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Posted By Teresa Redder, on April 5th, 2015 
PEACE to each of your hearts as we celebrate the SOLEMNITY of our Risen Lord!
In a homily delivered on March 17, 2013, our Holy Father, Pope Francis said,
I think we too are the people who, on the one hand, want to listen to Jesus, but on the other hand, at times, like to find a stick to beat others with, to condemn others. And Jesus has this message for us: mercy. I think — and I say it with humility — that this is the Lord’s most powerful message: mercy.
In February of this year, Pope Francis declared a Holy Year of Mercy beginning on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 2015, and culminating on the Feast of Christ the King, 2016, by saying,
Dear brothers and sisters, I have often thought about how the Church might make clear its mission of being a witness to mercy. It is journey that begins with a spiritual conversion. For this reason, I have decided to call an extraordinary Jubilee that is to have the mercy of God at its center. It shall be a Holy Year of Mercy. We want to live this Year in the light of the Lord’s words: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (cf. Lk 6:36)”
This Holy Year will begin on this coming Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and will end on November 20, 2016, the Sunday dedicated to Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe – and living face of the Father’s mercy. I entrust the organization of this Jubilee to the Pontifical Council for Promotion of the New Evangelization, that [the dicastery] might animate it as a new stage in the journey of the Church on its mission to bring to every person the Gospel of mercy.
I am convinced that the whole Church will find in this Jubilee the joy needed to rediscover and make fruitful the mercy of God, with which all of us are called to give consolation to every man and woman of our time. From this moment, we entrust this Holy Year to the Mother of Mercy, that she might turn her gaze upon us and watch over our journey.
If, as our dear Bro. Larry often urges, we are meditating on an article of our Rule each day, Article 5 (corresponding with Easter Sunday this year) tells us,
Secular Franciscans, therefore, should seek to encounter the living and active person of Christ in their brothers and sisters …
Sometimes being merciful isn’t easy. It requires a shift within ourselves that can be difficult to make but, if we can allow ourselves to enter into the adventure of grace, we can, as our Holy Father says, become witnesses to mercy and live in the light of the Lord’s words: Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Blessings, every good, and much love,
mattie
Posted By Teresa Redder, on April 4th, 2015  Dear Brothers and Sisters,
May the Peace of the Risen Lord be with you all!
As we celebrate the Resurrection of our Blessed Lord, let us joyfully keep on the path of conversion, clearly this is not the end.
Let us touch on the topic about Contemplation and how it is a means of a deeper love and seeing all things in the true relation to God as Francis and Clare.
We should spend more time building our relationship with God. Let us use Francis and Clare as a model to apply to our daily lives. Francis became like Christ but it took prayerful contemplation and action. Francis understood that the Holy Spirit was not just a source of power but also that the Holy Spirit inspires us with a love relationship of the most Holy Trinity.
Clare’s vision of contemplation begins with the mirror of the crucified Christ. She advised Agnes to see herself in the mirror each day. Clare provides a path to contemplation by daily prayer before the crucifix.
As Ilia Delio, OFS, writes in “Franciscan Prayer” The progression of prayer that leads to contemplation begins with the gaze on the crucified Christ and continues to penetrate the depths of reality until the one who gazes comes to see the heart of charity hidden in the heart of Christ. Not all of us follow the same approach to God. Through the eyes of Francis we see how he envisioned God and imitation of Jesus in relationship to God.
Article 8 of our Rule tells us, As Jesus was the true worshipper of the Father, so let prayer and contemplation be the soul of all they are and do. How does prayer lead you to the vision of contemplation? What prevents you from this vision?
Let me close with this writing of St. Bonaventure from The Major Legend of St. Francis:
Aroused by everything to divine love,
He rejoiced in all the works of the Lord’s hands
And through their delightful display
He rose into their life-giving and cause.
In beautiful things he contuited Beauty itself.
And through the footprints impressed in things
He followed the Beloved everywhere,
Out of them all making for himself a ladder
Through which he could climb up to lay hold of him.
Who is utterly desirable.
Peace and every good,
Your sister, Rosie
Posted By Teresa Redder, on April 4th, 2015  April 2015
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace! and lead you through the mystery of His Passion and Death to the joy of His Resurrection and our Renewed Life in Jesus!
I raise my eyes to the mountains. From where comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121: 1-2) Who may go up to the mountain of the Lord?…The clean of hand, the pure of heart …they will receive blessings from the Lord. (Psalm 24: 3-05) Mountains and hills play an important role throughout Scripture, from the very beginning of creation in the Book of Genesis to the ‘new beginning’ in the Book of Revelation.
The Old Testament often speaks of mountains and hills. On Mount Ararat – according to the centuries’ old tradition – God initiated His covenant with all humanity through Noah, and promised never again to destroy all humankind. On Mount Moriah, God confirmed His covenant with Abraham, and promised him descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens. On Mount Sinai, God entered a covenant with Israel and clearly stipulated the conditions that would make them a people peculiarly His own, that they might be holy for I your God am holy. On Mount Carmel, God manifested His majesty and glory to Elijah and encouraged and strengthened His prophet. Other mountains, other hills, perhaps less impressive, but nonetheless places and moments when the great God of Israel made His presence, power, and pleasure plainly known to His people. The ‘heights’ offered the spot where our ancestors in faith communed with God. Rising above the daily routine, moving beyond all things that distract and deter, they were able to encounter God more profoundly, and commune with God alone.
The New Testament also speaks of mountains and hills. The heights where Jesus preached powerful sermons, performed wondrous miracles, persuaded and encouraged His chosen followers to accept His call to follow in His footsteps … and redeemed humanity. On the heights Jesus offers His ‘circle of friends’ opportunities to see the wonders of God and His own glory. Among these elevated areas are two memorable and important ‘Mounts’: Tabor and Calvary.
A spiritual writer of the last century says that Mount Tabor (Transfiguration) and Mount Calvary (Redemption) help us to see The Glory in every Cross, and the Cross in every moment of Glory. On Mount Tabor a few chosen friends had a unique glimpse of Jesus that would strengthen them after the Resurrection; they were transformed by His Transfiguration. On Mount Calvary all was fulfilled. The mission was complete. Jesus’ own words, When I am lifted up, I will call all people to Myself (John 12: 32), would powerfully affect humanity after the Resurrection. The covenants of the Old Testament are reiterated and find their climactic fulfillment on Mount Calvary. The ultimate sacrifice, offered to the Father in the Blood of Christ His Incarnate Son, is our holocaust. Jesus the Christ is offered on the altar of the Cross and thus seals the Covenant with the Father forever for the sake of us all. On the Hill of Golgotha God invites His children to come and see how much God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, so that all who believe in Him might have life everlasting. From the Cross Jesus sees the world and all times – past, present, future. He speaks to us. We see the Suffering Servant and recognize the King of Glory, the Christ; we acknowledge that His image through Baptism in His Blood makes us the Christian (the other Christ) each is called to be; and together we become the living Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, not a museum of saints but a home for sinners redeemed in the blood of Christ Jesus.
Hills and heights continue to be places where God makes His presence felt. There is a famous hill (mountain), famous especially for all Franciscans, that speaks volumes of the one who was transfigured in his soul on that height. It is La Verna. On this height St. Francis went to spend time in prayer and solitude. His soul was transported by profound love. His ardent prayer was to feel what Our Lord and Savior felt in His love for all humanity when he accepted to be crucified. A presumptuous prayer? No! It was the prayer of one whose love was so intense that he wished to share in all things, even those most painful and repugnant, as far as possible, what the Beloved experienced. And our Seraphic Father was granted his prayer. A seraph appeared to him in the form of the Crucified, and when the seraph left, St. Francis’ body had been signed with the wounds of the Passion of Our Savior.
People saw the little man marked for Life with the signs of the Lord’s Saving Death. Through the years they had witnessed the power of God speaking through the sincerity of his heart and the simplicity of his life. He was called to be a messenger of God’s all-abiding love and hope for a troubled world grown cold in its love for God and neighbor. Saint Francis of Assisi had become the ‘Father’ of a multitude of ‘Spiritual Children’ called to be ‘instruments of peace and blessings’ to the world. Like the Prophets and Patriarchs of old St. Francis stood before God and the people to intercede for them. Now that he had experienced the depths of God’s love in such an intimate and personal manner, not just seeing in the heart and communing with God in prayer, he became a strength and channel of divine graces for countless thousands of souls over the years.
Signed with the marks of the Passion of Jesus, our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi continues to attract numberless people to God. His life still speaks so eloquently of the Glory of the Cross and the Cross in every moment of Glory. His participation in the Passion of Christ is God’s way of still inviting everyone back to a more grace-filled life. Saint Francis signed with the Sacred Stigmata is an image of the Crucified Christ. And his words continue to indicate the Way that is Christ and leads to the graces that flow from the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus.
The Paschal Mystery continues down through the centuries in the Church. The Mystery continues through the Eucharist we celebrate. The Eucharist is a re-presentation of that tragic and triumphant day when we were redeemed by Jesus and in Whose Resurrection we are empowered to be able to look beyond death to Life. At the Eucharist especially, the priest is not his own. The priest mystically becomes Christ. The Mass is not the priest’s. When the priest celebrates Mass, it is Christ Jesus, gloriously present in, with, and through the Father and Holy Spirit, Who renews that grace-filled moment of Eternal Love that transforms those present, according to their own preparation and participation. According to each one’s personal cooperation with God’s grace, we are mystically transformed into a living image of Jesus … who more, who less.
Christ becomes present to the Christian at every Eucharistic celebration. Those present are led to a more profound awareness of the image of Christ they bear through Baptism. Each Eucharist worthily received encourages us to live our spiritual life more intensely. Life in the Spirit can effectively affect life in the world so that lives can truly change and be transformed. Christ lives in and through us all, when we cooperate with grace. We Christians are once again reminded of our dignity. As St. Leo the Great reminded the faithful in one of his sermons: O, Christian, be mindful of your dignity! When we understand and accept the dignity of being redeemed in the blood of Christ, we cannot help but feel powerless to resist His presence. Surrender to God and He will fill you with Himself!
Come to the Lord with heart filled gratitude and love rather than one that is always seeking gifts and miracles. Let the Christ present in each Christian be the Christ you now seek out in your sister or brother. Seeking out the other leads to a bonding in faith and love that builds up the Church of which we are a particular and defined expression. Secular Franciscans are sisters and brothers who individually have encountered Christ through our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi and who now seek to keep alive the graces and strengthen the ‘covenant’ that has been formed in and among them, through the example of our Father, with, and in Jesus.
As Spiritual Children of the Poverello of Assisi we follow the Lord Jesus on the Way of the Cross, but we must never forget that the Cross and the Resurrection are one. Easter joy is one with Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Resurrection Sunday of New Life in the Risen Lord. Each of those days celebrates the joy of the Resurrection: Glory in the Cross and the Cross in every moment of Glory! We must never separate the Cross from that wonderful moment of which St. Paul says: If Christ has not been raised from the dead our faith is in vain (1 Corinthians 15: 14). Let us never forget that St. Francis of Assisi and the Franciscan is God’s troubadour. We are messenger and message of God’s Love and Life to the world. The wounds of the Passion that St. Francis bore are intended to help us reflect on the eternal love of God for us in Jesus through the Spirit. The Sacred Stigmata of the man of La Verna are a visible reminder of that One Great Sacrifice, never repeated, but always re-presented on the altar by Christ through the priest, for the Christian, who in Him is the Church – a Resurrection People. All are invited to ascend the ‘heights’ of the altar in the spirit and be washed in the Blood of Christ. The example and words of our Father Francis inspire us. In him we see the Christ; through him we recognize and acknowledge we are Christian – faulty but image nonetheless of Christ; and with him we accept our role in this world to be the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, a Sign of Contradiction, that prods us in this world to look beyond ourselves and the world that has hold of us. As sisters and brothers in St. Francis we are, as St. Augustine calls Christians, an ‘Alleluia People’. We do not stop at the Cross, we go beyond. Alleluia!
On Resurrection Sunday we must roll back the stone of those many things that we have allowed to close us in on ourselves and shut us out from the light and life God has entrusted to us. God and we roll that boulder away together. We peer into the empty tomb. We recognize Who Jesus is; Jesus is the Christ. We recognize who we are; we are the Christian. We recognize what we have become in Christ; we are the Church. We are the living Body of Christ, alive in a world desperately in need of God’s messengers and message of Easter Peace and Joy. As I wrote in a previous letter: When we accept our moment in life and believe in the Lord’s Resurrection, ignorance gives way to knowledge, fear to courage and strength, prejudice to impartiality and acceptance, pride to humility, indifference to concern, over-indulgence to self-control, hypocrisy to sincerity, discouragement to hope, doubt to faith, and hatred to love, because…You can’t hold back the dawn! And the Resurrection of Jesus is the New Dawn bringing the Light of Christ to all willing to accept Him.
May the light of Christ’s Resurrection shine in your life that we might have life, and have it in abundance. Our God lives and journeys with each one of us that we might reach life’s goal: Eternal Life. May the Risen Lord Jesus shower you and your loved ones with peace, joy and abundant blessings for a Happy Easter; may Mary, Mother of the Redeemer and our Mother, help you to live with Jesus in the light of the New Life His Resurrection offers each one of us; and may our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi watch over each one of you, his Spiritual Children, with loving care. With a promise to keep all of you affectionately in my Easter Masses and Liturgies, I wish you and your dear ones a very Happy and Joyous Easter.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on April 4th, 2015
 April 2015
Let every creature in heaven,
on earth, in the sea and in the depths,
give praise, glory, honor and blessing
to Him Who suffered so much,
Who has given and will give in the future every good,
for He is our power and strength,
Who alone is good,
Who alone is almighty,
Who alone is omnipotent, wonderful, glorious
and Who alone is holy,
worthy of praise and blessing
through endless ages. Amen.
(Later Admonition and Exhortation to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance, 49-50)
Following are daily excerpts taken from the writings of St. Bonaventure. Daily meditative phrases from various sources.
1
One reason that should inspire us to preach is love of Christ, and another is love of our neighbor. – If you have encountered Christ, live with Christ! Announce him in the first person, as authentic witnesses.
2
The words of Holy Scripture provide spiritual nourishment for our neighbor, just as material food sustains the body. – It is impossible to love Christ without the Church that Christ loves.
3
In the same way that a person listens to news of a friend, and a sick person pays close heed to the advice of the doctor, so those who love God listen attentively to his word. – We know we can count on Christ here and, above all, now and always.
4
By the mouth of the contemplative soul dwelling in the garden of Holy Scripture, because of the consolations to be found there, the Lord, the Holy Spirit says: I will come to listen. – Do not extinguish the joy that is born of faith in Christ crucified and risen. (It is a joy of light, presence, forgiveness and anticipation of eternal happiness).
5
A third reason that ought to inspire us to preach is that the Lord desires to be honored. He wishes to be praised in our prayers, homilies, and sermons, and he wishes our neighbor to be edified by all these. – The Eucharist makes us Christians … The Church is realized when we celebrate the sacrifice of the cross of Christ …
6
Friend go up higher, are words of Christ inviting to the wedding feast those guests found to be humble whom the Lord exalts and desires to exalt. – Love can in fact bring about the prodigy of making the fragrant rose of joy bloom on the thorny stem of suffering.
7
St. Francis, having been invited to Christ’s wedding feast, sat in the lowest place. That is to say, he clothed himself in a shabby habit and he founded the Order of Lesser Brothers. – The Eucharist brings us near to God … God in the Eucharist is precisely that God who has willed to enter into man’s history … to become a man.
8
(St. Francis) did not qualify the word ‘Lesser’ in any way, but simply and unconditionally called his Order the Order of Lesser Brothers. The Lord said to the humble guest, the one who had taken the lower place, Friend, go up higher. – The times call for a radical examination of our relationship with Christ … very profound examination … very radical.
9
The wisdom of God … indicates (in the text Friend, go up higher) the presence of grace by the idea of friendship, and so the text says Friend. – Christ is on the side of man; and he is such on both sides: those who expect love and those who give them love.
10
The wisdom of God … indicates (in the text Friend, go up higher) ‘glory’ by the spatial adverb higher. – A pause for true adoration has greater value and spiritual fruit than the most intense activity, even apostolic activity itself.
11
The wisdom of God … symbolizes (in the text Friend, go up higher) ‘pass over from grace to glory’ by the verb go up. – In order to be able truly to enlist our time and our capabilities for the salvation and sanctification of souls … we must above all possess certitude and clarity about the truths that must be believed and practiced. If we are unsure, uncertain, confused, or contradictory, we cannot build.
12
Friend … refers to the power of grace and eternal wisdom in devout souls … bestowed on many saints for generation after generation. In these last times grace was given to this holy man, making him a model of repentance for all – We must at times knowingly detach ourselves from our sensuality to enhance our personality.
13
Jesus calls St. Francis his friend … due to his truly humble spirit in all that was committed to him, he was a faithful friend of the Lord. – Man must above all be beautiful internally. Without this beauty, all efforts directed to the body alone will not forge a truly beautiful person.
14
(Jesus calls St. Francis his friend) because of his utter purity of heart in everything he pledged himself to do, he was a congenial friend of the Lord. – We encounter God when we open ourselves to him.
15
(Jesus calls St. Francis his friend) on account of the serenity of his contemplative soul, he was an intimate friend of the Lord. – Our life is a journey toward heaven … The thought of heaven should strengthen us … We play the card of our life pointing toward heaven!
16
(Jesus calls St. Francis his friend) because the marks of Christ’s cross were imprinted on his body, he became, as Christ’s friend, conformed to his likeness. – We have need of Christ whom, if we want him to, can free us from the bonds of sin.
17
The word Friend, therefore, is addressed to Saint Francis because he was a faithful, congenial, and intimate friend of the Lord, conformed to him by the marks of the stigmata on his body. – Leading a life based on the sacraments, animated by the common priesthood, signifies … A desire that God will act in one and enable one to reach the full maturity of Christ.
18
(St. Francis) was a faithful friend on account of his true humility. We read in Sirach: There is nothing more precious as a faithful friend. The Lord greatly loves his faithful friends, and that is because he has so few faithful ones … – Eucharistic worship is the center of the whole sacramental life.
19
Excessive love of self leads to deceit; minimal love of our neighbor leads to negligence, and reduces the love of God to less than it ought to be. A faithful friend possesses a truly humble heart. – The cross of Christ is the substance of the divine mystery which animates the Church and humanity.
20
(A faithful friend of God) observes all God’s commandments and attributes nothing to his own glory that is accomplished by God. Saint Bernard writes: You are indeed a faithful servant of the Lord when nothing of the Lord’s abundant glory, which does not come from you but is channeled through you, remains clinging to your hands. – The whole Gospel is a dialogue with man … always and uninterruptedly a dialogue with man, with every man – one, unique, and absolutely singular.
21
Many achieve nothing for God, because when they see that something of his glory is being channeled through them, they desire to be praised and honored themselves. – Every threat to human rights … is perilous to peace.
22
Saint Francis made himself subject to everyone and was obedient even to the tiniest commandment of God. If anyone ordered him to do anything he was ready to carry it out and be obedient to all. – Freedom and truth determine the spiritual imprint that makes the diverse manifestations of life and human activity.
23
(St. Francis) always acknowledged himself the greatest and vilest sinner … He used to ask the Lord in prayer: Why, O Lord, have you put me, wretched and stupid as I am, in charge of this Order? And the Lord answered: Have you not considered that I am above you in governing and caring for the Order? – Love has need of freedom.
24
(The Lord said to St. Francis) Since I am above you, you can put me in your place in governing and directing the Order. For the Lord’s sake he attributed everything to the glory of God. We should learn to be faithful like this ourselves. – Overcome evil with good.
25
(St. Francis) was a congenial friend in everything he pledged himself to do, due to his utter purity of heart. He who loves purity of heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king as his friend, and not merely an earthly king, but the everlasting King of glory whose friendship ensures we will arrive at the eternal kingdom. – Learn to know Christ. Grasp Christ.
26
Saint Francis cherished innocence and purity and so he won the friendship of the everlasting King. Anyone who desires to preserve innocence and purity of heart has to … do penance by willingly undertaking afflictions … and have patience in tribulations inflicted by others. – Prayer, trust, and fidelity must be the climate of authentic ecumenism (or unity).
27
The soul cannot be purified without passing through the refining fire of penance and patience … St. Francis was purified through penance in fasting, abstinence and afflictions. – Dialogue between brothers (and sisters) does not efface but presupposes our own identity.
28
Saint Francis desired to undergo tribulations for Christ’s sake and to suffer in order to do something for him. Indeed, so much did he want to bear trials on behalf of his neighbor that he offered himself to the pagan Sultan, that he might be put to death on the account of Christ. – With the power of the Gospel, the Church helps us to see and respect everyone as brother (sister) … and invites to dialogue so that justice may be safeguarded and unity maintained.
29
Saint Francis was an intimate friend of the Lord because of the serenity of his contemplative soul … Saint Francis was saved from the dangerous currents of a worldly life. God gave him the staff of the cross to lead the people out of the Egypt of vice into the desert of the Order of Lesser Brothers. – Enjoy the fruits of your work and a legitimate industriousness … But … do not shut yourselves within yourselves: think of the most poor.
30
The Lord calls his chosen ones to the cross to lead others into the desert of repentance and at the end of this life into the Promised Land, that is, to the glory of the heavenly kingdom. – Do not let material abundance separate you from the beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount.
Posted By Teresa Redder, on March 1st, 2015  March 2015
Dear Spiritual Children of St. Francis of Assisi,
The Lord give you His peace!
For what profit comes to a man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored?… All his days are sorrow and grief are his occupation. (Ecclesiastes 2:22-23) Even the plebeian suffered the same as the king. (Wisdom18:11) Come, all you who pass by the way, look and see whether there is any suffering like my suffering. (Lamentations 1:12) Why does Sacred Scripture deal with suffering and sorrow so much? The easiest response is the obvious fact: Suffering is at the center of every human experience.
In his Encyclical Salvifici Doloris, Pope St. John Paul II writes: Suffering, in fact, is always a trial – at times a very hard one – to which humanity is subjected. The Gospel paradox of weakness and strength often speaks to us from the pages of the letters of St. Paul, a paradox particularly experienced by the Apostle himself and together with him experienced by all who share Christ’s sufferings. Paul writes in the second letter to the Corinthians: “I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12: 9) In the second letter to Timothy we read: And therefore I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed. (2 Timothy 1: 12) And in the letter to the Philippians he will even say: I can do all things in him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4: 13). The distinction St. Paul conveys, that Pope St. John Paul II repeats, is: I believe the person and thus live his words (for I know whom I have believed); I believe in him and thus trust his power to save (I can do all things in him).
Suffering has touched all of us in some way or another. We suffer at the news of a loved one who has an incurable disease. We are saddened when a family happily awaiting the birth of a child is told that this new life will be burdened with physical or psychological challenges for all his/her life. We feel inadequate and helpless when we see suffering in our loved ones and have no power to help them. We suffer with our own spiritual and physical vulnerabilities. What about the terrible social, economic, meteorologic calamities that affect whole families, cities, nations?! Suffering is around us and in each one of our lives. How do we respond to this universal ‘companion’?
Some years ago a physician stated: We respond to suffering with a fatalistic and passive attitude that blindly accepts what cannot be changed permitting this cruel destiny (to overwhelm us). This pagan perspective seems to pervade in every age. Other attitudes are: resigning one’s self to fate and giving up the fight; overcoming suffering by trying to eliminate all desire and passion in life; trying to play ‘mind over matter’ games like some ‘superperson’; despairing and just giving up; attempting to overcome suffering by ‘buying our way out of it’; forgetting troubles by going ‘head over heels’ into the pleasures of life; rationalizing suffering away by denying it. So many other ‘methods’ have been tried, but to no real success… It matters not how we try to eliminate suffering from our lives; suffering will always be there at one time or another, in one form or another.
How did our Seraphic Father St. Francis respond to suffering? How did our Mother Clare respond to the reality of suffering? They found an unusual happiness in their afflictions. They suffered and were willing to accept even more if that was the will of God. They did not fear suffering, because they did not fear death. Death for them and all souls surrendered to the will of God was the moment they would be united by indissoluble bonds to the heavenly Bridegroom of their souls. They were fully aware and convinced that in embracing their crosses, they were fulfilling their earthly mission to embrace the cross and follow Jesus to Calvary.
Suffering for the sake of suffering is foolish and certainly not centered in God. When we are enveloped with suffering or just have to bear some serious inconvenience for a time, we are being entrusted with a “mission”. The “mission of participating in the Redemptive Passion of Christ, the ultimate gift that every true Christian is asked to perfect in his/her life. When we enter the celebration of the Eucharist with heart, mind, and soul totally focused and intent on the Sacred Action of re-presenting the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s Passion-Death-Resurrection, we too, through our baptismal consecration as re-born in Christ through the Holy Spirit, become spiritually victims with the Victim and victors with the Victorious Redeemer.
The Lenten journey we have begun introduces us each year into the Mystery of the Suffering Servant of God. We are asked to listen to His words and follow in His footsteps. This ‘following’ can be frightening when we understand what the call entails and when we recognize our weaknesses. But, it can be uplifting when we acknowledge the One Who has preceded us and invites us to follow me. Lent encourages us to participate in the ministry of the Person of The Suffering Servant – Jesus. We are asked to be not only spectators but protagonists of the Mystery of Calvary. We are offered the opportunity to ‘be one with Christ’ in the whole work of our salvation. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2: 20).
He Who created us without our will, will not save us without our consent (St. Augustine). God can save anyone He so wills to save. However, although Jesus died once for all on the Cross, we must continue to make up in our bodies what is still wanting in the passion of Christ, as St. Paul tells us (Colossians 1:24). The continuation of the Mystery of Calvary in our lives is an ongoing process of healing with, through, in Jesus. We continue a spiritual process to eradicate whatever in our life may be harmful to our growth in God’s grace. We strive to control whatever could lead us astray from our relationship with God.
Lent is a time for us to seek spiritual healing that ultimately affects our very lives. We may try to accomplish this by very practical ‘sacrifices’: foods, TV programs, entertainment, and the like. We may increase the prayers we recite, or the time we spend reading Scripture or some other spiritual writing. We may offer our time, talents and ‘treasures’ to assist the needy with Corporal or Spiritual Works of Mercy. These practices and many others are commendable. We participate in the sufferings of Christ by accepting to bear these small crosses each day as we prepare for the celebration of New Life in Jesus at Easter. Nevertheless, there is something we still must do if all these practices are to be effective, if they are to achieve the purpose for which they are intended. We must start from where we want to arrive if we ever expect to eventually get there! We must Come to the Center!
Come To The Center! We must get to the ‘core’ of things. We must get to the ‘heart’, the Heart of God, that Heart opened for us on the Cross that we might enter the Father’s loving embrace – the Heart of Jesus, the Heart of the Eternal High Priest Who is both the Lamb of Sacrifice and the Priest Who offers the Sacrifice. It is in this Sacrifice that we enter the ‘heart’ of the matter and the Heart of the Lord, Whose footsteps we seek to follow and Whose Cross we are asked to bear according to the strengths allotted us by Divine Providence. It is the Eucharist and all that the Eucharist means that is the point of departure as well as the point of arrival of any worthwhile ‘sacrifice’ and ‘penance’. To make our lives sacred (sacrifice=make sacred) we must do ‘penance’ (penance= metanoia = change of mind/heart). Thus, Lent is a time to be holy by changing our hearts. To do this we must…
Come to the Center! Jesus is the ‘Center’. The Tabernacle, the Eucharist, that is where our focus should be, not just during Lent, but always. It is there that we re-present the great Mystery of our Redemption in the Paschal Mystery, the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Jesus. It is the Eucharist, celebrated, received worthily, and adored with love, that gives meaning to what we do, and fills our hearts with the divine graces necessary to grow in our faith and relationship with God.
Our Seraphic Father St. Francis was enamored with the Eucharist. Jesus was the very center of his life. He became so much one with Jesus that he was gifted to bear the wounds of the Passion of the Savior. The prayer of St. Francis repeated by most Catholics, especially during Lent when they pray the Stations of the Cross, tells us of St. Francis’ love for Christ and the Cross, and the Eucharist: We adore You most holy Lord Jesus Christ, (here and in all Your churches throughout the world,) and we bless you, because by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world. Always centered on the Eucharist, St. Francis even prayed this prayer kneeling outside a locked church door when access to the interior was impossible.
Come to the Center! The Eucharist is not a devotion; the Eucharist is not ‘another sacrificial practice’; the Eucharist is not an ‘option’ among many others. The Eucharist is Jesus! What greater experience could we allow ourselves to deepen, that in turn would transform us, than to focus on the Eucharist and make our Sacramental Jesus, Eternal High Priest and Lamb of Sacrifice, the Center of all we seek to do and become during the Lenten Season.
As Brothers and Sisters in St. Francis of Assisi, his Spiritual Children, remember that the Eucharist was central to our Father’s life. His strength came from his love and total surrender to his Lord, the Center of his life. What about us!? If we do only a few ‘things’ for Lent, let us make an effort to deepen, sincerely and with commitment, our participation in and love for the Eucharist. This may take herculean efforts for many because this requires daily and/or concentrated and regular preparation before, focused participation during, and calm centered praise and thanksgiving after the celebration of the Eucharist, each day if possible. From this will flow abundant graces and unimaginable strength to meet the demands of life and to live in a peace and serenity that only God can give. I hope that all of us, Spiritual Children of the Poverello, will make the Eucharist the first and foremost goal of our Lenten journey. Let our cry and goal be: Jesus, and Jesus alone!
Come to the Center! Let Jesus be the focus of your Lenten journey, because Jesus is the real goal of this season. In the Eucharist, we re-live the awesome experience of our Redemption in His Passion-Death-Resurrection. Only in Jesus, does anything we ‘do’ make sense, and any sacrifice we ‘make’ have a lasting and meaningful effect.
May this holy season fill you with the graces necessary to strengthen your resolve to become holy through ‘sacrifice’, in a profound change of mind and heart through ‘penance’, by a daily resolute decision to Come to the Center – Jesus! Come to the One from Whom all graces flow and to Whom all life must go if we are to grow in the New Life we celebrate at the end of this holy season. What a wonderful opportunity we are offered. Let us make the effort Lent asks of us.
God bless you; Our Lady guide, guard, and protect you; and St. Francis of Assisi our Seraphic Father watch over each one of us, his Spiritual Children, with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on March 1st, 2015 March 2015
Embrace the poor Christ.
Look upon Him Who became contemptible for you,
and follow Him, making yourself contemptible in this world for Him.
… gaze, consider, contemplate desiring to imitate …
‘Who though more beautiful than the children of men became,
for your salvation, the lowest of men’,
was despised, struck, scourged untold times throughout His entire body,
and then died amid the suffering of the Cross,
(St. Clare of Assisi, The second Letter to St. Agnes of Prague)
Following are excerpts taken from poverty and Joy The Franciscan Tradition by William J. Short, OFM. Daily reflections are taken from the words of Pope St. John XXIII.
1
What the Poverello wished to do was to bring again to our notice the science of holy love … And in fact, from the ‘bubbling-up well’ of his heart there has come a whole school of spirituality. – Peaceable folks do not stand idly by, they are the active builders of peace.
2
The Franciscan Family has included from its very beginning a rich diversity, and seems to resist even the most earnest attempts to turn it into a ‘system’. – Man must first pray for peace, and then learn to live in peace.
3
Francis himself seemed to many in his day a new kind of Christian, one who did not fit easily within the categories of his day. – Christian peace is rooted in faith, hope and charity, and is strengthened by prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance.
4
Instead of accepting one of the well-established forms of Christian life … he chose the more difficult way, creating a new ‘form of life’, as he called it, different from the prevailing … forms then in favor. – True peace can come from God alone.
5
What drove that desire to create something new was his deep conviction that it was ‘the Lord Jesus Christ’ himself who was guiding him. – Good will is the sincere intention to … be faithful to the truth.
6
Followers soon arrived … They formed a fraternity, followed a form of life based on the gospel. In part contemplatives, in part popular preachers, they lived and worked with their hands, frequently with the sick, and begged when they needed to. – Peace is first found and enjoyed in the family … (through) understanding and generosity.
B
Clare of Assisi … developed the new ‘form of life’ in a women’s community marked by sisterly communion, prayer and manual labor, with no stable sources of revenue. – What counts is the love with which we do the will of God.
8
Combining elements of monastic life with the life of lay women penitents she created her own unique expression of ‘life according to the Holy Gospel’. – He is truly great who has great love.
9
Its innovative character, especially Clare’s insistence on work and begging to support her sisters, alarmed church authorities, who time and again attempted to convince her to accept a more secure, more traditional lifestyle. – He is truly great who is humble of heart and sets no store by greatness or honors.
10
Forty years after beginning her ‘evangelical experiment’, Clare’s own Rule was approved, the first of its kind, written for women by a woman. – He is truly prudent who rejects as dross all earthly things, in order to win Christ.
11
As Francis reflected upon his life as he was approaching death, he left us in his Testament a remarkable and simple account of how the Franciscan tradition began: ‘The Lord inspired me to begin to do penance in this way …’ – There are so many people who have sight and yet do not see!
12
The great discovery for Francis … was as old as the Gospels themselves. The Lord had inspired in him the desire to live the kind of life that Jesus lived with his disciples. This may seem commonplace to us today … Not so in Francis’ day … – There are so many who get lost chasing after…trifles…of no account, and forget God, their own souls and righteousness.
13
In Francis’ day religious communities sought to imitate the early Christian community at Jerusalem … With its orderly rhythm … Francis was inspired to follow a life that was less settled … – Have courage!
14
Francis was inspired to follow a way of life … that would resemble more closely the life of Jesus himself, shared with Mary and the disciples during the brief years of their mission in Galilee and the surrounding territory. – Be generous in the tasks which await you.
15
The reference to Jesus, Mary and the disciples is intentional: Francis saw in them the pattern of his own life, and that of his followers. ‘The Lord Jesus Christ was a poor man and a transient and lived on alms, He and the Blessed Virgin and His disciples. – Work in charity and peace.
16
This life of transients, dependent on the generosity of others while they travel, struck a chord within Francis. In their poverty, Jesus and the members of His community were the best examples of what it means to proclaim the reign of God and live in its presence. – Purity of heart carefully and constantly guarded becomes the rule and radiance of our whole life and of every word and deed.
17
Jesus instructs his disciples to preach the reign of God, instructing them to travel without silver or gold, extra tunics, without sandals or walking-sticks … Francis cries out ‘This is what I want, this is what I desire, this is what I long for with all my heart’. – Purity of heart is the serene atmosphere which surrounds every earnest vocation.
18
(Clare) considered her life with her sisters a ‘mirror’ of the gospel, reflecting the face of Christy to the world, particularly to the violent and troubled world of Assisi itself. Clare and her community preached the gospel by their living example of poverty and peaceful unity. – Purity of heart must be the breath of the love of God.
19
(Francis) combined austerity of life with an infectious joy, service of the poor with lyrical delight in creatures, popular preaching with silent contemplation, and missionary journeys with long periods in mountain hermitages. – Purity of heart enables us to enjoy the incomparable happiness of long conversations with God in his holy tabernacle.
20
(Francis stigmata set him apart) from earlier saints, making him seem in flesh and blood, a living image of Christ, one perfectly conformed to the Lord he strove to follow. – The world cannot do without Christ.
21
The life of the Poverello may seem more cheerful and more peaceful than that of some of the other saints. But the truth is that he was the saint of excesses: excess in sacrifice, excess in love: and it was by reason of his excesses that he held to the happy medium, because his disregard for moderation worked both ways … – The Church treasures the words of Jesus.
22
Others received something from Francis … It was the experience of knowing Francis himself: he was the message … He taught ‘by word and example’ … He was a living example of what he taught. He edified his listeners by his example as well as his words; ‘he made his whole body a tongue’ … – Love governs the mutual relations of Christians and inspires our openness to all.
23
More than someone who prayed, he had become a prayer … That is, his whole person had become the message he was trying to communicate. – The Lord continues to love all his redeemed, in spite of the insults and ingratitude with which they reward his kindness.
24
And what was this message? In a word, it was Jesus … For Francis, the discovery of Jesus, ‘Our Lord Jesus Christ’, was the ongoing revelation of his whole life in the twenty years after his conversion. – Let us not talk about the duties of others, but try to think more seriously about our own.
25
In his early years he discovered Jesus as the one who led him among the lepers, and made their presence ‘sweet to him’, rather than ‘bitter’. He then discovered Jesus the preacher of conversion, announcing the reign of God. – The divine rule about not serving two masters means not being of two minds.
26
Over the years he began to see more clearly Jesus as the Incarnate Son of God .. As the Lord of all things, raised up in glory after his death. And in this Lord, the glorified Son, he also understood the Trinitarian God. – Be aware of what’s going on around you.
27
It is through ’the Lord Jesus Christ’ that Francis understands Mary, the Church, the Scriptures, priesthood, the poor, his brothers and sisters, and all creatures. – God has engraved his law on men’s hearts.
28
If there is one word which does complete justice to Franciscan theology and spirituality, it is ‘Christocentric’, and they have this as their distinguishing feature, because the faith and holiness of St. Francis were totally centered on Christ. In Jesus Christ the revelation is made to us of what the world as a whole and in all its parts, means to God. – Everything is in the Lord’s hands
29
What unites Clare and Francis is not an identical experience of Christ, but different experiences of the same Christ. – Human life must be founded on virtue and not on the hope of some gain or advantage.
30
More than a disciple, Clare is also a creative architect of the tradition she lived. – We are not put into this world to dissipate our energies or amuse ourselves, but to do the will of God.
31
Poverty, or ‘living without grasping’, marks the writings and lives of both Francis and Clare. A key to their understanding of Christ, poverty also became a source of division among their followers. – Body and soul must go forward together; whoever does so will be worthy, good and honest.
Posted By Teresa Redder, on March 1st, 2015 Dear Sisters and Brothers,![assisi09%20021[1]](http://www.skdregion.org/wp-content/uploads/assisi09-0211-225x300.jpg)
Peace and all good to you!
It is said that father Francis who, when in prison, started his conversion, took the words of the Gospel of Mark 6:7-13 literally. Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick – no food, no sack, no money for their belts.
St. Francis took the Lenten season very seriously, as we read in Chapter 7 The Little Flowers of Francis of Assisi, a new translation by Robert H. Hopcke and Paul A. Schwartz:
Saint Francis, true servant of Christ, was in many ways like Christ himself, given to the world for the salvation of all people. Thus, God willed that Saint Francis conform to the example of his only son Jesus Christ in his choice of twelve companions, as we have seen, in the wondrous mystery of the Sacred Stigmata, and in his Lenten fasting, which he observed in the following manner.
Having been lodged at the house of a faithful follower near the Lake of Perugia during the time of Carnival, Saint Francis was inspired by God to observe Lent that year on one of the islands in the lake. So Saint Francis asked his devoted son, for the love of God, to take him on Ash Wednesday in his boat to the uninhabited island by night, so that no one might see them, which the man did readily out of the great love and devotion he held toward Saint Francis. Bringing with him only two small loaves of bread, Saint Francis enjoined his friend to tell no one that he was there and to come back for him no sooner than Holy Thursday, at which his friend took leave of the island, leaving Saint Francis there by himself.
As there were no houses on the island to be used as shelter, Saint Francis was content to use a large, thick bush overgrown with vines and plants as a kind of den or hut for himself. There he prayed and contemplated heavenly matters, staying there throughout all of Lent without food or drink, eating no more than half of one of the small loaves he had brought with him, and his faithful friend found him on Holy Thursday upon his return to the island. Upon seeing a loaf and a half of bread still untouched, he believed that the saint ate the half loaf he did eat out of sheer reverence for the fasting of the blessed Christ, who ate nothing for forty days and forty nights, wishing to follow the example of Christ’s fast but setting aside any temptation to vainglory by eating this half loaf of bread as an act of intentional humility.
Afterward, God began to perform miracles in this place where Saint Francis had observed his Lenten abstinence in such a wondrous fashion. People came to this island, building houses and living there, until finally a town grew up, along with a community house for the friars, and all in this place where Saint Francis observed Lent felt great devotion for him and reverence.
Praise be to Jesus Christ and to his poor servant Francis. Amen.
For the remainder of Lent let us pray with joyful hearts, giving to those in need and denying ourselves so that we as Franciscans, who share in the cross, can share in the glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday. Glory be to God.
For further reflection, be sure to read Pope Francis’ Lenten Message, Make Your Hearts Firm. The message was signed on Oct. 4th, 2014, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Pope Francis makes reference to three Biblical texts which applies to the above and ourselves as the Church and Franciscans.
Love, Rosie
Posted By Teresa Redder, on February 21st, 2015 I received a letter today from the secretary to His Eminence, Sean Cardinal O’Malley in response to my request that the Cardinal mention the Secular Franciscans when he speaks at the World Meeting of Families next September.
Here is what he said:
The Cardinal holds the Secular Franciscan vocation in high regard and is grateful for your dedication to this important ministry, which enriches the lives of many people.
As we look toward the events being planned for the World Meeting of Families this coming September, we will be happy to determine how the secular vocation can be included in the Cardinal’s participation, to provide recognition for the members and to encourage a greater awareness and increase of this means of living one’s faith. As you note, this could be particularly helpful for providing young people an effective and fulfilling means for responding to the Lord’s call in their lives.
We are most grateful to Cardinal O’Malley for his kindness in recognizing the value of the Secular vocation.
Kate
Posted By Teresa Redder, on February 15th, 2015 Greetings of peace, dear brothers and sisters!
I pray this finds you well and filled with the Lord’s peace on this Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes!
Well, it is that time again! Yes, Lent is one week away; and in preparation I wanted to send this out to give you time to pray and plan your Lenten activities. As our Holy Father Pope Francis says, lent is a time of grace and renewal. Lent is a wonderful opportunity to begin again!
Please use the links below to open and dowload the 2015 Lenten Edition of the Animator Notes with some Lenten activities for you and your communities to partake. There are also some Lenten Resources, including my Lenten Season of Peace, for you to go deeper into prayer, fasting and giving alms.
One of the activities is a global one. On March 16th, Catholics here in the United States are asked to fast for creation. I am asking you to individually and fraternally join with me (and my emerging fraternity here in South Carolina) to fast in honor of Sister/Mother Earth. You can fast from fast food, excessive water, paper, or electronics use. There is no shortage of ideas to fast. Then, feast on the goodness of our loving Creator God and our Sister/Mother Earth! WooHoo! That’s Latin for Praise the LORD! (said no one ever!)
Anyway, I beg of you to please share with me, in the form of a paragraph, pictures or a video of your Lenten fasting experiences. I would be so grateful.
Feel free to email me with questions or comments anytime. This weekend, I am fasting from conflict and violence in a Restorative Circles Workshop – so limited email access. Stay tuned for more on that.
I wish you all a very blessed, joyous and peace-filled Lenten Season!
Carolyn
Animate Peace
“Peace begins within each of us. It is a process of repeatedly showing mercy to ourselves, forgiving ourselves, befriending ourselves, accepting ourselves, and loving ourselves. As we learn to appreciate ourselves and accept God’s gift of peace, we begin to radiate peace and love to others.” ~ Rev. John Dear
Animator Notes – 2015 Lenten Edition
Lenten Season of Peace by Carolyn Townes, OFS
Catholic Relief Service Rice Bowl – 2015 Lenten Calendar
Interfaith Power and Light – Lenten Carbon Fast 2015
Posted By Teresa Redder, on February 8th, 2015 Dear Brothers and Sisters, attached is a special edition of Hearts and Hands Across the Region. It deals with all we are doing to prepare for the World Meeting of Families and the Pope’s visit next September.
Safe and warm blessings to all as we get through this winter!
kate kleinert, ofs
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