Year Two: THE SPIRITUAL ASPECT

Today we know from the study of developmental psychology that every human being possesses from the very beginning an ability to grasp spiritual realities and act on them. This awareness of and need for the spiritual life is lifelong. It is not something we can put off until we are grown. For everyone it must be a daily and constant effort at conversion.

Conversion, which is central in the Franciscan concept of penance, means coming to put God in the center of our lives. According to St. Francis, what we do expresses who we are on the inside. If we love God and do penance, as we conform our hearts to Christ, we will produce worthy fruits that will improve not only our lives but those of all who come into contact with us.

Having a loving relationship with God makes the sacrifices we make for Him, or for others for His sake easier. St. Elizabeth made these sacrifices for God every day from her childhood on and they helped make her a saint.

As we strive for continued conversion, we must constantly remember that our true home is heaven. We are to think first of heavenly realities, as Elizabeth did, rather than earthly riches or popularity.

Is God truly at the center of my life? Am I allowing Him day by day to change me into His image? Do I think often of my heavenly home? Do I teach my children to think of God first from the beginning of their lives? Do I teach them to sacrifice for Him?

"I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me" (Exodus 20:2-3).

"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mt 22: 37-40).

"So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides" (Mt 6:31-33 and Lk 12:29-31).

"[Those who do penance are] all who love the Lord with their whole heart, with their whole soul and mind, with all their strength, and love their neighbors as themselves and hate their bodies with their vices and sins, and receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and produce worthy fruits of penance." (Letter of St. Francis to Brothers and Sisters of Penance).

"United by their vocation as brothers and sisters of penance, and motivated by the dynamic power of the gospel, let them conform their thoughts and deeds to those of Christ by means of that radical interior change which the gospel itself calls conversion. Human frailty makes it necessary that this conversion be carried out daily” (Rule 7).