SFO International Council - Weekly edition
Volume: 5 - N. 21 - 1999 - May - III
From: CIOFS Bulletin, 1998, N. 3
In 1998 the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Italian Franciscan Youth was celebrated. The events had their most meaningful and exciting moment during the Papal audience on May 9. Around 7,000 young people coming from all regions of Italy enthusiastically participated.
On December 6 the festivities concluded in a warm atmosphere at Assisi with the participation of Emanuela De Nunzio, General Minister SFO. The Holy Mass in the Basilica of St. Francis was celebrated by the Minister General of the Capuchins, Fr. John Corriveau.
Following is Emanuela s message to the young people:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today we celebrate the conclusion of the 50 anniversary of the foundation of the Youfra. I am as happy to celebrate this event together with you as I was to be with you in the Auditorium of Paul VI that fantastic May 9. On that occasion even the Holy Father mentioned the coincidence of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the approved SFO Rule which you have as an inspired document in your life as individuals and as a fraternity. And, of course, your way of life deriving from the SFO Rule was referred to by the Pope, in his great wisdom and profound psychological intuition, who knows well that young people hunger for a demanding itinerary for human and Christian formation - no levelling, no conforming, no banality. Everything that surrounds them daily proposes in all ways the most depressing ordinary and conforming attitude and the most disconcerting banality. They are fed up and disillusioned!
The Pope knows that young people need hope which is everything except banality. Therefore he always includes the theme of hope when he speaks to young people, and he repeats to you: In you there is hope, because you belong to the future just as the future belongs to you. And he adds: When we say that you belong to the future, we are thinking in human transitory terms which is always a passage toward the future. When we say that the future depends on you, we are thinking in ethical terms, according to the needs of moral responsibility, which orders us to attribute to man as a person - and to the community and society, composed of people - the fundamental worth of his acts, proposals and initiatives and of his human intentions (cr. Apostolic letter, 1985)
May I mention my own personal experience? When, exactly 50 years ago, the Youfra took its first steps, I became a member of the SFO. In my town no one spoke of Youfra yet, but I - at 19 - felt the need to discover God s project for me, to program and choose my life, to make my own decisions through which my future would be oriented. I asked myself the questions that everyone of you asks: What should I do to make my life worthy and meaningful?
Youth is a rich moment that manifests itself just in these interrogatives. Not that they don t continue to come forth later on in life, but when one is young these feelings are particularly intense stimulated by the dynamic of the development of the human person. I found the answer in the SFO. You have found it in the Youfra and you are more fortunate than those of my generation because the answer cannot be rushed nor be superficial. The Youfra is by definition a path towards vocational discovery; it is the place which helps you with the Franciscan proposal and in the fraternal dimension to construct an order of values from which shall come an ideal to be fulfilled. In this process, as the Holy Father says,
* the vocation becomes the project and
* the project begins to be a vocation.
What vocation? What project? Shall it be perhaps priesthood or a religious life? It shall be, in most cases, in family, professional and social life where you shall have to realize your talents as good Christians. I hope and pray that many among you shall be called to a life of special consecration to which you shall answer with generosity and fidelity. But - as a Secular Franciscan and therefore aware of the responsibility which is upon the Christifideles laici - I hope and pray that all of you know
* how to become adults in the faith;
* how to be apostles in the ecclesiastic community;
* how to behave responsibly in society being able to assume courageously the role to which providence has called you.
It would be too easy to ask all things because of your responsibility and choice. As Minister General of the SFO, I must assume the responsibility of the adult Secular Franciscans and render account of our choices. To this end I can assure you that the attitude of the SFO towards the Youfra is undergoing radical change. In the past, two attitudes dominated the field:
* disengagement (What are these young people looking for? If they don t feel like entering the SFO, let them do what they want without our creating other problems)
* absorption (If they love Saint Francis, they should remain with us, follow our programs, our plans, our paths).
Today it is no longer like this. The trend of the Presidency CIOFS is the knowledge, respect and determined will to follow the Youfra in its autonomous path, remaining clear that they form an integral part of the Secular Franciscan reality. I can also assure you that, in the meetings and visits that I made in various countries, I can see that this attitude has become a living reality in the national fraternities of the SFO. And wherever it is not like this the Presidency of the CIOFS is trying to correct the wrong attitude.
My conclusion can only be a recommendation expressed as a wish. Have no fear. Don t be afraid to be a nonconformist; don t ever be afraid of the truth. The truth, proposed in charity, has on its side incredible strength. Truth is the highest value because, without truth, peace is an illusion which cannot resist opposing forces.
Emerenziana Rossato
As time swiftly passes by, the year dedicated to the Holy Spirit is coming to an end. However, the action of the Holy Spirit that works in the Church and within us does not end. In fact, He is the giver of life, liberty and conformity to Christ.
His presence is continually everywhere. For Him the skies open up and creation speaks.
Jesus himself, even with His Father s power, was conceived in Mary through the Holy Spirit. He was silently in Jesus, at work, in the desert and when preaching, in His miracles and in His prophecy.
He was within Him when - in time of human darkness - He knew fear, treachery and abandon: in death offered to the Father, in Resurrection which changed everything.
He is in us supporting our faith guiding our way of life and helping us to look beyond events. He is within us in our passage from this world to heaven and He reminds us our being fragile creatures of brief life, the final purpose of our existence and offers us, although we are miserable and limited an eternal alliance with the Father.
From Him comes the strength to accept serenely any cross, from Him comes our desire to help the needy, to condemn injustice and to suffer because of the difficult situations of so many brothers.
We are living a marvellous period preceding a great Jubilee. A Jubilee which demands us not to lose sight of the spirituality of the event and during the wait to purify our whole being with strong determination and coherent living.
This brings us to support also our Fraternities so that they may express in a more visible way the fruitfulness of the faith, even in such difficult times. They should be urged to consider with a generous heart their position, inside and outside, in order to offer, where needed, concrete and meaningful signs of their presence in the Church and in society.
Such an effort will reveal to us - as followers of S. Francis - also that sense of responsibility which is in us and our capacity to witness and to announce.
The year 1999 shall tell us the extraordinary beauty of the return to the Father.