SFO International Council - Weekly edition
Volume: 3 - N. 30 - 1997 - July - IV
From: Koinonia, 1997, N. 3
Benitius Brevoort OFMCap
(Part -II)
Ongoing formation will be able to nourish apostolic creativity, necessary for living the Gospel in today's world. It must take as its base the Gospel, the Word of God, which is the same, "yesterday, today and for ever". On this base it will have to seek new forms for announcing the Gospel to a world in continual change and development. Ongoing formation is necessary for launching a new evangelization , based on new forms and new methods for carrying the Gospel to the world. Only by forming themselves continually, the Secular Franciscans can develop a true apostolic creativity, which is called for by the Rule.
Creativity is not only spontaneous. Creativity is the fruit of reflection, of thinking deeply and of illumination. One must "reflect on events in the Church and in society in the light of faith and with the help of the documents of the teaching Church, consequently taking consistent positions" ( Const. 44,2). Apostolic creativity develops through an ongoing formation that actively involves the Secular Franciscans. They must be helped to reflect, personally and in the Fraternity, on the events of the Church and of society. Creativity does not develop in the abstract, but in the concrete, with the help of the documents of the magisterium, on the base of a faith-inspired reflection, so as to arrive at a clear position.
Concrete situations, ever new and often quite complicated, call for solutions that are also new and at times surprising. The positions to be taken call for that creativity that knows how to find new ways, new possibilities, new solutions. They can be simple solutions, like those of Francis when he had the Canticle of the Creatures sung before the Bishop and the Mayor. They can be risky solutions like those of going to the Sultan or confronting the wolf of Gubbio. But they always show themselves full of respect for persons and their situations and show a great creativity and capacity for going beyond the confines of a "normal life".
Ongoing formation is "a stimulus on the way of that continuous conversion which should lead each one to conform their way of thinking and acting to that of Christ" (Guidelines II,3; cf. Rule 7).
We all need new stimuli to be able to continue on our life's way with constancy and perseverance. In the period of initial formation the necessary stimuli for moving ahead are given regularly and almost automatically. The steps to be taken give the necessary stimuli for those to be initiated and formed and to the newly-professed. But after this initial period, in the absence of the stimuli given by ongoing formation, one runs the risk of failing in perseverance or of continuing only on the strength of inertia.
The Secular Franciscans are called to a continual conversion, in order to conform their manner of acting and thinking to that of Christ. It is a way for all one's life and it is not enough to have begun it. The stimuli of ongoing formation serve to sustain the motion and the progress so as to reach the goal, which is "the perfect Man, fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself" ( E ph 4,13).
The stimuli influence the way of acting and thinking and so the whole man. It is not enough to give intellectual stimuli, valid thoughts or fine ideas. One must give prodding stimuli that move the whole person to action, taking "clear positions" and engaging himself "through courageous initiatives" ( Const. 22,2). The stimuli of ongoing formation are necessary in all the steps of the way, beginning with the "children" so that they may gain "the awareness of being living, active members of the people of God" ( Const. 25), and concluding with the elderly who must learn "to give a deeper sense to their life" ( Const. 27,1).
3. Agents and those responsible
a. The Holy Spirit
The principal agent of all formation, including ongoing, is the Holy Spirit (cf. Const. 37,2). Only the Holy Spirit is capable of reaching "to the depths of every individual's heart as a result of (his) living presence" (cf. ChL 61). It is he who distributes "to each one his gifts as it pleases him", and dispenses "special graces" by which "he makes them fit and ready to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church" ( LG 12).
The Holy Spirit "reveals and communicates the fundamental vocation, which is the vocation to holiness, and he is the principal and source of the realization of that vocation, conforming us to Christ and making us partakers of the filial love of Christ: love of the Father and of the brethren". The Holy Spirit "teaches what is necessary for the following of Christ; enriches us with gifts and special graces which make us able to assume offices and services for the common good; gives us strength to bear witness to Christ, and teaches us how to behave and what to say in emergencies" ( Guidelines Cap. III).
Hence one must be "always attentive to collaboration" with the Holy Spirit ( Const. 37,2) who calls us "to continual conversion and to serve the brothers through the works of mercy, giving witness to the Gospel in today's world with all its problems and its hopes" (José Angulo, TOR, Handing over the SFO Constitutions, Fatima 1990). One must seek to imitate the fidelity of Francis to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and "to desire above all things the 'Spirit of God at work within them'" (cf. Const. 11). We should be "attentive to the presence of the Holy Spirit who vivifies the faith and charity of the people of God" ( Const 99,1).
(To be continued)