Br. José Rodríguez Carballo, ofm

Dear Brothers and Sisters, May the Lord give you peace.

It is with great joy that I greet you all, the participants in the XI General Chapter of the S.F.O. I greet, in particular, your Minister General, Encarnación del Pozo, the members of the International Council and the Assistants General. I address a special greeting to you, Young Franciscans, you are missionaries and witnesses to your contemporaries, who need your youthful and faithful testimony in order to begin again, or, perhaps, to initiate, their journey with the Lord. With the same joy I welcome you here to the Porziuncola, a place particularly loved by St. Francis in his singular love for the "Virgin made Church" and Queen of the Angels.

Under the motherly gaze of St. Mary of the Angels, dear brothers and sisters of the S.F.O., your XI General Chapter is about to close. A General Chapter is always a time of grace for us brothers and sisters: A grace in meeting the brothers and sisters from all over the world; a grace in our mutual listening, which helps us to grow in real fraternity, and in all of us listening to the Spirit, who spurs us on and accompanies us towards the future; a grace in asking together, Lord what do you want me to do? It is a grace in finding ourselves together in our response to the challenges which come to us from society, from the Church and from the world. Yes, how good and beautiful it is that brothers and sisters are together!

This being together, in fraternity, the manifestation of a very profound unity on the level of sentiments and heart, is what gives us the strength to journey the roads of the world, living our Franciscan vocation and announcing, like Francis, the Gospel of the Lord to all men and women of good will.

Our first sentiment, at the end of this General Chapter, should now be of praise to the Lord God who does marvellous things, to Him who is all good, supreme good…; praise for the gift of vocation, to which we have been called without any merit on our part; praise for the gift of brothers and sisters; praise for the gospel fruits which, through the testimony of many brothers and sisters, are spread throughout the entire world. Our heart, brothers and sisters, should open up to the praise and, in a contemplative attitude, we should remember all that the Lord is doing in and through us.

The topic you chose and on which you reflected during the Chapter, "Franciscan Novelty: mission and testimony", is of great importance for your specific vocation, that is, of secular Franciscans, called and invited into the world to give witness to the beauty of the Gospel in the Franciscan "style".

This means, first of all, as we heard in the first reading, accepting the Wisdom of God and making it present in the reality of our everyday life, there where we are called to live and give witness to what we are. But it also means becoming aware of what we are, the vocation and the mission to which we are called, just as it is described in your Rule and General Constitutions.

Basing my thoughts precisely on these documents, I would like, at this moment, to underline three elements which seem fundamental to me: called to follow Christ, as seculars and as part of the Franciscan Family.

Dear brothers and sister, "called to follow Christ in the footprints of St. Francis of Assisi" (Rule. 1), "[constantly] making Christ the inspiration and centre" (Rule 4) of your life and of all you do, "motivated by the dynamic power of the Gospel", conform your "thoughts and deeds to those of Christ by means of that radical interior change which the Gospel itself calls "conversion" (Rule 7), "in the spirit of the Beatitudes" (Rule. 11). Let this be your first desire, your first worry. After the example of Jesus Himself and of our father St. Francis, "let prayer and contemplation be the soul of all you are and do" (Rule. 8). Let liturgical and personal prayer be the source of your mission among the men and women of our times. Only an intense life of prayer and an active participation "in the sacramental life of the Church, above all the Eucharist" (Rule 8) will give you the strength to "strive to purify your hearts from every tendency and yearning for possession and power" (Rule 11), will make you free for the love of God and of your brothers and sisters (cf. Rule 12), particularly of the most poor (cf. Rule 13), will lead you to "exercise your responsibilities competently in a Christian spirit of service" (Rule 14) and make you courageous "in promoting justice" and in making "definite choices in harmony with your faith in the field of public life" (Rule 15).

In so far as you are "seculars", contribute, "in the ordinary circumstances of the world" (GGCC 17, 2) to the building up of the Kingdom of God through your "life and apostolic activity" (GGCC 2), always "open to the challenges that come from society and from the Church’s life situation" (GGCC 8, 2). Love the Church and live in full communion with "the Pope and the Bishops" (GGCC 99; cf. GGCC 100-101). Act always as "a leaven in the ambience" in which you live (cf. GGCC 14) and in "the field of public life" (GGCC 22, 1) for a more just and fraternal society, being always messengers of joy and hope (cf. GGCC 26-27). "Live your membership both in the Church and in society as an inseparable reality" (GGCC 20, 1). Your secularity calls you to "bear witness to this faith above all in your family life, in your work, in your joys and sufferings, in your associations with all men and women, brothers and sisters of the same Father, in your presence and participation in the life of society and in your fraternal relationships with all creatures" (GGCC 12). This requires, among other attitudes, listening to the voice of the Lord in the events of history, as well as the recognition, reading and interpretation of the signs of the times in the light of the Gospel.

In so far as you are members of the Franciscan Family, live "in life-giving union with each other" (Rule 1), with all the other members of the Family. We are all called, in different ways and forms, but in vital communion, to make the charism of our common father, St. Francis, present in the life and mission of the Church. In this way, walking together in respect for diversity, you and we will offer a beautiful testimony of fraternity and communion. The Family needs all its members. No one can consider himself so rich as not to need others and no one can consider himself, or be considered, so poor that he cannot give something. May communion, above all else, and then collaboration enrich us all. We must travel together, therefore, along the path of the Lord. Only in this way will we be fully able to give witness to our common charism.

To respond to this vocation and mission requires a renewed commitment to on-going formation, the "humus" of initial formation, of you all, my brothers and sisters. The S.F.O. will be what formation of its members is. Without a suitable formation for the times and demands of the present day, there will be no future for the S.F.O. because there is no present.

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the S.F.O., the mission awaiting us is not easy, but I say to you firmly:

From this holy place, the Poverello of Assisi, as he once did with his early companions, addresses his invitation to you:

Finally, I wish, once again, to manifest my friendship and fraternal esteem and, I assure you, in the name of the entire Order of Friars Minor, of our spiritual assistance in total respect for your legislation.

May the Virgin Mary, "the humble servant of the Lord, open to every word and call" (Rule 9), intercede before her beloved Son so that you may be always disposed to fulfil the will of the Lord.