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Topic
I: Profession in the SFO
Based on Fr. Felice Cangelosi´s keynote address to
the 2008 SFO General Chapter, n. 7-9
Ewald Kreuzer, SFO
Introduction
The
Brothers and Sisters of the Secular Franciscan Order make their Profession
during a specific celebration according to the Ritual proper to the SFO. This
celebration constitutes the foundational moment of the identity of the professed. Profession is God’s action and a saving
event. It enables the Brothers and Sisters to make a promise to live
the Franciscan gospel life and to produce in them
particular effects of grace within the People of God. The celebration
reflects the Church’s understanding of Profession in the Secular Franciscan
Order.
Summary of Profession in the
SFO: Gift and Commitment, by Fr. Felice Cangelosi, OFMCap, (n. 7-9) and
comments
n. 7. Both the Constitutions and
the Ritual insist on a Baptism-Profession relationship. Membership and
profession in the Secular Franciscan Order aim to help a person “live their
baptismal grace and consecration with greater intensity of commitment and
diligence” (SFO Ritual 12).
Profession produces particular effects on the
supernatural organism of a Christian, generated by Baptism. Profession in the
Secular Franciscan Order has been defined as the “Memorial of Baptism”, as a
movement from the past to the present by which that which happened in the
past is now made present and efficacious through the power of the Holy
Spirit. Through Profession the implicit potential of Baptism is made explicit
and brought to fulfilment.
The Profession both of religious and of Secular
Franciscans should be considered as an epiphany or manifestation of Baptism.
In the celebration of Profession the specific secular Franciscan vocation,
sealed by the strengthening action of the Spirit, enriches the baptised person and confers on him/her a fullness of
being by which to bear witness to Christ and for the building up of the body
of the Church.
Baptism is the visible sign of the beginning of a
“new life” in Christ. With Profession, a Secular Franciscan says “yes” to a
specific way of following Christ, living the gospel in the world in the
footsteps of St. Francis. This is a very personal vocation. Indeed, Profession
is a very personal answer to God´ s love and grace. Every Secular Franciscan
is called to be an active member in a worldwide “team” (called Fraternity or
Order) to build up the body of Christ which is the Church.
n. 8. The Christian’s
fundamental relationship with the Church is established by Baptism,
since Baptism incorporates into the People of God, which is the Body of
Christ, the sons and daughters engendered by water and the Holy Spirit.
Profession gives rise to a new relationship with the Church, or rather, the
basic baptismal relationship, renewed and perfected in confirmation, is made
“stronger” and “closer”.
Profession in the Secular Franciscan Order develops
and intensifies that relationship in the person who is baptised and
confirmed. While no different from that of any baptised and confirmed person,
the depth of relationship of a professed Secular Franciscan with the Church
is stronger and closer.
In the world of today, we can hear people saying: “Jesus yes, Church
no”. Many are disappointed about the church, the pope, and the priests…they
criticize how Christians practice their faith in daily life. These voices are
a challenge for us as Secular Franciscans. The Church is the “body of Christ”
- all of us - and if one part is suffering, the whole body suffers. Let us
follow St. Francis and rebuild together the Church practicing what we said at
our profession:“to give witness to the Kingdom of God and to build a
more fraternal world based on the gospel together with all people of good
will” (SFO Ritual 29).
n. 9. The concern of the Rule, the Constitutions and the
Ritual is to highlight the need to live as authentic members of the Church,
in line with the stronger and closer bond established with the Church by
Profession. This is above all a bond of communion; and this is the
fundamental element in the Church, which has to be affirmed in actual
everyday life.
The duty to give witness, to which
Secular Franciscans are destined first by baptism and then by profession,
flows precisely from the innermost essence of the Church, which is a
communion of faith and love. The insistence of the Rule and Constitutions on bearing
witness should alert the brothers and sisters of the Secular Franciscan Order
more and more to the fact that their existence in the Church is justified
only by the authenticity of their lives. The brothers and sisters of penance
are asked to offer, constantly and in all the circumstances of their lives, the
supreme proof of their fidelity to God, to give an account to the world of
the hope that is in them, to witness in an unmistakeable way their
faithfulness to the covenant established with the Church and the fraternity
from the moment of their profession.
Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work
today
He has no feet but our feet to lead men in the way
He has no tongue but our tongue to tell men how He
died
He has no help but our help to bring them to His
side.
We are the only Bible the careless world will read,
We are the sinner’s gospel; we are the scoffer’s
creed;
We are the Lord’s last message, given in word and
deed;
What if the type is crooked? What if the print is
blurred?
What if our hands are busy with other work than His?
What if our feet are walking where sin’s allurement
is?
What if our tongue is speaking of things His lips
would spurn?
How can we hope to help Him or welcome His return?
Poem by Annie Johnston Flint
Questions for reflection and discussion in fraternity
1. Why is the basic baptismal relationship
with the Church of a professed Secular Franciscan made “stronger” and “closer” by professing in the SFO?
2. What are some of the consequences of professing in the SFO?
3. Is the SFO Profession a work of man or of God?
4. Why is Profession not a private celebration but a public and ecclesial
act?
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