SFO International Council - Weekly edition
Volume: 3 - N. 35 - 1997 - August - V
From: Letter to the Assistants, 1997, N. 3
(Part -III)
Excerpt from Ongoing Formation in the Order of Friars Minor, 1995, Chapter II, adapted to the Secular Franciscans.
3) Franciscan reasons for ongoing formation -(continuation)
"He proposed to accomplish still greater works" ( 1 Cel 103).
Far from believing that he had already attained the goal, Francis, "though he had been brought to the fullness of grace before God and shone among men of this world by his good works, thought always to begin more perfect works" (loc.cit. ). In a later work, the same biographer says of Francis, "though he had already laid up an abundance of merits in the treasure house of the Lord, he was always ready, always zealous for spiritual exercises. Not to do something good he considered a grave offense; not to advance he judged to be a falling back" ( 2 Cel 159.) "He did not consider", insists the same writer, "that he had laid hold of his goal as yet" ( 1 Cel 103).
The life of Francis was a determined and rapid journey towards the most radical configuration with Christ and towards the most absolute identification with the poor.
Likewise, the life and the formation of the Secular Franciscan is a journey of one's entire life in the discovery of the poor, humble and crucified Christ.
"That which had seemed bitter to me was changed into sweetness" ( Testament 3).
In Francis' view of things, real interior conversion is the transformation of what was "bitter" to the old man into "sweetness of soul and body" for the new man. And the exodus "from the world" which follows, as well as being a physical and social reality, is primarily an interior happening.
Francis' encounter with the leper marked only the beginning, the moment in which he "begins" to do penance, since gospel conversion is a demanding task which is never completed, and in which we must "persevere to the end" ( Testament 39).
When he was close to the end, "already hanging body [through the stigmata and soul upon the cross with Christ... Francis used to say to the friars: 'Let us begin, brothers, to serve the Lord'..." (St Bonaventure, Major Life 14).
In the same way the Secular Franciscan who, like Francis, has received the grace "to begin to do penance" and is mindful of the words of Jesus: "Repent and believe in the good news" ( Mk 1:15), renews unceasingly the spirit of conversion, strives to produce worthy fruits of penance through ceaseless conversion of heart, and endeavours to serve the least of humankind in penance.
This, then, is the fundamental path of the life and formation of the brothers and sisters: a continuous process of personal conversion.
"Remember your resolution" ( Second Letter of St Clare to St Agnes of Prague, 11).
When Saint Agnes of Prague had already undertaken a life of penance and was determined not to turn back, Saint Clare encouraged her in a phrase which is a clarion call to fidelity: "Mindful of your resolution and conscious of how you began, always cling to what you now hold, always do what you are now doing, and never abandon it" (loc.cit. ).
Francis also frequently recalled how he began. Saint Bonaventure writes: "He burned with the fervent desire to return to the humility of the early days and to serve the lepers as he had done at the beginning. In this way he planned to subject his body to the early discipline, even though it was now feeble through work and suffering". When he refers in the Testament to his "leaving the world", it is the humility of the beginnings which he remembers, and the repairing of poor churches in which he adored the Lord.
Being in touch with the memory of the origin and motivation of one's personal vocation can be a basis and support for further growth and formation in the context of one's daily life. The person who is genuinely moving forward in his formation is always eager to begin to do good.
"The Lord gave me brothers" (Testament 14).
Being a brotherhood is, at the deepest level, a gift of God: Each brother and sister is a gift of God to the fraternity. Fraternal life is an integral part of the salvific plan of God, revealed through each and every brother and sister. It is a grace to be received anew each day with gratitude. It is also the privileged place in which we encounter God and our brothers and sisters.
Having said this, each brother and sister is also called to contribute actively in building up the Fraternity, in a dynamic of reciprocity and coresponsibility. And each one must grow within the ambit of the Fraternity and along with his brothers and sisters. The members walk together on the road of the radical following of Christ. Together, and because they are brothers and sisters, they are able to go out to meet the least in society. Together, and because they are brothers and sisters, they succeed in being a leaven of communion among all people and a prophetic sign of a new human family. It is in the Fraternity that each member is evangelized, and from the Fraternity is given the mandate to evangelize. No Franciscan lives alone; we live always in fraternity and with the Fraternity, whose renewal and constant development we must foster. United in true brotherhood, the members should reach a maturity that is fully human, Christian and secular. The Fraternity in turn helps each one to seek the signs of the will of the Lord God, and to live the beatitudes of poverty and purity as gifts of God.
Continually renewing the "Forma Vitae" .
"The Lord himself revealed to me that I should live according to the form of the holy gospel" ( Testament 14). Saint Bonaventure tells us that Francis "wrote in simple words, for himself and for his brothers, a short form of life, placing the observance of the holy gospel as its unshakable foundation" ( Major Life 3:8). And the Secular Franciscan Order today reaffirms that the members "by their profession pledge themselves to live the Gospel in the manner of Saint Francis by means of this rule approved by the Church" ( Rule of SFO 2).
The gospel is our essential form ( formation ). This form is the spirit, the energy, the "gift" given interiorly to each Secular Franciscan who, to the extent to which he lives it authentically, forms and shapes himself.
The Secular Franciscan is obliged to return continually to this gospel energy, to allow the self to be captivated anew by Christ, to "fall in love" again with Jesus and Saint Francis, to be possessed by the Spirit who is active in each one and forms each according to the form of life observed and proposed by Saint Francis.
(The end)