2. Commitment and Responsibility Emanuela De Nunzio, SFO The commitment and responsibility of the Catholic laity, in its diverse expressions, is to strive to present today, more than ever, in the concrete dimensions of everyday life (family, affections, work and leisure) the face of a Church that is friendly and missionary: that the expression of God's love for humanity, which helps them to have faith and hope in life, become tangible by whatever means necessary. In other words, its about our being converted more deeply into participants of the life and mission of the Church, and for this reason, capable of loving and guiding in a Christian sense the social fabric to which we belong. I believe that for us Secular Franciscans, this road is outlined in our Rule, No. 6, where it states: "burried and raised with Christ in baptism; they have been united more intimately with the Church by profession. Therefore, they should go forth as witnesses and instruments of her mission among all people, proclaiming Christ by their life and words." From this precept of the Rule are derived three commitments, with their proper responsibility: contemplation, witness and mission. Isn't contemplation to see life through the eyes of Christ, transforming the person, things and everyday deeds into a crucial relationship with an exciting "road to sanctity?" Isn't testimony, perhaps, the contribution into building a "more fraternal and just world" with the contagious love of the word of Christ, communicated to all people through patience, dialogue, listening and understanding? And isn't mission becoming everyday workers for Christ bringing "evangelical fervor" into the immense courtyard of history?
First commitment: unceasing dialogue with God. "As Jesus was the true worshiper of the Father, so let prayer and contemplation be the soul of all they are and do." This article of the Rule (No. 8, first paragraph) is the point of departure for each reflection on our identity. It is the point of departure because, if there isn't animated prayer, the SFO fraternity has no reason to exist: it could just as well be a social group for people who share a common interest, or a philanthropic group whose aim is to collaborate in works that serve any category of the needy. It is prayer that allows us to sense the richness of His presence. In unceasing dialogue with God, we bring him into our history, into our reality, in our suffering, our happiness and the hope of the world. This is our characteristic: to feel ourselves immersed in this unceasing dialogue which re-centers itself in God and keeps us constantly united to Him. But not for selfish pleasure, feeling assured that we shall be repaid by Him, but rather because when Our Lord gives Himself to us, we share Him, we manifest Him, we bring Him to others.
From prayer to the testimony of charity. From the adoring prayer directed to God flowers the demand of fraternal charity that urges us to be open to others, and to find all the ways and means to do good to them. Admitted, through prayer, to contemplate the countenance of God, we cannot help feel the need and urgency to discover His face in the suffering, ruined and disfigured faces of so many of our brothers and sisters. And so, the gesture of service, of love, of charity, of sharing, of taking charge, of the transformation, according to the Gospel, into a good Samaritan for so many brothers and sisters that lay prostrate on the outskirts of our streets, at the fringe of our history, because there is no one who would give them their citizenship rights that, as God's children, also corresponds to them. We read in the Gospel (Jn 6: 9-18) that Jesus worries not only about the hungry crowd, but that he also asks for collaboration from a young person with five loaves and two fishes. And in this collaboration is manifested the Christian commitment to build God's kingdom, that is not only in the hereafter. Moreover it is worthy, if possible, for secular Franciscans who are called “ to reduce their own personal needs so as to be better able to share spiritual and material goods with their brothers and sisters, especially those most in need " (General Constitutions: 15, 3).
Announce God's graceAfter the prayer that contemplates, adores, gives thanks, invokes, and intercedes; after the charity is transformed into service, into attention, into the attentive commitment of supporting those who are far away, who are alone, estranged: the third line of commitment for the Secular Franciscan is the mission: to go taking the Risen Lord's glory and the richness of the Word which he gives to the Church. Many of us may remember the famous speech the Apostle Paul makes in the areopagus of Athens. Paul, who is a lover of Christ, must take Christ with him everywhere and now he goes to the wolf's den. He appropriately chooses the Areopagus of Athens, a place where philosophers met to debate the great themes of existence, and challenges them on their own turf. He begins his discourse by citing a Greek philosopher named Creante: "In God we move, act, and exist" and continues, "God, the same God manifested in the risen Christ Jesus, revealed to me that we will be resurrected after death." When they heard Paul talk about resurrection from death, the philosophers, whom had initially had been taken by Paul’s discourse, slammed the door in his face saying "we would like to hear you talk about this again." We too, must have the courage to take chances. Like Paul, we could be heard or refuted, but we know that this is the position of the disciples of Christ. We can no longer remain only amongst ourselves. We cannot guarantee ourselves an experience that would bring happiness into our spiritual lives if we don't make others aware of the grace and richness that, in our dialogue with God, He transmits to us. That which we have received is not for us alone, we are to pass it on to others and must transmit is from one generation to the next. To the above three points I should add a brief reflection about responsibility. We, the laity, called to live Christianity in the world, are invited to intensify our commitment to building communion, of distancing ourselves from those proposing an individualistic Christianity and from tailored celebrations that don't promote active participation in a spirit of sharing and ministry, learning to open up to others in a reciprocal exchange of faith. Only through this attitude can there be an encounter with humanity, especially with those who are "different," distant for reasons of culture, religious beliefs or life experience. In Gaudium et spes, Article 93, we read, "Christians have shouldered a gigantic task demanding fulfillment in this world. Concerning this task they must give a reckoning to Him who will judge every man on the last day." Additionally, to us Secular Franciscans, the greatest responsibility confronting us in the world is that of service with a ministry that is humble and loyal in spite of our limitations, fruit of our vocation from which we cannot distance ourselves without loosing our identity.
|
