st, 2019
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