che CORD ten": [A FRANCISCAN SPIRITUAL REVIEW Baitor— Pr Micha Dy Melk, O.F.a. Fr: Brin Kiawy 0.7.3. CONTENTS ‘THE FRANCISCAN SPIRIT OF BROTHERHOOD 3 Culten Schippe, 0.F.M. Cop CHRISTOCENTRISM AND LOVE n Sistor Mary Mildred, CSS.F. ST, FRANCIS AND THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD 26 Sister M, Rose Cecilia, OF. FRANCISCAN PIONEERS IN MEXICO 3 Benedict Leutenegger, O.F M. 20th CENTURY FRANCISCAN APOSTOLATE 6 Hilary Seully, OF-M. Cop. ‘THE CORD section rates; $20 « year ($250 fren) — 200 coryEditorial With this issue, THE CORD is at last up to date, It has bee a rather hectic proce sinter ete proces, making up "yea? of masini couple ot mont, and we dont mind admiting that were fad ‘One thing remains to be done as we prepare ‘pormal operation, and that is normal operation the expression of our deep gratitude We are art, of fatal canfence Thu Only ‘est, a psig eee lation increte (hy the han sor bang publ to ou suber rs for thle Se ea racan a recoly obere es) whi he ann Wea Our thanks go, too, to the many competent authors and ar- 0, to the 7 ists, who responded so generously to our request for relevant and’ sgnificant mater simificant materi with which to grace the pager of this review. were short, and requirements exacting, Yet the material came in, Znaterial came in, and pact lasues have been made up pecs — ee nea pete “a geen en oe sa ey on gs ea oe umaltt® Help, we shit conting a ‘month, reading material designed to kc formed = the latest developments in Francis fre iee Inspce ever greater fidelity tothe Freneean deal" * now, to bring you on The Franciscan Spirit of Brotherhood Cullen Schippe, O.P-M. Cop. sf a mother loves and cares for her child in the flesh, & friar thould certainty love and care for his spiritual brother all {lar should ery" (2 Male 6)2 This is one of the most aunt: the mart cadlfal exhortations in the Rote af Saint Francis, Some ing end beaut Gr passages in the history of, literature have of hg most {2 the tenderness of mother-love, and yet Saint Fran- beet erat han asked his followers to be more tender and de- 1 of bene another than a mother is to her own flesh and blood ‘Twentith-century man is very much concerned with inter- persynal relationships, ‘Existentialist philosophers furnish ont Peta rpresenttives of the contradictory and equally strange standing TeresPrevalent today: the headlong race in which some tendent G Rwey from what. litle communication they still are enEnge por people, and. the brazen swagger which others ave witeod in (heir quest for a deeper and more meaningful Interpersonal communteation. personal lationship of brotherhood in Christ under the fther, BeOP ot God: a. Christian reality which divine rev otfance have preserved from the defects and exaggerations that guidance 23 viruslly all purely human programs for fulfillment pave vita interested specifically inthe Franciscan form of Here (rotherhood. What se involved in it? What is excluded from rae orang other questions must be answered, and the answers A ese a ied to the contemporary effort to renew Fran- ‘seas. tn this article I shall discuss two points of major importance in ant Gonsderation of our tradition of brotherhood in the Or- i any crmeigetprancis! own view of fratermitas, and (2) the aero eegach to the same subject. Basically the two views aFe ‘ern 2Put changes that have taken place in the Order and the same, bot Gonole have bad a role in shaping our contempo~ ve cctosk on brotheriiness; hence the need to refleet on the Taster and its importance in the current renewal. PRATER CULLEN i auying forth pricthnd ot the Capuchin Seminary TRia Mary, Groen Pont, Totons a‘Saint Francis and Brotherhood ‘The best summary of our best ummary of our Seraph Father's flings fo the should cond ret ct themseves ta hater can perbape be found in the eleventh chapir of he ee The friars are bound to love one another bec 80 our Lord says, sou tore one anoter 40 Th ire yoo 3 ust prove thar Tove = “Let's Bot lone tn word, "he tones, Du needa in eth Jae), MMe with the ‘rey are to speak “ent of none” (TL. 8:2 complaining, no slander; it ieeat eee ops SMT YRC Tyner oo sme IE st, me tng pn ro mur argh ing Mas i in Shalt aed Soden Sethe Sa" eat or ea ans ees Mal ened es "it brotherhood, Onder ‘And significantly, he forbade any other tile ‘Thomas of Celano in his Vita Secunda insists: ‘The Blesed Francis admonished all to charty, indoesnand brother- 1y attecton He sd: °T desire that my beste rs show thereces Loe eee 2iyGractaid Gaon secs SEAS ot moe encteer of ait wat pee ‘whom the same sprit had called and maw begotten, cae gi es aie Thou be nurtared peace sBovld be nuraredpencenhiy dn the bosom of he same neti reer ree inal ar rcle ieee areca io Seg Sacer ne ‘how one another genuine trtheriy love” (p. 238), The life of Ee mete gs oe pe Seen sic in need. Seldom ll par have to express ha nectar na ‘There were, however, difficulties along this line, early in the hitoty of the Order, it seems that a rash of detraction broke the histor’ {he friars, "The Order,” said Francis, "is threatened Sut An I the detractors are not checked. Very soon the good by crt May brothers will be sullied if the mouth of these nate ee la not stuffed. Rise, iso, examine carefully, and if you anderers (sod brother as iinocent, then inflict on the aceiser ft hard and public punishment.” ara words from the serephic Seint! He could take many of- tenott tnd’ show ‘great ierey,, but for him the biggest offense fentes fraternal Ghanty was the detraction and murmuring of against freterupar from indulging in detraction or disputing in the. 24) the friars should do their best to avold talk: words (ding as God gives them the opportunity. There rast ing, secre Gling. among themselves or with others, and they ee deGontent to answer everyone humbly ...” 1 Rule 11) spiration ot ch courtesy. was twotold. First, Christ was seen to een toe ea his ody, the Church, Every human being be. the MDacame equal under God as at last a potential mem- therefore bere"ie tare and solictude of the friars for one, an- ver of cue from this “divine” egalitarianism, Secondly, there ater flow et alety and humility of the friars. To be booria, dls: Was tae TY was not consistent with a truly slmple_end gauricot. reanor. Such lack of socal grace foul be a gross a humble derjow member of the Mystial Body or to « brother jn religion, ‘Poe aense ot equity which wet tnberet im te Franciscan sola ‘The eens of ished toa senee of personal dignity as asaching 10 Seth ves aan se oftheir relationship with Jesus Christ. The a meee Ghe-ute ay, an we nave seen, won sl cesion: rally ie of majesty had Ts corresponding personal action In gad that emit Of Mine Pranclecan legend le cooidered #2, out ne gourteay whic yuch so that the dlsourtcous friar was held to standing var (Guibert, Romantetam of Sait Francs D6 ‘Francis was, after Christ, the supreme exemplar and living mod iat fatrsal charity in the Order. He first Uved the jn: Feet love before. ae expected it of others. The Foret Junction 10 fp little instances of love, compassion, and sympethy are led of our seraphie Father. Celano relates one touching onthe Pecould well serve a5 a aypiesl example, Brother Ri story that Sauvinced that he stood in the good oF ill favor of God 5accordingly as he stood in the good or ill favor of the Saint. He ‘considered himself unworthy of the sersphie Father's friendship, 4nd was on one occasion dismayed by this fancied unworthiness: ‘When Francis found out about the brother's plight he asl et not thls temptation trouble you, my son, nor this doubt embit= ter you: for you ate very dear to me and ean be. aantred that mong all my beloved ones You are worl of my pordewas fsteem and frendship. Come to me whenever you wish, and avail ourself without fat of thi rendahip 12 Gel ‘The Mirror of Perfection recounts the simple yet powerful story of the friar who Woke up in tho middie’ of the might ip the throes of terrible hunger tantrum. “Lmmedietely” Blesel Francis had a teal prepared, and like a man fall of love aed albrtion sat by hind 1 ati hth he should fee 2o shame at eating by himself." Many were the exempies ot Francis’ cutstanding brotherly love a But what is the basis — the “philosophical foundation” — for svch & respect (and thls is' key word) and love for the brothers? ‘The answer has already been hinted at in the foregoing pparsgraphs: Christocentrism and a realization of humam dignity, Christocentrism may be regarded at the unifying clement in I Franciscan brotherly love. It is expressed in the thedlogy: Seint Bonaventure ss an outlook which sees all creation saree duced in and through Christ, modelled on Christy and destined for ultimate fulfillment under the headship of Chest, Chriss centrism means, in short, an attitude which sees Christ tnt leg, land always as the center of God's plan and therefore of Humes ite ‘The second factor mentioned above is that realization of hue rman dignity which characterized Francie’ attitude toward eveey man he met. "He viewed each human being through ‘Chelsea ‘eyes, particularly the members of the Brotherhood he fousice For Saint Francis, the brethren were much more than comrades ina new adventure, more than fellow Christans if by this ae ‘mean merely a fellowship in the same visible organization, nove than friends if we take friendship in even its deepest philocogh, leal sense. They were spiritual Brothers, joined Wacties etre communion ofa life infinitely transcending every nataral reality Francis, then, loved and cherished his brethren with a deep PERSONAL love. Down through the centuries this brotherhood and, shall we say, exprit de corpe has been an ‘integral pat of 6 Jecan way of life, The reason for this can be seen in those wor ‘Chesterton's Saint Francis of Assisi: rare aes ‘the beggar, from the Sultan of Syria to the nage there ever wes man wh looked into the Gare tnd of Prous Bernadone witht bln certain that Be sed oar gsreared In them. Pranci ws iteesed In eerones TT Tact te om the eele tothe grave. Bach Baran beng ove itd und ten seriou, He tented te we ob of me> "Map of ning He Gemanded « gotat at of RumAD ature Ree pects he doped I bat Father bese ‘eased ite potent Jen anew how to live the new command: ‘sllow Hisar towe egpecaly 1, is fellow Apostle Paul tli of It re Galatlans) as being first to Francis showed m ment, and he manifested {riare: He saw his duty (a5 the Shath chapter of his Letter to the {he "household of the faithful ‘The Franciscans and Brotherhood 4. Francis, and even, during bis Ble Stn rit tbe Frenecan ary, with sete nee unfortunate Tape Scraps of Asset have always Been ‘Shoat coral and bape the days of tina, there have ee ay rd tateraal charity. [iE and rulers ofthe Seraph ot Pumeuisned for what Pelder cal ip. 24. fy brotherliness”(p. 24 vs veona in th fe Serg fo pct, i simply belng FOR that brother. Being words of Gln Pranl, ssp being FOR that Br FOR brother involves gaining in United way a se ce ry TRE pasate a aee SESS mets lovin of erento, te se thn A Ea Bl oe bat Te ale ont eee tt Ee wnt = Me, Francis named us, and we are in reality, ‘friars’ Tris rage apg sat anh sePdh ne aer "This being FOR another is not something frivolous oF ex: terol cremation. At times isthe drudgery of bing, Sotheds rom, Then too, le mny be the aging eh of pong Be wrt amg ai as tho whole tadion of the Order I> eats, t springs trom love compassion. The E-ThowLove as Christ himsolf defined it at the Last Supper is the wellspring from which flows any genuine affection a tar shows for his brother. Any other way would produce distorted, per verted, twisted affection which would be more in line with what {he world consders love, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Hom. 12:15), Such ‘is Saint Paul's sound advice to the (Christians at Rome, f twentieth contury friar isto be FOR te brother, if he is to love and care for him more’ than a mother lovs'ah cares fr har naturale, then he mts share thet brother's joys and sorrows. And this sharing’ must be » 3 ‘ourd f0 God. ee ‘This sounds idealistic? How can a Christian, much less a religious, live without an ideal? If every Francicean, selglour and lay, were fully aware of the dynamism inherent in frater fal love and affection, how close we would be to fulling the hopes placed in us by’ Plus XI, Pius Xl, and John XX The crest of our Order would be emblazaned, snd the atmosphere of four convents, monasteries, and homes permeated, with the uth to whieh so much theoretical homage ts paid ahd. which iy succinctly expressed in Psalm 152: "Behold how good Iti and fw pleasant, where brethren dwell atone!” ‘There is'a need, not only in modern society as a whole, but ‘expecially in comtemporary religions life, for brothers whe, art FOR one another. As Friars Minor and aa followers of Saint Fran. cis, our affinity transcends the bonds of fleshy Tt has Its source in iupernature. Iam no longer I; Tam WE and WE are CHRIST With Saint Paul, the Franciscan who is immersed inthis ideal ‘an say, “It is now no longer T that live, but Christ lives in me" (Gat 220). ‘This aspect of Franclscan brotherhood can and must be viewed under the aspect of poverty. As the well known Bene. Aietine writer Hubert van Zeller points out in The Choice of Gad, ‘he man who ts poor in apr i not Bound to people or bored by people. He loves people in Charity... How att man be bored Dy people when he cannot imagine anjone to be thre boring then himself? Sich « man te on the contrary delighted by the pease ot people; they Find hn of the Charity ie owe Ged yp. 10st ‘This close relationship between brotherliness and poverty shows how thoroughly evangelical the Franciscan ideal i Tt is because Christ, being rich, became poor for the eake of us, his brothers @ Cor, 8:9), that the Franciscan seeks to be poor, the beter to love his brothers and all men in Chris, ich would seek to exclude tat poverty of alt Sm, ich would sek to exes oF brother, tender atection foe one ult paetning "oP nr tral for what soar at ould shaw Ue gigi own. poverty and trom Hs solitude Conetusion Bele nectar ta ‘esi pnt that accompanies auch ie sa warner ots shee aie fon, what Francis meant when be ‘luvane of presupPost cea hee int the mirvans Of ween brothers In the Order must be se 3 than mother love ; * ion, enigmatic pe gen tare man tt Sen eat ea, oo in the Francis proiner —~ are. stronger than family rr Porto ther are rng tan family eason det give us - fies. Francican Prvsfenion, more members of the Franciscan profession, Prenat Were BY fia ural fame. And our patrimony i Franc {arly aye brothers should love and SUPPO tem get See mene arate goo eon we tp seeders cha bough the members need tumense fraternity Were es i re ees ney mere raed to oe tale ea at of et 3 of oe, Scat as “when ving together, they vied monks nor hermits, Most of our ei oer eur brothers In Ear oe aters who ae Sanctscan Weak. The 2 if the easnce of Frat- a. sts contagios. It mist Sf Bites Sid contematd, Modern 9 Saint Francs! spirit ‘be studied, and restudled,joes have cast a cloud over brotherly love and have labelled i, branded it, formalized it, fosilized it But the exenple of noc Seraph Father can cut through centuries and exons fest {ablish and revitalize his own divinely inspired spit ef feared ‘is perect love for the Ute flock whieh he had drawn after him Se never lett hm without tour that they might love heavens etter Raving renounced the world. He feared that he should or ante, {oslo Himsel, i¢ he shoutd ot lead those to elo who wee entrusted to lr, thos whom hi eint ‘hed. broash toe, Ware ‘renter travail than the mataral womb (2 Ce. 8h Saint Francis had an ideal. His ideal was translated Into the poetry of the brotherhood. The Capuchin Constitutions tell how fhat ideal must live on: If the friars "would be true diseiploy ot Christ, let them heartly love and bear with one enother” Seece cing ‘themselves in divine love and fraternal charity stacking how best to give good example to one another and to al? teva Perhaps the Franciscan ideal of brotherhood ‘has suffered through the ages, Perhaps, because of human frailty, the love = brother for brother — that is to be characteristic of Chestans, Doficiencies in its practice should never corrode the ideal. Failure to foster the spirit of brotherhood may exist. Friars many ‘become capricious, slanderous, or simply ineonsiderstey fut neves ‘must the ides! of true, Franciscan brotherly love be allewer os famish, Francis’ exhortation to love and care for our brothers ‘ore than a mother loves her child according ta the fleshy meet bum on. The mutual help and encouragement of brother ie abt solutely necessary for the perdurance of the Franciscan ideal, and for the very life of the Franelean Order Christocentrism and Love: ‘Two Basic Forces in Franciscan Formation Sister Mary Mildred, CSS. |. CHRISTOCENTRISM te uot tne for, chat, aad tent Ch by a Ging to his know re essence of the three vows, through See ris sre eh fe Behe clerle er Brother, a pact ofthe most intima pete Ship with his Master. Franciscan Poverty with the Poor Christ tn considering poverty, the frst and f fe Pe it dena for eve ean ie ‘Seauventure he velizes sk foremost of the vows ect the compaling raniscan, With St Sa cet We an bt Pag tie eo fe in a of his Ie, nnd ot the ctning, Became £0 poor, es ne Blmse = SSRIS es Sew cree Spe tert eas Pi che eae reas oe ye Sa a Eee gee ry ie eh Erne ete d se ‘inna hia aed end thing” ho chief characteristic of the Fe wares ancisean implies api eee oy Franciscan, for Francican poverty te, Bonaventure (8 "oo — ee, SST a ret et aun seat aan egos Rate ie Sune Gey Sa ct ne fe rneaces Poverty, the poverty of Christ on the Cr 3 ent that, ‘hita as fo St Francis, the love af snare Si ereecie ee a saturn be te ie ecg fom eerie ene ota eninge a Beic iornr t,t Abd wip enor ene pent with 9 unig axe sage wi unlgue emphasis the profound yet imple words, At the very outst ofthe rel prebends and Taker inkate peson ofthe poten’ rose ‘on God's providence whiel fhe Hrounovidenee which our Lord taught in the Sermon on eee ee our body, wht you hal put om ‘Look at the birds of the air: Sous ach ee ee Bite Beer beycioraae te i meet EPR oS aera mint hy te Foaaas Scenery merle St Pde Recs soi Seca ied hen ke Conca Sonatas eb te LS eure sonnets or a sre Pn te sen gg nade eh mr tg So rer arms fae be Fale then Le ly overty must occupy central part in his life, ie sa da ence ae He ay Seca tees aciate te See she bar et, ay he Engin Pier sr i Cd ee ee ae SIgRER MARY MILD ERD we std rte ae ec er es eg ae Be mi a "Shea ues Be Bevan itd in Snes po, Teh ‘and he Sintr, 0 ution of Tove with her Spouse! MNP ‘ith Ni Macter 2 aera to gon op a tiny ft Cul To a Fr ch tee 4 8 Oe er, at of ee free re ee at er gta et 2 ar ul ieee sey an ar oe a ach ry ee Ste pine, ee pore rel oe eat tem itr at he Prune a 9 em ne sft ha the Pome erat eae Ejeet fig gh eae pertinence 7 avy, he ne maine Piano, Oe vain orca er 8, a i et ie Peano tinge tien ey os Pine al il wht Core Ee of the Sel het cy ee eet Sar in hy ec FO eEen e re eee la aS a arg Soe brine or ee cio lng 2 A Ryser see ie Mes a ‘the novice should be informed, then, that this entire abii- eatin tis fol Fenuncation, will not be wnrewarded, He will eons the fale Iberty and glory of the world only t,fing give yp Using peace, and liberty of spirit in the company, of true Jo end or Spouse. He wil stip himself of earthly riches a eer Pinel with the wedding-garment of divine Love, He will and be cl home and be admitted to the royal palace of Christ leave hie erjoish his worldly name and recelve instead the royal He wit Tlnamber of the King's court Instead of an earthly, {ie Sue reward, he will weap the imperishable crown of wien rer Mt his Lord, God is not outdone in generoaty; but = Tigious sbendonment must be sincere for nether is God. Franciscan Chastity with the Chaste Christ ‘After poverty, the young novice is mstructed about the sif nine Pe pesuty of chastity for the man or woman who hat 13hoten « fot conseratlon to Jesus Christ as his or her way of He, the Savior of the human rase, was pleased to be born of the ‘moit pure Viein, be himself remained a virgin, and befor ail the ite ilove ‘itt ciple wh he “hp rm ‘earns ‘uptiais, Virginity was 20 pleasing to him that he chose the Wrpoa! ‘womb for is splncual abode, wherein he edletrated the’ Reina ris assuming ot homan nature Because the novice loves Christ above everything else and wants to imitate him in everything, he chooses to vow chastigy out af love for Jesus To him Jenin wil always be not merely thence Butn the deepest and most hidden recesses of his ie the high and the Omega; the beginning, and the end Perfect hasty, it goer without saying is nat only» bod and spit intorty: sy much more tort aa {ocr a voluntary reninlating for hasan Slt Made Human existence te ost erect inmate and sche wera ee Piness “conjugal love, Ie aw'righty Bee cleg ee Ettore to Chit ast iostnany of Eaves he oe Me Sipmpus sys, "Virgina age the ublasy ales Ma aS Seen the tntenae of ve! Tove of God wil not be only the motivating cause of fect chastity, but the novice’ goal as well He will vow chest, that‘ et only once an fof all's" singhe"ae @F 1s fontinally, aa prolonged expresion ot He tanbineatey tt {oigrow in tye fn and kena to, Joie The Setee ot ee Set her perfect Hdl and Space: the pes Sear 28 Berfet Boel and Wend All hrcugh Ae pote hee Fevecied to man the sigslar value fat purty fads We Loma Af the Franciscan has learned to live with Chris, he cannot fall to lear that lesson. More concretely, however, the novice will find in the rule he has chosen to follow, specifle counsels end admonitions er signed to safeguard his purity. He will do well fo take fo neeet those counsels, those admonitions. He will Tesclve with the att most determination to practice a moderate, heelthy degree of control — of mortification — in training his body, His osotonst land his rational faculties to respond readily to the demands of ‘the state he has chosen. Assent fo this as theoretical Prisepie PF op ot rinse: Newmas, 155), ph sot my vg ly er ey rate tart oP a a fart hihi cri tal rth, se tas ‘rs = cam jat is by mo means. Apes aera a a cee Seah ey al wt ie ei ta ea taayoe So ete ar a ye sel “aitious and eireumspect in his correspondence and reading, be- ete eee nll as a oe ee fre, aod hone edi, which bao "can only weaken the love he has particular, too natural for they can only weaken the lovee Nat real Tabernacle sacred to the mystical Christ within very real sense, a Sigal s im, He Vga ato rive him to imitate is Master, eetcam for Chifgencos ad unity of wil and purpose in all that re undertakes ne : It is, after all, the highest form of created lox that = seraphim, that tradition has und to embolse the pet, St Francs and 21ND obliged to a life of loves and the fuliliment fits vow of chastity lies, in drawing ful distinct as 2 anger pointe, but in te perfection of “undivided love. Franciscan Obedience with the Obedient Christ evince ry see wa sah surrender by he 2 Sas become centred. Ultimately, ths hag {Sito tet whic oy a human eig, most italy mee one ibmission is, admittedly, no easy task. | Fo 1 Tas me ca a ich me most Goth 1 ition. of life itself, he cannot SEE Si 4 Sette Sut he doce when he vows to obey another 8Deing out of love for Jesus Christ. With this ultimate submis: sion, the sacrifice of the Religious tg complete; it is no longer he that lives, when he practices a truly Christlike obedience; but Christ lives in him (Cf. Gal. 2:20). AS obedience was Chris's oad to victory, 20 obedience must, in’ the long run, be. his Alseiple's way to victory ‘The stable of Bethlehem was the first convent; religious obedience was practiced firet there, by the Son of Ged imal He was the first Religious, the model of total consecration to God cur Father, He was omnipotent; yet he bowed in humble Submission to Mary and Joseph: “he was subject to them” (Lie 2:51), He came down from heaven, "not to do my own wil, ‘but the will of him who sent mo” (in. 6:28), He never wavered from his Father’s will, whether It was insults he faced, mockery, scourging, or crucifixion “The chalice which my Father has gee me, shall T not drink it?” (Jn. 18:11). His life culminated ins supreme act of obedience when he, the infinite God, humbled him. self to the form of a slave and beeatne obedient ‘even to. the death of the eroes, ‘This example of Christ teaches us that there can be no dis honor in full obedience for his sake — that there can ‘be no ‘mare noble disposition of this most excellent git of our free will and independence, than to return it to the hands of the God who Destowed it, ins spirit of Christ like obedience ‘St. Francis, that most Christ-like of saints and our model of ‘obedience, longed for nothing more than that his followers re: ‘main true to this submalsive spirit of Jesus Christ. “The Franciscan Religious makes this heroic act for the love of Christ. His love, founded not upon feelings but upon reason, lurges him to immolate his self will and to fulfill to the best of his ability the will of God, by submiting his will to"aivinely constituted authority. Duly observed, the Vow of obedience. will {ansform his many actions, in themselves routine and inglorious, {nto a clean and sweet-smelling holocaust in the sight of God This is 90, particularly, beesuse his sole motive in making this surrender (and persevering faithfully in it) is his love for Christ ‘and Chris's mission. He must be impelled, as Paull 'was, (ef 2 Cor, 5:14), by the love of Jesus Christ, And this. meceatsrily implies that he will use the most effective means, approved by Christ to becrme as far as oossible a fit and acceptable Instr ment for the glorification of God snd the redemption of men ‘Such considerations as these place the thin of the evangelical ‘counsels high in the novices esteem. Poverty remains the eanter of the Franciscan ideal, true, but obedience becomes poverty's ‘most perfect expression. Fostering @ spirit. of true Christian 16 ect 1 i excay the bos gus gn lege tng oat the wee ety Sines te ae Sy Obie ten re teal gga hirer eee Tact reg Fae oy se ae Some State elt the subordimation of : anciscan tal ee ee en ote Pet St ohn on deere ee Ba BEE on at yt von Ta Sa aioe os eee pane vg ten 7 Lot ae Ss Tae ‘whatever sci at Mase Waters Seatan of Gas wi, ke wit frm esa on fo eager, che Sti Beretta: He wil soon ey nee Ot ory hai a ae of a vor ineet ardent union of ith a Sn Se ge ee Star Pci ns “oe Shee ae coo en eo se Pomc er "uh rh ee at tose eBay of chet he etn Font pe st it with confidence on his mated, ae a orst "Therese of the Child Jesus, wh age underine he woes oth ‘obedience when she me ot sn because on earth I have, 2! h hee an ands sci rye aa Bi Mss Ses cers eeObedience the Christian When the foun the throe evangelical has beon laid the Instruct and. guide IRE xitoes of Francecan ascetic Senge tual writers, and masters of the’ rigs’ ne 45 toes consmmat the crown of eternal one fay ‘roof of filial N. LOVE ‘aster master OF mistress of novices vices in the: practice of ‘There is no doubt that the no creat Pe Ife seeks perfection, ‘The inter somewhat explicit; and th the Chelstian life eo Perfection, th sonal independence ‘St Francis” ‘iident. perhaps, in the following passage from Chante, Teno anise) understanding of thit cardinal truth is most his Thied Order Rute: boven jn, at the begin the earlier, cite, Th toon as possible, that ef'Se Tee the Christin life enone other then tion may. Book oF Lie (St Bonaventure 3, Ys ances on, the test of lo yal love for Pre love for Mary, and ation of religious nln of lions life, which em ls of poveriy, chastity, and bedionce should begin to f the obtstand — particularly in whet all se, inde. unsliy Pcuee one Saha uts it, “The perfection of eaten eee More basic (and therefore more impelling stil), howeve ever ime, the oeseriptions of our Father Francis, is the divine ven than the Pro shalt love the Lord thy God with thy commandment with thy whole soul and with oll thy strength whole Heats tay mind: and thy neighbor as thyself (Lk. 10 gpa with effnclcen novice must be brovght to the point where 2 iitrespond, with St. Ignatius: “Take, © Lord, and receive ew Teme may. memory, my understanding, and my whale al eur of Tove for you, Lord, I vow to you & life of poverty, Chastity, and obedience, Tn view of the divine Love expressed in the institution of the Puce it would seem unnecessary to supply the Joung fhe Bucher op cther motives. and incentives for Toving Christ. Francteg by the Christdove developing within Bim. and led, 29 Trine inspirations of his grace, every Franciscan novice sto by the nile tos life of love in the service of Christ and dees sed Mother, i he aspires to be a true follower of St his Blasio dvery essence of Pranciseanism is serapic Tove, of Francis ee vel neighbor. St. Francis Is considered to be the a oe the world has ever seen — that is, a5 we Baye Elid earlier, why be is called the Seraph co Ger, the Seraphie Order. er te se of created love, the Franciscan oviee is righty, ex, Te ooo other Teligious In love, if he is to prove true Foihis name and profession Hie should be encouraged often to go to his Seraphic Father, to aes nana Ms fife and writings how to Tove God, AN! of St. fo Meare eee'gor God was centered in the sacred humanity of the Franc voyesus Christ In his beloved Christ he saw concretely Godman, ung beauty, perfection, and goodness of God united at te rece human nature. From the God-man he learned how With eres tit from the human to the divine and, ultimately, {rae te himself in Christ, With St. Francs, the young novice Trane ere sttermined to "look apd make it according to the pat- Poo Pe wan shown thee inthe mount” (Bx. 25:40). it the Franciscan would follow Christ closely in intimate and genuine love, he must poss the tert that marks « clot friend of Senne oe truly loves God, he will naturally Tove, bis neigh Christ Tue of neighbor is inseparable from love of God. AS vor, fo ESE increases, so,mist love of neighbor. Our Lord him lo¥e for out the weye “By tls sall all men know, thet you salt pola ipl if you have love, one for another” (Jn, 18:19) ‘The novice must, then, learn to Tove, all men in Christ expodilly ha fellow Religious. As Christ died for love of Mm »eee ree SURE Tom, teeta ae rs decd ig use pain to another, Like his Mas should ahem Sat ante iak er ena dd Sikh meet ge He should realize, » moreover, that love as means of per- Fran cigean priest Inthe apostolate of th ramen; it must pervade the Brother's Ife inthe elena os on , ‘the people; it must ‘eat ner nome re Sie {ers ola and Szal wark Iflove ever fs be te moving © at * all the external ‘eligi Jove ee significance and vale as means of pert aoe ah ait be pr non rae sc eS oil wd Zot the most base in his life, Iti in the view mas, BSiaeral ce Merida taet Seas Shes ner al whe eneinr MG a ee does not nurse the sick simply for the sake ues of mankind, but for the sake of loving God more. Romi erg he wine en eC Bernd Be sun ey tt Meee iar oP rae we Love of Christ Crucified In acquiring peste P 3258 love the movie may be helped by tions: complete surrender to 2 ae char andthe ove of Sry inmacaate = uit: te Holy raul othe sore el, support, and ralaon (dds of very Franciscans lie. in fer ef the suffer Shit het the Franciscan Religious must really ‘understand the Franca soit Te cl nat te he ceo ofa Cha the canter ofall retin "He who doe ot conyers the cannot be my disciple” ok te St. Francis was so deeply in Jove with the Cross, that his love for i ditfused ilelt throughout his entire Order. Anyone who Crates to follow Francis must take up in his own turn the ery see ult “od forbid that 1 should glory save in the cross of Sty Toni Jesus Christ, through vehom the world is crucified {fo me, and Ito the world” (Gal 6:14). "Te sight of Chris’s Cross should penetrate the very depths of the heat of his young follower. His Friend, her, Beloved, is he Son of God — the Perfect Man, nailed to the Cross, im the tae eeod mind, the tortured soul, the broken heart, the dstigured Fee Ghrnt| the Franciscan should read what sin did and is FaiPdoing —— ravaging the mystical body of Christ lo thoutd come to see that Christ's death hag not, been row about by sin slone, Bit also by the love of God. The row Get of the Son of Man had a morally infinite value in Frans, cs ayes. One tear, one drop of perspiration, a single sigh, dle Pitnerca’ prayer, © plea for forgiveness could’ have bought eres Humanity needed — would have sutficed to redeem oy ees worlds, ‘But it would hardly have proved Chris's ove: for love i attested by sacrifice: "That men might kaow something of the mystery of the tremendous Pet Petr Gu, Christ swe the supreme test — the awful aaony in the gars, “ihe aping at the pla, the nightmare ended for three hours between’ beaven Knew we tens wonder i in the ‘ney Me dalbertely ped sade the wine fea with myeeh that scion ne cnesineived his tenses and robbed Mo sarifie of wane egal havcion, Sin deed Tight nall Christ to the cross But cals {ove ena weep him there te-was this aspect of Christ's love, hs sufferings, that caused the Poverall io neck God, the ideal of all perfection, To, return iy himself for God's sake. ‘That is ove ie cue fe, Lo consecrate himself to the love of Christ Oni verge Ble must continue to specialize for the rest of hie Grete (ret ractice of this. erucified and crucifying Jove. Christ se lil will then become for him the one way leeding crucitie’ Jon, In imitation of Paul of Tarsus, he will exclaim. See Tam nailed to the cross. It is now no longer T that live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:19-20), aWhen his heart and mind are filled with our Lord's suf ferings, he will find it easy to teditate on the Passion He will bum to suffer with Christ, to embrace the Crucified through tears of contrition and gratifude ‘The Holy Eucharist Contemplating the love of Christ who died for him, the Pran- ciscan realizes that his Master was not satisfied simply to become one of us by adopting human nature like our own, It as not ‘enough that he should share the hardshipe of a lifelike our own, fand that he should suffer and die and atone for our alta, Hie loves us, and he would not rest until he could. be completely lunted to us. And in that immeasurable love, he devised & most extraordinary method of union in which he himself became our food. That is, ho instituted the Blessed Sacrament. ‘There may be several answers, from the theologial vi pint, to the question of why Jesus i in the Eucharist; but to the Franciscan novice, only’ one answer, really, should matter Love. Love, as Bishop Sheen so eloquently explains, is the reason for the Institution of the Eucharist Without the Buchan, the love of Jaue Christ would be for us a ead love, a past love, which we should soon forge, snd Which we ‘Should be slmost pardonable in forgetting. Love has is aw, lt des ‘mands, The Rucharist alone fully stale them. By it onus Chit Tas every right to be loved, Because he tetfes tn if infinite tove 1K would be, so to speak, the cardinal sin against everythi that Franciscanism stands for, to rect this ove Followiae the footstep of St. Francis, the novice will want to fosts* the sreatest possible devotion to his Friend —~ her Sridegroam In the Blesed Sacrament. St, Francis once invited all his followers to “tall in love ‘with the God-man, whom love had made man” (Mating for Oct 4, 2d antiphon). St. Clare, his partner in sowing the seeds of re. wal in a world grown cold, shows her perfect grasp of fis spirit m her devotion to the Blessed ‘Secriment. Her frequent visits to her Bucharistic Lord, and the many favors they Drueht are common knowledge, our (Wasagton’ KOON), Pat 7 2 sons dein in et nt Fo go ae ‘cherished are particularly called fo, in oe cal of rel yer, a to egg ee cA clay Le oe Si Sit aaa tlie tte feces eros Peat Se ls : mn to teach the ont gy 7 ats er sel ae Oot ate FS taneeie Pret moment of lord sacrifice that he is presnt ot gal ace gels Rect fe Scie rt Se Pecan cs ‘Sacer te ig eens sca ae oo Se ee ysis fat A BS a be cai a ie of het, es one Meet es Love of the Blessed Virgin Mary tet ee foe ie Pec he nt hase eg Mr ebhasra names oe wus ... felt in himself all the love of the CHES eek ce a ak ee 3 se gl ala See ams of the Francaan Orde. of Mary were he crate of the Francizean Ore cart eat MS Branca renovated a tiny way a Vethey, Unlon with Chriet (tJ. Mayer; Chcage: Franca 2chapel, a halfruinod church “because he burned with great de ‘otlon for the Mother of all Goodness.” ia Francis felt for Mary all a true son feels for the best, most tender, most sublime of mothers. And what Mary was to’ Fran cis, she must be to every Franciscan. It was Francis himself who bequeathed to his fllowers that legacy of devotion to Mary which has ever been a beacon for the entre Franciscan family To love Jesus, the novice must realize thet he must love ‘Mary. Love for Mary cannot be separated from love for Jesus. St. Bonaventure says, inthis connection, that we should ‘old ever in highest end most affectonate venereton the glerlout ‘Qusen, Mother of our Lord. In your every need tar to her'te the ‘ost assured refuge, end beg her protection Choowe her far your Svocete, and recommend to her your cause ‘whole-heartedly sod ‘without tnlgving for ae ls the Mather of Mere. Geek to ofr her Say by day special mares of reverence Bvt, n order that your prayer ‘nay Be eat, and your homage be pleasing to he, rive mth Sour might to preserve in your own body and soul the Immactlate bury of your Mother, and to folow her in the peth of amity {End meekean# ‘The entire Franciscan school, which has inherited the love of Francis for our Lady, Mother, and Queen, bas always cone Secrated the best of its powers to the defense and propegetion of her privileges. Tha Franelsean novice, too, must arrive eaaly St the Tl consciousness of the ‘besle reason” for all his de YVetlon to Mary and filial love for hee: namely, the divine. ma. temity. Tt was not absolutely: necessary that the Word be Born ofa woman to become man, Being God, he could have assumed 4 fullegrown, perfect human nature. If he chose to be born of ‘Mary, that cholce bears its lesion for us. 1t means, frst and mort importantly, that he has set up a special relationship between her and redeemed mankind: he has made her our Mother beeause she is his Mother, and we are his brothers He gave us that Mother at the most tragic, yet triumphant, moment'in history, as he was about to bow hie head in freely chosen sacrifice, “Behold thy mother,” he sald to. his beloved Aisciple, and through him to every man sho would follow his royal road ofthe eress (In. 18:7), Prana Wad) fot Py ‘A PRAYER FROM A HEBREW ‘We pray, O Lord, for the Catholic Church to say: "Come into cur realm, © brothers of the Hebrew faith, that we may truly leam of the One divine Source and purpose through each other, and so may true conversion follow even 12 day follows night. Amon. Beato, Washington Mary is, then, our Mother; she is to form Jesus in us as she once did in her own body. Hence the singular importance ‘of filial devotion to her as one of our chief mesns of perfection find holiness. “It we wish to have God dwell in us as im his ta- Bemadle, it is necessary for us to give ourselves devotedly to a "The Franciscan must give himself to Mary in that simplicity snd abandonment which have become traditional in his Order Hr will want to manifest such practical Indications of hie de- votion to her as regular recitation of the rosary and the angelus, wearing a. scapular or medal in her honor, ste. But be mst hnever mistake these means for the end, which is imitation of ‘Mary in her total consecration to God. ee will imitate Mary, then, in her purity, in her humility, 4m her meekness; lke her, he will spread light sind peace wherev~ cr he goes. He will keep his Mother for his constant companion, ‘along With her divine Son, realizing’ that this will prove his Surest guarantee of advancing toward that perfection of love i ‘which he finds his whole reason for being. [SE Deneventure, Sermo 26 In Net Onis IX, 125: ted tm Veutey, op att pi, 2sSt. Francis and the Fatherhood of God Slater M, Rose Cecilia, O.SF. |. FRANCIS' CONCEPT OF GOD'S FATHERHOOD Down through the centuries the message of Chris, that God fs loving Father, had resounded with varying results Tt was in the thirteenth century, however, that it was reiterated in accord ‘with the divine plan, with emphatic dignity, simplicity, zea, and love, in the person of St. Francis of Agsel' the little Poor Man of God Francis, it is true, was not a leamed man; his “ was in its folality reflection of the "Light of the worl,” and for that reason it gave him an insight into the truths of the Gos- pel which few men have ever stisined. After reading the Serip- fares, he would meditate on thelr message and write it indelibly ‘upon’ his heart, so that nothing he read would be in vain (2 Cel 240), This is the way he discovered the fundamental truth of the "Good News": God's Name is Father! He realized that re Dleth in Christ through the Holy Spirit made God his Father and ‘made him a son of the Father’ This realization so permeated He lie from the fisst moment of his conversion in 1206 until his death in 1226, that for him the fact thst God was his real ‘and ever-present Father became identical with his very existence, Francis was the easence of simplicity, for he had no other intention in his Ife than to be conformed to Christ, Through ‘the Gospel he fad learned that Christ is the Way to the Father, and he had seen the Father through Christ. The Gospel revealed ‘0 him alao the love, goodness, and merey of God: for Jesus had ‘manifested these attributes during hs life. Francis knew well that hhe who sees Christ sees the Father; he made explicit use of our Lord's conversation with Philip (Gn. 1409) im his admonition fon the Eucharist (Meyer, Words of St. Francis, 128) {th the permion of the Pronccam Hora Pre 2% Naturally, then, sinco Francis considered Christ “the center of all things, the focus of all thought, the object of all striving, fand the inspiration of all action” (A. Wyse, Rev. for Religious, 10, 129), one ‘would expect to find in Prancis a life similar 10 ‘hat of Christ, Here we are interested specifically in the Father~ hood of God as it influenced Francis; we shall soe that, In his caso as in that of his Master, God's Fatherhood was an all-per- Vading foree. It is evident in his life, in his prayers, in his feaching, and in his counsels. Let us consider each of these in turn. ‘The Life of St. Francis “After his conversion, Francis became the troubadour-herald ‘of divine love, Through bis fidelity to grace he was ready to make any sacrifice to become more closely united to his hesven- Iy Father. The way was not easy: for he met opposition where ‘once he had incurred favor; ridicule where there had been st proval, relection by his father for his whole-hearted adherence forhis Father. In the first grest crisis in his life, Francis found strength in the doctrine of the divine Fatherhood and pronounced that doctrine publicly: “Hear, all of you, and understand until now I have called Pietro Bernardone my father; but because I Dropote to serve the Lord T return him his money, concerning ‘Which he was troubled, and all the clothes I had of him: for now I wish to say: Our Father who art in heaven, and not, father Pietro ‘Bermardone” (Cuthbert, Life, 221). These words are, Girecty, a well merited rebuke for Pietro; but they are also the Doginning of a twenty-year litany of "Our Father” For it was here that Francis suddenly realized the absolute. character” of God's providence — the wealth implicit in being able to call God, Father Now that Francis was stripped of all worldly tles, he was better able to penetrate into the depths of the Gospel message, In it he rediscovered that the Gospel is personal message from God to man, snd the fact thet God is our Fether struck him 30 forebly that his heart wae filled to overflowing. Christ had con. tinually addressed God as his Pathor; Francis too, then, had the ght it and through Christ to eall God Father, ‘The strength of Francis’ falth and of his dependence on divine Providence is apparent throughout his life. He was content to beg, knowing that his Father would provide for hie needs. (Had Christ nol told his followers to avoid solicitude for this world’s goods?) Absolute trust in God's providence was, i seems, the very substance of Francis’ rule of life, So. pronounced was athis abandonment to God's loving care that it even caused dis- fension among the Cardinals when he sought approval for the ‘Was his trust vain — presumptuous? We know the answer: hhis Father in heaven knew. his needs and provided for” them. onspious among the many ‘ccsing exemptyng this Doin journey from Romo to Spoleto, Francia was engrossed in conversation with his followers, telling them how to observe the Rule and manner of life they had chosen. As had been the case with Christ himself, the discussion lasted long and extended be- yond the normal time for thelr mesl. Tired and hungry, the bband of friars had nothing with which to satisty their needs, ‘Thon a man came up and offered them a loa! of bread; he ds appeared immediately without anyone's knowing where he hed come from or where he had gone, But the diceiples realized that It was because of thoir master that heaven had granted thers this signal favor. The Father is never outdone in generosity Semmthing sla, hapened, whe Traci, had itd hysician to stay for dinner, quite well that all 0 En'was'a litle bread and ine. No iolnee hed the Sector 0c cepted the invitation, than a woman presented herself at the door and gave Francis a basket of fine bread, fish, pasties, honey, ‘and grapes, There as much joy and thanksgiving, Celano tells 4s, and there was enough foot rot only for that meal, but Tor ‘he entire following day (2 Cel. 16). ‘The Prayer of St. Francis ‘These two examples suffice to show that Francis believed im and knew God as a Father, Now let us lock at his prayer life to see how the dectrine of God's Fatherhood permested i Celano tells us that Francis was not so much praying a8 living prayer (2. Cel. 254). The Poverello so. well understood God's love that hiv prayers constantly proclaimed the goodness of his heavenly Father; his fe was a continual bursting forth in ardent pralse of the Most High: ‘Our matner most holy: our Creator, our Redeemer and Savior, cour Comforter ‘Who are in Heaven: in the angels and the saints, giving them lugnt to know you, since you, O Lord, are Light seting them afte {9 ‘ove you sinet you, O Lard, are Love; abiding im them and ‘Mung them for thelr las, since you, © Lord, are the sovereign 00d, the etemal good, trum which everyting ood has its being Sod without whieh there ls noting good Hallowed be your name: may we grow in our knowledge of 700, that we may appreciate the width of Jour favors and the length of {our promises to us ta wll as the after eight of your talecty nd ‘eptn of your fadements Your kingdom come: so that you may rule in us through grace fand have us get to Jour hingdom where the sight of you te clear, love of you is perfect, asocatan with Jou fe fl of bits, tn em? [opment of you's sternal Your wil be done on earth as it ign Hosven: co that we may toe you with atl our heart by always Keeping you in tind’ wit Al our soul by always longing for you: with ail our mind by aieet- ‘ng ll our intention to you and teaking Jour gary tn everything nd ith all our strength ty exerting all the fore and faculties (of soul and tody In your loving service and in nothing eke. 80 ‘ay we love our nelghibors ae ourslven. by getting Theat all ao fer ‘as we can to love you, by bring to glad at the good fortune of thers as at our own, walle feling for thelr misfortune, and ving ho oftense to anybody eer, 8. Francis is preeminently the Saint of the Pater Noster, Christ taught his disciples this prayer, and 20 Francis adopted it as his own. He not only cherished it and seid It at all the Hours of the day and night, but he longed for others to. un- derstand and appreciate its value too. It is not surprising, then, that he should exhort the friars in his First Role’ “And when ‘you are about to pray, say, ‘Our Father, who are in Heaven” (Meyer, 27). The'lay Brothers ware also to repeat. the, “Our Father" seventy-six times dally. This prayer was substituted for the Divine Office and was rected also for the dead and for the negligences of the brothers. Francis likewise exhorted the whole world to offer “praise and pray to him day snd night, with the words, Our Father, who are in Heaven, for we should prey ‘ways and never lose heart” (Meyer, 187) In the Office of the Passion, which is made up of appropriate ‘verses from the Psalms arranged by Francis to recall and praise the passion of Christ, we find the words of the verses changed ‘Many times “God” and "Lord" become "Holy Father,” or the word “Father” is simply added to the text of the Psalm (ave Meyer, SUE), ‘These changes are, evidently, introduced to stress God's love; the whole of the Office isa song of loving thankfulness for the Redemption willed by God our Father, and accomplished by the death of the San sent by the Father out of love for his children. All Francis™ prayers and. writings are saturated with »the same gratitude for God's goodness, and all use, to some ex- tent, the words of the Gospel Franelt’ filial love for God found expression, for example, in his Immortal “Hymn of the Praises of Creatures" or “Can ticle of the Sun.” This Canticle is a song of the kinship of all God's erestures, of God's Fatherhood, and of the liberty which ‘man's heart finds in the vision of this truth. Lying ill in a small hut at San Damiano after the stigma zation, Panels poured out his heart in gratitude. for all th gifts of the all good and all-loving God. “In every piece of wor fanship he praised the Craftsman; whatever he found done he referred to. the Doer of {ttn beautiful things he recognized him who ls. supremely beautiful; all good things eried out 10 him ‘He who made us is the Best"” (2 Cel. 206). ‘The sun, thus, not only stood for the Sun of Righteousness ‘but also. eX: presied the might, majesty, and daily eare of God. All crestures In'tum: the moon, sars, wind, air, clouds, water, fre, mother earth, fruits, and fowers all spoke to him of the goodness find Fatherhood of God. This was the souree of his love of nature ‘This penetrating insght was not dve to the exqulste beauties of nature isle, nor to his own sensitive temperament Fancy we ae fold by chop Felted pon tre with fhe eyes of a post degpy Snibued with faith, of having 1 ‘with the heart of child of God, and of” giving to ita soul {nd yoice with which to praise the Lord in a thowsxnd tonges™ (The KogheErvant of ats, 128) ‘The Teeching of St. Prancie 1 was from Jesus that Francis had leamed to pray. Jesus ‘was everything to him, for in Jesus he saw revealed the good ness of God. Our Lord also manifested the Father's goodness in Ils teaching, however; and Francis did likewise, As & matter of fact, the whole body of St, Francis! teaching ls but e paraphrase fof the Sermon on the Mount; its imprimatur was granted on ‘the heights of La Verna two years before his death. ‘The teachings of Francis appesled to the heart of man and ‘impressed him with the thought that God loves him. If some of Ils hearers were faithless and asked for proofs, Francis would ‘tum to nature and life. Following the method of Christ, he would teach them to read the word goodness in nature — the go0d: ‘ness of heavenly Father. Then he would turn to the book of fe and have them reflest on the past benefits of God, who is 0 ‘more merciful than severe and as aided us a our » has aided us all beyond With all our heart and soul and mind and strength ang fortitude od understanding and all our faculties: with ll ovr endeavor, af fection, and’ pearing: with all we desire and wily let us al 1ve (God the Lord) who as given and stl give tus all oor whole body, seal and lie: who hab ereated and telecmed as snd only til ‘etey wil save us; who has done and ieope doing everything 0d fo us miserable and. wretehod, corrupt and foul, ungrateful “und ‘eked as we are (1 Hue: Meyer, 28), ‘Thos Francis strove in his teaching to make God better known and loved. His own heart was aflame with this love, and he longed to rekindle it in the hearts of others, He had come close to the fire Christ had cast pon the world and wes com sumed in seraphie love, ‘The Counsels of St. Prancis ‘We have scen how Francis’ life, prayers, and teachings om ‘haslzed the Fatherhood of God. Quite nsturaliyy then this same Aoctrine wil be found inthe counsels he left to his followers im srg nme ener was a io aa re Ee See in their heavenly Father, and not to be afraid ‘because they were ie oat aienry aoa rece oe Se iets Sine a re cae a iy ii ar Uy tooo fens oe ar ares teas meractact neers 5 Be fe habe kta Part Be Sacre ees raarie cs te guar ack tase sy carne alee ata a Seman ce Beatin, Sowa To us, as well as to St. Francis’ contemporaries, it is {possible not to see the holy joy and cheerfulness he derived ftom hs dep razon kat God was hi Father. Surely Fran cis practiced in his own life the exhortation he bequested to his followers: “When God's servant (as often happens) i troubled about anything, he ought forthwith to arise and pray, and Te ‘main persistent in his heavenly Father's presence unl he Fe. stores to him the joy of his salvation.” (2 Cel. 262)- aPhysical suffering never lestoned Francis’ zeal in proclaim: ing to the world the central message of Christ: God is our Father, Sick by an attach of teers ii6, which ket him, fr, the time, from preaching, Francis put hie joyful message in’ wl "This was his first and longest letter; it was addressed to all the faithful. Humbly Francis strove to. present the words of Jesus Christ, who ls the Word of the Father, and the words of the Holy Spirit, which are "spirit and Ie" (Meyer. 190). Lovingly, fratefully, and joyfully, Franels proclaimed to all mankind “Gh what a plovious, holy, and grest Ung it Is to have a Father jn Heaven" (Meyer, 104). Il, FRANCIS GLORIFYING THE FATHER Fruncls! belief in God's Fatherhood hed an extraordinary and vivifying effect on him. He walked about his Father's world as if H'were his own, ever maintsining an attitude that was simple, halural and free of any care except that of loving his Father fd falling the divine will with all the ardor of his heart ‘True child of God that he was, he sought to pleaso his heaven- ly Father in all things. Inevitably he found the Father wherever Fhe turned, and his whole Ife was an effort to please the Father through Christ, our only say to im, ‘The Exemple of Christ Our Lord has declared that he came down from heaven to do hig athere wily ands entire fe was the fultiment of that singleness of purpose, Ample proof of this is found in Gospel But the Gospel was Francis manual of Ife; he s008 Caught the spirit of Chrlat embodied in It, and he set about in ‘Cermest to imitate his Model. As a result, bis lifo was in accord ‘pith the will of God from the moment of his conversion to the Aillerance of his consummatim est; he kmew no other desire ‘han to mlrror the life of his divine Savior. ‘tritation of Christ, then, war the Key to, Francis’ whole existence imitation of the true Son of God, who Tew hhow to fulfill perfectly” the ‘will of his heavenly’ Father. But tie word imitaiton is, to tell the truth, inadequate in this case [entfierion would convey the meaning better: the marks he received on La Verna were but the outward manifestation of an Inward conformity that had been reached long before that time. “Francia” biographer, Thomas of Celano, sums up the saint's ‘deal when he says 2 ‘is chief tntenton, his principal desre and supreme purpose was ‘im and through all things to ateerve the holy Gospel, ad witha ‘atchfulnes, all real, all the long of hie mind aid’ all the fervor (of hls heart perfeety to. fallow the teaching of our Lard Terus {Cheat and tend in hs focstepe Ct Cel, 83 ‘St, Bonaventure tells us that “Christ Jesus erucified was laid, fs a bundle of myrrh, in his hearts bosom, and he yearned 10 be utterly transformed into. him by the fire of his’ exceeding love” (Life of St. Francis, 358). This supreme. purpose of St Francis was so successfully carried out im all the devals of his life that’ he was called, In all due reverence, the ‘Christ of Umbria ‘What vas the motivating force that caused Francis to be come identified with Christ? Tt was the note Christ sent ringing through the world, which finally sounded in the heart of Fran cig and prompted him to action: love of God. This produced two fffects in Francis, Fist, he was convinced of what God wanted Ihim to be; and second,’ he was determined to fulfill God's ex Peetations. His whole being responded to this desire, The final Fesult was an intense longing to accomplish the ‘wll of his heay= nly Father. This was no mere wish, but a leading star in the life of Francis. God had sent his Son to show the way, and Fran: cis followed that way faithfully. Consequently, the final word in his life was always: “Not my will, but thine be done” (Lik. 22:42). When Francis believed in the love of God as a Father, he had, from that time forth, to be » true son and return full and unfaltering love. The Father, through the Son, had sa, "It you love me, keep my commandments” (Jn. id:18). Francis Fesponse was’ wholeheatted; he accepted the word of God. cot {aimed in the Gospel as if t had been written for him slone Determining God's Will ‘The desire to do the will of the Father overpowered Fran cls, and he was never content until he knew the designe of God. ‘An insight into certain incidents and writings of St. Francis will prove his fidelity tothe Father in imitation of Christ his mod From the very first moment of his conversion, Francis felt the need to know God's will, He knew, too, that it would be in silence and solitude that he would hear the voice of Cod. He Sought a cave and entered into a secret retrest to pray to his heavenly Father. With the hurality and simpliety of ' ehild, Francis earnestly begged the Father to lead him to the path he ‘was to follow and help him recognize and accomplish the divine swill. The Psalmist’s words were continually on his lips: “Your ways, O Lord, male known to me; teach me your peths” (Ps 2a). Confident in his Father's Providence, Francis patiently pray- ea and waited for the manifestation of the divine will Is frst ‘expression, through Christ, occurred in the Chureh of St. Damien. Christ manifested himself and his will to Francis in a tangible way, for the psinted image of the Crueified moved its Ups and addressed him, calling him ‘by ‘name: "Francis, go repair my house, which as you see is wholy falling into ruin” (2 Cel. 184) rancis was shocked and amazed by the words, but he set out ly to obey tho command. He fulfilled Christ's words i= rally, for it was only later that thelr fuller, deeper meaning Pevealed to him But the Iteral understanding of Christ's is, here, beside the point. The lesson that should not be lost to us is the striking example of loving obedience to God's ail 2 fixed ideal which remained uunshaken by any influence other fran divine or ecclesiastical His rule waa to be according to ie Gospel, in which he found the expressed will of God. In this of these brothers Is ths, that they riven obedience, in chastity, and without property. and tollow the teach Ing end the fotaopr of our Lord Jus Chet." And Task the Sox broter to thank the Creator for It aly and well ot lek he fhouid want 10 be just as our Lord wants in to be. Kow, however, afler we have left the world, tere 1 nothing eee for ae todo at be concerned boat felowing the Will of our Lond and Dloasing iz (eper, 250, 36,279) tementing Gods Will Francis was a man of action. His love of the Father and Jothing stood in his way. This was the driving force behind his ‘ck, His resolve to preach to the infidels in Syria, even ‘the risk of his life, when hs Onder was yet scarcely. weaned, ‘becomes understandable when seen from this vantage point, How well Francis grasped thet he wat not necessary to the future ‘of the Order! ‘That belonged to the care of God, Hi duty was ‘to be obedient and docile tothe Father in onder to set an example and practice the doctrine he taught. Since Francis was obedient to God's will, all things were relerred to his Father's honor and glory. In touching, simple, ‘and humble words, Francis would reply, when prased’ Yor as In the picture of the Lard and the Bleed Virgin panied (on wood, the Lord and the Bleed Virgin are honored, and Jet the ‘Wood and the picture take nothing of it to themselves, so te ser¥= fant of God is in e manner a peture of Ged, wherein God te honored on account of his goodness (leo of Ase, The Mirror of ‘The obedience of Francis was total, and it remained so until his death. He took measures, in fact, designed to help him per- severe in this Ideal. A few years before his death, for example, hhe humbly petitioned the Minister General to place over him) one of the brothers, as a warden, to whom he could give his ‘obedience. ‘This is compatible with the words he had spoken previously to his followers: "For subject ought to loole upon ‘his superior, ‘not as a'man, but es that God for whose love he is subject to him” (Ibid, 221), Many incidents in Francs life could be cited to show his ‘esteem for tnsinting obedience to God's will. An ‘outstanding Instance is one that took place within tro years of his death At the time, Francis was Saposed to suffer the most extreme forments af mind oF body, f only his wish could be granted What sees that wish? ‘Phe sccorpllzhment of his, heavenly Father's wil. To diacover ithe came to the ater In the hermitage ‘where he lived and placed on it the book of Gospels. He pros. rated himself and humbly prayed that "the Father of mercies tnd God of ll comfort” would manifest his will: Humble. snd ontite of heart, Francs made the-rgn of the Cross and opened the Gospels with simple faith. The Pasion of Christ fist met his lance. To remove any suspicion that It was by chance. Fran- Gi repeated the acton 3 second tne; and agi, tind ine On each opening St w ‘Same of a similar pasiage, rat wa contents Father Bad ade known hs wl wth ngs of gladness In bis heart, Francis continued to follow’ the ‘Way, who had ever said: "Not my wil, but thine be done™ (Li 2. 38‘A paraphrase of this is found in the beautiful prayer Fran- cis wrote at the end of his letter to the Minister General and all the Friars, After exhorting all to practice reverence, toward the Blessed Sacrament, to observe the Rule, and to recite the Divine Office, Francis ‘ardently prays: “Almighty, eternal, jure and mereiful God, have us poor wretehes for Your sake do whet ‘we know you want, and have us always want whatever is pleas ing to you.” (Meyer, 150) Even to Death ‘This prayer echoes throughout the sufferings of Francis, It 1s as though one were present again at the Agony of Christ in the Garden. If Francis was identified. with Christ Guring ‘his life, he was equally united to him in his sufferings and death If Christ gave supreme adoration ‘to God. during his agony Francis did likewise. This ts tangibly evident in his Cantile of the Creatures, in which he calls upon all the elements to join In the praise of God. The final’ verse ‘was. added by” Francis ‘with great Joy of mind and body when he sree informed by the physician that he would die around the beginning of October, Tt ‘was only one who had been obedient to the will of God during life who could joyously utter at the time of his det ‘Be pralsed, my Lor, through our Brother Death of Body, ‘From whot no man among the Ing ean escape, ‘Woe te these wo in mortal sine wil ‘Blesed hove whom he wil find in Your most oly grace, Yor the cocond death wil dono hast to ters (Meyer, 29-40) Francis’ agony was severe. Once, as he suffered more acute- ly than usual, a lmple brother asked him to pray for elle? since the hand of God seemed to be very hesvy on him in this {tial Francis was distressed that anyone would censure the divine will but understood the simplicity of the brother, Neverthclese, in agony of body, Francis prostrated himeslt on the ground, Kisced it, and cried: ¥ give you thanks, O Lord Go, for ll thew my pains and 1 be- seech pou, my Lard, that if Ie ‘peases You, you wil ad to thers ‘8 undredtela; for this wi be moet acceptable to me i aying bor ow on me, you do not spare since the fulfling ct your holy ‘il Wan overflowing solace to me (St Bonaventute, Life. 20). Jesus had prayed three times, in th gurden, "Not ast but as ow whos” ME 6:0)" A shia prayer of Se Frans ss ‘can be said to express the same sentiments. One of the friars fsked which he would rather bear, this sickness ‘thst was 50 ong, of a horrible but instantaneous martyrdom. Francis, now hardly able to move at al, replied ‘Thal, my aon, ever has been and fe desrest,swestest, and most ac- feplale'to me, whieh it most pleuses the Lord my’ God to-do ti ‘me and with ine, to. whose will T ever desire to be found cone {ormable and obedient imal things (1 Ca 10, During life Francis had glorified the Father and he had finished the work God gave him to do, There wes now a place prepared for him that Christ promised once, when he told his Apostles, ‘I-go to prepare a place for you" (Jn. 142). Like Christ; Francis tered his consummatum eet inthe. words: “I have done my duty, may Christ teach you yours” (2 Cel. $43); ‘and ils soul made its way to the Father. ‘Thus we have seen that the entire guiding spirit of Francis! life was’ that through Christ, and with Christ, and in. Christ, there be to God the Father almighty, in unity with the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory. This Iturgical doxology finds Ite ‘exact parallel in our Father's own words: ‘Almighty, most holy, most high, and soverelen Cod, the sorereen food, everything tht Is good, whlly gos, who slone are good: to ou bt us render all praise, ll glory, all tasks, all hapor all lssings and to you let us refer always whatever i» ood. Aimen. tateyer, 30) Conclusion Francis followed closely in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, who was ever his Way, Truth, and Life. Francis knew only too well that ‘without Jesus there sas without going! without him, no knowing, and without him, no living. Thus it was that the Pov: cerello proclaimed this during life with the words “Deus meus et ‘omnla” which were ever on his lps and ever in his heart. Christ is the light of the world, and this Light reflected Jn St. Francis, who “shone in his days as the morning star in the midst of cloud, and as the moon at the full. And ag the sun when it shines, so did he shine in the temple of God” (Gradual of the Mass, Oct. 4). 1t was by means of this Light that Francts discovered the Father, for no one knows the Father except the Son, and him to ‘whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Me 11:27) 7Franciscan Pioneers in Mexico Benedict Leutenegger, OFM. IV. WORDS OF SADNESS, AND A PRAYER FOR HELP Jn fhe last chapter of Book IV of his History Mendieta writes: “If the conversion of the Indians of New Spain had pie: reed toward the goal expreted in the te of Ue oars ee, Aout be ting now fo cnc with a amie a ae Deming Gods as did Father Tobie hetslngs At se Pets Hs History he sejolend over the shandast teat Shih eat ith his ow eyes and concluded vita spttac arte ie Invites ven the anguerors of Mex wha eomieg tase gr and et fre’ our Lard nd God for Me a Motolinia finished his History in 1541 and at the end of Part 1 he ‘writes: “Who will not be astonished when he scat the Rew wonders and mercies that God has done with tee people? ‘Why do men here'on earth not refoice before whose eyer God has worked these things, especially those men who caine with 4 good Intention and conquered great provinces, such as, these fare: in onder that God might be known in thera and ‘adored? Although ‘they are sometimes eager 10 squire riches, one Ie Inclined to believe that they regard this as incidental snd soson. dary. Who will not believe thet men, whom God endowed with reason and who found themselves t0 frequently in great. need and in danger of death, would regulate their conscience and te. {orm their intentions, and that they would be reedy to die for the Faith and its establishment. among the infidels ard that they ‘Would consider this their singular and chief Purpose? ‘These Core querors and sll Christian friends of God should Teoice greatly to see a Christian community so well established. in a short splingind spose fo leat itso and ge "For is reason T beg everyone who reads this to preise-and glorify God from the botiom of his heart. Let him recite the following Words of thanksgiving, wherein, according to Saint Bonaventure Ae contained all the’ ways of praising God that are found in Holy Scripture: “Praise and benediction, exaltation and’ recog FATHER BENEDICT veri of whih tin athe fourth and final number, foe ppeced i the three precedag iat THE CORD. 8 nition, thanksgiving and glorification, adoration and satisfaction be to Thee, highest Lord our God, for the mereles ‘Thou hast shown these Indians nevly converted to Thy holy Faith. Amen. ‘Amen, Amen.” (On another page of his History Motolinia, deeply stirred, apestrophizes ‘Mexico thus: “O. Mexico, that "auch mountains Should encircle and crown thee! With resson will thy fame now spread Because In thee shines forth the Faith and’ the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Thou, previously the mistress of sin, art now the teacher of truth. Thou, formerly in darkness and obscurity, now ivest forth the splendor of Christan doctrine and elvliztion ‘Thy submission to the most uneonquered Caeser, Dan Carlos, doth thee greater honor and glory than the tyrannical sway that in other times thow didst seek to Impose upon all. Then thou ‘wast ¢ Babylon, full of confusion and wickedness; now thou ert ‘nother Jerusalem, the mother of provinces and Kingdoms, Then thou didst go whither it pleased. thee, led by the will of « smooth Idiot who through theo executed barbarous laws; now many are ‘watching over thee, taking care thet thou live according to divine and human laws. At one time, on the authority of the Prince of Darkness, thou wast eager to challenge, caplure and sacrifice men and women and to offer blood to the demon on fards and on bits of paper; today, with plous prayers and holy Sacrifices, thou dost ‘adore and profess the Lord of lords. O Mexico! If thou wouldst ralse thy eves to the mountains that e- circle thee, thou wouldst see more good angels aiding’ end. de- fending thee than formerly demons stood against thee in order to plunge thee into sins and errors.” Mendieta finished his Hlstory sn 1596 and in that last chapter of Book IV he continues: “But 1, having rejoiced (by divine |race) over the good beginnings, have seen things end calamitous Jy, for all the former good hai ceased, because men have in- dered the work of God by their opposition, as was mentioned in provious chapters; not only am T'not able to sing a song. of Praise at the ond of my History but rather (had 1 the gilt of Compesing dirges) ‘T would sit doven with Jeremias and. ith tears, sighs and groans, which would reach heaven! (as happened over the destruction of the city of Jerusalem), 1 sould lament land grieve over the unhappy fall and grest calamity that befell four Church In the Indies; even the words of the prophet would bo of little help. But 1 consider It better (as something more profitable) to do that only in private before the divine Reverence; In publie Twill turn to God (in whose almighty” Hands the remedy lies) and invite those who love and fear to read with ‘me Psalm 79, in which almighty God is asked to help the people °°of orael in their sutferings of oppression and vexation from their neighbors” net St OPPF on fs Mendieta applies Psalm 79 to the Indians of New Spain. In the beginning of the Psalm the power and help of God are im: voked and then we reed of the calamity, persecution and Tejex fion of his people, and atthe end there l'e petition fox digs help iGivelear, © Shepbord of eae! .'0 God af Host, hw long wilt thou be angry when thy people pray? ‘Thou hast fed them withthe bread Gf tears and hast given them fears to drink in great measure, Tou hast made ts the cause of contention amotugst our neighbors, and. our enemies deride us, O God of Hoxis,bring us back again, show forth thy shining face, thot we tray be saved. Thou hast brought forth’ vine out of Bayt, ‘hot hast cast out the nations and planted it. Thou has pressed the ground for it) and it took root and filled the land. The hls were covered with ts shadow, th cars ot God, with ts branches i'sretched forth its branches unto the sea, and its bough aa the siver. Why hast thou broken down its hedges, so‘ that ft who pass by the way do plus iy and the wid boar lays It Yaste and the beets of the field devour 4? O God of Howls ree {urn took own from sve and sey and Visit thi vine “And Drotéet that thy right hand hes. planted, and the young shoot ‘which thou hast made strong for thyself Let them wine eoesamed ie with fire and cut it down, perish at the threat of thy coum fenanee, Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right heeds tnd pon the Som of men whom thou ast made song for thyself. ‘Then we will never depart from thee; thou wilt preserve, ve Is Iie, and We wall declare thy name. O Lond, God of Hosts, re. Sore us, show forth thy shining fac, that we faay be saved.” Mendieta comments: “In the beginning it was gracious of the Lord fo provide chosen leaders tn the eccleslastcal ad see ular worlds who governed well. Inthe ecleiastcal realm there ‘were the saintly bishops - and in the secular domain there were many devout and Christian “governors who were. true fathers tthe Indiens «At the death of Don Lals de Velasco, th elder, the golden age bogan to decline. Th crumbling cf the wall was ‘ear. The Emperor. Charles VI worked forthe defense and opead ld protection of this vineyard of the Lord by his laws and dev frees and. commands, for he knew thet this vineyard way sur. rounded by wild animals of prey who eagerly sought tlt own Profit, and they would destuy this vineyard as they had’ done {he others some time before. An opening inthe wall waa made when an official arived who Increased the taxes and called for ‘money and more money. Suddenly there came Into the vineyard the wild hog and the ferocious beast of unbridled greed’ Who 0 tz share Ney pt he ds fel th Fete al este ea Hi aecien an cert cose Sef oe seen aise oe eter nen Be ai ct ee Ponape Sak woe see seis Seca rine ca es sae ome area ne Se Sees Ahern ee Poe coe eg eect Soicietes Greate, he aes Se ei io cotta ena BERGE Sorel ais ace et Forde & eased Poe Peet eget tore Sasa eee ieee Gh GREE oa eimesanea ice Papelbon ef ey ae btitea Sieh Bee Sree ied Emniswcirmes tence 6c Sei eae a aes Spaniaasengie tamesive, fr this os ae bled wile iain are, Ganihaaae Sarasa Seas means Salton ania ene tinsyeareabite Sigg Sheets het Sere Sore tres eee meus ee rie iene ae pag Ta rec Saeco ee Reece ee Sie Scat ad Sk regents ted a ute Srna cen oe SA reteosnte te aie ete ta HSB lhe Sree Se Sa ee aes ea le Ti ctr nat an ia Bcc Se ay Bete acct hd mgt tay has Pee ee aoe Sonia abate arborea aTight isthe band binding God end my heat Tight the tension thet pull us apart. Only in death wil those fingers release My soul thot is stretching for heaven and peace. — Anthony Myatt. OM, Conv in great number each day, one isnot to speak out and say that {hit inhuman crusty must slop."The miners ‘of the ‘Church, ‘who had the courage to speak Gp for the Tadians, are now eae and dlseouraged, fr no one is more odious tothe wosld then {he missionary, and pray God, that some of them are not with the jalecs ‘in fder to do avay wih the sheep "who. wore fntrated to thelr care. The servants of Ged, if they porkane their dties, do so more becaise they have %6 and bese: Ge Ininistry of the Church snot to ease than bocause of the mets they are to gain for heaven. Tis an ev sid the grenast of all evs, which are’ so many that they cannot be esumerstal ‘Ai ‘ot them sive way to the free Beait of greed which has una the vineyard”. Since ths wicked beat the one thet Ins destroyed and brought to the ial stages tis Church of the Indians, only God is strong enough to banish the beast, giving Iie to the neophytes; and s0 we direct and faise up to His oo raver in imitation of the one the afflicted, Ioradite penyot Ott highest and most powerfal Lord God, who fules an governs the ity of thy faithful ones, Usten fo our groans and Prayers dnd tears which "we. pour ott before thy “diving presence, Exercise, O Lord, your great power and come to sve Us. Turn 45,0 Lord, to you and show us your face and we shall be save Lora God of Hosts, how long wil you be angry nd refuse to hear the prayers of thy servants? Behold whos Fou shandon us, ou make us cat our bread in sorrow and you mis. gur Gea iwith abundant tears. Vou have sets sgainit our neighbors, and they mock at us and maxe fun of us God of Hoste iret to Jou and ‘show ‘us your face and we shall be saved: Recall a that you have brought us as a chosen vineyard out of the power of the demon (as trom Egypt), and transplanted us in the fertile land of your Church. You have planted this vineyard with your own hands, banishing the infernal idols who possessed the land Defore, You have planted the roots and given them such vigor and strength that in a few days the vineyard filed the whole country and no corner remained that did not receive and profess your Catholic Faith. You provided chosen workers, a most Zealous leader, and faithful husbandmen. Why Lord, aid you permit the Vineyard to be destroyed by the enemy which surrounded It, 20 that all those who passed by could rob it of Its fruit. The wild boar and fleree beast of greed gained entrance and all but con- sumed the vineyard. By your secret judgments, Lord, ou ‘also plucked the fruit and took away the people, but you ‘are powerful to increase the numbers st once. We humbly beseech nes fo ium toward us and lok down fom heaven ad sc and visit your vineyard, and may you finish the work which you began to plant, bringing it to perfection for thy honer and glory, and that of the Son of the Virgin, your most hely Son, whom {You decreed, determined and confirmed as Savior of mankind: If This vineyard is burned up, there will be complete ruin, but if ‘you turn your face to us and against the fience beast who caused So much damage, his strength will vanish and we shall grow Strong. Place, © Lord, your hand on the man whom you Chose to tako care of this humble nation (the king of Castile) and give ‘him your help and most ardent spirit to banish the ‘wild beast of greed, which infects your kingdom and puta them in great danger; may he desire, endeavor and seek (especially in this new nation) only that which redounds to your honor and glory and the salvation of souls, granting them ihe freedom you have wil ted or rations ceidts, baause with thie your anger wi cease and these afflicted may gain a respite, and singular graces Imay come to all of us. This we hope, O Lord, from thy hand, ‘with complete confidence, and we shall not depart from you, not seek sny other help; and until this is won, we shall ‘not cease to invoke thy ‘mast holy Name. Therefore, Lord God of Tests, restore us and show us Your shining face and we shall be saved. ‘Amen ‘And todey we can pray in the same spirit: “O God al- ‘mighty, turn your face to us today, that the Powers of evil may be vanished and that we may be found worthy to enjoy that ‘peace of which your Son is Prince.” 8The Twentieth-Century Franciscan Apostolic Life Hilary Scully, OFM. Cap. Francis of Assisi was a man who lived in the present, developed the past, and looked to the future, And, realising ‘hat, we can take to heart the statement he made to his tol lowers of the thirtenth century. “You have not been called for yourselves alone,” he sald, “but for the talvation ‘of others.” Francis was quite clear. the apostolate was part of his vocation, ‘it must be carried out by his followers, Consequently, whoever ‘wishes to follow in the footsteps of Franels must give himself to the service of other men. That is exactly what the world expects of us and what the ‘Church requests of ts Inva Teter to the Ministers Ganeeal ae ‘April, 1988, Pope John XIN unged Franciscans "to offer some hope of brighter future (o or tesa wel) ty the re {ams tea is through the ministy and ood works of his followers.” ea ae Pope John expressed our purpose clearly. Our purpose is that God may reign — that God ‘may reign in us, and. toreugh us, im others. St. Francis had his own way of achieving that end {or the people of the thirteenth century. We have St. Francis’ ‘way of achieving that end for the people of the twentieth century because Francis’ spirit, resting ase does upon Ged, will never change, Time does, and’ with it elreumetances of time. It {sup tous to bring Francis back and put his sprit to work. ‘This article will attempt to show What the spirit of the ‘apostlle life is, and what makes that apostolic life Franciscan, ‘twentieth century Franciscan, Every form of apostolic life — or the mixed life, as it is often called — combines a contemplative end and an active end. Francis, T think it is fair to say, was the first to embody such fan ideal and all the other Orders of the Mixed Life took that ‘deal from him. We wish, in the words of St ‘Thomas, "to con- RATER HILARY, « student of thelogy at Capuchin College, Washington, Dies provid thie atlas 2 penetrating anaynn of poverty of wre ‘he ight f the tomas of ie Eotemporary pontate “ template and to give to others what has been gained through contemplation." We want to fil ourselves with God and let that spirit spread to mankind as a vesel that first fills up. and then ‘Such am apostolic Ife containe four elements: (1) regular observance: those traditions) significant norms. which each one of the old Orders carries with it down through the ages without Interruption as a paternal Inheritance, such as. austerity in clothing, fasting and abstinence, choral office, silence at certain times and places. (2) Knowledge of the sacred selences :the knowledge which pastuates keenness of mind, ever ready fr all the questions of practical life, and. which makes contemplation ‘easier and fosters regular observance. (3) Spiit of prayer: the ‘most important of all, including especially Keurgieal prayer, daily meditation, and a fervent offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass ‘And lastly, (2) apostolic work: all the work contained in sav" ing souls ‘One can see that by far the most important end of the rixed life is that of contemplation As a matter of fact, the moet Important part of any apostolate is not that which Ie seen, — that is, the labor itself “Vit is that which urges that labor, the caritas Christi of St. Paul, our prayer life, Fr. Chautard, a’ Cis: fereian, has emphatically developed this in his book ‘The Soul of ‘the Apostolate. He urges that this all-important truth be printed in indelible characters on the minds of apostaie priest: OUT spostolate will be successful only in the measure that we ourselves love that supernatural inner life of which God Himself Is the Sovereign Principle and Jesus Christ the source. ‘Was there anyone who realized this more than our Founder St, Francis? Certainly we Franciscans know thet Francis under: Stood that truth perfectly and certainly we Franciscans, his fol Towers, ght to understand it just as perfectly. ‘This is where the whole panoply of Franciscanism envelops the basie principles of the apostolic life and males that apostolic life a peculiar type — makes it Franciscan. Tt gives a distinctive character to the Tour clements: making. the regular observance Franciscan, making the study of the sclencey Franciscan, mak ing the spicit of prayer Franciscan, and thus making the poe. tate Franciscan. What is that distinctive character and ean We have it today? ‘The doctrine of Francis and consequently of the Franciscan is the doctrine of the Gospel, Fr. Pacific Perantonl, OF M, States: “Imitating their Seraphic Father, the Friars Minor must always and everywhere give tongue to the Gospel with their 4verything Franciscan must have the ideal of Christ fon the cross behind it cconduet and their activity, They must bear witness that Christ {@ alive and active in their heart; that His doctrine alone is th etrue and the best doctrine, the doctrine serviceable, yes, absolutely necessary, for everybody.” Christ-centered must be our Life, Christcentered must be our thought, Christeentered. must be our spirit, and in the center of Christ's doctrine isthe doctrine of the cross, Bverything Franciscan must have the Idesl of Christ on the ‘ross behind It, Christ stripped of all on the cross; here is the fisence of Franeiseanism, ‘And surely Cardinal John of St. Peul's defense of the Fran- cisean rule still stands, Replying to the objectors that the Rule twas impossible, beyond human endurance, he spake up, in words which could just ar well be spoken today: "If we relect the pe- Uition of thls poor man as something novel and’too hard to fol- low when all he seks ie that the law of the life of the Gospel he confirmed unto him, let us beware lest we offend against the Gospel of Christ. For if snyane shall say that in the observance fof evangelical perfection and the vow to observe It, there is con- fained comething new or irstional or impossible of observance, {uch a ane is convicted of @ blasphemy aguinst Christ the Author Of the Gespel.” These are eternal words, Christerucified must fot be 8 figure of history! And if there fs one person who must ‘Hop the tendency, i isthe Franciscan. It is this spirit then, the spirit of Christerucified as found in the Gospel, which mist enshrine our apostolic life. ‘That spirit was one of poverty and charity. “Blessed are the poor in spirit” Christ said, "for theirs is the kingdom of hheaven." “Poor in spirit” — renunciation, a magic word to Fram ‘cs because it meant more than external poverty. “Blessed are the poor in spirit” was the fist beatitude of Christ, and all the bothers can be traced back to thet. Poverty is the Pranciscan's Starting point for all the virtues; charity i the spirit in which the Franciscan studies those virtues, Poverty did mean remunclation of temporal goods. Thrown fas we are into the midat of the atomic sociely "we must re- Imember that such a renunciation is not fmpossible. That spirit must invade and pervade everything we do as Franciscans. A ‘Franclacan hospital chaplain, oF prison chaplain, a. Franciscan 6 director of an information center, a Franciscan pastor can handle fnoney all day, count It, iavest 1 buy with It, almost live in it, nd il he not only remembers that not a penny. of itis his, but ilvo acts in the conviction thet not a penny of It is his, he is poor in spit, detached from the world, He is an image of Christerueltea Poverty algo includes the other two monastic vows: re- rnunelation of the desire of the flesh and renunciation of one town will, Tt is Belaboring the obvious to say that the modern Franciscan friar has the same vows with which Francis bound himeelt CCaristocentric poverty is also a renunciation of seltpamper- ing; it means austerity: 4 rigorous training of life. A Francis can who spends is whole apostolate in Writing books or in teach- fing modern technology must be Just as austere as a Franciscan Imlssionary in the Philppines or New Guines. Poverty is a renunciation of pride; it is humility — the vivid and vital recognition of one's personal relationship to God The student graduates swmma cum laude, if a confessor always hhas the longest line of penitent, if a lay brother is known as the best cook In the provinee, the adjective Franciscan can only be added when that particular person realizes that his gifts are hot his at all, When he can admit thet he is exactly the same before God a8 the graduate who had to try four times before he received his degree, exactly the same before God as the confos- Sor whom penitents avoid, exactly the same before God as the iy brother who can't even boil water, he is a Franciscan. Fr urific stresses the humility of the modem Franciscan in a unique wway. "Whoever there may be among us, no matter whao Alegree of holiness or learning or specie! gifts of nature and grace hhe'may be adorned, let him not regard himself as any more tan e plain helpmate, subject to assocating his services with the secular clergy in the duties of the apostolate, The Franciscan ‘Sposte could never be proud if he remembered that! ‘That renunelation of pride also carries with it the virtue fof mockness, that moral virtue ‘which moderates anger st- onling to right reason. The Franciscan apostle of the confes- ‘Sonal, the Franciscan spiritual director of nuns is a patlent man, for the Franciscan has grown to be patient through his mor fleation and self-control, and the Franciscan is aman, for he fexhiblte a solid spirituality with a foundation in Christ. Poverty is furthermore a renunciation of worldly ideas, Tt {s a opint of sacrifice that can accept suffering with the sim- 7plieity of Christ. The Franciscan attitude on Ife must remain the same as Christ’ attitude, and that is one of acceptance. If the Franciscan is true to his name, sickness, loss, even death are ‘actual graces which he uses Just as he accepts and uses the a tual grace of joy and happiness. For one to whom the poor end sick have been especially entrusted, as it \s with us Franciscans, should not, must not my face, your face reflec the joy of the Ssceeptance’of Christ? The poor and sick may not be able to de- fine Franciseanism, but they ean tell sf we ane true Franlseans. Poverty is « renunclation of hostility, It Is mercy, itis peace. ‘The man who is truly mereful, one whose very. disposition Is that of forgiveness, is aman who Is truly. peaceful The very outlook of the Franclsean requires of him the qualities of « look but, a guard who recognizes danger, and replaces it with kind= ness to bring about pease, Such must be the atitude of the Fran siscan Third Order director or guidance counselor, Like many Franciscans, he is to be a duplicate of the truly peaceful men of history: @ duplicate of Christ, the man whose couriers herald- ‘special Order to bring about peace; of John XXIII, « man who 4s head of the Chureh established the principies of peace by ex. fample; of John Kennedy, a man who as head of s state brought the ideal of pesce to nations. The Franciscan is a man of Morey, aman of peace, lessed are the poor in spirit": that first beatitude con: tained tho substratum of the reat and the whole of the evan. gelical life, the life of Christ. The spirit which spreads itself ‘ver every single aspect of these virtues, Is the spleit of charity Love is the Lord's one great Commandment and Francis made it the means of sccomplishing his likeness with the poor Christ on the cross Charity 1s basic to Franciscanism. The Franciscan preacher, the Franciscan educator, the Franciscan home missionary cannot merely be in love with God; he must be on fire with love of God and Christerucified, Theis the ille amor seraphicus of Pran- cis of Assisi, © love which consumes, actually consumes every single action of the Franciscan — every sermon we presch, every poor person we minister to, every act of our ministry, every Iiturgieal prayer. Love must’ be the splsit in sthich we practice Poverty, « love of God and love of neighbor for God. If'we un- Aerstand ‘this basic element ef evangelical life, we have found that to make our tittle world alittle better, it doce not tale much time —~ it takes much love, 6 FRANCISCAN INSTITUTE PUBLICATIONS. ‘Works of Saint Bonaventure De Reductions Artin ad Theslogiam. A Commentary with Introduction and ‘Trandon By Se. om Therese Healy, 83,106, Hae inerarom Mento fx Deum: With a Iteodcton, Translation and Comme “Gry: By Piothon Bochner, i066 #20, Spirit and Life Series ‘he Revsaton of Margaret of Corton. By Bishop Ange Matis Hic, 1982 athe a By Bishop Beominaton of ConainceAsrording te St, Bonaventure By Ptheas Both: ‘tt, OS, 108. Send witon, hardbound, 1600. BAD. 1s Luring Often Branciecon Pioneers x the Orient. By Savion A. Haba, ORR oes Bate, The Lapmd ond Writing of Sait Clare of Ani. 168, $2.8, The Upper Room. Rereat Readings for Prieta, By Thomas Plasmam, Oa, tose es he Prat ofthe Gopal. 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Cap, 1st. 41.00. he Numarial Distinction of Sine Ascoriing to the Froneaco Sohal of Semen Bihtorth Conarien, By Bonnvectare Ae Brown, OF Mey isa gto ‘Ortr from ‘THE FRANCISCAN INSTITUTE etat Bonavetare Unirerty nt Bonaventure, NY, 4078 ‘March, 1965 Vol. XV, No.3 che CORD A PRANCISCAN 51 Baiter— Augustine MeDevit, 0.F.M Managing Baitor — Fe. Bonin Kew, 0.FM Pr. Mich! D, Mole, 0.F.M. CONTENTS EDITORIAL 50 REDEDICATION FOR FRANCISCAN SISTERS st SAINT FRANCIS AND FEAR OF THE LORD 58 Regis F, Morshall, OF M ‘THE JOHANNINE MESSAGE FOR FRANCISCANS 6 Reynard Kinkel, O.F.M.Cap, FRANCISCAN LOVE AND HUMAN FULFILLMENT oo Blliot Luce, OF PRINCIPLES FOR FRANCISCAN RE-EVALUATION... 7 Brother Philip Harri, OS.F., PhD. SERAPHIC PRAYER: CHRIST COMMUNICATION 1" Stephen Mannie, O.F M. Cap. aitornl aad Busnes Ofer ‘THE CORD ‘Tu CORD is pulsed monthly by the Francucan Instat of £4 Bane ‘este Uniery Ma Hae ited a tid las attr Com the Pee ‘ioe at Broly, N-¥. sis21, pending approval of secon hss permit at Se"Somaventore 3. snd adtonal ery at Bookym N.Y under the (cum Permian Superior ‘Section rates: $200 « yar ($250 fregn) — 20¢» copyEditorial ‘May the Lord give you peace! ‘Although Saint Francls' relationship to God was a very ine timate and personal encounter, it was not an ephemeral thing Profoundly complex and patently cogent as love itself, his vision auickly overflowed the brim of individual experience to sesume the nature of a message fo other men. It is this message, trans- lated into moder expression, thet THE CORD tries to bring You. Someone has facetiously described mixed emotions as the sensation a man experiences while watching his mother-in-law drive over a elift—in hie Cadillac During the past year, our review has been experiencing some rixed emotions of its own. Many of you have writen 10 us t0 task why we have fallen behind in our publishing schedule. While it is certainly comforting to know that we are missed, we do regret deeply the circumstances that prompted the concern ex: pressed by your letters. We should like to express our sincere apologies to you for letting you down as we have. Having now made a few adjust- ‘ments here at the editorial desk, we have every hope, with God's help, of bringing the review to you on time in the future, [At the same time, we ask for your indulgent acceptance of ‘the manner in which we propose to bring THE CORD back to its schedule. Tn the face of these euphemistie “circumstances beyond four control," we have decided that it would be best to begin Immediately, with this isue, to concentrate on getting the current jssue out to you on time. In addition to the current issue, how- ever, we shall do our best, during the next three or four months, to send out several double issues which will complete the previous volume (1864) as well asthe present one (January and February, 1985). Finally, we thank you for your patience with us during our present dificulty, and we ask God to bless you for it, And we pledge to you our renewed efforts to bring to you--on time—s ‘meaningful and enjoyable review. The Editors Rededication for Franciscan Sisters In the thirteenth chapter of his Gospel, Saint Matthew re- cords. several. parables which ‘Jesus told to deseribe the king: {dom which He had come to es: tablish among men. With 2 neat- ress characteristic of is ac: countant’s mind, the evangelist rounds off our Lord's teaching with a short epilogue, itself in the form of a miniature parable: “And He sald to them, So then, every Seribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like hovesholder who brings forth from his storeroom things new and old!” (Me. 15:52), Nova et vetera, the new and the ola! Chests founding of His kingdom was the culmination Im perfect form of the ancient ‘covenant which | Yahweh had made with His people. With the advent of the new, none of the old was really lost, for Jesus fame not to destroy, but to fale fi) (Mt, 5:17). And’ the Cheist- sn who truly understands the kingdom of Christ has the knacle ‘of “giving to cach its proper vale, Holy Mother Church has drunk deeply of the spirit of her Head and Founder. Instruet- fed by the Holy Ghost, she is @ prudent householder who knows how to se both the old and the new in her storeroom. God has endowed her, ashe always will ‘with Wonderful gifts. She cher- {shes the old, even while em bracing the new. She under- stands how to employ both of them effectively for God's glory and man's good Now, one of the outstanding blessings which our heavenly Father’ has bestowed on the Church are her religious insti- tutes, those societies whose members strive for gospel per~ fection according to the law peculiar to their sciety by the profession of publie vows (ct C.1.C, 488, §1). New to the CChureh at the time of their in- ception, many of these institutes have now grown quite old. But the Church does not on thie ac- count diseard them, ‘Since she is aware of thelr perennial value, she occasionally brings ‘them up to date with new ideas, new apostolates, new activities, ‘ew adaptations. Thus docs she fact the part of the prudent householder. Jn our own days, which are so thoroughly permeated with the spirit of apgionamento, it is rot a bit surprising that the Church should addrese hereelt to the task of updating her re- Higious institutes. aReligious Renovation Pope Pius XI ad been vicar fof Christ only a few months ‘hen he began to manifest 2 Keen interest in revitalising re- Iiglous life in the Chureh. Tt is ‘sign, incidentally, of the high ‘stoein which the Church has {orher religious, that one of the cerliest movements toward ag- Glornamento. took shape pre- fsely in the area of religious Institutes. In a serles of letters fand alloeutions to religious su- periors from 1939 to 1050, the fupreme pontiff repeatedly ex- pressed his desire that thelr in- Ssttutes undertake both an ad- fustment to modem conditions ‘and revival of the essential “pint of their respective found- fers. By 1950, this double theme (of accommodation to the times fnd renewal of original spleit had assumed the Latin name of Renovatio Accomodeta, and had [guined sufficient momentum to be the subject of discussion at the Pisst General Congress on the States of Perfection, which ‘was held in Rome thet Year. By its twofold nature, the ef fort towerd accommodated. re- rewal concerns bath superiors tion to modern ‘conditions in- volves an external, edministre tive adjustment ofthe institute's ‘modus operandi, therelore, al- ‘hough It considers the indivi- oe dual religious, itis more direct- ly the concern of euperiors. On the other hand, the renewal of spirit depends largely on the ef- fort of the individval religions; hence, while superiors are in- directly involved. in personal renewal by providing means to etfect it, the revival of the founder's spirit is incumbent ‘specially on subjects. Tn order to provide an im- petus and environment for per- {onal religious revitalization for thelr members, many religious inctitutes (predominantly, a8 it seems, these of women) have arranged what have come to be known in the United States ss Renovation Programs. These generally have taken the form Of a sort of workshop of spiritue ality, lasting from two to six ‘weeks, in whlch sisters of @ particular community work un- er the direction of a priest to renew themselves in the spirit of their founder, A Unique Program During the past summer, a ‘group of Pranelsean sisters took part in a program of renewal Which appears to have been quite unique. On July 5, ep proximately one hundred sisters from five Pranicscan commie nities gathered at Christ the ‘King Seminary on the campus of Saint Bonaventure Univer- sity in New York State, to de- vote two wooks to rededicating themselves to the spirit of Seint Francis, The program was con- ceived and arranged by the Very Reverend Donald Hoag, OF M., Minister Provincial of the Pro- vince of the Mast Holy Name of ‘Jesus, and conducted by priests of that province. ‘Three factors contributed to rake this rededication program Gifferent from most efforts of this sort. The large number of sister participants allowed for 8 4 true community atmosphere wich was noticeable especially in the various liturgical func- tions which were held. The team af eleven priests involved jn the program ensured. the sisters a wide choice of confos- sors and spiritual directors. The presence of diverse Franciscan ‘communities provided for alive- Jy and enlightening exchange of viewpoints, It is reported thet the sisters who took part con sidered these three things dis- LUnet advantages, a view shared bby those priests who had had previous experience in this sort of ork. ‘Three Point Format ‘The activities of the day were Aivided into three parts, each ‘with ite peculiar purpose: re- consideration, reevaluation, and ‘e-enimation. Each morning two Ictures were presented, dealing with Franeisean spiritual theo- ‘and 8s Implications_in Practical religious life. | The ingle exerciee held in the after- ‘boon wae a seminar in which the sisters discussed modern problems concerning the vows, community living, the aposto- Tate, and the like” To facilitate ‘active participation by all, the Sisters separated Into groups of bout twelve, each group with f priest moderator. Discussion twas prompted bya list of tak Ing-pointe related to the morn ing lectures, and given to the Sisters at the beginning of the program. A sister scribe re- ‘corded the salient points of each Seminar, and a summary report fof the day's sessions was mimeo- [graphed and lasued to each sis- ter. The reanimation aspect of ‘the program took place in the ‘evening, in the form of a sermon for bible service, followed by Benediction of the Most Blossed Sacrament, Although & great amount of infllectual sctivity was com- pressed into {wo Weeks, an earnest effort was made to pro- Vide the participants with time to digest what they were acquir- ‘ng, Diseussion during the day was free and enthusiastic. But, ‘ince the accent was on the task fof personalizing what had been tssimilated, the sisters spent a iqrest deal of time alone in me- fitetion. The scenic seminary ‘campus, surrounded by the m ssJestle Cattaraugus hills, provid- fed acres of the natural beauty that is co conducive to convers- {ng with God. Furthermore, an sbundance of good resding m terial wat avalable, both im the seminary brary. snd — within ‘walking. distance — the library of St. Bonaventure University. ‘The Franciscan nature of the material discussed during the [program wae matched by a very perceptible, almost tangible, Seraphic sprit. Serious discus” son was frequently punctuated by lighthearted laughter: devout prayer was interspersed with & reat amount of conviviaity; sister charity prevailed every- where; and, despite heroic ef- forts to the contrary, Brother ‘Ass departed a trifle heavier ‘than he had been on his arrival. ‘All who took part in this re- dedication program—sisters and {lars alike--conridered that our heavenly Father had given them a great grace indeed. The ex- perience of observing the spirit, Of Francis alive in members of other communities; the oppor tunity of sharing one's experi- fence of the Seraphic vision with others; the gift of a few days Of Blessed leisure in which to give oneself again entirely to God; for all these things, and for many more, the religious in- volved in this ‘rededication are frateful to one another, to their {iuperiors, othe Holy Mother Chureh, and to almighty God. ‘The mind of the Church was never so clear as nov, when it is finding expression in the searching of individual priests and laymen, in the mushrooming of so many new Christian apostolic movements, and in the ringing decisions of Vatican 1, This is what the Church is thinking. This is what she wants. She has every right to expect nothing lees than a wholehearted response, ‘especially from her priests and religous. — Aquinas M. Ferrara, 0. F. M. Saint Francis and God ie our norm. He it also our way. God is more than an desl. He is the truth. To God we attribute life. Th fect, He is Life itself. To kmow and love God, our way, our truth, and our life, after the manner, and with the same motive, in which God infinitely knows and loves Himself spells out the ultimate and only’ explanation of our God-gited existence. To be a ware. of the encouraging truth that God came to live with us in the same humanity He cre: sted maker our knowledge of Him the more accesible and His love for us the more dis- ‘erable. That the same God ‘submitted Hime to the humi- Iiation and absurdity of the ‘ross in full view of Jerusalem ‘and exposed in full sight of mankind and inexhaustible mer € Is purpose enough for every man to tremble but hardly reason to regard the death of ‘the God-Man an evil fom whieh hhe should shrink CChrist came to us not as an avenger but as an advocate who 1, Reni, @ frequent etriulor 1 Fah acs icy Fear of the Lord ‘Regis F. Marshall, OFM. called, invited, drow, and yes, ‘even begged. And herein les ‘the heart of our subject matter ‘That Christ's loving attempt in His Passion and Death may not bbe appreciated; that there may bbe only apathetic acceptance of His Sacrifice on Calvary: that ‘the erosspice to which His arms were transfixed may not be con- Strued as the beam of justice ‘ighted to horizontal perfection, fan make of God the source {rom which may come the evil of punishment, Man may turn his back on the God of love but in doing s0 he must face up to the God of justice. The God ‘who ought to be feared is the same God who gifts us with a fear of the Lond. Fear of the Lord is properly © grace and gift of the Holy Spirit. As a face it is necessary and ever Sufficiont. AS a gift itis a need and never superfluous. he did not so grieve without a touch of trepidation. A most practical payehologist, of whom Chesterton said, “he deliberate- ly did not see the mob for the men” and "he only saw the image of God multiplied and 8ever monotonous,” St. Francis Tenew that man’s nature is to dese and when he does not inchor his heert in God he will Ai ie redy sumer i> ings thet God has made. Gad’ very gifs can become rods, When “the co-curricular Sbligation of reparation is Shirked then inevitably there results self-privileged separa- ton from God. This isa disorder ff the first order & dread Francls always feared in his Order. It has boon suggested that there are no punishments only corrections thus styling. every fan a custodian whose lifelong ftfort is one of maintaining, preserving, and restoring) the frder that Christ ordained on Golgotha. “Now go hence, Fra fe, end build up my house, for itis nearly falling down” "was the call istued from the eruci- fix of San Damiano, at first so rmlsunderstood but soon so well fundertaken, Tt bas singe become the unambiguous call to every follower of the Poverello. And the eall has become mare im- portunate in the truth that the ‘order which Christ restored on the helghte of Calvary obvious- ly has not been preserved in the Velleys and main streets of our aay. St, Francs! “love isnot loved” of medieval mintage Is no less true of our modern mentality. ‘An age which has s0 delivered 6 liselt to an exagerated sccent fon. change and transition, to disruptions and disjunetions, to Separations and insecurities, has also allowed a chaste fear ofthe Lord to go by the board. And this when our times should be so generative of such an attitude towards God For despite the ‘ransieney of our age we have fo choice but to live in the per- manent company of two pres fences, the one, the silent Pres- fence of actual salvation in the Holy Eucharist, and the other, the slumbering presence of potential destruction in the mu- ‘lear bomb. If the fear of the ‘second, a fear that an unbridled pride and prejudice may trigger universal holocaust, seat ¢ub- fordinate to a fear of the frst, {2 fear that Sacramental Love tay not be loved, then we would fee the gem that is the fear of the Lorde gift of the Holy Spit, emit its most brilliant sparkle, ‘Ag first blush it might appear quite strange to predicate of fur holy father, the mirror of Christ, a fear of the Lord. To find in him who #0 gloried in the divine atibutes of good ness and mercy and who Was So evidently enrapt with the Fatherhood of God, a fear of the Lord, might strike us as somewhat alien. And again we fre given to fool the pulse of ‘ur Subject matter. Te was pre- cisely in Francis’ “Deus meus ft omnia” that the roots of his filial fear of the Lord struck 50 deep. The more God became to him a Father the greater the fear that the son of Pietro Ber- rpadone might become an oute right orphan. The more exciting land scenically reminiscent of hheaven became the world of creation the more did the selnt fof poverty fear that he might ‘cease to be & stranger and pll- {grim in this world. The more Ingreined became the love of (Christ for usin the Eucharist, the love of Him who called us “teiends", the greater the fear that we might through indiffer- fence become His foe. Inside the darkness of a eave at Poggio Bustone Francis expressed this fear of seperation with the prayer, “I fear everything from bby badness, but from thy good- ness T also hope for all” Such ff fear was the next of Kin to ‘the virtue of attachment, faith ‘Afirm faith is always produce tive ofa chaste fear of the Lord, ‘A confirmed faith founded on God's love rather than the evil of punishment begets a reward- Ing and fertile fear of the Lord. Only the faithless are fearless (of God and only the foolhardy ddare not fear Hie. ‘This world was to Francis God's own backyard. Wherever Ihe tarred he saw there e eres- ‘sural affiliation #9 God, He bimn- self whether strolling across the fsimny Umbrian countryside or Iningling about a busy comer fm Assist did so a8 @ child who rakes bold to say and do things ‘while standing inthe shadow of its father, For Indeed the spici- tality of St. Francis could be reduced to just such a posture; he bivousced his thoughts, de- sires, and works neath the pro- vidential umbrella thet is God the Father. However, aware that "itis in giving thet we re- ceive” Francis algo saw in the ther a God who had to be reverenced as a judge. The ‘Seripures that he so loved were not only pages imprinted wtih {2 patient ‘mercy but also. the eaves loaded with a levelling justice. They contained words of threst as well as promise ‘And the Seriptures have to be {ultiled. Rewards there will be, God the most coveted; punish ‘ments will be meted out ee fl seperation from our Creator the severest. Many were the sobering examples of a salutary {fear of the Lord in the Old Tes- ‘ament! Many too were the ex: amples of a presumption and pride that smothered a like fear fn the New! St, Francis was quick to learn 1 fear of separation from the ‘Master Himself, Anxiety rode ‘stride the donkey as It bobbed its hesitant way toward Egypt. ‘Fear and trembling were Chris's a‘acolytes during His ordeal in the Garden of Gethsemani. An awesome fright hung heavy. bout the Saviour's ross on Cal- very. The fear of futility, the {car that the Via Dolorosa might be for some just a sentimental Journey, a fear thet enroute to the hill of the skull He might be going against the traffic, leaned at heavily on Chris's shoulder as did the awkward Weight of the cross. Some twelve ‘centuries later Christ was given to Know so joyfully in the Po- verello that His fear was notin vain, Tn St, Franeis it became the cotter-pin that locked in place the wheel of e dove-like Emplieity on the shaft of ser- pontine wisdom. Francis in turn Dequeated this fear to all his sons and daughters when he concluded the simplicity of his "ule with the wisdom ofa threat ‘and a promise, 2 maladiction snd a blessing, There would be no living neath the seme ume brella with our holy father with- fout an appreciative acceptance fof the gift and grace that is a chaste feat of the Lord. In numbers there le strength, When those numbers are dedi- cated. individuals banded and bonded in a religious commu nity, bt fora singular purpose, then strength becomes. power. ‘There is no power on earth to compare with the power of ‘communal effort ignitioned by sa ‘2 burning love which is inst ated with fear of the Lord Ifan individual fear of the Lord ‘sour first baby step along the path of wisdem then « eommun- Al fear finds us well in stride ‘with wind to spare, Such a fear prevents the most shattering of ‘lspersions, that which comes from within. It eannot but have fan honorable homiletic effect fon those to whom we minister Splet and Life. This was the fear ‘that St. Francis desired as his Dequest to all who would brave the opinion of the world and fembrace the vows. “Come little children, harken to me! T will ‘each you the fear of the Lord” (Ps. 33:12). And teach ithe did Having lived the rule before he ‘wrote it, he loved God the mare in preaching it. What original sin wrought so as to lean us ‘way from God, a chaste Fran cisean fear of the Lord would, ‘2 vcounter force, retrieve Standing us upright before the lareproachable justice of God, So a5 to instill a more paternal dependence on God and a mare genuine filiel fear of the Lord Francis would eall his commu salty the Lesser Brothers. The vow of detachment, poverty, Would be taken to underscore this dependence. Fidelity to this ‘vow would make of God a pro- nounced object of our faith ‘And the more substantial be- fame our faith the more prac- | | teal our fear of the Lord ‘Our entrance into the Fran- clscan Order was marked with 1 fear that was born of an am- Ditious love, The Franciscan ‘deal, whether contacted in the reading of the Franciscan story, Iistening to the inspired words of a simple sermon, or observ ing one of the many apostolate Inaction, beeame our ideal, The Inherent desire and attempt to identify ourselves with such & noble aspiration reflected a fear that we might not “measure up". In the beginning our fear ‘was the more emphatic in that ‘while the ideal was so vibrant snd alive our initial steps were So strange and unsure, But es the faded colors of autumn coded to the freshened hues of spring the Franciscan habit be- ceume’ second nature 10 us and St. Franeis our frst love. In the flassroom, the choir, our dally ‘chores, but above all in the ex- ample of our mentors, we felt ‘the breath of his presence, Leg- fends there were many, object Teatons not # few, but none sur passed. in inspirational value {nd imminent need, the hol ale the soul of Francis in print In the rule we found our best entrance into his mind's intent and our best expression of his bear's desir. Infact one of the {ew times that we reed of Frans cls flaring into anger was at the ‘suggestion that an exception be made to the rule. This was an langer provoked by fer, a fear that all that was primitively ‘pure and challenging in the rale might one day be disalved into an anemic formula, The rule was ever to be the bowstring ‘of our Franciscan committment. Fear of the Lord and Francis displeasure would ever keep it taut ‘A community stands only «= tall as the sacrificial efforts of iis members to bring to 2 cor pporate conclusion the goals of the Order itself. With a faith in and a fear of the Lord each ‘Franciscan with his own accent pronounced his vows with @ re: sounding "volo". As if in en- couragement the walls of the church reverberated the echo, We reaped the Joys of the day land the holy harvest of the hour. But distance does not al= ‘ways lend enchantment and to- day somewhat removed from al gesture we know that the change from a “volo” to 8 “nolo” can be quicker than our next footstep. The “ecce quam bbomum” et quam jueundum” Which so tickles our ears need hot touch our hearts. The sun ‘of our Franelsean lives may sink into the west bigger and redder Without our fear of the Lord ‘growing more sensitive and ott ‘communal love more beautiful ‘A fear of the Lord in com: munity’ life should obviously 50find its target in our superior A convent or a friery housing fsuch # fear is fortified with strong antidote to that wedge Shaped pride that divides with- fout ever conquering and a mush- roomed presumption that smoth- fers the desires and directives of ‘superior. Familial and familie ‘er to all, « communal fear of the Lord should transcend the personality of © superior and translate itself into ® respons: Ible obedience. Fear ofthe Lord ‘will thus happily blend obliga- tions with privileges, prayer with play, and pleasure with penance. "We're. in this to- iether” is the frantic cry of & ‘ringing crowd in proximate danger. "We're in this together” is the Franciscan promise of ‘community. that touches the heart of God. Understanding, patience, forbearance, and a I mites charity are indispens- {able in any community. Just as necessary is a collective fear of ‘the Lord, that gift of the Holy Spirit which 20 securely pack ‘ages our communal gift of love to God. Our Franciscan apostolates are as varied asthe colors of an ‘autumnal finale in all is glory Each is in ltself an immediate and flexible means of sancti ation. And onee mare we re- tsi to the heart of our subject matter. The more lofty the a postolate the greater should be o the fear that the means might become the end, epectolates might cease to be weapont for the armory of the spirit and eal- fsthenies for 8 healthy soul, We may preach charity to others with al the eloquence and zeal of a truly professional and be 0 sorely in need of it ourselves. We may instruct the ignorant to a nervous exhaustion ith fut inching a degree toward wisdom. We may work our Decks to an ache and our fore- beads toa sweat without having fearned so much as @ denarius in the sight of God. ‘An apostolate accompanied, by chaste fear of the Lord vill never fall short ofits mark. ‘The higher the pulpit the more humble will be our delivery. ‘The more erudition and Tear- ing demanded of a lecture the more simple will be our pre- paratory prayer. The tighter our grip on the plow the freer will be our dedicatory love for God, Fear of the Lord will be our teleprompter as swe go about preaching by Word, deed, and example, It will keep foremost before the eyes of the soul the spirit of our rule and the re- minder that every apostolate fan be likened to @ pair of bin ‘oculrs: they can give us either the nearest or the farness of God; or crutches: they can be @ support but also when used be- ‘yond their purpose, @ harm; or | | 2 ‘the nails that transfixed Christ to the cross: they can be the ‘same. naile that can fasten hardened heart to an obstinate I Apostoletes that are meant to make of us strangers and pil- aims In this world can also make us strangers to God. ‘The Franciscan Order has provided its onerous portion of Saints and blessed to the treas- tury of the church. Much credit {or such a fruitful output must be given to a deep and enduring reverence for authority. Even fs an army depends so greatly for its combat effectiveness on fn unbroken chain of command 0 too the Order relies 0 sorely for its successful campaign &- aginst evil on the continulty of {fil obedience, When it is the sacrifice of a chaliced obe- lence hammered out with a tear of the Lord then the rout of the enemy hat already be- in. ‘An abiding fear of the Lord primes the pump of our Fran- flsean confidence, promotes the Interest of the Order, and po- lishes to a reflective briliance the mirror whose ‘content. is Christ the true God in Whom we live and move and are” (Aets 17:28). It pastpones and even cancels thet parlor game Which reduces to 8 lighthended recreation the demands and de- sires of authority. It behooves the disgruntled religious who 1s wont to construct mountains of murmuring out of mole hills ‘of mminutae. Absentee prem- fed on the most fickle thread of fan excuse is aborted, Tempts- tions find a vigilant conscience walking its beat. Presumption is furbed and pride Is cut. Doct Iity dominates, holiness of eon- science prevails, the upright- ness of God's justice is regained ‘To gain heaven we need all the prodding that ean be had. ‘One of the better stimulants is fa fear of the Lord. which strengthens the grace that has Deen provided through the re- ception of the sacraments. Fear fof the Lord isthe aqueduct that carries the living water of God's {grace into the reservoirs of our ‘souls. Tis gift of the Holy Spir- It makes oUF life one with the spirit of the “confiteor" and the “act of contrition”, one with the spirit of amendment, Bvery well balanced prayer hhas as) an integral element fear of the Lord. However, as prayers that so simply and forth- Pightly express the fear of sop- [sation from God may I suggest the three ‘communion prayers ‘that we pray at mass In con- function ‘with the priest just before he receives the ody and Blood of Jesus Christ? Prayed ‘with Frapelican fervor and Wwith the mind and heart of St Peter who 20 painfully knew a separation from God they can a‘become our version of his thrice “neither death, nor life, nor repested prayer. “Lord thou angels, nor principalities, nor Jnowest that I love thee" (John powers, nor things, nor things 21:18). Then love will be loved. to come, nor might, nor height, ‘And for the last time we come nor depth, nor ony other crea back to the heart of the con- ture, shall be able to separate ference. Once we have gained us from the love of God whi ‘this mutual love our fear should is in Christ Jesus our Lot ‘row apace with It so that (Romans 8:38.36). Reflection on the mystery of the Eucharist yielded Francis the deepest meaning of poverty; it also supplied him with the ‘most forceful motive for renouncing everything, for keeping nothing, for emptying himself entirely — the Lord Jesus Christ ‘ives himself completely to all men. The response that Francis ‘must make before such radical selt-giving was plain to him; hhe would offer himself to Christ through life of absolute poverty. Poverty represented for Francis the pattem of perfect Imitation of Christ; poverty was not solely an important practice of the evangelical life; rather it constituted and expressed this, very evangelical life, In Francis’ view poverty was a life of total renunciation culminating in most intimate union with Jeeus Chris, who ‘for our sake made himself a poor man in this worl — Benedict V. Scafie, O. F.M. AORN, i iim NN ani 2 The Johannine Message for Franciscans Reynerd Kinkel, OFM. Cap, In the Encyclical Rite Bxpi- that He may lift us up. Angelo tie, Plus XI stated that “today Roncalli had no trouble under. in the world there existe a need standing this leeson. Upon it he for another Francis” If this founded his revolution within “other Francis" emerged, he the Church which reflected so said, “would not that have ¢- well the Ideal of Francis. ‘ough force and effiacy to hesl Hig humility found him con- ‘and root out the corruption of sidering each individual as a ‘our times?” person. Whether = man was Recently a follower of St. Tich of poor mattered litle. As Francis, @ Tertiary, took up a the Apostolic Delegate to Ture sin with renewed zeal the mis- Key he served the poor as resdi- sion of The Poverelo of Assist. ly'as he did the Mich. Tt was ‘That Tertiary was John XXII. the poor who especially had the He exemplified in his life what power to move his heart, Francis and so many after him In February, 1997, Magr, Ron dave “red to condense into call old saistan did As the words. A glance, therefore, at Apostolie Delegate he took part the lite of Pope John will help in the modest funeral services tur eall to mind the authentic His reason? "In onder to show," spirit of Francis and will show fe sald; “that te Church le lus a concrete way of practising the Lord whom it represents it considers he merits of the St, Francis insisted thet his jumble as much ar those of the followers had come to the powerful “school of the humble Savior “with this conviction regand- Jesus Christ in order to lear jng'the ‘isnity of the Kenan humility." His teachings stressed OS oP Og ot oe that humlity is the foundation Pe"ter Tegra OFS a ‘Yirtue: we must begin by being men to himself. His humility, hhumble in the sight of God, #0 Thtimatelh; wae the root of Re peal. Always ready to adapt Frater Reynard i a theologian is feelings and preferences to sisting ot the Copuehin Semitary others hey would say, for ie chasin tt Anthems: Merathon, Wit tance, during his eatly years 6Jn Turkey: “If in Rome, Christ is @ Roman, in Turkey He must become a Turk.” Many of “his straight-laced colleagues looked bewildered st the effect of his very human and understanding attitude. He ‘associated freely with socialists, communists, and free-thinkers Ineach of them he saw the good Which was present despite. the forts of others to obliterate it fad uncover only: the evil and the grotesque. When chided for his ‘actions, he reminded his friends that perhaps he might convert some of his freethinking brothers. And this was enough for him to continue in his ways, ‘More than anyone Pope Joha, understood the words of Rabert Frost: “Good fences make good neighbors.” He would advise us to recognize the real differences that exist and must exist as long fs there are people other than Catholics. But he would tell us to assume mutual good will, and to respect one another's con- science, He would point out ‘What we have in common in the faith of Christ and how we right work together in the Spirit, f only we had the hue mility to bend Let us listen to this humble ‘Tertiary as he introduces him self to bis newly acquired sub- jects, the faithful of the Patric farehate of Venice: "I come of hhumble stock. T'was raised in ry the kind of poverty which confining but beneficial, which ‘demands litle, but which guar antes the development of the noblest and greatest virtues and ‘waieh prepares one for the steep scent of the mountain of life.” [No one was surprised to read 1m his personal diary reflections such ar the following: “This year's celebrations for my priest- ly jubilee have come to an end. ‘What an embarrassment for ‘met Countless priests alresdy ead or stil lving after twenty- five years of priesthood have accomplished wonders in. the Apostolate and in the sanetifies- tion of souls. And I, what have Tedone? My Jesus, mercy! But While T humble myself for the Tittle or nothing that I have = chieved up to now, T raise my fees toward the future” (Sofis, Gctober 80, 1929) “The Vicar of Christ? Ah! I fami not worthy of this title, 1, the poor son of Baptist and Mary Ann Roneali, fo. good Christians, to be sure, but so modest and so humble” (August 15, 1961), ‘When the opportunity pre- sented itself Pope John stressed the virtue so dear to him— Fhumility. On one of his trips to the Ponifieal Gregorian ‘Unk versity, he had a potent message for the students. "One should farm oneself with humility,” he said, “and not permit oneself saa peo ambitious thoughts or impulses fo the desire for high pastoral offices or beg in prayer for spe- cial missions and popular fame” ‘The words were effective be- cause he lived them, (On his deathbed Fope John re- peated the theme of humility ‘whieh ran throughout his entire Ife. "This Pacem in Terria, What a stir itis making! What Js mine in this document is above all the humble example ‘which T have tried to give all my poor life.” John XXIII had discovered the seeret of the poor man from ‘Assisi. The breviary points to it in the passage, “Franciscus pau- per et humilis" Because Pope ‘John lived the virtue of hum ity, Francisean simplicity hed to emerge. It was the tame kind of simplicity which Pius 11 hhad envisioned. when spesking to the Franciscan Tertiares of Haly. Franciscan simplicity, he said, “brings the soul to search for God directly, following the short way, the simple way, that {s to say, paying less heed to its own disfigurement and more to the infinite beauty of God” ‘This sprit of simplicity forced ‘Pope John to breakthrough the Dbarriss of formalism which surrounded the Vatican. In place of them he raised an im- fage of love and respect that all men recognized. He had great dignity but did not stand on i He had great learning but made fo digplay of it. He was a diplo- mat, and yet he had the simple friendly manner of a neighbor ‘Some say that it was this new attitude of John XXIT that sot him spart from his predecessors His walks found him wandering freely about Rome. Hospitals, prisons, children's homes —all those became his favorite stops He participated in the sacred rites" in ancient basilieas and new churches. His many ex ‘cussions through the less trav- ‘led streets of Rome earned for {br him the nickname of John ‘Without-the-walls. The common people loved him. And he loved al men. One time the governor-regent of the State of Vatican City ‘asked the Pope if he should lose the entrance to the Cupola of St. Peter's during the hour that the Pope takes his walk, “Why?” asked John, “Because the people might be le to look down and see Your Holiness.” hy welll conduct ourselves properly” and ive rise to no feandal” was John's refiner. He wished to be close to the people; he wanted above all to bbe a shepherd. Ho new that a true shepherd remains cloee to his flock. ‘To ensure his near- ness to mankind, therefore, Pope John did away with ornate symbols of papal pomp which 6‘caused more confusion and dis- ‘may than respect or admiration ‘The new spirit which be une leashed was therefore the frend- ly attitude of a neighbor, and he made others understand his ‘ind concerning it. He gave a few suggestions on writing style to the editor of ‘one Talian newspaper. Less for- mality was John’s wish. “Ine ‘stood of phrases like, “The Su- preme Pontiff” or ‘The Tumi- inated Holy Father, please simp- ly say, ‘The Pope or Pontiff did 0 and eo.” Some believe thet the words of the Pope must have a touch fof mystery and dread. But in his diary Pope John wrote just the opposite: "The truth is that it is simplicity that is more in conformity with the example of Sesus.” ‘Bveryone around the Vatlean began to feel the difference. No fone could give an explanation for the change; but whatever it ‘was, they liked i. ‘Pope John was a staunch de- ender of humility. And because hhe spoke out in fervor of this virtue, he naturally” avolded formalism snd. tradition for tradition’s sake. Instead, he, in the spirit of St. Franeis, raised fan image of ‘friendliness and Tove. From this attitude there could only flow a thoroughly genuine and profound joy—the ‘Peace that our Lond promised 66 to those who would heed his ‘ew Commandment Tt wasn't mere chance that the joyful spirit of John reflect- ed the same characieristies Plus XII enumerated when speaking to the Italian Tertiaries in 1958, He told them that Franciscan Joy “is not the same as noisy aoty or unseemly” laughter, Dut is rather the tranquil smile full of amiable serenity." Noone could doubt that this notion of Franciscan joy belonged to the image of the man celled John, ‘At a social gathering one Monsignor deseribed him "as extremely popular... T reeall seeing him at @ reception, spin- hing like top, all purple and reddish colored, between the ‘Minister of Foreign Affairs and his Seeretary General, in the midst of five Ambatadors, sev feral Cassocks and a few Acade- ‘During a Fronch Embassy re- ception, Angelo Roncalli met a ‘woman wearing a very low cut dress which shocked even her friends. He casually offered the seantlly clad woman an apple with the comment: "When Eve Ste the first one of these she realized she was naked and hurried to cover herself with = fig let.” The Cardinal, with his Auick wit, had gotten his point ‘While the Patriarch of Venieo, Cardinal Roncalli was out for walk when very fat person fame Struggling to cateh up to him, ‘The Patrieh turned round and said: “The Lord must certainly ave patience with us fat people.” It's hard to dislike @ man lke that—very few did. But he en- Joyed himself most when “he ‘walked among his flock. His ‘greatest happiness came trom being with the simple, common people. Venice afforded many opportunities for this. ‘The Venetian parks were pic- turesque and beautiful, So many times Angelo Roncalli could be found walking. through them. Yet on one cession, having stayed out too long, he sent his secretary for a ear. While his ‘secretary was gone the Patriarch changed his mind and decided to return home by water bus (the counterpart to our sub: way). He joined the line of people st the bus stop, Bought hs ticket and finally boarded the bus. When he saw the people pass by-—too timid to st by the Lord Cardinal of Venice — he said in a loud voice: "Come on and sit down by me. I pay the fame fare!” All the way home hhe talked and chatted with the simple Taborers of ‘Venice, and zone In the group was happier than Angelo Roncalli. He once fand'he truly) meant what he said, Perhaps pscudo-analysts will spend time searching for the secret of Pope John's success as ‘world leader If they conclude that it came from some artful technique, they will certainly be on the wrong track. His 2e- ‘ret lies in the fact that he was ‘meek and humble of heart, And ‘even though he held the highest fice In the Roman Catholic Church, In his private notes he wrote: “I'am a sinner and dust tnd ashes before the Lord: T live by the merey of Jesus to ‘whom T owe and from whom I expect everything.” These words fare reminiscent of the humble confession of St. Francis: "To myself I seem to be the greatest of sinners, for if God had pur- fied a criminal with the same mmerey, the man would be ten ‘times more spiritual than 1.” ‘The Johannine revolution, ‘whieh was influenced so much bby Pope John's life as a Fran= cisean Tertlary, “can perhaps be arrested but it cannot for Jong be turned back.” This i ‘the opinion of Walter Lippman. ‘John's influence was immense, land the world is different be. cause he lived, In a certain sense, he was a rman sent by God to teach Ter- ‘aries and all Franciscans the ancient spirit of Francis. The teacher has spoken. Have the students heard? oFranciscan Love and Human Fulfillment Saint Francis gave us «life to lead based on a primacy of love, which he himselr found manifested in the mystery of the Incarnation. "This mystery ‘was revealed to Francis in the Gospel according to which we are to live. “O Lord Jesus Christ, I en- treat you to give me two graces before T dies frst, that in my lifetime 1 may feelin body and soul as far a8 possible the pain you endured, dear Lord, in the hhour of your most bitter sutfer- ng; and second, that I may feel in my heart as fer as_ possible that excess of love by which you, 0 Son of God, were in famed to undertake s0 cruel = ‘suffering for us sinners” (Little Flowers, 3rd Stigma). "The Gospel teaches us the life fof the poor, erucified Christ; therefore we have & life to live, ‘a goal to attaln-—not merely Iife of doing, but a life of being Tt has been sid that we must ‘raw ourselves into this fe as the professional football players hrow themeelves into 4 game ‘To achieve this we must become ‘Sam Hutls of the Gospel lite, aeater Blok 5 ae of Washington, Die nt Eliot Luce, OF M. Which requires that we Know what the Gospel life is. In a sense, the Gospel is both the fact and the explanation of the Incarnation, ‘Before the Incarnation, our ‘contact with God was limited Ihe was protected from us, not fully open to us, not sensible to us, We could not see, hear, oF touch God, for his spiritual ture existed a5 a sult of armor. ‘Then that mirscle of love tool place when the Son of God feame close to us, openly and sensibly es Jesus Christ to share fur life and our love even ‘though he would endure suffer- ing and death in its accomplish- rent, This was that true love ‘which consists in exposing. to nother one’s most sensitive Gepths. so that he may. more fully experience the beauty and the goodness of the other. To become sensitive is to become dlefenseles, ands it ie true that “we can only be hurt by the ones we love." We love in spite of this danger. In. foc, love is the living in constant danger for the sake of another. ‘When Franeis beheld the poor Christ every emotion filed his heart ashe realized thatthe Son ‘of God had lett the safety of the Godhead, thrown off the de- fonses of pure transcendance, and let down his guard, ne Tonger to be secure—and all of this for ue St Paul explains this transformation thus: “Christ ‘qual to God a thing to be clung ‘Jesus... did not consider being to, but emptied himself, taking the nature of @ slave and being made like nto men. And sp pearing in the form of man, he humbled himself, becoming obe- dient to death” (Phil. 2:61), Christ did not do this 0 that he might suffer, but chough he might suffer, He sae going to Jove us no matter whet price would be demanded of ‘him, ‘Francis saw that Christ did not wait for the manifestation of ‘ourlove before he gave his ove, rather, Christ loved us frst. Christ hed such great conti. ‘dence in men that he came at ‘a baby, defenseless, with necds ‘hat only men could satisfy. He ‘actually needed the love and ‘cre of human mother, and the protection of a human father, Bnd time in which to. grow in ‘wisdom, age, and grace. He needed the twelve Apostles 10 fetablish his’ Church During his entire lifetime he remained ‘at the merey of men, 30 much {0 thet he even allowed men to inflict punishment “upon him, fand, ultimately, to take away his ‘fe. “All this because he ‘wanted to expose himself to us rho matter what this Would de- ‘mand of him, Francis's delight thrived on this thought! Look what God did for us! The erib at Greceio wat the expression of his de- Tight. But the eross seems to be the focal point of the spiritual lite of St. Francis, for here he perceived that the Gospel life, the life of Christ, was the com- plete giving of oneself to an- ther through self-exposure— bearing ll things, belleving all ‘things, hoping all things, and enduring all things (ef. 1 Cor 139). ‘The final proof of Christ's love for us if his presence in the world ll the end of time in the Holy Eucharist. The Body fand Blood of Christ was now eft in the hands of the priest, in complete obedience to his will, The Testament of Francis elects his great respect and veneration for these most holy mysteries. Soon the vision of the enb, the eross, and the ix borium in the mind of Francis ‘began to take shape in history. Prudence seems to have been thrown to the Wind, a cavalier attitude inflamed Francis, every rampart was broken, every Inuman defense removed: that Which was precious and sensi- tive was left unguarded so that Francis and those who followed him could love men and God according to thelr own proper capacity. o"The follower of this life had only one Rule—which was not tobe afraid tobe hurt by others, bby himself, or by God, Twas a type of unilateral disarmament sceording to the pact of the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, which'opens us materially, affectively, and Inumbly te receive the love of thers and to express our own love. Materilly, wealth serves as 2 protection for our future, four good name, and our bodily needs. Poverty allows us to trust Jn another, to receive from af cother, to give our complete {ath to another Chastity, rather than being refusal to invelve our complete personality, affections and emo- tions with’ another person, is the acceptance of the dangerous fact of exposing our complete personality with its complex af- fections so that we may love and be loved by all whom God places along the path of our lives. The risk we take here is feat, since we are vulnerable to loneliness and are esily hurt bby those to whom we present our love, Despite this danger, Francis admonished his friars that ‘heresoever they would be and meet together, they were to Show themselves members of ‘the same femily and frankly ex- pose thelr needs one to another For if a mother loves and cher 70 \shes the son that is born to her, how much more should each fone love and cherish his spirit- ual Brother! If they suffered because of their love, Franels pointed out, the friars would then come 10 know perfect Joy. Obedience, for the Saint of ‘Assisi, was to trust more in the will of another than in one's ‘own will Tt was to allow love ‘wo take place with complete ‘freedom. Francis saw the faith that God ‘hed in man—a faith that enabled him to entrust his own Son into our hands, knowing that he would be loved. Franels, Jn the same way, put himself entirely in the hands of God fd trusted in the goodness of ‘men s0 that the love which was ‘contained within his entire self ‘might be revealed, released, and returned 10 God, the source of alllove, As we all know, Francis id Teel in body and soul es far as possible the peln which his Lord endured, and. the corre: sponding excess of love in his hheart which had inflamed Cheist to undertake such suffering for us sinners. If we follow thie Gospel life, with its primacy of love, open ‘ness, and self-scrifie, then Wwe will’ be able to. uncover that Singular particle of pure love ‘which isin reality ‘our own Unique sel Principles for Franciscan Re-Evaluation ‘Brother Philip Harris, O.8F., PhD. ‘Everything in the changing Church and world demands a ‘re-examination of Franeiseanisen bby the followers of Francis in fa determined effort to achieve relevancy and. to. spread. the Gospel more effectively. These suggested guidelines are offered fas stimulus to such reevall- ation: 1) Franciscanism isa unl- Yersal humanism that appeals to all men when presented in contemporary terms. Bven the “Hindus of India are attracted by the ideals of Francis of Assist ‘But his Twentleth Century dis ciples must adapt Francis’ time- less teachings to the current situation and needs, Francisean- iam isnot intended to be tamed, domesticated, packaged oF i ‘situtionalied. Tt must always retain a flexibility and mobility ff the mendicant who has here zno lasting home. ‘The human structures, therefore, designed ‘to manifest Franciseanism, are fonly means and not ends in Brother Philp, sation atthe central fie of ine North Amerione ‘Federation ofthe Fhrd rier of Se Be Thomer Be Marroy Troy the transmission of the Gospel message, then they must be re- vitalized, bypassed, or even bbandoned, 2) Franclscanism, by ite nature, Is dynamic and re- levant, not static or withdrawn. In 1965 or beyond, the friar ex- tracts from his Franciscan her- Mage that which is truly mean fngfal to our times, and inte- grates i with new discoveries fnd insights. Not everything four Seraphle Father said or did has such significance today, and hie words and actions must be viewed within the cultural cot text of medieval society. Thus, Francis’ views on flagellation, women, excessive self belitle- iment, and other topes must not be taken verbatim and might more appropriately “be disre- igerded today. Franciscan litera- thre of the past five hundred {years suffers in this regard, in- Stead of redredging old truths and propagating inadequate ‘translations, modern Franciscan scholars need not Interpret the fesence of Franc message in the light of the evolutionary history of the Church and man kind. We mist not predceupy fourselves with Franciscan folk- lore to the negleet of the real religious and social fsues of the nday. With the cosmle emphasis fon Christ as the Alphe and Omege, the Christocentricity of Franciscan theology and philo- sophy is very timely. Tt 1s dis fressing to hear a. Franciscan lay student deseribe us as “that ‘Order which worships St. Fran- cis Instead of Christ.” Therefore, the far cannot withdraw drom reality into the Franciscan past. Rather, as Father Andrew Geaney noted, the messenger of the Gospel “must gladly boar the stamp of his time. He must identify him- self with its culture, wear ite {garb, make the aspirations of its people his own. He must. will their salvation, but never in a vacuum, apart from the real lives of the people. Prayer must precede, sccompany, and sup port his work, but never can it be used as an escape oF refuge from the cares of his tes.” ‘The Franeisean, then, cuts through the debris that enerusts the Gospel message. He relates to all that is good and new in the changing Church, as well as fn the world which’ is in the process of transformation. AS @ fo-erestor and redeemer, he helps God's people to see how the new products of men's minds, ranging from atomie Power to cybernetics, can be lsd to serve etter man's cor- poral and spiritual needs, thus freeing mankind for greater n spiritual growth. 8) Franelsean- [Sm le perennial. It in har- ‘mony’ with the latest_develop- ments in theology, liturgy, cate- cheties, seripture, and the apoe- tate, Tt is the task of the friar to forge the link and to show this relationship to contempor- ary thought. Everything implied In the renewal of the Church fits within the traditional Fran ciscan pattem. The frlar or other followers of Francis Should be in the vanguard of this “agglornamento", not mong the inflexible) closed: minded, or ultra-conservative Perhaps there have been some false elements in the formation of the Franeitesn religious and Tertiary in the past which have promoted a contrary. attitude land approach to that expressed fbove. Has a dlstorted post- Reformation type, of Francis. caniam encouraged withdrawal land private spirituality, © de- ‘humanization and emasculation fof the Seraphie apostle? 4) Francisceniso is most effective: ly propagated through the Lay- shen's Order of St Francis, The major means for the friar to franemit the ideals of Christie anity entrusted by our Father {ohis sons and daughters isthe ‘Third Order, The last four Popes have clearly emphasized that the revitalization, moblization and spread of the Tertiary life Isa providential means of Chris- lan social reform. Francia was f prophet when he established this first mass lay movement, so appropriate to this age ofthe Inity to form and utilize laymen Jn the lerarehical structure and mission of the Church. ‘The challenge to the priest director of this Order isto help the Tertiary confront the pro- blems of temporal society. An army of such men and women ‘gratefully responding to. God's Tove by throwing themselves, like Francis, into the untathom: able abyss ealed Christ, can transform the world! Sueh Ter- tiaries must be committed and Involved, unwilling to seek peace at any price. They become & pert of ALLU. or the liturgical fmovement, rather then compro- mise oF conform to the status quo, From thelr Franciscan splr- Ttusl advisors, they receive the inspiration to leave Mount Ale verno's contemplation for en= _gegement in the marketplace of ‘Aussi. 5) Franclscanism is a ‘means of leadership in the Miys- ‘eal Body when it truly mirrors the spirit of Christ in the Gos- pels in an up-to-the-minute manner. Tt is social action in practice. Francis" insistence on peacemaking, the dignity of all men, the alleviation of the poor and suffering, require his fol- Towers to be involved and com mited, especially to the ores" or little. people. Such Franclscanism should lead in the renewal of Christian epirit- ality which emphasizes serip- ture and liturgy, as well as (Christ the mediator. Its theo- ‘lgy and philosophy. meet the reeds of the times when man- kind ie taking a more incerns- tlonal view of the world. But if this leadership Is to be effec- tively exoreised, there must be ‘aggiomamento on the part of all Franciscan religious, Within the ‘Third Order, the ‘Thomas ‘Murray ‘Training’ program, the Milites Christ for college stu dents, and the Vico Necehi Franciscan Apostolate with busi- ress and profesional persons, fare indications of | up-dating ‘these principles for the devel: ‘opment of Francisean leaders {or our times. "The Franciscan religious who provides such spiritual lead ship, integrates the best in in- ‘carnational thinking today with his heritage wtihin the Order. He encourages a Franclscanism ‘which is outgoing, making eon- tact with all that is good in CCreation, and in touch with di- verse viewpoints—a Franeisean- Jam which constantly undergoes 4 preyerful reassessment of the [Praneiscan and what he s doing. 18Seraphie Prayer: Christ Communication Unity isthe dynamic word of our times! Unity in planning maps out a better way of reach {ng a goal, Unity in school sys tems, in radio and television networks, transmits truth more clearly. Unity among adminis- trators and workers welds better ‘conditions for life. Moreover, ‘our heart hungers for the fullest tunity possible —with God him- olf At the core of all unity is ‘esus, “and the Father are ‘one (Jn, 10:30). "Nor does any- ‘one know the Father except the Son and him to whom the Son ‘chooses to reveal him” (Mt 11:27). “Tam the way, and the truth, and the life. Noone comes to the Father but through me" Gn, 14:6), In Christ both God fd man converge. He is our CChristogram from and to the Father Ordained in 105, Pater Step ig Mme “hg at errs Nu vepe utes erg he baton imei ith trig isn eonfer Sromt, Raukr hee pubihed eres Ge'Padce, The Round Table of ran ‘Shean Resear, and THE CORD, ” Stephen Mannie, OFM. Cap. Saint Paul brosdessted the ‘good news of the Christ who Ssturates and transcends all ‘time, space, and face. St. Paul ‘ured up the volume about the purpose of our existence to be Shaped to the Ukeness of the ‘Son of God, so thet Christ’ life fand mind will be expressed ‘through us, For Paul Christ is all Selnt Francis of Assisi, the carbon copy of Christ, chan- nelled on Christ and translated hie good news into his own life and! words, When we examine the recorded words of Francis prayer, we find the focal point of direction and the springboard fof expression in Christ and his food news. Our Seraphie Father had color Christovision and ‘multi-dimensionsl. Christophon- fs in his conversation, his com- munication, his confrontation ‘with Chris, Celano says: "Ale ways wat he occupied with Jesus; Jesus he carried in his hnear, Jesus in his mouth, Jesus fn ie ears, Jesus in his eyes, SJesus in his hands, Jesus in his members" (I Celano, 118) Crist Jesus was the prayer and the life of Francis, ‘Christ is also to be our pray= er, oUF communication, if we fre to fulfill our resson for be- ing made, if we are to grow in ‘our Franciscan life, if we are 19 ‘conquer outer and inner space. Prayer focused in Christ will sive us dimensions to the Fa- ther, depth in authentic sincer- ity with ourself and extensions 1 our fellow men on each side ‘of us. It will give us the reach of the cross Prayer Before we start considering hhow to pray better—and that's ‘what we are msinly interested In—we first have to understand What prayer Is. Perhaps the best Geseription we have is thet prayer is the communication of four mind and heart with God, particularly in snd through Crist. Prayer is compared to conversation between friends, a telephone cal in which we talk, listen, and love. Prayer is liken. fed to breathing. We have to breathe to stay alive naturally. So too, we have to pray to stay alive "supernaturally. Prayer right also be likened to a com- pass needle, indicative that the Airectve foree of our mind and heart always swing back to Christ, Certainly we all know that prayer is necessary. Our own Salvation and the salvation of many people depend upon our prayer! We Franciscans are commissioned prayers by the Body of Christ for the poople of God: Imagine teking your second ‘cousin, Ferdinand, from Chieego tw Desert Dry in’ Arizona. Fer- dinand has been deathly sick, fand the arid Arizona air should Go him @ world of good. During the trip, Ferdinand is eomplete- ly dependent upon you for food, for being dressed and undressed, for being moved about. Christ: fully, you would take care of Ferdinand ‘with the utmost Kindness. But what would you think about Ferdinand if he ‘would never talk with you? We are like Ferdinand before God, God is not only always with us at every moment and in every place, but we depend on him for every breath we take. How un natural st would be for us not to speak with him. How easy it should be for us to ask God to help us, to apologize to. him when we have offended him, to sdmire his goodness and’ to thanke him for his great. good- ness. God gave us a mind to iknow him and a heart to love him. We are to. use our mind land our heart—our whole body {and soul—to pray with Now, we don't want to spend time proving that we have to pray. We all know this. We FFranelsean realize that i¢ ie our privilege to pray. We are inter- ‘sted in how to pray better. ‘There are different ways of praying. We can pray by using %‘words, by using our mind and four heart alone and by using ‘our body and actions Words ‘The way we are most familiar swith is by using words. We use words when we pray together Zt Mase, We use words when we pray the Our Father. Words are like an elevator. They are to raise our heart and mind to God, for they are to be an expression fof @ heart and mind that is al- ready in communication with Christ, Words alone don't make { prayer. Words alone ean some- times be shallow and without heart, ‘There 1s. great danger that fn our community and per- fonal life there are often too ‘many vocal prayers. Sometimes these sre rattled off without ‘thought—just to get them said Tthink that it was Saint Francis of Sales who advised that one Our Father prayed well was better than many prayed in haste and without thought. And Hamlet observed, penetratingly, that "My words fy up; my thoughts remain below. Words ‘without thoughts never to heay- fn gol"? This might be poetic ‘commentary on our Lord's own ‘words, “This people honors me ‘with thelr lips, but their heart Is far from me” (Mt. 15:8), In the Liturgy we use words to encounter the Word. At Mass ‘we want to digest the word of 6 God and translate it into our daily life. In this Sacrfice- Seerament we offer Christ to his Father, and ourself — our Jove, our hopes, our plans, oUF disappointments, our happiness fand the needs of God's people oyith, In, and through Christ tw the Father, We receive God's word, God's power, God's love {nd the God-Man himself "The diamond of Christ's Sac- rifice-Sacrament is surrounded by the golden setting of ‘the Divine Office. This golden set- ting prepares us for Mass and helps us to thank God more ef- {ectively-—with his own words ‘The Divine Office particulaely forlentates and orbites us in the mentality of praising God. Praise is almost 9 forgotten word in ‘our modern mentality, unless it fs used for Crest toothpaste of late beer. Yet frequent pralse js something that God eminent- Iy deserve. Through the Mass and the Divine Office our life fan be eaught up into glorious fnyman of praise throughout the ay. ‘Some people say prayers. It is better to pray. Some. people Ihave many devotions. It is bet- tor to be devoted to Christ Praying within our mind ‘ond heart We have been considering vocal prayers which Is certain- ly necessary in our life, But how, let's turn to praying with= in our minds and heart. We call this mental prayer—thinking a- bout God and loving him. Tt might simply be described as Tooking and loving. When we kneel alone in the presence of Christ, we may not say a word fexternally, but our heart cries ‘out: “Jems, T love you!” When fwe make the Stations of the ‘Cross, we spend the time think= Ing about, compassioning with, dnd loving Christ in his suffer- ings. After we receive Christ in Holy Communion, we find this kind of praying within our mind and heart very essy. Pray- {ng within our rind and heart Should be thoroughly easy. We id it when we were children, Yet, sometimes, when we be- come professional pray-ers, we fet complicated about approach Ing Chet, Years ago, there was ddelightfal story in The CORD. ‘A small boy was questioned by dns mother after he had received is first Holy Communion. He ‘was asked what he had said to ‘Jesus when he bad returned to the pew and bowed his heed prayerfully, ‘The boy hesitated ft fit, Then he said: “I prayed ‘to Jesus for you and for Daddy, for Helen and for Georgie ‘And then Tasid the ABC's for Jesus, . And there was so much lume I didn't know what to say: So, Told him... ghost story!” ‘We may smile at whet that litle boy said, But when we think it ‘over, was it important what he Said or what he actually did. He made immediate contact with his friend, Christ, and told him what be considered Important, Tf we could learn to talk simply swith Christ as. that little boy id, we would be achieving food mental prayer. If we really want to enter in- to the love of Christ's heart and blast through the masks of self Tove we wear, the thing we want to do is grovr in mentel prayer. "This should be an easy growth. ‘There are some simple ways to practice mental prayer. One ‘way isto do just what that little boy did, We can visit Christ and simply kneel down oF sit down fand talk over with our Lord what is close to our heart—our love for him, our problems, the ‘difficulties of his people, our ‘wish to be integrally Christul, fur desires to. teach him, to preach him, to counsel him ore clearly to his people. We fan tell our Lord about our sor- row for failing him and our flesize to be with him, now and forever, Have a real heart to heart tlk with Jesus "A second easy way {8 to use ‘2 good spiritual reading book that we personally like, Cer- tainly the New Testament, our miss, the Words of Saint Fran fis, any one of the excellent books by Caryll Houselander; ”land many of our eurrent public cations, provide @ mine of ma terial for mind and heart, Suit yourself. Seleet something you like. What you read will tke root and get grip. Turn it over in your mind and apply it to your heart. When a sentence ot ‘paragraph lights flame, reed itt again slowly. Then dive down to the bottom of it We can ask fourself some sincere questions. What can I do to love Christ more? What does Christ want to do through me now? Then ‘with all our heart we ean speale to our Lord, We ean explain What needs to be explained, And vee ean beg Christ to help tus We ean also do this with the vocal prayers we know by re- peating them very slowly: and fap the power of thelr depth while applying them to our life A third simple way is the use of repetitions, Slowly and com tinually we can repeat @ phrase or a word—Jesus, I love you! ‘Jesus, T love you! or, Jesus, If ‘We repeat this slowly over and lover, it will sink into our heart land catch fire. Then we wil be made mindful of “how Jesus Wants to make use of these hhands of ours, our tongue, and four heart. We will be lovingly aware of how Jesus wants to express his care, his comfort, his love through us in any situe ston we may find oUrself dur: Ing the dey. Many 2 good person 7% who kneels in ehureh for 8 long time does just this: he has en fered deeply into the love of (Christ's heart Let's repeat. The first exsy ‘way of mental prayer is simply {aking things over with Christ heart to heart. The second way is using 2 book and letting its message be © springboard. for love. The third way is slowly repesting @ phrase or a word lover and over until it sts Gs 09 fire with Christ’ love, All three are good ways which cut through ‘many complications. Francis of ‘Assisi wes not man to be eomt- plicated in his communication ‘with Chris We want to remember too, that prayer is a two way cone versstion and communication with Christ. We want to give hm a chance to speak, Too oft= fen we do all the talking We don't give him a sporting chance {impress on us what he wants ‘Then we want to hook our reso- lution onto some key word oF action that can be easily re- peated or recalled. This will re- mind us of what we have pro- mised to do with Chest. Certainly, we will be bothered with distractions. This is quite natural. External happenings easily distract us. Sometimes ‘we will be worried about the lasses we teach, oF the tal we fare trying to hatch, or the bro- ken window im the convent re creation room. Sometimes the involved problems and. sticky situations ‘of our students will disturb us. These and a thousand other things tear at our atten- tion until they are solved. Dis- fractions are the common ex: perience of all. They can be lessened, but not entirely eradi- cated. These distractions should never discourage ts from grow- fin mental prayer. Christ Jooks at us as I would look at 42 woman who came to me to tall, but brought along her three children, If during our conver- sation she was frequently and unintentionally distracted by hher children, 1 would under- stand that her main intention ‘was to talk with me, despite her other cares and responsibilities, To combat distraction, we need attractions. Looking at the crucifix or the tabernacle of holy picture can easily help us to focus our attention while ‘communieeting with Chris, ‘Toavoid routine, weean stress fresh and simple variety In our conversation with Christ by highlighting the things that ien- pres us now or the things thet Affect us today. ‘A danger to many religious Js compartmentalization, Some religious splinter thelr lives ine to fragments —now we have Divine Otfice, now we have rental prayer, now Wwe have spiritual reading, now we must work with people. Such a pity! We will not grow nor become (Chrietfl until we unify our life \m Christ. Our life should be a ‘continual communication with Christ —offering his sacrifice ‘with him, praising with him during Ottice, talking with him uring mental. prayer, finding dbm in our reading, serving and loving him in peopie! Surely too, when we really go at mental prayer, we realize thet our communication our conversation with Christ, does pot consist in merely asking for things. Asking is necessary; our Lord even fold us to ask, if we expect to receive. But as se ‘grow in oUF conversation with Christ, our prayer takes on the frlentation of his heart — the spirit of love, of praise and thanksgiving, the salvation of other people, the growth of his Body, the Church. Praying with our Body ‘ond actions Besides praying with words and. praying within our mind and hear, we can also pray with fur body and our aetions. When We consciously genuflect, when Wwe kneel with folded hands, when we make the sign of the cross, we pray with our body land our actions, Sometimes out ‘minds are fuzzy and our lips are clumsy. Yet, if we keep our body reverent’ attentive, that 9‘will be our prayer and, eventu- we will lear to see sin for what ally, our heart too will be at- it is and detest it. Through tuned prayer we will receive strength ‘Although work does not take to overcome temptation and the place of prayer, it is easly gain every virtue, We will re- made a prayer—beeause back- lize that God is our Father and ‘ng up what we do and under- that Christ is our Brother. We lying It Is the life of the Son of will judge and love from his God. This makes it valuable. I point of view. Tt is through wonder if we ever offered the prayer that we will be Christ- ten minutes of patience, when a centered and Christ-conscious. person arrived late for an ap- We will be vitalized by our polntment, fora person who has sharing in and spreading Chests been away from Christ for ten life and love. We will be sensi- years? Our getting up in the tive to dynamie Christianity morning could be. applied for We will come to realize that we someone to wake up from sin, must give Christ another human ‘There are a thousand ways our nature to uie—that he wants 6 work can be a prayer. use our hands, our tongue, end ‘We can pray with words, We our heart to epresd his love, his can pray within our mind and kindness, and his patience to heart. We can pray with our each person we meet. A person body and our actions. Saint of prayer will live in the love ‘Augustine said that only the and peace of Christ with @ hap- person who knows how to pray py heart! He will live the life Well can live well. [eis through of @ perion in communication prayer that we will recognize with Christin the spirit of Saint And taste God's goodness, that Francis! ‘Universal changes within the Church, of course, can only ‘come from the magisterium. And they are coming, in that slow, steady stream that characterizes wisdom born. of long experience It would hardly be farfetched in these circumstances to assert that there exist a serious obligation on all of us to seize with calm fury what the Holy Spirit, through the Church, and. in particular the present Council, is giving us, a serious obligation to get in line withthe mind of the Chureh, — Aquinas M, Ferrara, OF M. UNIQUE... IMPORTANT ... HANDSOME BOOKS CHRIST AND THE COSMOS “ean-Franfls Bonsefoy, OPM, Trans Mich D. Malach, OFM. Te gien the acripearl basin forthe traditional datene of Chat ebesute Petmacy and provides a speculative suthei destined te infoence every are SC logy. 5 PAUL, TRUMPET OF THE SPIRIT Compiled by Sitad Baily Joseph, C82. ‘Thee aaye on the words, work and perncality of the Apete of the Gentes are carefully selected to ive «three dimensional pitare of him. ardinat Newnan std Dowpfner, Elisabeth owen, Monsignor Knot, Dene Bop, HV. Morton, ae bot sumpling of the atbors beaded by St John (Chretien In thi glowing sving antology. #250 ‘THE FRANCISCANS: LOVE AT WORK Bonitue Hanley, OFM. Mus Setar Pink, OFM. siting, lneplsng reading in this beastly made volume: offre a short story sf the three Orders and dramati incidents of Ua Pern-o-persn ‘roi in ear and far part ofthe world: One honed ad three fne petro, 650 Boskwtare or Dept. 4120 St, Anthony Guild Press Peterson 3, NeeFRANCISCAN INSTITUTE PUBLICATIONS ‘Works of Saint Bonaventure De Reduins Arton of Plan A Camara wy Itadtin and Se. Eman Therese Henly, S8dy 008. $238 eee ‘ley By Piiatboaw troduction, Teanlation and Comme “Boomer, 18 420" Spirit and Life Series Phe Recelatons of Margaret of Cortona. By Bishop Ange Mare Hla, 1868 ane. Bowminaton of Conaioce According to St, Bonaventure. By Piltheus Boob. ‘er; OF ak, 168: Second eaten, hardbound, 068, #200, ‘In Jeurneying Often, Franioan Pinte i th Orient. By Marion A. Hable, OP aE ses tate. he Legend and Writings of Saint Care of Ani 168. $2.16 he Upper Room Retreat Readings for Pratt. By Thomas Plsemann, BG, tase sa. he Pri ofthe Goel By Matin Wetter, OF My 1854 $1.40, ‘he Book of Life An Beplnaton ofthe Rule ofthe Third Order Buplar of Saint Pron By Alan Bs Wolter, Oy 186% Paper tweed $0, Eewrsuet According to Sait Boxscenure. By Domine Face "Pranated by Owen A Caliga, ash. #88. Where Cotas Ts and Other Pooma By Sister Mary Branca, F.C, 195. 2.15. Other Books Available John Dane Sstas. A Teaher for Our Times. By Beraed de Saigt Maurie, "pruaated by Calman Dutt, 1068 $460. Mary ta the Prontcan Order, Pronaing ofthe Third Naina! Mating of "Prtaccee Sisterhood, Vol ly 1008 #280 Biatry of the Devegpmont of the Devotion tothe Holy Nome, By Petar ‘Tale 90 #0. ‘De Paroeia Dem Raliioee Commis. By France 1. Maller, 1966 6240, 1 Know Chet. Toe perwoolity and spirituality of Sait France of Aaa, "Br Grnias of Por, OF a. Coby 1087 80, he Namarial Distinction of Sine According to the Branson Sebel of eenierth 6 Blghconh Contarien y Ronavestre Ac Brows, OF A, isi Bi. Order from ‘THE FRANCISCAN INSTITUTE SetetBocaventre Univeraity Saint Bonventre, NX. 178, eee a che CORD Apel, 1065, Vol, XV, No. 4 CONTENTS DEAR SISTER MARANATHA 06 Timothy Eustace, OFM. ‘THE CLIMATE OF MERCY 80 ‘Thomas Merton LIGHT AND FAITH IN SAINT JOHN'S GOSPEL. fa ‘Slater M. Bthne Maher, O..F. VIRGINITY'S INNER MAGNIFICENCE, 108 Bonaventure Mill, TOR. DIARY OF A COUNTRY NUN 109 ‘Slater M. Edwardine Horrigan, OS F. "THEE CORD iss monty review devoted to Prancacanepetaity end pode ‘hea withthe spprovale ccedasialmiperos oy the Francia nate tt st Bonventre Univer, Bator: Atguaine Meer, OFM; Asta ‘Satore ined D, Malach OFS; Managing ator: Rein Kish, OF Laseut: Hatheen Davitt tered an acco seater on Nov. 25, 1080, {2 Bonavetare, ow Yor, M47" Aaationl entey at Brooklyn, New ‘Youk 110 Subeenipton Tater: #20 year (420 fosgn), 2 # ODyAbout Our Contributors (OUR AUTHORS: ‘Timothy Eustace is the pen name of @ well known Franciscan Writer, « member of Holy Name Province sho is currently en- igeged in the active apostolate in the southern United States, ‘Thomas Merton (Father M. Louis, 0.CS.0,), needs no introduetion to readers of THE CORD, most of whom have profited from at least one of his many oststanding books on the spiritual life. Father is Master of Novices at Our Lady of Gethseman! Seminary, ‘Trappist, Kentucky. Sister M, Fthna Maher, 0.8.F., is a member of the Franciscan ‘Sisters of Rochester, Minnesota, and is presently a doctoral can- didate in Religious Eaueation atthe Catholic University of Ameria, Father Bonaventure Midili, T.O.R., who holds @ Licentiate in ‘Sacred Theology from the Catholie University of Americ, is chap- lain for the Motherhouse of the Franciscan Sisters of the Im- ‘maculate Conception, Little Fall, Minnesota. He teaches Spiritual ‘Theology to the novices at the Motherhouse, and Religion in St Gabriel's School of Nursing Slater M. Edwardine Horrigan, O.S.F., now stationed at the Fran- cisean Sisters Convent in St, Petersburg, Florida, is x member of the Allegany Franciscan Sisters. She holds Master's degree fn English from St. Bonaventure University. OUR ARTISTS: Father Prancle X, Mites, O.F-M., who has ilustrated “The Climate of Merey” and “Virginity’s Inner Magnifleence,” teaches Theo- Togy at St. Bonaventure University Father Robert Smyth, who has illustrated “Diary of a Country Non i ata! pastor at St. Joha's Church, Jamestown, New Sister M. Violanta, S.S.1, who has illustrated “Dear Sister Ma- ranatha,” teaches at Lourdes High School in Chieago, 2 Editorial By the time you receive this issue, the first of our oversized 1064 issues should have reached you. We hope that you will ‘agree with us that the June-August number contains some ‘material which, though it would have been even better on time, ‘was still worth walting for, More of the same will be on its way {to you this month, under a September-October cover. "Now that things are getting caught up, we have had some time to reflect on the role of THE CORD as a Franciscan Spir- Ituel Review. One of the most difficult tasks we have faced is that of fullling the most specifie needs possible for as diverse Segments of our readership as possible. Sisters, clerics, lay ter- tinries, brothers, and priests: each group has its tastes and re- quirements and each deserves consideration, Where possible, therefore, we intend to diversify our ma- terial to'8 greater ‘extent than formerly. Articles on widely varying subjects, from speculative doctrinal theology, to. bio- raphy, to concrete reports on the progress of aggiornamento, Will provide one means of doing this. But articles themselves {orm only one mode of presentation. There are others, most im= portant among which are book reviews and a question-answer feature, The book review section is already planned and will begin with the May issue; those books have been selected for re- view which are most pertinent to the spiritual life and the apos- {olates in which our renders are engaged. ‘There can be litte doubt thet a “question box” would serve fan important purpose, Zt would provide an opportunity for Re ligious and tertiaries of the Franciscan family to obtein answers to many problems and questions which they may have had on their minds and never had the occasion to take up with an expert fon a face-to-face baris. It may serve, likewise, to inform those ‘who have never explicitly framed these questions in their own Ininds but would benefit from having them ralsed and answered, [No doubt, the feature would be worthwhile. ‘On the negative side, however, there are some Limitations that would have to be Imposed on such a “question box.” Given the size of the present staff, it would doublless prove diffieult, if not impossible after « while, to answer all the questions sub- rtted. Nor would it be possible to answer them privately. On- 8ly those of general interest could be answered, and the choice ‘Would have to be the responsiblity of the editors alone. No ob- Tigation could be asrumed fo answer al the questions submitted ‘With these limitations in mind, we still believe that @ ques tion and answer column is feesible and even desirable. Therefore wwe ask our readers to begin sending in questions of general interest about the religious Ife or the spiritual life, so that the ‘column can be initiated as soon as possible. All are weleome to submit questions: lay tertlaries, novices, postulants, professed Religious — we welcome all of your queries, and we assure you that they will, i selected, be answered as fully as possible by the competent staffs of St. Bonaventure University and Christ the King Seminary. You are asked, please, to give your full hname and address, if you want us to consider publishing and “answering your question. Names will be withheld on request. "A glance at the calendar on our office wll tells us that, shortly after you receive this Apri issue of THE CORD, the mont important days of the year will be with us, Reflecting on the pasthal mystery we are about to celebrate calls to mind. an ‘excellent little paperback written by Bishop Henri Jenny and published in English by Fides in 1981: The Paschal Mystery in the Christion Year. This book, which is 112 pages long and sells for $1.50, shows not only how Holy Wook and Easter form the center of the Church year, but also how the rest of the year is totally paschal in character. ‘The mystery of Easter is, n fact, the key to our whole Christin life, which is a Journey with Christ through the por- tals of death to a new kind of risen and transformed existance for which we were originally crested. In approximately two weeks, we shall enact in the symbolic language of the Liturgy this paschal journey which is taking place really and mystically in our own lives. We shall accompany four Lord to Calvary and beyond, to Emmaus, Good Friday will bbo.# time for taking a good, hard look at sin and what it did Dat our glance must penetrate beyond, to the third day and the -lorioos triumph of Christ. “"f 1 be lifted up from the earth” Jesus once said, “T will raw all things to myself” (Un. 12:82). This lifting up, this hour toward which he looked forward so longingly all his life =i it hi Passion, ols his Resurrection? a It is both, There is no point in trying to separate these two aspects of the paschal mystery, for each is unintelligible with- fut the other, The “lifting up” of which our Lord speaks in St Son's twelfth chapter is, quite plainly, the entire paschal event of Calvary-Easter. Through it, the Father is supremely glorified, the Som comes into fall possession of the Kingdom prepared for him from the beginning, and the Spirit is communteated to the new creation, making men adopted sons in God's natural Son. ‘This is the eighth day of creation, the goal toward which the seven days of Genesis pointed from the start. This Christian Gispensation, being worked out in the “last days” in which we live, was ever the goal of ereation, even — speaking in the tem= poral perspective which our finite minds must use — in the ifarden of Paradise, even as the Spirit brooded over the primal waters. "This day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice in it, We wish all our readers a very happy and blessed Easter, filled with the joy and the peace of the risen Christ ‘SAINT FRANCIS AND THE NEW CREATION ‘The very mystery of the God-man manifested itself ‘anew in the poverty of Francis. For the Saint never diverted ‘his gaze from the Son of God made man; he made his own, in a human way, the “selfemptying” of Christ, and ‘thus he created in himself the utter void necessary if he was to receive God and "be perfected and bring to realization God's complement” (Eph. $:19). On. the one hand, then, Francis’ poverty reproduced here below the earthly life of ‘Jesus; and, on the other, it prefigured that eschaological ‘consummation of salvation history, in which God will be “everything to everyone and everything” (1 Cor. 15:28). It was the very nigstery of the Fedemption, both in its origin 4nd in its competion, that became concrete in the person of Francis, And that is why the world sees in him an unparalle!- fed example of both the present and the future state of man- Kind redeemed in Christ. — Cafetan Ever, OF M. ‘Repair By HouseDear Sister Maranatha, Your letter arrived here a few minutes ago. Tt might well have been written by Saint Peter, at o'clock in the morn ingy § alles out on Lake Gene- sateth, where after miraculous- iy wailing on the waters, he Started to drown. But as soon fas he yelled to our Lord to help hhim, the Savior grasped his hhand and led him safely, back fo the boat. God is. always ‘where you need hm the most, ‘You ask me for some helpful hints on “staying sane, when all yourknow-what is breaking loose.” Are’ you drowning? Ts it’the Storm on the Sea and ‘you ean't awaken the Master? ‘You are asking for spiritual therapy. Perhaps you should Ihave. consulted ‘real “pro.” Te been struggling for years te keep mysof out of a straight. jacket Well, that is an exagaer ation, but T have come to re ‘lize what the inspired writer feant when he said: "Life is ‘eonstant warfare” Before T plunge into this re- ply, let me quote an expert on fhe religious life. “Dear Sister, moved by your eager and holy Fequest, I shall try tobe as ‘humble in obeying as you were insistent in making) tT beg that your kindness will regard the sincerity of my intention rather than the actual accomp- Ishments;" the “truth ‘of the words rather than the quality of style, And if) because of Scant Ieisure and’ pressing du- ties, I fail to meet Your expoc- tations, T beg you” to Deine lulgent and forgive me.” Perhaps my sanityaaver wil sake you smile. Be that as it may, Here it is Get yourself {io bottles of fingernail polish, One of pearl and one of spar ‘ning, pale. blue. “Take your Yedroomn crucifix down off the wall. Scotehetape the word "Peser ont the eros, Then wry free moment. you. have, Spply the. pearl polish tothe orpis, There are about thirty Sppllcatios in a bottle. Trans- formations do not happen over night. 1f you do this faithfully for 4 fow weeks, here Is what will happen to you. The Holy Spirit il inspire you with consoling thoughts. Gradually “it wil dawn on you, that our Lord is nno longer walking the dusty streets of Jerusalem; no longer hhanging’ ons creat? no longer eating “supper with Mary” and Martha, That is foo long ago and too far away, for you to get in contact with him. No, he fs not asleep ina boat on the Sea of Galle. He is there im the con- ‘vent orith you. "Before you know it, you wil bbe mumbling to your crucifix: “He is here. He knows what 1 fam thinking, He hears what 1 fam saying. He sees what Tam oing.” Once this happens, the Holy’ spirit will Inspire you with the realization that “God does know and understand what you have to endure.” Then the Battle will be half-won and all the powers of hell will not be able to rumple your wimple nor ruffle your composure ‘As you look at your erucifix, the Holy Spirit wil urge you empty the. waste-paper_ basket fof your memory. Your memory [5 all cluttered up with depress {ng thoughts. Here is how to do The moment you realize that you are thinking about. some- hing’ that disturbs your peace of soul — stop it! You attack Impure thoughts with venge- ance. The Holy Spirit wants you ‘to realize that there are other commandments besides the ‘Sixth and the Ninth. ‘The Filth Commandment commands you to take a reason- able care not only of your body, but also of your mind. You can sin against the Fifth by dvvel Ting on your frustrations and by. pining over petty insults and fronts. Get busy now and empty your memory, 10 that the Holy Spirit can fit up ‘with wholesome thoughts ore is something else I urge you t0 do. Get a copy of the Prayer for Peace by Suint Fran- cis of Assisi. Carry it around ‘wi you. Study it every day. ‘This practice will soon change you from an introvert into an Sxtrovert “Tt will tum your Spiritual eyes from the inde to the” outside. This prayer shows you how to reset, when {you are misunderstood, ‘celum: lated, criticized, ete Ty ie your ao‘constant reminder “not to seek fe much to be consoled" to be understood. to be loved." For all thee wild imaginations come from pride and. sel-plty. ‘Tale prayer will make 2 more Tasting impression om you, if you say it while you are’ ap- lying the hall polish to the Corpus of your crucifix. Here is another sanity-aver, Learn how to send your mind fon a vacation into the land of your memory. ‘Thousands, of jen and women do-it daily When 1 am forced to endure Jong and tedious monalogues, T replay. football. game, hunt lligetors in the Lotisana bey- fuss rometimes T even go away back to those happy days when Tearried water for the circus slophants. "Your memory is a Morehouse of pleasant events Instead of getting exasperated, {oeus your tind ona. marsh: mellow roast, the dress. you ‘ore to the Prom, etc. 1 do not Jinow your memories’ but you 4, Believe me, it relly works, ‘As you look at your crucifix, say: “He became obedient ur to death.” The Holy Spirit will remind you that “obedience is better than sacrifice.” This can ive you much peace, because fany of your frustrations and Aiseouragements result trom ‘conflicts between “management find labor.” There are two ways of doing everything, I ‘God ‘ould condescend to obey Mary ‘and Joseph, you. surely can obey your superior. Obedience ig never easy; otherwise the Gnareh would not have made ea vow. ‘Look around your convent and. seo if you can use this Ancedote as 2 spiritual work of ‘mercy. "T often think ‘of our [Eady, who took pity on the mar. red couple, atthe feast of Cana, ‘She ssid. to our Lord, “They have no wine’ And T say: ‘My food Mother, 1, too, have no Wine. Tn my youth T hed it al ‘ways. T knew neither illness for infirmity. But today with. fut resourees am I. T have no ‘more wine. Beseech your divine Son, my Spouse, to have pity fon my distress" Then on second thought, T would add: "But is it really true’ to say that he gave me better wine when T ‘war young? No. ‘Today he is iiving me the better wine — the wine of trial. Thus, he has made no mistake as the banquet of life draws to a close. He has ep the good wine until now."" ‘Sister, it it now time to get started with your nail polish. T ‘most forgot to tell you that ‘he pale blue polish is for His bruins. Sincerely yours in Christ andSaint Francis of Assisi, Fr, Timothy Bustece, OFM. The Climate of Mercy ‘The mercy of God in Chris ts more then forenle sbwaton from fan and to partepate to & nem restion is, precisely, the work of ‘meray and ot of power. Morey {ition not" only” forgiveness but Iie, fe se more than’ that. Te {he epiphany of den teak and Sf Cog redeeming Love for man. Ht tte revetion of God him fit, not an an infinite nate ae ators ‘Bein anda ae fe Crestor and Pathe, as Bon and Savior, as Lie-siving Sprit. Mer~ te then not smply something ‘We deduce from a previously p= Drebended. concept the. avine Ecce a eye te Supreme ‘supremely loving, ete. but an trent in which God Feveate his SOY to us in is redemptive love fd inthe great ite which Is fhe oatcome ‘of this event oar fewy tov sthern, Indeed there 1S bat one enter ofall morc, fe mereful erent, tn which We receive merey and give I, or give ‘Rand receve tr gt 8:1 62 feaicass Thin event le te saving mystery of the Cros which sone foablog a tO enter nto a true fine! ‘harmony with one, an ter, sexing one another et = Iyin natural faiowship butt the Splrt and money" of ‘Christ who fmptied himself for us and ‘bee ‘cme “obedient ‘even to death (Gail 228). The patie heals ogy of race expresed. tn terme of the Fesoralion af the divine ‘kanes to man. crested im the dmage of God and defaced by sin dost besten fm the gat of ts Shri ere. We are “eret Theaveniy Pater ie pore fect" in ‘proportion ae our lve Is fo longer restricted by 8 ite” oF SPommessure™ of recognisable self= Interest IF wo love others only In tp far as they love un, we aro con~ fined within’an tron law of se food which. socks to awert Our fm enavence and defend i chow rer “hepelesiy) against extnc- ton, The love we thus give to ®others isthe reward we offer them, fhe payment with which we buy tance. With such love we, only Bribe hem ta Rep as persis In ‘ampleto autonomy. And ‘we bribe them by helping them defend the {he ether makes his sun Te on the evil and the fond, and’ car love, If we are to Be tana af God, ust not be United to frets and {o these who favors, oF give 05 Joy. Ghetbian merey fas Uke rain fn the just"and the uniust and Tits no, law but soashlp, ikeness {the “pertet” Pater (at 543. ‘tore ja the freodom of the sone BF God tie fll expresion of that freedom, le characters Droper name, the reflection ofthe Grubs that makes ur free the truth of the merciful cod reveal- Ing. himoolt nthe oehetalgial ‘event which ie ier ad salva: ‘o recdive mercy and to ge tt ts then to participate ar son. ot ‘the Father in the work of the new ation and of redemption Ie 1 ortnare (nthe eschetalogeal tle ‘thmene of the work of Christ and In the efablihment of the King dom. ‘Bat without mere, on the Sher hand, no eal no doctine, ‘Ro works no serif has im it the Stvor of life Te tanter of death, ot etasta, of the od tings tat ave been one way with in the Wietory of ‘the Ris “Christ, NO Sfructare can sand that le not Bult on the rock of God's meray fod. steadtast love (hese) and Fis uataling promises. Some English mystic of the “Ho abldeth patientiy, he for~ fiveth easly, "he understandedh ferenuly, me forgetets utes” In thee’ simple and profound Fords merey is denied wit Got snowieage of the sinner Tt "hat only thet God looting down fom the sinner as 0 wrested ob. Seon decren forgiven but that Ne" uhderstandemerefll. le mercy is not merely an anntl- Tet of pleat, fit re fal fo ase an ert hat i relly there. it la more, Its e soing of the inner meting of evil nat as AE catty in'inelf but ax an toe ‘ident in a saving erent, a. the {eli culpa of the Pasthal “Beale Power and justice, the panoply of EES! and Hate ought poehape le Eimatly 0" be aiplayed. Cod dose fot gaze mith grim and Implaca- {ie ceva into the heart of the sua to disern there the “tthe” (or the “bang” whieh he hates. He Shderstande the sinner meeltl- yy that Is to say thats Lok Donotrats the whole beng of the finer with merey from within so {hat the Lamont veally of the sine hee no longer sinfuess “bat fenhlp. Then the power of mercy {S'tree to arew the nfl existent Inco entity with his Inaat bes Ing, Alienation is overcame. The Sinful consciousness becomes o8- Dable of sccing tet face to face ‘ith the trash, without fear and Ttnout ate because without ie sion. The merey of ‘Ood shows the nner’ to himelt no longer ng an inner belng im whieh rath te prevent He resogntaeeimselt ft mapablo of race-flled exe Istence, bleed by mere, in whieh ‘tard ation ir reconciled With ‘imest lng He coast, Took Upon himself) whether ighly oF ‘eronety, as. 2 ateconteaaitory Thing, and indeed he absolved ‘om ine contradiction already tn- piled by the tendeney to servtinize mel? az object. This econela= ton is the antclola! heart of terey, When the nfl Dass e {fware of fei ar understood met SHniy and as “heen” all of mor fy by ts Crestor and. Redeemer, then te evil of sn, the curse of oath are Morgtten utterly” But fo man can cure his own heart find" deuver hie own conscience from ‘tie tncubue of evil merely Dy oof anaijas and by catharsis, fF morely by opening his heart the understanding ‘of a. brother ‘The mery of God must wipe out the wating toate graven in Bis fem consciousness, and deep. bee eats itn the unconscoar depths frord of fe that not only ennuls {he verdict of lt but the sen- tne ‘of death printed tn ote ex Iitence Not that we d0 not de but death tnt "becomes the frowning event of a saved te and fhe" door "to split, being” and fran in the Crees of Christ Ph sr) sways" menaced by the dreadful power of sim wbieh bat for Gods Eerey would reine is trannle: ‘rtm in our ear. ‘The alienated human, extatent (oot uly ave to himself as bee Ing and ‘therefore not capable of {ll bd personal fealiatlon)e- ‘glres meen order to get be ond the mere Rant of vertaive (ates. han nds nme ‘he tame the pasa, or bese ver from” habittal and routine Stepan of the bate Tac hes SSeachow there te fast which if ‘ted "ttle bare datum re Taine pracialy"witht. mean Ing) tor Dae deep actepance, the fee and pital stfimation ot imei? at a beng rounded i tere and therefore crowed wth TSfconry meaning. hie plenary Socuninghowerer taker the fee ‘ual ost of imei ax metus coonecd in’ file stages fo Sie seit wth iglcanee se Bnew hin into the neanee tn which love and merey Rave tara and irda sat oe KEctire being throws the roar= restion of Chri. “oe Duman extents redeemed snd daiverd ‘nto the fll fre dom of the Christan pervon when 10's nested trom the demonic ta nite projec of strode ion "the el-contraditony ad ‘sl-dteting enter ‘of teat {Shing fae i unaunible ere sy tI he exnence wee Sens fami Being and a wer fSmmoleey atanomons Tis hee {si'enerrne i euried by the (Hotence manisning ant “at Sing" and ae autonomous si {ailment ehaeneing and det. Ing everyolner eine seating tither ‘to dominale or piaale Sati comtont rs pies eonntant wearing efor node ction, wi eager tars of par SSen‘aid power conanty as. frntd:and ‘alng back tt. the sitet toe, SE Lega vconurnest Se one of he enka to"sory oot this roe ot a‘eception and to gain mastery rer ihe death hat ir inexorably resent in the very fact of body Efe ital) There are otter, more complex epetasl ways of atempt- {ng this sme deopsins eubieaa- etic" fechmigues, tal mate Resell este cms {hey are. numbers, the wave In ‘thigh man sear to escape the Thexorable condemnation, All sre beirdetesting except the “Gospel tere ia which Ie oal-scoxing- SENG erated. fom ft sours hd ite concern, therefore to soe frtent om anguish, by “finding Sot aed but grin Sn Chri hie “Dnding te the dacovery, tm grace land falty that one “mere Iyvundersiood" ad) that nthe Spirit of this mercy and this we ferstanding one is enabled to Ue Gereand otters in merey and in Blip. The weaknes and. defence- Tassoes in oor bears, which make ‘ples to ote, ze then di pailed not by power but by trast I the divine merey, wh Is = ‘tena our defenclarnes, and fre ready to. accept our own Boundless need in mereful ox ‘change mith others whace poverty Man ie fallen into sett-contra- concep, to the emptying of the fer tranquil and co berets {rom slavery to efevings. On. the ‘derstand the meaning of Hberetion oe much terms may ultimately ‘ate liberation impoaible ‘This iss view of Me, essental- ty under in because itis under the old Law, by which Law es 5 nd pasion the appearance of fpr vthog that nat" there springs fp in the ear of solt-aienaed sman a doubi, and am ooeulon, 8 Drojet of seit-recovery and. self Riiment by defiance of the Law. ‘The. promiseamenaces and. de- tmand® of the Law are ambiguous Dosile ways’ fo autonomy: one Bytatowing te Law and the othe by setying it is lvays pore Sine for man ‘ender the "Law ta I" ralenness and" confusion, to Cute projets of ibe “agnaat” the Law But ie ate His Droject which eceve thelr ape Parc eabstance fom the La fe "promises or he rete Thue {he Law tends to become an ine ‘ment {0° despairing sol-ral= Satin i inet te sleaceng™ fit © plunge nto ts own. ol {The very Lave lel perry and ruins to deine thir aid eriberty” and “realzalion, iF vaie ma that he can "chow? fin‘and the therefore sonnet tom of freer Whyte Suan? Sicause et ene nme te fhe Law offers decepire prot tse of flfliment tothe {Reinga tn teal rigteoures Fhe Law ls a puaranee of To {Diep he Law feta ener foto {he ntman and socal stracare ‘which ir founded onthe Law and Yoviéer stewards and sanctions Hin to share the_power thet bee Ings Yo"the "cements of the word” “torgetsing that” Oy re st best “tobe elements) of even frore, pemhape, the power of the Trebendes ph, 130 The Law ot fern the soltsoening-2lt the = ous autonomy Which omes (rom freeing pace for ielt In the sein of en by. "humen hi ‘tho is jstifed by the Law Is un- Alerntood not merely bul Pght~ fousy, not. by od but by” men ‘God sage “T know you nat"). He elves is eware 6:16, Tis feward’ may be a. righteous, uh SSA hardening ote ea eve who sen gory one tor a ter?) Ate same’ Une th ardentng iusues Im'a deceptive Glalogue of claims and Gerunds, swith others Who tend 10 accept fraluation. They cept the Law fr rebel agalnay tras Ie appears, Ieamete in the who elim they have been Justified by Tt "Thus Law without merey Kilt rmerey in Une hears of those who ‘ek Jusifeation scaly by rota |W acceptable wrtuounmess and. bY hurting the favor of authodty ‘This legal hone i ie tar @e- Shove the hope of mercy tn hose ‘who despair of the Law the religious and Christan n= portance of not imply identity {Be external “Law wilh interior (and ta this ‘we usvally ‘Tanage {o'keep them distinc) or in oar fanfuse them by making the fae {mene ‘of the’ Law’ inexorable feng morey ot @ quaranice that tne tas recived 1) "a actual fact, as St Thomas points out, mercy and grace are tne New Law — a pertect Law — binging on the Chtan in so far fr the olher law, in all that they Dave of lfe and meaning, are falniied an mercy and ove. The Oia Lam, sys St Tomas, gave the recep of chariy and meer, But fre Rew Law ts the spring of the Holy Spire himself to dwell In fur heave fufling himself the femmand to love by glving as the power to do what wan otherwise Empessbie rit, 107, 1, ad 2 “hat are the Chew) awa of God ‘Rugustine ask "it not the” very Dresence of the Holy Spt?” De pinta et Libera 21). Hence the aw ot Mercy snot an extinlee tly given imperative bat an inner Epesedon s went and. confused fafare, but = persona! inclination to'iove lmpareed by the presence of the Splat ot” Sonship. who Makes ur tree berating Ue fom the eanny of natural weakness tna ‘of exetentat demande for ‘itaserton tom. 03) ‘The whole climate of the Rew ‘testament ix one of iberalon by ‘mercy iberation, through Coste face and. free gif, from sin the aynoptie tend generally to ‘ake this clear. The power of fot" (ivenes is clearly associated with fhe power of hetiing and reeor- tng fe (ae 2513). "The ele tate of the Ocopel a then all imate at once of mercy und of Ife of forgiveness and creativity ‘We enter into thle climate and rate is ate alr by ft wih (ot grace and forgivencey, tat to say sutmaaton toa Law of ac- ‘cept and being accpie, loving Pynd being loved, tne personal ex: ‘unter with the Lord of Life and Sits our brother him. This [faqs ita broad and anaogial Gj demands of grace and of the ‘eats which are defined fo a great frtent by our ows RIO of et~ ‘nals, nod and foryienese To felinglah the ‘personal ” dey ‘wed to Chet’ aoe 1 ws oUF Gen Ue, im order to return to on Speronal and abstract forense Seiards is fo renounce treeiom Sod fallback ino servlity and 9 Pann the git of God, at the ‘Se time declaring by implication hat he Gros of chr was mean= flee (Gal 21) To refoe mer (isto fal in fits, ‘me Church which chet has spmcnsed ith is Dood” Eye cased to Wep alive 08 Tinh hustreraceebe climate,‘ Seer, aru and faith in whch {Be Gentine and e-sting Jo of ‘eonlndon' i Si eet {hy emainepoaable but con Cine and eereenewed etal Geettispowes of mers. recon Slaton cod onener in Cote ‘Gente withthe power wich ‘eine Lora Rimaa trom the Seod cap. f-20) 2), ene vate Ghluhed th "power of te archon Sp Sh Tent atbne ted ‘Ema over the sora of unbellet SEE Uioedience pe. 22). Tae fPorer of mere i the power hat Boake us one in Chris destroy- feet ta eins (ph 21410, ‘Shas in ‘tur seth on the. Crus Sevan end in his own boy to the Bohs gneriad by the Law snd a obwesanoes Our acces to Rin fs by way of acceptance, through he myeten of the Croce Pall. 3: “or ph. 16). When we cer ther stellomship. ot is fering” ine swceve. power trom God 10 Me together. with Christ =. 18 the besvenly spbare™ whieh is the fit of le speeat love neh 1 sores” (Eph, Eat ‘But if we Dave seceved mercy, sod have entered into the lite af fhe. Gnoreh inorder at once, t0 fare and to proc the rlehes fr merey which make the Church the ploroma. of Christ Ciyh. 1, hen we mast show Dy OOF rete) to others thatme realise ‘et we Goes fe really means, ‘Wer sbom that wee five in the elle thats of creative Tove, the climate St the chure, to the extent that Ste experience’ the rath. at 6 [Si smure plowed fo give then %0 Feeaiva® (Ae 20:3) “at no time can the mystery of mercy be undesstod if we Deeoie Chvvoed. with fing oot who te {he eredior and who is the deb- oe. Te elimate of merey becomes fering and creative when me fenie tat they are all cers, Sd that the debt i unpayable {Be Anse, who is tao otter ace ‘tued of having fabreated come Sletaly legals sotritogy was Se ually maxing. tle point clea On inthe xoee oe. all debts paid, and there are" no sololont Seiwecn alan and min, or man nd God, shat can uly salty the ‘ine of merey and redemptive, feconeing love ae they were the fiemande of commutative” juste, ‘The claims of merey are demands Iie totally new sense! demands not hatte debt be propery measure, {ibd then generousty pal but that the whole root of indebtedness be fala open tothe gM that “une erslandeth meray” and thos cen wo be quite other than we ‘ought. Toere an e'to question tts limit to pardon — a pardon hat nesomer meaningless and In- ‘Htectia after “weren tmes" Mt {lai We oree that divine mercy swhlen, enduring forever” (Ps6:1), {Ind dymamtclly active os leven, fp iory, fas enirely” changed the aapect ‘of harman existence, de- Iivering ft fom ls forfltare to 8 ‘ndrome of accusation, profection, ‘Roentanene and. almste despa ‘revs fe ot only in oar hearts {ina indy "but im man's word Hil common fe on eat Morey Reals in every way. Tt heals boas, spirits, eoclety” and History Te is the ony foree that fan ly heal and eaves Its the foe that hae been brought tno {he word tm the great cecatolo- fea! event of the Grow oraar iar man mignt be tually renew ft, and that te gultriden and ‘despairing Dasen of te leet ie ‘man persot might tnd’ Waele Concied in fvedom and mercy ‘with the needs and. destinies of Gihers and of the. world el erey hele the root" af iif by ‘coring our existence of the self ‘Sevouring: depair" which prolects Ats"own eri upon the other as © demand and an accusation ‘wen we are enabled by God's git to, besome: merciful we are Even aie power wo. underand dom the eel in otber, not ara fle of some god-Ike magnazing- {p rooted im our own fuses, Bul Bat of all na the Mult of a set~ nowieage which ie Mbersed from the need to project fe own evi {hon the other ‘After tis when we have learned ot to see an evil which ts pecans fot there in any cate, we become ble ‘to see the same evil In our etre, to ascent to repent of ie'sna enowane that we are whe Glorsood merely) to forget te fey, The workot mere is tis une (Seranding and ts forgetfulness. ‘tue cnarsctes which accompa ny west aid Arsole, "are Blain for ail to ote. The wealthy ire insolent and” acrogant being ‘entalyaffecad by the eoquse ton of wealth, for shey seem to thine wat they possess al) od things; for wealth is a Kind of Standard ot "value of eveeyihing {Soe oo tat everyung seems Pure ‘Shanbte by This ly tue! not imerey of individuals but. of 0. (Geter well The tue “Law” of Sur day te tse law of wealth and faterial power. The fate of men, deed of mankind self, depends fon the law of economics Tb the ‘market tat in really determines {he existence, indecd te survival tt all mom, and etates te ideals Sind the uctualies of socal ie Sn‘our time the scugete of mercy Ie then not against gid and ine ‘iene morality but init df= ferent and. move suble hardening tt ear a eneral low of trast Sof love that tn rooted In greed fd belo? i money. What tony hat “tle. faut in money, thls trust ia ne lar of ihe Bark, {his love of wealth. snd "power, Should have ‘come tobe lented fri Chratanity ang freedom in {many minds, as Ifthe freedom fo make money were the freedom of the sone of God, abd as “toy pointed this oat) money had ‘democtaly usurped. the. role in fhogeen solely which tSe aly Spi appre to hare he‘The love of power and gain be- comes the demonic peeudo-pneams ‘Ghlon eae men and Ineutons, Geteniy"chricien’” to. tample fi the Dearts of their fellow man, 1S estroypesmsive sola sree (free wien had a semblance of ruly, Beauty and. oder, eating i'r place nothing but slums ‘ut ost of guatine cant and lk Timavs degradation Obedience 10 {hn opie and. to the socal Salve wh i neires, wheter In maceeting nations or in totals teeletie, in servitoce to an ase fam Debaliy that tb bind to the Iho! elementary human Insints iad ingenstive fo the most fue ‘damental contacts (he tnfintely fnal "sanity" of tn lehman, and fhe hideous cartenture which war fis “cbediense" Ow ‘whole Tae far, the very suvial of humani- tyr appears moreenged and closed Oy “Ge demonic lols, ts ‘leplemods carcatre of "de ‘can the power of, evanglet mercy pony brea through this on rng of satanic detarminis? ‘re must bellere that ean, ot ele wwe ure not faly Chriss. But ‘ur optimism suet not be wlopian {ha eentnental Obmouay mer (Gy at i confined to the amen ons ot inaivdual plety can ot best huminate our abdication ‘ith a warm senor ow. 7o- {ndvidusls to bo kind, to onder Stand and to pardon. Ths ean 20 cally become a sheer mystifen- ion, parlelaty if wees to ab ive everyone elie fem eerous ‘eponebiy in soca ie ‘Though there in no use placing cour “hopes on a totally utopian ew word ia vbloh eveyone is ily auref, we are obliged % ving the merey and the compas- Eon of chrst a socal, even. poten! Gisension, Te cachatlo- (ial function of mercy, we Te Blin ad erident inthe word Bat in a world of huge atomle stockpiles, « Cristian mercy thst Gonfines ise! to interior felines St benevolence ‘and "good tntan- fons inthe tae of eppaling de- ‘Srvctive power, can mtniesty not feet the demands of vchataloai- {Si loves se only event shat can fe uatered tn by th Kind of ven- Timentalley ix too prim to be con- rmpated, and i belongs more to UBntcnsst then to She Bingo of the iaea KYrios sft inthe. Spt, & power ‘rong oun to tntite the ns formation of the word into ae fim of understanding, unity"and Trintve pence where men, natlons hd octet are wiling t0 make the enormous serfoes Fequted If they are, to. communicate Intel- Tiiby with one. another, under- ‘land one another, co-operate with ‘pe another in feeding te hunery mons and tn bulging & world ot peace ‘such is the eschatological i= rate ofthe new eretion In whch Dadon replaces sucrtce (O3te Shur gi) and the whole world fe filled itn the merey of God the waters cover the se. ‘These are days of revalus- tion, of aggiomnamento, of searching reappraisal of every fepect of the Church's life and ‘mission. These are days, in par~ ticular, of deepening apprecia- ton of the apostolate Tt is of primary importance that we bear in mind this fun- ‘damental fact: the apostolate hhas no metning without apos- ties, and apostles have no mean- ing without faith The Chris: an mission to the world is not Job, not another errand ‘among many; it is something Aivine, whose “success” or frutfulness depends upon the divine initiative, concurrence (in a very special sense of this ‘word), and “follow-up.” And if Light and Faith in John’s Gospel Slater M. Bthne Maher O.S.. the divine fecundity is to pro- ce fruit, st must necessarily ‘operate in a context of faith, Hence the pressing need to eepen our understanding of faith ax a means of recovering, of rediscovering, the meaning ff our lives Without faith, our ffforts will bear only natural fruit and our lives will be re duced to philanthropy. With faith, our lives ean be a twen- tleth-century response to that timeless invitation of St. Fran fas to join him in the work of “repairing” the house of Christ, the Church ‘When Francis himself re ceived that Invitation, his re sponse was one of tial faith How are we to find renewed ”‘meaning for our own response? Let us look to sacred Seripture 5 he did; let us not be afraid of its two-edged quality, for where it cuts across our patht 1m contradiction, only there, paradoxically, does it heal. Cut Is love's confluence. If we are faithful Franciseans, we must bbe men and women’ permeated with knowledge and love. of God's waitten word Falth {s an encounter with ‘the living God, Tt is more than allegiance to 2 code of doctrin- al truths. Its a vital, dynamie, living, Joyful response to 8 Person and to his message, On- ly when we recognize this per sonal element in our faith will ‘we have the strength to ‘ac: cept fally the message element, For the Person is himself the source of the strength, Faith is a form of vision, ul- timately en encounter with @ Person. Even on the human level any encounter is quite mysterious, How much more £0 is the encounter of & man with the living God! Now, we en- counter God through’ faith Faith is a form of light which we lear to hallow only in the hollowing darkness of the ame bivalence which is cast in our ‘own flesh. Let us contemplate God's revelation of himeelt in Seripture, that we may discern the ultimate meaning’ of light, of faith. And let-us remember that faith for us always leads Lup the steep slopes of a La- Verna, where we encounter God, in the light of his gift of himselt Let us look at the Gospel of ‘St ohn, which shows ‘us thls theme of light as faith worked ‘out by a greet Lover. Why did John uses. terminology” of “aight” to symbolize faith? The reasons are numerous; we eam ‘mention only a fe. The ear Iiest primitive cultures con- sidered light to be symbolic of Mfe. The daily eycle of light journeying across the heavens to return at night to the prim- itive darkness of the maternal nightwaters was reminiscent of the ancient Babylonian myth- conquest of Marduk over the sea dragon Tiamat. Light and Garkness became intuitive Te flections onthe meaning of life. Bven in. many pre-phllo sophical pagan cosmogonis, light was held to be a sort of Stable” element. "Then the Greeks refined this notion of “Tight” and gave it ethical con- notations. Darkness and light ‘became realms in opposition to ‘each other, ‘The extent to which this carly Greek philosophy in- fluenced the composition of the ‘Joannine Gospel is disputed by ‘contemporary exegetes; that ‘there is some relationship, how- fever, seems undeniable, But What is important here is the difference between Greek. phi- losophy and St John's theol- ogy: in the latter, the victory Js always aseured and reallzed Defore. the two forces meet. Light Is the Vietor, Tt i not a ‘question of which element will win; itis @ question of which clement man will allow to be ‘victorious ‘within himeelf. If Light is recelved, its victory is ‘astimilsted on the individual level; or, more precisely, the rman over whom the Light has ‘sway is assimilated into the Light. Tt has. been sald) that ‘John’s Gospel needs no special ‘ansfiguration scene; it is, in ts totality, a gospel of trans- figuration. Faith Is the light which allows a man to part Cipate in the recreating power won in Jesus Jeaus life wat the supreme revelation of what God is and what he is like, of the immensity of his love and bis merey. ‘The condition or predisposi- tion for faith is always to ad- mit one's lack of selflight, ‘one’s “darkness.” "The condi: tion of faith is poverty. One rust give up his condition of darkness by admitting that con- dition of utter helplessness, of utter Inability ‘without God. ‘The poverty which is a pre amble of faith isto admit one’s lack of light; it is to live out that truth even in the physical facilities which surround one’s fe. Tt is to trust in Christ for Aight. Now ultimately one can- ‘not merit light or faith, for both are gifts of God. But one fean co-operate in the predis- position for faith. Faith is the file God gives when man re cognlzes his poverty and opens himself not only to the fact of Light but to the ectioity of Light. Can we get a close in- view here on St Francis’ love ct Lady Poverty? Poverty open. fed Francis, then made him wait, then won his whole be- ing for Christ ‘Significant, in this context, {is Christ's revelation of him. self as “the light of the world” fn the seventh day of the Feast fof Tabernacles (Jn. 8:12). On this day, the last one of the light festival, Jesus called hime self “ight” indicating Uhat his Aight is a new one, the Begin- ning of a new era. Then, follow Ing’ in chapter 9, the story of ‘the man judged 'is really re preventative of Christ judged. ‘Those who judge thls poor blind man” are really judged themselves for their rejection fof the Light come into the ‘worl! What dramatic irony, 20 common to the human situs: ton. The’ closing” statement ings through all of time: “For fudgment have T come into this ‘world, that they who donot ee may see, and they who see