Go, repair my house

Assisi earthquake 1997

St. Francis in his own peculiar way invites us to reflect, Let us begin, brothers, to serve the Lord God, for up to now we have made little or no progress." (1Cel, 103) The difficulties we have encountered move and challenge us to complete God's work. The "fiat" is not yet completed. It is up to us, to whom has been given the "apportionment" of paradise, to continue the work of the Kingdom, here on earth.

The call to St. Francis from the Crucifix of St. Damian's is for each one of us Secular Franciscans real and true even now : "Go, repair my house". Francis immediately set to work to carry out his mission. But he didn't build it all over again, he just restored what had fallen apart. He didn't destroy the foundation, but rebuilt over it, because the foundation was Christ Himself. Afterwards, wasting no time, he restored two other churches : one consecrated to St. Peter, to whom he was most devoted, and another in a place called the Porziuncola, where there was an old church consecrated to the Virgin Mother of God, called St. Mary of the Angels, where he founded the Order of the Friars Minor.

From this episode we can see that St. Francis literally followed orders, materially restoring three churches before founding the Order and beginning to preach the Gospel. This means that he went from concrete realisation to spiritual realisation, having understood more deeply his mission.

The great difference between Francis as a builder and "others" is : he doesn't criticise, divide or destroy. Francis converts to his Church and is its lesser servant. He did all this departing from his personal conversion. "When you pray, say the Our Father, and We adore you, O Christ, in all your churches in the whole world and we thank you, because by your holy cross you redeemed the world." (LM, IV,3)

Franciscan, Go, repair my house today ! This is our mission. Even we, as disciples of the Gospel using St. Francis as an example, can restore three churches that are going to ruin (at least the first two) man, the family and the institutional church.

Restore the man-church: temple of God, home of the Holy Spirit. Beginning from himself, through conversion. Human frailty makes it necessary that this conversion be carried out daily. (R. 7) Afterwards, together with the brotherly-man, searching inside "our" world and inside the limitations of each one, fight for the fundamental rights of man, free him from sin, give him dignified living conditions : education, work, employment, a home, health care and free time. This is not an impossible task, just begin with the person nearest you.

Before deciding to change something, one must change the man ; in short, convert him. Only in this way we can begin building the Kingdom of God for a more just, democratic and fraternal society.

Second, the family-domestic church. The family, cell of the "mater" of society. Our family, our house must be God's dwelling. That our families re-evaluate love, making every home, beginning with our own, a special place for God, a place of prayer and love. Today one must renovate the family, a place to live the Franciscan spirit of peace through conjugal and family harmony, through dialogue, patience, comprehension, pardon and integration of diversity. And still : conjugal fidelity, respect for life, procreative love (having children) and creative love (adopting children), responsible paternity, conscious and Christian education of children. As you can see, there are many "themes" that we must study, deepen and practice within our Fraternities.

Third, the institutional church. Make our church, our community, the meeting point of the families, never an encounter between unknown persons. The Church is not only the clergy. The Church is all of us, without distinction. That our voice may really be heard so that the church goes back to being really a democratic community just like the first Christian communities.

I think that at this beginning of the third millennium, lay men and women shall have a prevailing role in the restoration of the true church of Christ. Chiefly we Secular Franciscans should find our place and role in the Church, not as "halfway friars" or sacristans, but as Seculars, working as Christians in the world to transform the world.

In conclusion, sisters and brothers, we must urgently restore these three churches, these three temples to begin a just and fraternal society that is the beginning of God's kingdom on earth. That each one of us be a small church in our homes and families and may churches be our home and our family.

Brothers and sisters, Go, repair my house.

We would like to share with you the beautiful words of the nuns of the four monasteries of the Clares who received a contribution for rebuilding, financed by your generous offerings:

From the Protomonastery of Assisi : "... our gratitude is transformed into prayer for all of you with the words of Mother St. Clare: may the Lord be always with you and make you be always with him."

From the Monastery S. Quirico of Assisi : "...your evangelic and brotherly solidarity moves us profoundly and comforts us during this time of exile and helps us look with greater faith to the future. Ever since that unforgettable Friday when our difficult period of exile began after brother earthquake gravely damaged our monastery to make it immediately uninhabitable. Thanks to you; you were for us an instrument of Divine Providence which never abandons us..."

From the Monastery of S. Romualdo at Fabriano : "The generous gift that we received in these days brings us to thank the Lord together with all of you of the SFO. If we want to call this an exchange of gifts, this small sign of gratitude, we shall make worthy all your intentions in our prayers...thank you from our heart. "

From the Monastery of Vallegloria (Spello) : "...just in these days we received a communication that the work of reconstruction has still been delayed. We must endure our sacrifice and have patience ! Thank you for your gesture of solidarity which gives us hope and courage in this experience of faith, of precariousness and of the unknown that the Lord has called upon us to live in this trial of the earthquake... You are a gift thought of by the Most High... may our constant prayer find near Jesus all the graces you desire...."