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Posted By Teresa Redder, on January 1st, 2025 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
January 2025
O admirable heights and sublime lowliness!
O sublime humility! O humble sublimity!
That the Lord of the universe,
God and the Son of God,
so humbles Himself
that for our salvation
He hides Himself
under the little form of bread!
Look, brothers, at the humility of God
and pour out your hearts before Him!
Humble yourselves, as well,
that you may be exalted by Him.
Therefore, hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves
so that He Who gives Himself totally to you
may receive you totally.
(St. Francis of Assisi)
(excerpts continue from the Assisi Compilation and daily quotes from various sources)
14 A FLOCK OF LARKS SING ABOVE THE HUT WHERE HE IS DYING
1 – Saturday evening before nightfall, after vespers, when blessed Francis passed to the Lord, many birds called larks flew low above the roof of the house where blessed Francis lay, wheeling in a circle and singing. We, who were with blessed Francis, and who wrote these things about him, bear witness that we often heard him say: “If I ever speak to the emperor, I will beg him, for the love of God and by my entreaties, to enact a written law forbidding anyone to catch our sister larks or do them any harm.
— Time never takes time off.
2 – Likewise, all mayors of cities and lords of castles and villages should be bound to oblige people each year on the Nativity of the Lord to scatter wheat and other grain along the roads outside towns and villages, so that all the birds, but especially our sister larks, may have something to eat on such a solemn feast.
– It’s magnificent to grow old if one keeps young.
3 – Also, out of reverence for the Son of God, whom His Virgin Mother on that night laid in a manger between an ox and ass, everyone should have to give brother ox and brother ass a generous portion of fodder on that night. Likewise, on the Nativity of the Lord, all the poor should be fed their fill by the rich.”
– The voice of Time cries out “Advance”.
4 – For blessed Francis held the Nativity of the Lord in greater reverence than any other of the Lord’s solemnities. For although the Lord may have accomplished our salvation in his other solemnities, nevertheless, once He was born to us, as blessed Francis would say, it was certain that we would be saved. On that day he wanted every Christian to rejoice in the Lord and, for love of Him who gave Himself to us, wished everyone to be cheerfully generous not only to the poor but also to the animals and birds.
– Time is too slow for those who wait.
5 – Concerning larks, blessed Francis used to say, “Our Sister Lark, has a capuche like religious, and is a humble bird, who gladly goes along the road looking for some grain. Even if she finds it in the animals’ manure, she pecks it out and eats it. While flying, she praises the Lord, like good religious who look down on earthly things, and whose life is always in heaven.
– Time is too swift for those who fear.
6 – Moreover, her clothes, that is, her feathers, resemble earth, giving an example to religious not to wear clothes that are colorful and refined, but dull, like earth.” And because blessed Francis considered all these things in sister larks, he loved them very much and was glad to see them.
– Tim is too long for those who grieve.
15 TAKING ALMS CAN ROB THE POOR
7 – Blessed Francis often said these words to the brothers: “I have never been a thief, that is, in regard to alms, which are the inheritance of the poor. I always took less than I needed, so that other poor people would not be cheated of their share. To act otherwise would be theft.”
– Time is too short for those who rejoice.
16 THE MINISTERS AND POVERTY
8 – When the brother ministers urged him to allow the brothers to have something at least in common, so that such a great number would have some resources, Saint Francis called upon Christ in prayer and consulted Him about this. Christ immediately responded that He would take away everything held individually or in common, saying that this is His family for whom He was always ready to provide, no matter how much it might grow, and He would always cherish it as long as it would put its hope in him.
– Time is short, but those who love, Time is eternity.
17 HE RESPONDS TO BROTHER ELIAS AND THE MINISTERS WHO OBJECTED TO THE RULE HE WAS WRITING AT FONTE COLOMBO
9 – When blessed Francis was on a mountain with Brother Leo of Assisi and Brother Bonizo of Bologna to make the Rule,—because the first, which he had written at Christ’s instruction, was lost — a great many ministers gathered around Brother Elias, who was the vicar of blessed Francis. “We heard that Brother Francis is making a new rule,” they told him, “and we fear that he will make it so harsh that we will not be able to observe it. We want you to go to him and tell him that we refuse to be bound to that Rule. Let him make it for himself and not for us.”
– God wants the heart.
10 – Brother Elias replied to them that he did not want to go because he feared the rebuke of Brother Francis. When they insisted that he go, he said that he refused to go without them; so they all went. When Brother Elias, with those ministers, was near the place where blessed Francis was staying, he called him.
– My worth to God in public is what I am in private.
11 – Blessed Francis responded and, seeing those ministers, he said: “What do these brothers want?” “These are ministers,” Brother Elias answered, “who heard that you are making a new rule. They fear that you are making it very harsh, and they say, and say publicly, that they refuse to be bound by it. Make it for yourself and not for them.”
– The measure of a person’s character is what he would do if he were never found out.
12 – Then blessed Francis turned his face to heaven and spoke to Christ in this way: “Lord! Didn’t I tell you they wouldn’t believe you?” The voice of Christ was then heard in the air, saying “Francis, nothing of yours is in the Rule: whatever is there is mine.
– Power is never good unless the one who has it is good.
13 – And I want the Rule observed in this way: to the letter, to the letter, to the letter, and without a gloss, without a gloss, without a gloss.” And He added: “I know how much human weakness is capable of, and how much I want to help them. Those who refuse to observe it should leave the Order.”
– A good name is better than wealth.
14 – Then blessed Francis turned to the brothers and said: “Did you hear? Did you hear? Do you want me to have you told again?” Then the ministers, confused and blaming themselves, departed.
– Patient endurance attains all things.
18 HIS RESPONSE TO CARDINAL HUGOLINO AND TO THE BROTHERS ABOUT TAKING AN EXISTING MONASTIC RULE
15 – When blessed Francis was at the general chapter called the Chapter of Mats, held at Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, there were five thousand brothers present. Many wise and learned brothers told the Lord Cardinal, who later became Pope Gregory, who was present at the chapter, that he should persuade blessed Francis to follow the advice of those same wise brothers and allow himself to be guided by them for the time being.
— Great works are performed not only by strength but perseverance.
16 – They cited the Rule of blessed Benedict, of blessed Augustine, and of blessed Bernard, which teach how to live in such order in such a way. Then blessed Francis, on hearing the cardinal’s advice about this, took him by the hand and led him to the brothers assembled in chapter, and spoke to the brothers…
— Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.
17 – God has called me by the way of simplicity and showed me the way of simplicity. I do not want you to mention to me any Rule, whether of St. Augustine, or St. Bernard, or St. Benedict. And the Lord told me what He wanted.
– What can’t be cured, must be endured.
18 – He wanted me to be a new fool in the world. God did not wish to lead us by any other way other than this knowledge. But God will confound you by your knowledge and wisdom. But I trust in the Lord’s police that through them He will punish you, and you will return to your state, to your blame, like it or not”. The Cardinal was shocked and said nothing and all the brothers were afraid.
– The Word of God became man that you also may learn from a man how a man becomes a God.
19 – HIS EXPLANATION OF THE BROTHERS’ RELATIONSHIP TO CLERICS
19 – Although blessed Francis wanted his sons to keep peace with all and to behave as little ones toward everyone, he taught them to be particularly humble toward clerics by his word and showed them by his example.
– Real unselfishness consists in sharing the interests of others.
20 – He used to say: “We have been sent to help clerics for the salvation of souls so that we may make up whatever may be lacking in them. Each shall receive a reward, not on account of authority, but because of the work done.
– The secret of being lovely is in being unselfish.
21 – Know then, brothers, that the profit or good of souls is what pleases God the most, and this is more easily obtained through peace with the clergy than fighting with them. If they should stand in the way of the people’s salvation, revenge is for God, and he will repay them in due time.
– Living in our selfishness prevents our transformation into divine love.
22 – So, be subject to prelates so that, as much as possible on your part no jealousy arises. If you are children of peace, you will win over both clergy and people for the Lord, and the Lord will judge that more acceptable than only winning over the people, while scandalizing the clergy.
— The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of oneself to others.
23 – Cover up their failings, make up for their many defects, and when you have done this, be even more humble.”
– It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
20 HIS REFUSAL TO REQUEST PRIVILEGES FROM THE ROMAN CURIA
24 – Some of the brothers told blessed Francis: “Father, don’t you see that sometimes bishops do not permit us to preach, allowing us to remain idle in an area for many days before we can preach to the people? It would be better if you arranged for the brothers to get a privilege from the Lord Pope: it would be the salvation of souls.
– The man who is poor in the spirit realizes things mean nothing and God means everything.
25 – ” He answered them with a stern rebuke, telling them: “You, Lesser Brothers, you do not know the will of God, and will not allow me to convert the whole world as God wills. For I want to convert the prelates first by humility and reverence. Then, when they see your holy life and your reverence for them, they will ask you to preach and convert the people.
—He is not poor who has little, he that desires much.
26 – These will attract the people to you far better than the privileges you want, which would lead you to pride. And if you are free of all avarice, and lead the people to give the churches their due, they will ask you to hear the confessions of their people.
– People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy.
27 – Although you should not be concerned about this, for if they are converted, they will easily find confessors.
– If we behaved like true Christians, there would be no pagans.
28 – For my part, I want only this privilege from the Lord: not to have any privilege from any human being, except to show reverence to all, and, by the obedience of the holy Rule, to convert everyone more by example than by word”.
– The hope of the future lies not in better human inventions, but in better human relations.
21 CHRIST COMPLAINS TO BROTHER LEO ABOUT THE INGRATITUDE OF THE] BROTHERS
29 – One time the Lord Jesus Christ said to Brother Leo, the companion of blessed Francis: “I have a complaint about the brothers.” “About what, Lord?” Brother Leo replied. And the Lord said: “About three things. They do not recognize My gifts which, as you know, I generously bestow on them daily, since they neither sow nor reap. All day long they are idle and complain. And they often provoke one another to anger, and do not return to love, and do not pardon the injury they receive.”
– Nothing is a greater impediment to being in good terms with others than being ill at ease with yourself.
22 HE BLESSES THE BROTHERS AND SHARES BREAD WITH THEM WHEN HE WAS VERY ILL
30 – One night blessed Francis was so afflicted with the pains of his illness that he could barely rest or sleep that night. In the morning, when his pain eased a bit, he had all the brothers staying in that place called to him, and when they were seated around him, he considered them and regarded them as representatives of all the brothers.
– God did not make human beings perfect. He made human beings pilgrims after perfection.
31 – Beginning with one brother, he blessed them, placing his right hand on the head of each one, and he blessed all who were in the religion and all who were to come until the end of the world. He seemed to feel sorry for himself because he was not able to see his sons and brothers before his death.
– Ideals are like stars-we never reach them but we chart our course by them.
Posted By Teresa Redder, on January 1st, 2025 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
January 2025
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
New Year 2025 begins with the blessing God gave Moses for Aaron to bless God’s People. This blessing our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi made his own and our Mother St. Clare embellished. May the blessing serve as a prayer and deep desire for all. The blessing is filled with hope for all people of good will on whom the Father’s favor rests (Luke 2: 14). Our hope that God bless us, our loved ones, all creation with His peace, is the yearning of the human heart (cfr Romans 8:22). The peace the world seeks is a peace the world cannot give unless we disarm our hearts. Then only will we be able to see and recognize the Lord among and within each one of us, God’s beloved children.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!
May He live with you. May you always with Him!
In this Holy Jubilee Year of Grace we say Praise Be You, My Lord in the words of the Canticle of the Creatures. We are Pilgrims of Hope (words of Pope Francis). The Jubilee Year calls us to Christian Hope, Reconciliation, and Forgiveness. Christian Hope encourages us to see and recognize the goodness of God in all His children. Yes, we are faulty. Created in God’s Love, we still lose our way at times. God offers us a lifetime to get “back on track”.
We experience the goodness of God in repentance and reconciliation with God through the sacramental life of the Church. Once we receive the grace of God’s forgiveness, we are “spirited” to bring the grace we received to forgive those with whom we may be at odds. Reconciliation through forgiveness and grace leads to the ultimate intimacy with God in the Eucharist. Reconciliation and Eucharist open closed hearts and lives and allow the goodness of God to touch others through us. Sincere friendship with God challenges us to search for goodness, and we find it in some of the most unexpected moments and persons!
St. Francis of Assisi would often greet people with: Buon Giorno Buona Gente (Good Day Good People). The goodness of God manifest in the People of God is what we strive to live and grow in every day
If our Seraphic Father were here in the flesh, this is most likely one of the ways he would greet us as well. His love for God and all creation opened the eyes of his heart to look beyond the flaws that envelop all human beings. He seemed to see a ray of goodness in everyone. We can see this in his Canticle of the Creatures. Everything and everyone speak to the “Poverello of Assisi” of the wonder and goodness of God.
When a young man knelt before Jesus and said: Good Teacher! What must I do to inherit everlasting life? Jesus immediately replied with a question that subtly challenges us to ponder more deeply our response: Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone (Mark 10: 18).
We all know that only God is truly good, all good, the highest good, the Lord God living and true (Praises of God by St. Francis). But the question of Jesus and the greeting of Saint Francis should make us realize that in each of us, fruit of God’s eternal love through the love of those who gave us birth, there is an image of the goodness of God. We are challenged to recognize, accept, and manifest the image and likeness of God (cfr Genesis 1: 26) as a gift and responsibility entrusted to humanity at the very beginning of the world. The strength of the reflection of God in us is determined by the intensity of our relationship with God. The greater we conform ourselves to Jesus, the more we reflect the goodness of God. God’s Word-made-man, Jesus the Christ, challenges us to listen to God’s Word and to live His Holy Will. I have come not to do my own will but the will of Him Who sent me (John 6: 38-40).
After praising the beauty and majesty of God in Brother Sun, Francis continues: Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, in heaven. You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
The sun Francis praises, resplendent with light, power, brilliance of majesty and glory speaks to us of the majesty and power of God. It is that power that enables us to look for and see the goodness of God in everyone and everything. Even when His light is hidden from view, He, the Son of God, is there.
Goodness by nature is forever overflowing with newness of life. The sun is a created source of maintenance and development, together with other factors, of all life in our world. St. Francis understands that as nature follows its daily course, God provides the necessary continuity of the sun’s powerful presence even when it seems to “hide from us” during the night. Then it is that the light of the sun shines by its reflection on the heavenly body we call the moon. We know the stars are suns in their own areas of the vast universe. Nevertheless, their distant flickering lights are like so many “Christmas lights” that dispel the total darkness of the universe. They “twinkle” with hope. The moon and stars brighten the hearts of those who look at the heavens. Look and see with the eyes of faith and you will recognize the splendor, magnificence, power, and care of the Creator in His inimitable work of Creation.
Sister Moon reflects the brilliance of Brother Sun who is a sign of the Creator. The first work of God created the light and separated light from darkness. The sun rules the day, and the moon reflects the hidden light of the sun at night (cfr Genesis 1: 1-6). The moon becomes, as it were, the sun’s mirror that enlightens the darkness of night. The goodness of God can never be matched or equaled! It can be reflected in the hearts and lives of those who accept to reflect God and His Most Holy Will in their lives.
The moon reflects the power, warmth, and brilliance of the sun. We too stand with the Son, the Son of the Father, and seek to reflect the strength of His reassuring presence, the warmth of His compassionate selfless love, and the simplicity and clarity of His truth about God and all creation. We follow in His footsteps and hope to reflect the goodness of the Lord Jesus in all we are and do. He is Son of God and Redeemer of Humanity. His birth in Bethlehem signaled the beginning of Jesus’ Ministry of Redemption of all God’s children. We can never hope to be as resplendent as Christ. We are however expected to reflect the image and likeness of Christ, the Son of God, at every moment of our lives.
How much goodness there is these days! How much goodness there is in our fraternities! How much goodness there is in our world?! Yes, in our world! A world filled with violence, war, death, natural disasters, disease, illnesses of all kinds, terminal illness. How much goodness there is in our fraternities, regions, national fraternities and Order! There is so much goodness – Godliness – in all creation. There are times when the actions of human frailty seem to cover or even smother the goodness we seek. The challenge at those times is to “reflect the light and shine the darkness away”.
We will never find what we do not carry within our hearts. Peaceful hearts find peace even in the midst of confusion. Merciful hearts show mercy even when it is not reciprocated. Loving hearts always love regardless of the response given. The Brothers and Sisters of the Gospel Life, Instruments of God’s Peace, strive to live the godliness we profess. Thus, we strive to become a means of encouragement for others to discover, re-discover, uncover, appreciate and live the goodness all people truly desire.
Like the moon, we are commissioned to be conformed to and reflect the person of Jesus, the Son of God. The light of His truth, the warmth of His love, the dignity of His person, the affirming impact of his words, and crucial meaningfulness of His very presence and teaching, become the fruits we share with Jesus. These are signs of our unconditional acceptance of the mission entrusted to us, God’s children. Jesus reminds us: The sun shines on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). We reflect the warmth of the Son (of God), thus we too must reflect the same benefits we receive. We are instruments called to shine with those gifts on all creation. No exceptions permitted!
The following paraphrase of a Chinese Proverb could be a gentle reminder of how much we are truly capable of when we allow God and His goodness to reign in our hearts:
- If there is goodness in our souls, we will shine with God’s grace.
- If we shine with God’s grace, there will be harmony in our fraternities (homes, workspace, etc.).
- If there is harmony in our fraternities, we will discover order in our lives (homes, workspace, etc.).
- If there is order in our lives, there will be peace, joy and love in our hearts, (homes, workspace, etc.).
- and in the entire Secular Franciscan Family.
- So, Let goodness shine with the brilliance of the Son!
Goodness, grace, harmony, order, peace, and joy in love! What greater gifts could we hope for from God as we begin a new calendar year, a Jubilee Year of Grace as well! God grants us these wonderful gifts that make Life Worth Living. Thus, even our Franciscan Way is meaningful, fruitful, attractive and welcoming to others. God invites and expects us to be collaborators with Him in achieving this fullness of Spirit and Life (cf. John 6:63). Without God’s presence in our endeavors, we would be unable to witness the truth, beauty, and personal fulfillment the Franciscan Gospel Life effectively offers anyone seeking to “Live Jesus”. Our God can do all things. Yet, God binds Himself to our collaboration. Such is the goodness of God. God desires we be His ambassadors, as if God were appealing through us (2 Corinthians 5: 20) that goodness and godliness be accessible and appealing to others.
God is first, even in our search. The more we discover God in our lives, the more we know ourselves. That I may know You so that I may know myself (Confessions, St. Augustine). Once the reflection of God shines within me, I see others more clearly from God’s perspective of love, mercy, providence, and forgiveness.
Get back in touch with God. It cannot be we first. It must be God first! Then we can let God burst through in our lives to shine in such a way that those who see us, see not us, but the God that lives within (Luke 17: 20-21).
The words of our Seraphic Father in the First Rule, sound true for all Franciscans: For if a mother loves and cares for her son (or daughter) according to the flesh, how much more diligently must someone love and care for his brother (and sister) according to the Spirit!
– The Spirit will challenge us to recognize and affirm goodness within everyone. Since goodness is Godliness, you will recognize a Divine Presence mysteriously yet powerfully present and active within and among you.
– Goodness will allow the gifts of one another to shine beyond the limitations that we create. These limitations separate and destroy – negative criticism, jealousy, pride, manipulation, lack of cooperation, and so many other traits we can all see in some way in ourselves. The ‘brightness’ of those who seek the ‘good’ excels in ways that manifest the wonder of God’s grace. God offers us our unique gifts from Him for the sake of the whole body. Our Franciscan Family is a ‘little church’, and as such, a type of the great Mystical Body of Christ. Goodness encourages us to work together, accepting, affirming, appreciating, supporting, cooperating and collaborating with one another. Thus we bring the spiritual sign of our consecration in Baptism and our Franciscan Profession to a concrete reality that overflows from us through the Spirit into the lives of others.
– Harmony begins to reign, where once competitiveness and suspicion may have been present. Harmony allows us to enjoy one another and truly share our hearts and souls in the Lord, as the early followers of Saint Francis did. We rejoice with those who rejoice, and encourage and support those in difficulty.
– No longer is there separation and confusion, but Order. Order of itself leads to serenity and peace. An ordered life knows where it is going and the means at its disposal to achieve the goal sought. There is no confusion or fear. An ordered life offers clarity of direction and leads to serenity of heart.
– Peace of soul and peace in life follow. This peace, the peace that only God can give to those who are open to His Spirit, ultimately leads to inner joy. It can be noticed in our pleasant demeanor with everyone.
– The end result of all this is Love. Not the fuzzy feeling we talk about so often without really realizing what we’re saying or talking about. True God-centered ‘love’ is fearless, faith-filled, confident, surrendered to God. He is the God we have discovered and recognized in our search for goodness. He is the God who strengthens us that we may disarm our hearts to one another. We thus live in the bond of Love in the Spirit that fulfills the words of our Father St. Francis in the Rule cited before.
In the beginning of the First Version of the Letter to the Faithful, our Seraphic Father writes:
All those who love the Lord with their whole heart, with their whole soul and mind, and with their whole strength and love their neighbor as themselves, who hate their bodies with their vices and sins, who receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and who produce worthy fruits of penance. O how happy and blessed are these men and women while they do such things and persevere in doing them, because the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon them and makes its home and dwelling place among them, and they are children of the heavenly Father Whose works they do.
My dear Brothers and Sisters, Saint Francis had such confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit. He reminded the friars that Holy Spirit is the true Minister General of the Order and St. Francis only the Vicar of the Spirit. As the Lord told St. Francis what to do, St. Francis was the voice encouraging others who sought to follow the Gospel Life the Lord had called him to follow. Saint Francis continues to have that same confidence in each one of us. He sought, and achieved the desire of his heart, to be conformed to Christ. To see St. Francis was to see the image of Jesus. He mirrored the image of Christ. What about us? The moon follows laws of God in nature. We decide whom we will follow and to whom, if anyone, we wish to conform ourselves. Surrendering to Christ is not a defeat but a true victory. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2: 20).
Without the sun the world, life itself, could not exist. Without the Son, the Son of God, life would have no meaning. We reflect the Son so that the light of His words and resplendent glory of His Death and Resurrection may shine brightly through us who seek to conform ourselves to Him and reflect His presence in our world, the Theater of Redemption.
The Gospel Life we have professed in the spirit of the Poverello of Assisi, challenges us to commit each day to take time out of our routine to: spend quality time with the Lord in Prayer both personal and liturgical, participate in and receive the Eucharist faithfully and when not possible to at least read the scriptures of the day and reflect upon them in union with the Church and make a Spiritual Communion, grow in the fraternal spirit that is essential to the Franciscan charism and our particular fraternities.
Let us be aware and grateful to the Lord Who is effectively working for and through each one of us. May we open our hearts in praise of God and in trust of one another. Let us be open to the Spirit Who speaks to the very depths of our soul. This is a time for us to grow in spirit and truth (John 4: 24). The Spirit is at work among us. May we not stifle the work of the Holy Spirit!
In this Jubilee Year of Grace, may the Holy Spirit breathe His life-giving breath more powerfully into our mind and heart. Let us take time to pray, really pray, even without words! We are Pilgrims of Hope called and sent to encourage anyone and everyone to open the doors of their hearts to Jesus hidden among us and within everyone.
In the Eucharist, see yourself on the journey with Jesus. Climb Calvary and experience the fulfillment of the Covenant in His Body and Blood. Re-commit yourselves to that Lord who offers to make you His image in a world so much in need of a living presence of the Savior. In Communion, be truly in communion with Christ and His Church. Let the One you consume consume you. Be in communion with the Christ we all become spiritually and mystically when we allow His precious Body and Blood to perform its ‘sacred invasion’. He conquers us that we may become Victims with the Victor. Be willing to continue to “be Christ” as best you are able. Let the world encounter Him in you and that it may rekindle its faith, hope, and love of God Who creates, redeems, and sanctifies.
As the New Year 2025 begins on the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, we entrust our world and time itself to our Mother’s almighty motherly intercession. May Mary see in each one of us the image and likeness of Her Son our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.
Have a Blessed and Joy-filled New Year 2025
Where the Prince of Peace reigns
And all creation praises the Creator
For having created us
Who are who we are before God and nothing more and
Nothing less than God’s children redeemed in the Blood of Christ and
Called from limited time to an eternity of God’s Love.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis, OFM Cap
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on December 22nd, 2024 Joyful Gospel Living
“Behold, I come to do Your will, O God.”
Fourth Sunday of Advent 2024
This weekend, the Church begins the short/last week of Advent and prepares to celebrate Christmas. This has been no ordinary Advent, though. Many preparations have been made for the celebration of Jubilee Year 2025. On Christmas Eve at 7:00 PM in Rome, Pope Francis will open the door to the Papal Basilica of St. Peter, inviting all of us to become pilgrims of hope. The Vatican has a special website for the Jubilee activities:
https://www.iubilaeum2025.va/en.html
In his epistle to the Hebrews, St. Paul notes that Jesus understood that God did not require obligatory holocausts or burnt offerings (i.e., sacrifices) from anyone. Rather, God only desires our humble and contrite hearts. He quotes Jesus saying, “Behold, I come to do Your will, O God.” This is an important teaching for us, because human beings have a great gift from God in our free will. We choose our pathway that we take in our life. God offers us eternal life, but we must respond to God with our willing spirit, just like Mary did in the Gospel reading.
In “Spes Non Confudit” (Hope Does Not Disappoint), the Papal Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year 2025, Pope Francis highlights what it means for a pilgrim to be on a willing journey of faith:
“By His perennial presence in the life of the pilgrim Church, the Holy Spirit illumines all believers with the light of hope. He keeps that light burning, like an ever-burning lamp, to sustain and invigorate our lives. Christian hope does not deceive or disappoint because it is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love.”
What does the image of opening a door mean to us? Are we curious about what awaits us behind the door? How will we respond to the Holy Spirit’s call to learn more about God’s will for us? The Holy Father describes the symbolism of Jubilee 2025 for us:
“Now the time has come for a new Jubilee, when once more the Holy Door will be flung open to invite everyone to an intense experience of the love of God that awakens in hearts the sure hope of salvation in Christ. The Holy Year will also guide our steps towards yet another fundamental celebration for all Christians: 2033 will mark the two thousandth anniversary of the redemption won by the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. We are about to make a pilgrimage marked by great events, in which the grace of God precedes and accompanies His people as they press forward firm in faith, active in charity and steadfast in hope (cf. 1 Thess 1:3).”
Pilgrims to Rome will visit the traditional holy doors of the Seven Pilgrimages: Basilica of St. Peter, Basilica of St. Mary Major, Basilica of St. John Lateran, Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls, Basilica of St. Lawrence outside the Walls, Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem (where St. Monica brought relics back from Calvary to Rome), and Basilica of St. Sebastian outside the Walls. Visiting these churches on foot is a 25 km (15 mile) walk. Globally, bishops will also designate holy doors for Jubilee 2025.
A jubilee hymn was composed by Pierangelo Sequeri and set to music by Francesco Meneghello. As with all liturgical music, this hymn opens us to do the will of God through faith, with trust and reliance on the source of Life. The song is full of a longing “charged with the hope of being freed and supported. It is a song imbued with the hope that it will reach the ears of the One from whom all things flow. It is God who as an ever-living flame keeps hope burning and energizes the steps of the people as they journey.”
Recordings of the song and the musical score can be found at this link:
https://www.iubilaeum2025.va/en/giubileo-2025/inno-giubileo-2025.html
As we seek to do God’s will in imitation of Christ, perhaps every pilgrim of hope will treasure the refrain to the hymn:
Like a flame my hope is burning
May my song arise to You.
Source of life that has no ending,
on life’s path I trust in You.
The Jubilee 2025 also has a beautiful prayer for pilgrims of hope that puts forth a desire to be drawn closer to God and discerning His will:
“Father in heaven, may the faith You have given us in Your Son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of Your Kingdom. May Your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, Your glory will shine eternally. May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To You our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever. Amen.”
When Mary and Elizabeth became pregnant as part of God’s plan, they were both delighted to do God’s will. Like Elizabeth, we too can be awed by what God has in store for us:
“Blessed are you who believed…”
Teresa S. Redder, OFS (Saint Katharine Drexel Regional Minister)
Posted By Teresa Redder, on November 30th, 2024 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
December 2024
Wherever we are, in every place, at every hour, at every time of the day,
every day and continually,
let all of us truly and humbly believe, hold in our heart and love, honor, adore, serve,
praise and bless, glorify and exalt, magnify and give thanks
to the Most High and Supreme Eternal God, Trinity and Unity,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Creator of all, Savior of all who believe and hope in Him, and love Him,
Who, without beginning and end, is unchangeable, invisible, indescribable, ineffable,
incomprehensible, unfathomable, blessed, praiseworthy, glorious, exalted,
sublime, most high, gentle, lovable, delightful,
and totally desirable above all else for ever.
Amen.
The excerpts are taken from the Assisi Compilation and daily quotes are from various sources.
[10] [HIS HUMILITY TOWARD THE BISHOP OF TERNI “I MAY YET HAVE SONS AND DAUGHTERS”]
1 – One day he was preaching to the people of Terni in the piazza in front of the bishop’s residence. The bishop of that city, a discerning and spiritual man, attended that sermon. When the sermon was over, the bishop stood up and, among the other words of God that he spoke to them, he said: “From the beginning, when the Lord planted and built His church, He always beautified it with holy men who would improve it by word and example. Now, in this final hour, God has beautified his Church with this little poor man, lowly and unlettered,” pointing all the while to blessed Francis.
– Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a gift and not giving it.
2 – “And because of this,” he continued, “you should love and honor the Lord and avoid sin ‘for He has not done this for every nation.’ ” After the sermon, blessed Francis came down from the place where he was preaching, and together the Lord Bishop and blessed Francis entered the bishop’s church.
– If you can find a path with no obstacles it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.
3 – Then blessed Francis bowed down before the Lord Bishop and fell down at his feet, saying to him: “I tell you the truth, my Lord Bishop: no person in this world has yet honored me as much as you have today. Other people say: ‘That man is a saint!’ They attribute glory and holiness to the creature, not to the Creator.
– The most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even touched; they must be felt.
4 – You, however, like a discerning man, have separated what is precious from what is vile.” Often when blessed Francis was honored and people said, “This man is a saint,” he would respond to such expressions by saying: “I’m still not sure that I won’t have sons and daughters.” And he would say: “If at any moment the Lord wanted to take back the treasure He has loaned to me, what would I have left except just body and soul, which even non-believers have?
– People want the front of the bus, the back of the church, and the center of attention.
5 – I must believe, rather, that if the Lord had granted a thief and even a non-believer as many gifts as He has given me, they would be more faithful to the Lord than I.” He continued: “As in a painting of the Lord and the Blessed Virgin on wood, it is God and the Blessed Virgin who are honored, and God and the Blessed Virgin are held in memory.
– The first law of history is not to dare to utter falsehood; the second, not to fear to speak the truth.
6 – The wood and the paint attribute nothing to themselves because they are merely wood and paint. In the same way, a servant of God is a painting, that is, a creature of God, in whom God is honored because of His goodness. Like wood or paint, he must not attribute anything to himself, but give all honor and glory to God.
– You are deceived if you think that Christians can live without persecutions.
7 – He should not attribute anything to himself while he is alive except shame and trouble, because, while he is alive, the flesh is always opposed to God’s gifts.”- What you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say.
[11] [HE RESIGNS FROM OFFICE IN THE ORDER AND ALWAYS WANTS TO HAVE A GUARDIAN]
8 – Blessed Francis wanted to be humble among his brothers. To preserve greater humility, a few years after his conversion he resigned the office of prelate before all the brothers during a chapter held at Saint Mary of the Portiuncula. “From now on,” he said, “I am dead to you. But here is Brother Peter di Catanio: let us all, you and I, obey him.”
– Setting an example is the only means of influencing another.
9 – Then all the brothers began to cry loudly and weep profusely, but blessed Francis bowed down before Brother Peter and promised him obedience and reverence. From that time on, until his death, he remained a subject, like one of the other brothers. He wished to be subject to the general minister and the provincial ministers, so that in whatever province he stayed or preached, he obeyed the minister of that province.
– In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.
10 – What is more, a long time before his death, for the sake of greater perfection and humility, he said to the general minister: “I ask you to put one of my companions in your place regarding me, so that I may obey him as I would obey you. For the sake of good example and the virtue of obedience, in life and in death I always want you to be with me.”
– No one really becomes a fool until they stop asking questions.
11 – From that time until his death, he always had one of his companions as a guardian whom he obeyed in place of the general minister. One time he said to his companions: “Among other favors, the Most High has given me this grace: I would obey a novice who entered our religion today, if he were appointed my guardian, just as readily as I would obey him who is the first and the eldest in the life and religion of the brothers.
– It’s not until quite late in life that many discover how easy it is to say: I don’t know.
12 – A subject should not consider his prelate, a human being, but God, for love of Whom he is subject to him.” He likewise said: “There is no prelate in the whole world who would be as feared by his subjects and brothers as the Lord would make me feared by my brothers, if I wished. But the Most High gave me this grace: that I want to be content with all, as one who is lesser in the religion.”
– Life’s greatest tragedy is to lose God and not miss Him.
13 – We who were with him witnessed this often with our own eyes. Frequently, when some of the brothers did not provide for his needs, or said something to him that would ordinarily offend a person, he would immediately go to prayer.
– Visitors should always make us happy: some when they come and others when they leave.
14 – On returning, he did not want to remember it by saying “Brother so and so did not provide for me,” or “He said such and such to me.” The closer he approached death, the more careful he became in complete perfection to consider how he might live and die in complete humility and poverty.
– One can fail many times, but they are not a failure until they begin to blame somebody else.
[12] [AS HE IS DYING HE BLESSES BROTHER BERNARD AND PREDICTS HIS HOLY DEATH]
15 – The day Lady Jacoba prepared that confection for blessed Francis, the father remembered Bernard. “Brother Bernard likes this confection,” he said to his companions. Calling one of his companions, he told him: “Go, tell Brother Bernard to come to me immediately.”
– It is safer to err on the side of mercy.
16 – The brother went at once and brought him to blessed Francis. Sitting next to the bed where blessed Francis was lying, Brother Bernard said: “Father! I beg you, bless me and show me your love. I believe that, if you show me your love with fatherly affection, God Himself and the other brothers of the religion will love me more.”
– You cannot unsay a cruel word.
17 – Blessed Francis was not able to see him, since many days earlier he had lost his sight. Extending his right hand, he placed it on the head of Brother Giles, the third of the first brothers, who at that moment was sitting next to Brother Bernard. He thought he was placing it on the head of Brother Bernard.
– Every path has a few puddles.
18 – Feeling the head of Brother Giles, like a person going blind, he immediately recognized him by the Holy Spirit, and said, “This is not the head of my Brother Bernard.” Brother Bernard immediately drew closer to him. Blessed Francis, placing his hand on his head, blessed him.
– The best sermons are lived, not preached.
19 – “Write what I tell you,” he then said to one of his companions. “Brother Bernard was the first brother the Lord gave me. He began first and most perfectly fulfilled the perfection of the holy Gospel, distributing all his goods to the poor. Because of this and his many other prerogatives, I am bound to love him more than any other brother in the whole religion.
– Most of the things people worry about are never going to happen anyway.
20 – As much as I am able, it is my will and command that whoever becomes general minister should love and honor him as he would me. Let the other provincial ministers and the brothers of the whole religion hold him in my place.”
– Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
21 – Because of this, Brother Bernard was greatly consoled as were the other brothers who saw this. Another time, considering the outstanding perfection of Brother Bernard, blessed Francis prophesied about him in the presence of some of the brothers:
– Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
22 – “I tell you, some of the greatest and most cunning devils have been sent to test Brother Bernard. They will send him many trials and temptations. The merciful Lord, however, will deliver him toward the end of his life from all troubles and temptations, internal and external. And He will place his spirit and body in such peace, quiet, and consolation that all the brothers who see or hear of this will be greatly astonished, and consider it a great miracle.
– The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
23 – In this peace, quiet, and consolation of both body and soul, he will pass from this world to the Lord.” The brothers who heard this from blessed Francis were greatly astonished, since everything he predicted about him through the Holy Spirit came true, to the letter, point by point. In his last illness Brother Bernard was in such great peace and quiet of spirit that he did not want to lie down.
– One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day had been.
24 – if he lay down, he lay in a sitting position so that not even the lightest mist of humors would reach his head, inducing fantasies or dreams, rather than thoughts of God. And if this happened, he would immediately get up and strike himself, saying “What was that? Why was I thinking that way?”
– Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
25 – For relief, he gladly used to smell rose water, but as he drew closer to death, he refused to do even this, for the sake of constant meditation on God. He would say to anyone offering it: “Don’t distract me.” In order to die more freely, peacefully, and quietly, he deprived himself of care for his body, putting himself in the hands of one of the brothers who was a doctor and who was taking care of him.
– We find in life exactly what we put into it.
26 – “I do not wish to be concerned about eating or drinking,” he would say, “but I entrust myself to you. If you give me something, I’ll take it. If you don’t, then I won’t.” When he any thought entered his mind for which his conscience reproached him, he immediately confessed it and then said his penance.
– Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of life.
27 – After his death, his flesh became white and soft and he seemed to be smiling, so that he appeared more handsome after death than before. Whoever gazed on him experienced more delight in seeing him this way than when he was alive, because he looked like a saint who was smiling began to grow weaker, he wanted to have a priest brother with him at all times, until the hour of his death.
– Humor is to life what shock-absorbers are to automobiles.
[13] [BEFORE DYING HE SENDS A LETTER TO LADY CLARE, PROMISING THAT SHE WILL SEE HIM AGAIN]
28 – During the week in which blessed Francis died, Lady Clare was seriously ill. She was the first plant of the Order of Sisters, the abbess of the Poor Sisters of the monastery of San Damiano in Assisi, who emulated Saint Francis in observing always the poverty of the Son of God She feared that she would die before blessed Francis. She wept in bitterness of spirit and could not be comforted, because she would not be able before her death to see her only father after God, that is, blessed Francis, her comforter both internally and externally, and her first founder in God’s grace.
– To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.
29 – She sent word of this to blessed Francis through one of the brothers. Blessed Francis heard this and was moved to piety, since he loved her and her sisters with fatherly affection because of their holy manner of living, and especially because, a few years after he began to have brothers, she was converted to the Lord through his advice, working with the Lord. Her conversion not only greatly edified the religion of the brothers, but also the entire Church of God.
– Jesus can turn water into wine, but He cannot turn your whining into anything.
30 – Blessed Francis considered that what she desired, that is, to see him, could not be done then since they were both seriously ill. To console her, he wrote his blessing in a letter and also absolved her from any failings, if she had any, regarding his commands and wishes or the commands and wishes of the Son of God. Moreover, so that she would put aside all her grief and be consoled in the Lord, he, or rather the Spirit of God speaking through him, spoke to the brother she had sent. “Go and take this letter to Lady Clare, and tell her to put aside all her grief and sorrow over not being able to see me now. Let her be assured that before her death, both she and her sisters will see me and will receive the greatest consolation from me.”
– People are like tea-bags. You have to put them in hot water before you know how strong they are.
Posted By Teresa Redder, on November 30th, 2024 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
December 2024
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace!
Most High, omnipotent, good Lord, to You praise, glory and honor and all benediction. To You alone, Most High, do they belong, and there is no one worthy to mention You. St. Francis of Assisi thus begins the beautiful Canticle of the Creatures.
Throughout the praises offered in the Canticle, St. Francis of Assisi describes the gifts given by God to each as a means of praise. (cfr. Writings of St. Francis, Ignatius Brady OFM)
The Canticle of Brother Sun, was written over a period of time. St. Francis began the Praise of the Creatures while at San Damiano. Others suggest that it might have been at Greccio. Either place inspired a beauty and depth of spirit of St. Francis in recognizing and praising the wonder of God. Regardless of his impaired physical health, St. Francis saw with the eyes of his heart and soul the beauty and majesty of the Creator in all His creation. A person in love cannot help but see only beauty in the beloved.
Francis was severely visually impaired. He was “legally blind”. Nonetheless, his physical condition could not keep his soul from making leaps and bounds to praise the Creator. There is no blindness when you see with the eyes of the heart.
In the Confessions of St. Augustine we read: “Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you. And see, you were within and I was in the external world and sought you there, and in my unlovely state I plunged into those lovely created things which you made. You were with me, and I was not with you. The lovely things kept me far from you, though if they did not have their existence in you, they had no existence at all. You called and cried out loud and shattered my deafness. You were radiant and resplendent, you put to flight my blindness. You were fragrant, and I drew in my breath and now pant after you. I tasted you, and I feel but hunger and thirst for you. You touched me, and I am set on fire to attain the peace which is yours.”
Francis saw the greatness, beauty, power, love of God in all creation. He knew the Lord was with him. He praised God in the various elements of creation and encouraged those who heard the words of the Canticle to do likewise. Francis sensed the fragrance of the presence of God and yearned to be enveloped by His love. He hungered and thirsted for the Lord of creation and experienced His simplicity and strengthening grace in the Eucharist – Sacrament of created things and human labor transformed by the Spirit into the very Real Presence of Christ Jesus. God touched his body with the ailments he bore till death, and they were transformed in so many gifts Francis offered to the Father. God touched Francis into Life in life’s journey from time to eternity. His soul was set aflame by love of a fire that put the final touches on a man conformed now to the Christ who had commissioned him at San Damiano years before to Rebuild my Church, for as you can see it is falling into ruin. Francis bore the cross he was entrusted to bear with surrender and poetic acceptance. With total abandonment to the Will of the Father, he reconfirmed his own acceptance of God’s will. He lived with full conviction a saying he was noted for: Such is the good that awaits me, that all pain is a delight.
Conformed to Christ with the “seal of approval” of the Father with the Sacred Stigmata of the Passion of Jesus, Francis knew his time on earth was very limited. The quest of his journey would soon be fulfilled. He saw the end as the true beginning. The song he composed during these months was an explosion of gratitude. He gratefully acknowledged the Creator for the magnificence of all creation, and saw with the eyes of his heart that he might love back with his life the love he had received from God. The journey of discovery resembled the words of John the Baptist to the crowds: I must decrease. He must increase (John 3: 30). Christ increased to such a point that Francis now bore the signs of the totality of the offering of Jesus to the Father on the altar of the Cross. Thus, Francis became a living image of the Crucified. Signed with the Stigmata, Francis sensed the proximity of Sister Death. Francis asked to be brought to Assisi that he might be called to Life where his life and rebirth in the Gospel Life had begun.
Seeking solace and rest at San Damiano, Francis went through challenging nights. He was alone in the dark, not able to see, bothered by the mice that ran all over him (cfr. Assisi Compilation). He began to feel a sense of self-pity. When morning came, he berated himself for having given in to such discouragement. Countering his self-pity, Francis’ heart conceived the Canticle of the Creatures.
Francis could not see with his bodily eyes what he was praising. He saw with his memory and the eyes of the heart. The memory and the heart see, remember, and recognize more deeply the beauty even of times when we questioned God’s presence and love. The journey is the dream with all the pitfalls, failures, challenges, and successes. The memory of what Francis had experienced, seen and felt through his entire life was imprinted in his soul. He began to praise God. God lights the day for our souls like Brother Sun brings light to our bodies. Even when the sky is cloudy and we cannot see the sun, we know he is there. (cfr. Writings of St. Francis, Ignatius Brady OFM)
The Sun, that heralds a new day, shines through the blindness that darkens the view of his eyes. The view of the heart is strong and bright. Praised be my Lord, by means of all Your creatures, and most especially by Sir Brother Sun, who makes the day, and illumines us by his light: for he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor; and is a symbol of You, God most High.
Born after a night that was dark and discouraging, the Canticle explodes into a song of love, trust and total abandonment Into God whose light penetrates the darkness of a soul. He brings the soul to see from above the mystery of a love that enlightens even the darkest moments of any life open to the reality of the Creator’s love. Things were beginning to come together again. In the midst of his spiritual darkness, Brother Sun was a powerful reminder and sign of hope. The brilliant sun of the heavens was a mere twinkle compared to the brilliance of the Son of God Whose Incarnation came to brighten the darkness of centuries of waiting, and millions of people passing to eternity wondering when…when would God finally keep His promise?
God’s delay is not God’s denial. What a beautiful testimony to the spirit of St. Francis. He was broken in body but not in his soul. His spirit soared to the heights in a hymn of praise that allowed all who heard it to experience in the simplicity of song the magnificence of the glory and love of God for all creation. The love Francis experienced was a love offered in gratitude to the Giver of all good gifts.
The liturgical refrain during the Season of Advent is Come, Lord Jesus! This invitation and hope also concludes the Book of Revelation and thus the entire body of Sacred Scripture. The story of the experiences, the hopes, the fears, the successes, the failures, the life of the People of God is always a time of great expectations. It is our story. It is the story of a people created and called to be uniquely a People of God. It is the story of a people whose millennial journey through time has experienced the awesome presence of a God always near and available to carry us in the palm of His hands (Isaiah 49: 16). The experiences of millennia of human history challenge our faith to believe Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. (Revelation 3: 20) It is the story of a people who walk in the bright darkness of hope that leads by the heart where faith indicates we will arrive. Praise be You my Lord for Sir Brother Sun who makes the day, and illumines us by his light. He is the mere reflection so small of the true Son, Your Son, so brilliant, Who enlightens the way that leads to You, Father and God of the Universe.
Come, Lord Jesus can also challenge our trust that He is a personal God interested in a world affected by so many troubling and devastating experiences. These may even challenge our acceptance of a God of Love Who truly cares for His creation. These thoughts and feelings are like the mice that ran all over Francis in his most vulnerable moments. We call, pray, plead, and God waits! All seems dark. We cannot see where to turn, but each day demands we keep moving forward in the Light of the Son, while feeling the darkness of the spirit. We call on this God in many ways to Come! and to be with us, and to embrace us, and to love us, and to save us, and to give us new life forever. We call out Come, Lord Jesus! Be my long-awaited Savior!
Don’t be afraid. Open the doors of your heart to Christ (Pope St. John Paul II). “You cannot hold back the dawn”. Remember the words of Jesus to the disciples on the road to Emmaus on the first Easter morning: Why are you downcast? Oh, how slow are you to believe. Was it not necessary that the Messiah experience all He did? Then He began to explain to them (Luke 24: 25-27). He could say the same to us when we do not allow the Son of God to shine in our hearts. This holds true for the darkest moments of life. This holds true for the dreary humdrum experiences that seem to affect enthusiasm. This is true for the unexpected failures. This holds true for any moment in our lives, maybe even life itself (?) for some, when the challenges overshadow hope. It is then, like Francis, that we see with the eyes of the heart of faith. Then it is we allow the Son of God to break through our spiritual darkness with a brightness that not even the sun can compare with.
It is at the beginning of time that the Eternal Father comes into the darkness and confusion of nothingness and breathes a Word of Life. The Father comes among the bands of wandering nomads and gathers them into a people peculiarly His own. The Father comes to an oppressed nation and powerfully liberates them from their slavery and makes them a people free to trustingly call upon Him. The Father comes at the various moments of an erring and sinful people, and He leads them back to a confident and adoring awareness of His presence in their midst. The Father comes into a world divided and troubled and He speaks His Word that enfleshes Itself in the natural order so that nature can one day regain and experience its lost dignity as one created in the image and likeness of its Creator. And that Word is JESUS!
The birth of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, illuminated the darkness of expectation or doubt with the brilliance of a revelation of God’s mercy and forgiveness. The brilliance and splendor of the Son of God gives clarity of vision, clearness and depth of understanding, and transparency of life that enables the light of Christ to shine through and embrace the lives of others. Praise be You my Lord for our Brother, the Son of the Father, Whose enlightenment reveals, clarifies, and glorifies the Father in His creation. They enrich others with the knowledge of the splendor they manifest in the light of the Son.
Jesus is Word made flesh … who came to his own, and his own did not receive him…but to as many as did receive Him, He gave them the power to become children of God (John 1: 11) born of the Spirit. And so we say, Come, Lord Jesus! Descend into time that we may ascend into eternity. Become one with us in creation so that one day we can share with you the eternal glory of our Creator.
Jesus is the focal point of all humanity. Though billions of people still do not accept Jesus as Lord, Redeemer, God, still the entire world regulates its activities around the birth of this one life that came into history as an infant, and comes every moment into the hearts and lives of those who invoke Him with faith. His was a life of constant coming into. The Word made flesh became a creature that all creation might be restored to God through the Spirit.
Advent begins the Year of Grace. We begin the re-presentation in our Liturgy of the whole history and mystery of our salvation in the life of Jesus and the Church. As we journey through the brief period of Advent, we anticipate our joy at the birth of the Savior at Bethlehem. There is no need for Him to come in opulence, power and comfort; He comes poor, helpless and placed in a manger. The total emptying of Himself for the sake of us all tells us that He Comes to make us rich in grace, strong in His Spirit, and joyful in His kingdom of justice, love and peace. This is the Condescension of Compassion (St. Leo the Great Sermon for Nativity) of God. God descends (condescension) to share life in all its facets (compassion) with humanity. He illumines the way that leads once again to God.
Every child that comes into this world is God=s gift to creation. What that child becomes is his/her gift to God. We have probably heard these words before. We should consider them more intensely as we prepare for the birthday of Jesus the Christ, the King of Creation, the Incarnate Word of God. We pray for Him to come, do we recognize him? Is our vision clouded or even blinded by the glitz and cacophony of consumerism and materialism, and so many other “isms”? Or do we allow the Great God of the Universe to enlighten our minds and hearts as the Son of God makes clear the road from the Crib of Bethlehem to the Cross of Calvary to the Commission of Mt. Olivet in the warmth and love of the Holy Spirit that indicates the way. The Sun shines through His Spirit that we might assist others through this light to recognize and follow the Son of God, Christ the Lord? No one lights a candle and puts it under a bushel basket. He puts it on a stand for all to see (Matthew 5: 15).
Our Seraphic Father loved the Feast of the Nativity. The Incarnation in the womb of our Blessed Mother Mary of the Divine Word, the Son of God, and the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem, was a reality that he lived every moment of his grace-filled life. His faith in Jesus was a vibrant acceptance and availability to the present as he sought to Live Jesus in Whom he believed not as born two thousand years ago, but as re-born every moment in his life. The Profession of Faith we make each time we recite the Creed was not for him merely a formula that reiterated a theological dogma or historical fact to be remembered. Jesus was not a past event to be spoken of with nostalgia, but a present reality, a fact, a person, to be lived in the present. Jesus led Francis to an eternal future of Life. St. Francis gazed upon the mystery of the Incarnation at each Eucharist and lived Jesus. The whole story of the Birth of Jesus at Bethlehem, and the time that leads up to it, is an opportunity for us to follow the example of St. Francis and enter into the song of creation once again as we become players in the great symphony of life that God has written. Praise be You my Lord God for Sir Brother Sun – and our Brother the Son of God – who brightens our day and shows us the way that leads to You.
As spiritual Children of the Poverello of Assisi, have we allowed the precious Body and Blood of the Savior to flow through and take over every fiber of our being? Have we allowed the Lord to be enfleshed in our lives so that each Christmas we celebrate not just some past event but the Savior truly present and alive within and among us? Do we say with Mary, Jesus= Mother, and with Jesus, Your Will and not mine be done? (Luke 22: 42) Do we recognize our own incompleteness, vulnerability, and susceptibility so that we can share, support and encourage one another? Are we as enthused about our being Spiritual Children of St. Francis of Assisi and all that entails? Do we see the gift that we are to each other?
Let us recognize the gift we are and are called to be. Let us become a joy-filled, life-giving, sister and brother in the family of the Seraphic Father of Assisi and our Holy Mother Clare. For this intention and whatever ones you may hold most dear in your hearts, be assured that you and your loved ones will be remembered in a special way in all the Masses I celebrate during this holy season. May God bless you; Our Lady and good St. Joseph guide, guard and protect you; and St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi watch over each one of you and your loved ones with loving care.
In the Name of Jesus I wish all of you a Spirit-filled Advent and a Holy and Happy Christmas Season. As you enter the new calendar year with all its expectations and uncertainties, may your hopes be fulfilled in a world renewed in Jesus and filled with His Spirit. A Child is born to us! A Savior is given to us! Come, let us adore Him!
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Come, Lord Jesus! Come, Prince of Peace!
Blessed and Merry Christmas to all
and a New Year 2025 filled with Peace and Blessings
Posted By Terri Leone, on November 29th, 2024 Good Morning Everyone,
I pray you and your family had a Blessed Thanksgiving.
I’ve finally had time to work on updating and posting our Guidelines. Section for Local Fraternities is complete. Look in right hand column for
SKDRF Guidelines with Procedures, etc.
Just 2 clicks to find what you want
1. click on title above that you found in right hand column (below “Regional Handbook”)
2. Page is divided into specific sections. Scroll down to the section of interest then click on specific page of interest. Options are the same as in former “Regional Handbook”. You may
- just read;
- save to your computer for use later
- print or
- “save & print”.
For further help contact your District Councilor: Kathy, Jeff or Terri.
Peace & Joy,
SKDRF Website Editor
Posted By Teresa Redder, on November 3rd, 2024 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
November 2024
Wherever we are, in every place, at every hour, at every time of the day,
every day and continually,
let all of us truly and humbly believe, hold in our heart and love, honor, adore, serve,
praise and bless, glorify and exalt, magnify and give thanks
to the Most High and Supreme Eternal God, Trinity and Unity,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Creator of all, Savior of all who believe and hope in Him, and love Him, Who,
without beginning and end, is unchangeable, invisible, indescribable, ineffable,
incomprehensible, unfathomable, blessed, praiseworthy, glorious, exalted,
sublime, most high, gentle, lovable, delightful,
and totally desirable above all else for ever.
Amen.
(Prayer of Saint Francis taken from the Earlier Rule, chapter 23)
The daily excerpts from The Assisi Compilation
1 – FRANCIS DOES NOT WANT COMMANDS UNDER OBEDIENCE TO BE GIVEN LIGHTLY
1 – His opinion was that only rarely should something be commanded under obedience, for the weapon of last resort should not be the first one used. As he said, “The hand should not reach quickly for the sword.”
– The things that count most in life are the things that cannot be counted.
2 – He who does not hurry to obey what is commanded under obedience neither fears God nor respects man. Nothing could be truer. For what is command in a rash leader, but a sword in the hands of a madman? And what could be more hopeless than a religious who despises obedience?
– The intellect of the wise is like glass. It admits the light of heaven and reflects it.
2 – HE FORETELLS THE FUTURE OF THE ORDER
3 – Saint Francis also said: “A time will come when the religion loved by God will have such a bad reputation because of bad examples that it will be embarrassing to go out in public. Whoever comes to enter the Order at that time will be led only by the working of the Holy Spirit; flesh and blood will put no blot on them; they will be truly blessed by the Lord.
– I am more afraid of my good deeds that please me, than of my bad deeds that repel me.
4 – Although they will not do works of merit, for the love that makes saints work fervently will have grown cold, still they will undergo temptations; and whoever passes the tests of that time will be better than those who came before.
– Is anything too hard for the Lord?
5 – But woe to them who congratulate themselves over the appearance of a religious way of living, those numbed by idleness, those who do not firmly resist the temptations which are permitted to test the chosen! Only those who are tested will receive the crown of life, those who in the meantime are disturbed by the malice of the wicked.”
– To err is human, but when the eraser wears out ahead of the pencil then you are overdoing it.
3 – THE LORD SHOWS HIM WHEN HE IS BEING A TRUE SERVANT OF GOD
6 – “Brothers,” he would also say, “I prayed to the Lord that he might deign to show me when I am his servant and when I am not, for I want to be nothing except his servant. And now the gracious Lord himself in his mercy is giving me this answer: ‘Know that you are in truth my servant when you think, speak, and do things that are holy.’ And so I have called you brothers because I want to be shamed in front of you if ever I am not doing any of those three”. – No one is more confusing than the one who gives good advice while setting a bad example.
4 – A BROTHER TELLS HIM THAT HIS BODY WILL BE HONORED AFTER HIS DEATH
7 – One day when blessed Francis lay sick in the palace of the bishop of Assisi, one of the brothers, a spiritual and holy man, smiling and playfully, said to him: “You will sell all your sackcloth to the Lord for a good price! Many canopies and silk coverings will hang over this body of yours now clothed in sackcloth.” At the time Saint Francis, on account of his illness, wore a fur cap covered with sackcloth as well as a tunic of sackcloth. With great fervor of spirit and joy blessed Francis—not himself, but the Holy Spirit through him—answered: “You’re right because that’s how it will be.”
– If you bear the cross gladly, it will bear you.
5 – HE BLESSES ASSISI AS HE IS BEING CARRIED TO SAINT MARY OF THE PORTIUNCULA
8 – While he was staying in that palace, blessed Francis, realizing that he was getting sicker by the day, had himself carried on a litter to the church of Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, since he could not ride horseback because of his severe illness. When those who were carrying him passed by the hospital along the road, he asked them to place the litter on the ground. Since he could hardly see because of the serious and prolonged eye-disease, he had the litter turned so that he would face the city of Assisi.
– If I have no love, no matter what fabulous things I may be able to do, I am nothing.
9 – Raising himself up slightly on the litter, he blessed the city of Assisi. “Lord,” he said, “just as I believe that at an earlier time this city was the abode of wicked and evil men, with a bad reputation throughout all this region; so now I realize that, because of Your abundant mercy and in Your own time, You have shown an abundance of mercies to it. – It is impossible for the Church to remain on its feet if it doesn’t get on its knees.
10 – Now it has become the abode of those who acknowledge You, give glory to Your name, offer the fragrance of good life, doctrine, and good reputation to the whole Christian people. I ask you, therefore, Lord Jesus Christ, Father of mercies, not to consider our ingratitude.
– The more the world is at its worst, the more we need the Church at its best.
11 – May it always be mindful of the abundant mercies which You have shown to it, that it always be an abode for those who acknowledge You, and glorify Your name blessed and glorious throughout the ages. Amen.” After saying these things, he was carried to Saint Mary of the Portiuncula.
– The family was before the Church or rather the first form of the Church was the family.
6 – AT THE NEWS OF HIS COMING DEATH HE HAS THE BROTHERS SING THE CANTICLE OF BROTHER SUN, WITH A WITH A NEW VERSE FOR SISTER DEATH
12 – From the time of his conversion till the day of his death, blessed Francis, whether healthy or sick, was always concerned to know and follow the will of the Lord.
– We see things not as they are but as we are.
7 – PRAISE BE YOU, MY LORD, THROUGH OUR SISTER BODILY DEATH
13 – One day a brother said to blessed Francis: “Father, your life and manner of living were and are a light and a mirror not only for your brothers but also for the entire Church of God, and your death will be the same. Although for the brothers and many others your death will mean great grief and sorrow, for you it will rather be a great consolation and infinite joy.
– We are not completely born until we are dead.
14 – You will pass from great toil to the greatest rest, from many sorrows and temptations to infinite happiness, from your great poverty, which you always loved and carried from the beginning of your conversion till the day of your death, to the greatest, true, and infinite riches, from death in time to life in eternity. There you will forever behold face to face the Lord your God whom you have contemplated in this world with so much desire and love.”
– In the end it will not matter with what we fought. It will matter on what side we fought.
15 – After saying these things he said to him openly: “Father, you should know the truth: unless the Lord sends his own remedy from heaven to your body, your sickness is incurable and, as the doctors already said, you do not have long to live.
– Children, especially, set their watches by our clock.
16 – I told you this to comfort your spirit, that you may always rejoice in the Lord, inside and out; especially so that your brothers and others who come to visit you may find you rejoicing in the Lord, since they know and believe that you will die soon. Thus, as they see this and, after your death, others hear about it, your death, like your life and manner of living, may be held in remembrance by all.”
– Never let anything so fill you with sorrow that you forget the joy of the Risen Christ.
17 – Although racked with sickness, blessed Francis praised God with great fervor of spirit and joy of body and soul, and told him: “If I am to die soon, call Brother Angelo and Brother Leo that they may sing to me about Sister Death.”
– Prayer is talking something over with God, rather than trying to talk God out of something.
18 – Those brothers came to him and, with many tears, sang the Canticle of Brother Sun and the other creatures of the Lord, which the Saint himself had composed in his illness for the praise of the Lord and the consolation of his own soul and that of others.
– The more we depend on God, the more dependable God becomes.
19 – Before the last stanza he added one about Sister Death: “Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no one living can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin. Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will, for the second death shall do them no harm.”
– When you give to the poor, it is like lending to the Lord.
8 – LADY JACOBA, INSPIRED IN PRAYER, COMES FROM ROME TO PROVIDE FOR HIS BURIAL
20 – One day blessed Francis called his companions to himself: “You know how faithful and devoted Lady Jacoba dei Settesoli was and is to me and to our religion. Therefore, I believe she would consider it a great favor and consolation if you notified her about my condition.
– We must constantly guard against forming our belief to our behavior rather than our behavior to our belief.
21 – Above all, tell her to send you some cloth for a tunic of religious cloth the color of ashes, like the cloth made by Cistercian monks in the region beyond the Alps. Have her also send some of that confection which she often made for me when I was in the City. This confection, made of almonds, sugar or honey, and other things, the Romans call mostacciolo.
That spiritual woman was a holy widow, devoted to God. She belonged to one of the more noble and wealthy families of the entire City.
– An empty meaningless faith may be worse than none.
22 – Through the merits and words of blessed Francis she had obtained such grace from God that she seemed like another Magdalene, always full of tears and devotion for love of God. After the letter was written, as dictated by the holy father, while one brother was looking for another one to deliver the letter, there was a knock at the door. When one of the brothers opened the gate, he saw Lady Jacoba who had hurried from the City to visit blessed Francis. With great joy the brother immediately went to tell blessed Francis that Lady Jacoba had come to visit him with her son and many other people.
– People find their way to heaven more by a path of footprints than by a pack of road maps.
23 – “What shall we do, Father,” he said, “shall we allow her to enter and come in here?” He said this because blessed Francis a long time ago had ordered that in that place no women should enter that cloister out of respect and devotion for that place. Blessed Francis answered him: “This command need not be observed in the case of this lady whose faith and devotion made her come here from so far away.”And in this way, she came in to see blessed Francis, crying many tears in his presence. It was amazing: she brought with her shroud-cloth, that is, gray-colored cloth, for a tunic, and all the other things that were written in the letter. This made the brothers greatly marvel at the holiness of blessed Francis.
– A mistake doesn’t make an error until I refuse to correct it.
24 – “While I was praying,” Lady Jacoba told the brothers, “a voice within me said ‘Go, visit your father, blessed Francis, without delay, and hurry, because if you delay long you will not find him alive. Moreover, take such and such cloth for his tunic, as well as the ingredients for making that particular confection. Take with you also a great quantity of wax and incense.’”
– Every bigot was once a child free of prejudice.
25 – Blessed Francis did not have incense written in the letter, but the Lord Himself willed to inspire that lady as a reward and consolation for her soul. In this way we would more easily recognize the great holiness of that saint, that poor man, whom the heavenly Father wished to honor so greatly in the days he was dying.
– Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant.
26 – He inspired the Kings to travel with gifts to honor the child, His beloved Son, in the days of His birth and His poverty.
So too He willed to inspire this noble lady in a faraway region to travel with gifts to honor and venerate the glorious and holy body of His servant the saint, who loved and followed the poverty of His beloved Son with so much fervor and love in life and in death. One day that lady made that confection the holy father wanted to eat.
– Going to Church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.
27 – He ate only a little of it, however, since he was near death, and daily his body was becoming weaker on account of his illness. She also had many candles made which would burn around his holy body after his death. From the cloth she had brought for his tunic, the brothers made him the tunic in which he was buried. He himself ordered the brothers to sew pieces of sackcloth on the outside of it as a sign and example of most holy humility and poverty. It happened, as it pleased God, that during the same week that Lady Jacoba arrived, blessed Francis passed to the Lord.
– No Christian escapes a taste of wilderness on the way to the Promised Land.
9 – HE WANTS HIS BROTHERS TO SERVE LEPERS AS A SIGN OF HUMILITY AND POVERTY
28 – From the beginning of his conversion blessed Francis, with God’s help, like a wise man, established himself and his house, that is, the religion, upon a firm rock, the greatest humility and poverty of the Son of God, calling it the religion of “Lesser Brothers.”
– All that is not eternal is eternally out of date.
29 – On the greatest humility: thus at the beginning of the religion, after the brothers grew in number, he wanted the brothers to stay in hospitals of lepers to serve them. At that time whenever nobles and commoners came to the religion, they were told, among other things, that they had to serve the lepers and stay in their houses.
– Christianity is feet on the ground going God’s way.
30 – On the greatest poverty: as stated in the Rule, let the brothers remain as strangers and pilgrims in the houses in which they stay. Let them not seek to have anything under heaven, except holy poverty, by which, in this world, they are nourished by the Lord with bodily food and virtue, and, in the next, will attain a heavenly inheritance. He established himself on the greatest poverty and humility, because, although he was a great prelate in the church of God, he wanted and chose to be lowly not only in the church of God, but also among his brothers.
– Have courage and patience through the sorrows of life. Go to sleep in peace. God is awake.
Thank God ahead of time when praying
For the past we learned from,
For the present we live based on what we learned
For the future in God’s all-providing love and providence
Laudato Si’ my Lord God for being You!
Posted By Teresa Redder, on November 3rd, 2024 St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
November 2024
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace!
The Franciscan Family celebrated on September 17th the 8th centenary of the reception of the Sacred Stigmata of the Wounds of the Passion of Jesus by our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi. What happened to him then was an extraordinary moment not only in the life of St. Francis but also for the entire Church. This awesome event of such an intense experience of conformity to the person of Jesus Christ was the first such occurrence recorded in the history of the Church. It was also the first time such an unprecedented event was recognized as such by the secular authorities as well.
This sign of God’s approval for all St. Francis did in obedience to the God’s call, happened only two years before St. Francis died. Quite ill and infirm, what does our Seraphic Father do when he realizes what has happened to him? He asks to be brought to the Portiuncula, birthplace of the Order. While there, rather than focus on his obviously failing health, he begins to compose a hymn of wonder and praise for the gift of God’s Creation.
As the time passed and approaching death was not far away, he asked the friars to add a stanza to his already magnificent Canticle of Brother Sun. He desired to praise God for the last moment in time that accompanies every human being into the beginning of the timelessness of eternity. The poet in Francis personified Death as his “sister” (the word for “death” is the feminine noun ‘morte’ in the Italian language) who would come to gently accompany him on the last stage of his journey to God.
The brothers were saddened at the thought of his death. Francis, however, joyful that he had done what was mine to do (words of St. Francis to the friars), requested the brothers sing these words composed by him as the last stanza of the Canticle: Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Bodily Death, from whom no-one living can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Blessed are they whom She finds doing Your Will. No second death can do them harm. Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks, and serve Him with great humility. Even in his last days, not even death could change his boyish wonder, enthusiastic anticipation, and engaging personality. What has remained as one of the poetic literary examples of the Italian language in its beginning is still an object of study and reflection by many.
The reality of our mortality looms over many with a sense of foreboding, caution, and even fear and uncertainty of what to expect. Faith plays a powerful role at this time, but there is so often that “What if?” feeling from whom no one can escape. With faith as the strong and sure guide of a person’s life, mortality and the end of time introduce one to a new and everlasting beginning.
Everlasting beginning?! When the achievement of one’s life is eternity with God, time ceases and Life begins forever with an unending freshness and excitement. There is no time in eternity. There is only God and the image and likeness of God – God’s created human beings – that have achieved the purpose for their own creation. Now they exist in the splendor of timelessness, Who is God! Thus the existence is always fresh, always new, always exciting, always magnificently fulfilling. What more can be said? To speak of eternity it must be lived. Once there, it is no longer necessary to question or understand. We know!
The month of November offers the opportunity to reflect upon the praise of “Sister Death”. This is the month traditionally dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. These are “holy” souls. They are truly saved as they await the fullness of eternal life. Their salvation and Eternal Life are assured. The state in which we believe most souls must pass is a sign of God’s everlasting merciful love. As faulty as human beings are, God’s knows and loves us. If we deny him, He will deny us. But if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2: 13). Purgatory is the term we use to remind us that there is always hope for those who sincerely strive, regardless of the many “falls” in life, to be faithful to God’s love. Acknowledging one’s own responsibility before God is an act that leads to repentance, forgiveness, restoration to grace. But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them… they are in peace. (cfr. Wisdom 3: 1-7).
Like Francis, the anticipated end of life challenges all of us to open our hearts and minds and reflect on our personal history, all we lived until that moment. When the eternal future becomes evident as it approaches us, our past life seems to become vividly present. The beginning and course of one’s life is seen now in the perspective of eternity. For St. Francis, the last stanza of the Canticle he composed and had the brothers sing was the sign of an eager anticipation. Praised be you my Lord God! Laudato Si’!
There was not fear or dread of the encounter with the Creator. The Poverello lived the mystery of faith in abandonment to the Father’s Will. The inner excitement of hope soon to be fulfilled enveloped him with gratitude and praise for all that had led him to this moment. What he had lived in faith, believing what he did not see so that he could see what he believed (cfr. John 20: 29) would soon be revealed. He knew that he would experience what no one could ever imagine. The magnificence and wonder that awaited him were the promise of future glory in the God for Whom he longed.
Nevertheless, St. Francis was concerned about others. As he lay praising the goodness and beauty of God, St. Francis realized not everyone experienced the inner peace and serenity he felt. He was inspired to add a warning and hope to his Canticle of praise. So, St. Francis praised Sister Death but also warned all God’s children who jeopardize their eternal joy when they distance themselves from God through sin and fail to seek reconciliation. Till the end, our Seraphic Father lived the response of Mother Clare and Sylvester to a question he had posed years before concerning how to live the call he had received from God: contemplation or ministry to others. The response was simple, direct and the same from each one, though neither Sylvester nor Clare was aware that Francis had asked the same question of the other. God responded through them telling St. Francis that what he received from God was not for him alone. He was to share the gifts of his charism with others. He was faithful till the end.
His end was truly the beginning. It was the “springboard” that launched St. Francis into his beautiful poetic hymn of praise. Awareness of the depths of God’s creating love, loving mercy and forgiveness, and God’s faithfulness to the Covenant with His People redeemed in the Blood of Jesus must have been overwhelming. Respond in gratitude and love to God’s work, and you cannot help but realize we are all called to collaborate with God to restore all things in Christ (Ephesians 1: 10). We are God’s “backup plan” in keeping everything in order, lovingly protecting and caring for what/who we are, the high-point, but creatures nonetheless, of God’s creative love.
How we accept the end, will usually determine how we welcome – or not – the “new beginning”. Remembrances of the early followers tell us of the last days, words and actions of St. Francis of Assisi and how he “celebrated” his swift approach to the “finish line” of life’s journey. The poetic insights the “Troubadour of Christ” sang in the Canticle of Brother Sun praised the magnificence of God’s Love expressed in myriads of tangible ways. How could St. Francis not sing, even in his physical sufferings, at the thought of leaving the mystery of faith to enter the immense reality of the eternal vision of God?
St. Francis begins the Canticle praising God through God’s works of Creation. Praising Sister Bodily Death from whom no one can escape, was the ultimate praise a child of God offers after recognizing the wonder of creation. Death is no longer the dreaded enemy that destroys everything. Death is the long-awaited sister/brother, an intimate member of the family, who gently and lovingly accompanies one home. The accompaniment through his life took St. Francis through his history in time, into the awesome mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God, to the eventual fulfillment in mystical union with God forever.
The Capuchin friars, known as “friars of the people”, often take on the “ministry” of Simon of Cyrene. Helping others understand and bear the cross make the words of St. Paul come alive: No one lives alone and no one dies alone (Romans 14: 7-9). The encounter with God forever is hidden in God’s Will. The reality of its approach however, is a constant “friend” that has to be recognized and accepted for its immense spiritual value. Even saints must be encouraged and accompanied at this most solemn moment in life. We are surrounded by God’s love and myriads of God’s holy ones, together with our own Guardian Angel, to lead us in the serenity of our hearts to the great encounter with I AM.
St. Teresa of Avila once jokingly said to God when the cart in which she was traveling overturned and she fell in a creek: If this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few. Said in love and honesty, the words of this great saint, called “The Seraphic Mother”, remind us that select souls are called to a witness that most might not be able to accept. Called to be companions on the journey with many, we help others not to “pray the problem away”, unless it is God’s will. We attempt to help others to see the finger of God (Luke 11: 20; Matthew 11: 28) and assist them to surrender in abandonment to the Holy Will that leads them into a serenity that lifts the soul up even as the body seems to be put down.
God is on our side. God is actually offering us all we need to keep our spiritual balance without losing sight of the goal. Assured of the end/beginning, the journey and all its beauty and difficulties begins to make sense. St. Paul reminds us so simply: If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32). God is for us. God waits patiently and quietly for us. He is there for us as we struggle through life’s storms. Surrendering to God does not mean giving up. Spiritual surrender is giving over, not giving up. It is our life-line to the One who is already the victor, and with whom we are called to share the victory.
We have walked through the valley of darkness (Psalm 23) many times. We may have fallen so deep that we feared never being able to rise up again. We sought God through prayer, and felt that God “put us on hold”. We may have read God’s Word to find where we were and where we were heading, and felt confused. We may have spent time with the Blessed Sacrament hoping for an inner voice to direct us, and entered a silence we feared to let continue. We may have prayed to Our Heavenly Mother or some Saint for a “miracle”, and still we felt overwhelmed, perhaps even abandoned. At times such as these, remember the words of St. Paul to the Colossians: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. (Colossians 3:15-16)
The key to that phrase is in the word “let”. If we freely “let” Christ take over, we can give Him our burdens and cares. Christ, who is our peace, will take up the situation for us. Surrendering to Christ produces oneness with Him and enables us to recognize that He is for us, not against us. There was a religious sister who, whenever she was in a difficult situation or would encounter another roadblock or even setback on her way, disappointment in her life, failure in an endeavor she had worked so long on, negative results to numerous health problems, and the like, her response, with a smile, was always “Jesus, take over!” And He did! She never expressed a sadness for herself from what we might consider negatives. Hers was a spirit of trust and gratitude. If only we could be that way!
When we let go and let God, our burdens are His and our cares are in His hands. He makes known what we need to know and guides us in the direction we need to go. God knows what is best and right for us, better than we know ourselves. He knows what it will take to accomplish His good and perfect will in our lives. Let go! Let God do what is best and right. The outcome will be beyond your best imagining.
The choice to surrender is an intentional one. It’s the deliberate act of releasing our lives, hearts, and circumstances to God and asking Him to take over all control. Often what we do however is to use the words of surrendering as a bargaining chip when seeking for God’s help. We suggest an outcome and then offer up a temporary version of agreement to God’s purpose. How often have we thought, “God, get me out of this situation and I will do (fill in the blank)”. But this isn’t surrender, and it certainly isn’t a way to experience the freedom of entering into God’s strength and love. It’s a halfhearted negotiation. Real surrender is allowing God to be God on his terms, not ours.
The most powerful picture of surrender is found in Jesus, hanging on the cross. Jesus hangs between heaven and earth, fixed by nails to the wood and crowned with thorns. His eyes are open as he says, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit (Luke 23:46). Jesus did not give up when he died on the cross. He gave himself over to the will of the Father. Living in surrender is a continual process. Learning to give our cares and concerns over to God is not a one-time decision that settles things once and for all. Every single day, we have to consciously decide to give the outcomes, choices, and people in our lives over to God. These daily “Sister Death” encounters are liberating and elevating in God.
May we never forget that the “yes” of Mary, the highest honor of our race, (cfr. Judith 13) was an acceptance of the impossible. Jesus is the declaration of who God is and what God wants us to know about Him and His great love for us. He is the God of surprises. The Eucharist is His Divine Presence that waits for us so He can strengthen our relationship with Him at Mass, at Adoration, and also at our daily tasks when we remember the Lord who consumes us as we consume Him.
Sister Death of the Canticle reminds us that we must live a constant life of reflection, repentance, renewal. The best way to experience peace and serenity in the various storms of life is to surrender our expectations. Take a second look at them. Willingly lay them down before the Lord. Make it a deliberate act of surrender. The end truly helps us see the beauty and value of all that has gone before us. Be restored and reformed by the grace of the sacraments, especially Reconciliation and Eucharist. Then we will understand how the end brings us to the beginning that helps us see the past in truth and all its true beauty, and the future in the fullness of God and God’s Provident Love. With God always expect a ride you will never forget, one that will give you more than you could ever have hoped for or imagined.
We end our reflection together, with the reminder not to forget the Holy Souls in Purgatory during November, the month especially dedicated to them. May we remember them every day of our lives. A sobering thought can help: they were where we are; we will be where they are – God’s mercy and will permitting. They live in the certainty of glory because they were willing to let go and let God take over. Their end was truly their hope-filled anticipation of the true beginning in God’s Eternal Love.
May God bless you; may Our Lady and good St. Joseph guide, guard, and protect you; and may our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi and our Holy Mother St. Clare of Assisi watch over each one of us, their Spiritual Children, and our loved ones, with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Happy Thanksgiving
Thank God for being God and for creating you.
Posted By Teresa Redder, on October 9th, 2024 St. Katharine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
October 2024
During the centenary of the Canticle of the Creatures it could be a brief meditative opportunity for us to recite the Canticle some time each day as an act of Thanksgiving and Praise for the Gift of Life.
Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon of St. Francis of Assisi
Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord,
All praise is Yours, all glory, all honor and all blessings.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.
Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor,
Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
And fair and stormy, all weather’s moods,
by which You cherish all that You have made.
Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,
So useful, humble, precious and pure.
Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You my Lord through our Sister,
Mother Earth
who sustains and governs us,
producing varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon for love of You
and bear sickness and trial.
Blessed are those who endure in peace, By You Most High, they will be crowned.
Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death,
from whom no-one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.
No second death can do them harm.
Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks,
And serve Him with great humility.
(excerpts taken from the Three Companions and the sayings from various sources)
HOW HE DID NOT WANT TO EXTINGUISH A FIRE, OR ALLOW IT TO BE EXTINGUISHED, THAT WAS BURNING HIS BREECHES
1 – Among all the lesser and inanimate creatures, he loved fire with singular affection because of its beauty and usefulness. That is why he never wanted to impede its function. – Time never takes time off.
2 – Once when he was sitting close to a fire, without being aware of it, his linen pants or breeches next to the knee caught fire. – Time is the deposit each one has in the bank of God and no one knows the balance.
3 – Although he felt the heat of the fire, he did not want to extinguish it. His companion, however, seeing that the fire was burning his pants, ran to him, wanting to put out the fire. – It is magnificent to grow old, if one keeps young.
4 – Blessed Francis prohibited him saying: “No, dearest brother, do not hurt Brother Fire.” And thus, in no way did he want him to extinguish it. – We live in deeds not years.
5 – So the brother quickly ran to the brother who was his guardian, and brought him to blessed Francis. At once, contrary to the will of blessed Francis, he began to extinguish the fire.
– We live in thoughts not breaths.
6 – Because of this, however urgent the need, he never wanted to extinguish a fire, a lamp, or a candle, moved as he was with such piety for it.
– God wants the heart.
7 – He also did not want a brother to throw fire or smoldering wood from one place to another, as is usually done, but wanted him simply to place it on the ground, out of reverence for Him who created it.
– A person of integrity, sincerity, and good nature can never be concealed.
HOW HE DID NOT WANT TO USE A PELT BECAUSE HE DID NOT ALLOW IT TO BE BURNED BY FIRE
8 – While he was keeping a lent on Mount La Verna, his companion built a fire at mealtime one day in the cell where he ate.
– My worth to God in public is what I am in private.
9 – Once the fire was lit, he went for blessed Francis to another cell where he usually prayed, carrying with him a missal in order to read to him the Gospel of the day.
– Nothing is of any worth is it causes one to break one’s word or lose their self-respect.
10 – Whenever he was unable to hear Mass, he always wanted to hear the Gospel that was read on that day, before he would eat.
– The measure of one’s true character is what they would do if they were never found out.
11 – When blessed Francis came to eat in the cell where the fire was lit, the flames had already reached the roof of the cell and were burning it.
– The freedom to communicate for a Christian requires integrity and love.
12 – His companion tried his best to extinguish the fire but could not do it by himself. But blessed Francis did not want to help him: he took the hide that he used to cover himself at night, and went into the forest with it.
– Power is never good unless the person who has it is good.
13 – The brothers of the place, who stayed some distance from this cell, seeing that the cell was burning, immediately came and extinguished the fire.
– A good name is better than wealth.
14 – Afterwards, blessed Francis returned to eat. After the meal, he said to his companion: “From now on, I don’t want this hide over me since, because of my avarice, I did not want Brother Fire to consume it.”
– Patience can attain all things.
THE EXCEPTIONAL LOVE HE HAD FOR WATER, STONES, WOOD AND FLOWERS
15 – Next to fire he had a singular love for water through which holy penance and tribulation is symbolized and by which the filth of the soul is washed clean and because of which the first cleansing of the soul takes place through the waters of Baptism.
– By perseverance the snail reached the ark.
16 – Because of this, when he washed his hands, he chose a place where the water that fell to the ground would not be trampled underfoot.
– Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.
17 – Whenever he had to walk over rocks, he would walk with great fear and reverence out of love for Him who is called “the rock.” Whenever he recited the verse of the psalm, “You have set me high upon the rock,” he would say, out of great reverence and devotion: “You have set me high at the foot of the rock.”
– Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.
18 – He also told the brother who cut and prepared the wood for the fire never to cut down the whole tree, but to cut the tree in such a way that one part always remained intact out of love for Him Who willed to accomplish our salvation on the wood of the cross.
– The Word of God became man that you also may learn from a man how a man can become a God.
19 – In the same way he used to tell the brother who took care of the garden not to cultivate all the ground in the garden for vegetables, but to leave a piece of ground that would produce wild plants.
– Real unselfishness consists in sharing the interests of others.
20 – Thus, in their season, they would produce “Brother Flowers” out of love of Him Who is called “the flower of the field” and “the lily of the valley.”
– They that deny themselves for Christ shall enjoy themselves in Christ.
21 – Moreover, he used to tell the brother gardener that he should always make a beautiful flower bed in some part of the garden, planting and cultivating every variety of fragrant plants and those producing beautiful flowers.
– The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of oneself to others.
22 – Thus, in their time they would invite all who saw those herbs and those flowers to the praise of God.
– You give little when you give of your possessions.
23 – For every creature says and exclaims: “God made me for you, O mortal!” We who were with him saw him rejoice so much, inwardly and outwardly, in all creatures, that touching and looking at them, his spirit seemed no longer on earth but in heaven.
– You truly give when you give of yourself.
24 – And because of the many consolations he had and continued to have in creatures, shortly before his death, he composed the Praises of the Lord in His creatures to move the hearts of his listeners to the praise of God, and so that in His creatures the Lord might be praised by everyone.
– The first creature of God was the light of sense, the last was the light of reason.
HOW HE PRAISED THE SUN AND FIRE OVER OTHER CREATURES
25 – More than all creatures lacking reason, he most affectionately loved the sun and fire.
– When you walk towards the light, the shadow of your burden falls behind you.
26 – For he used to say: “At dawn, when the sun rises, everyone should praise God, who created it for our use, because through it our eyes are lighted by day.
– People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy.
27 – And in the evening, when it becomes night, everyone should praise God for another creature, Brother Fire through whom the eyes are lighted at night.
– If we behaved like true Christians, there would be no pagans.
28 – For we are all almost blind, and the Lord lights up our eyes through these two brothers of ours. And, therefore, we should always give special praise to the glorious Creator for these and for His other creatures which we use every day.”
– God did not make us perfect but pilgrims searching after perfection.
29 – He always did this until the day of his death. Indeed, when his illness grew more serious, he himself began to sing the Praises of the Lord that he had composed about creatures, and afterwards had his companions sing it, so that in reflecting on the praise of the Lord, he could forget the sharpness of his pains and illnesses.
– To possess all, desire to possess nothing.
30 – And because he considered and said that the sun is more beautiful than other creatures, and could more easily be compared to God, especially since, in Scripture, the Lord Himself is called the sun of justice;
– Read the Bible to know what people ought to do and the newspaper to know what they are doing.
31 – he therefore called those Praises he composed for creatures when the Lord had assured him of His kingdom the “Canticle of Brother Sun.”
– Almost all our faults are more pardonable than the methods we think up to hide them.
Posted By Teresa Redder, on October 9th, 2024 St. Katharine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
October 2024
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you His peace!
On September 17th of this year the entire Franciscan Order celebrated the 800th anniversary of our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi receiving the Stigmata of the Passion of Jesus visibly present on his body. This painful gift, unexpected answer in this form, to a prayer St. Francis prayed for many years, marked him with the visible and painful wounds of the Passion of Jesus. The reception of the Stigmata is not only the third of the first three centenaries, but also, and more so, the “pivotal” experience of his journey into God. What follows in our celebrations for two more years are the Canticle of the Creatures (1225) and the Transitus (Death) of St. Francis (1226).
There seems to be a progression among these celebrations. From Confirmation of the Rule of the Gospel Life of the Franciscan (1223), to the visible representation of the Birth of Jesus at Greccio. The spiritual journey begins at the confirmation of a Life to be lived (Gospel Life), based on the Condescension of Compassion (term used by St. Leo the Great concerning the Incarnation of the Divine Word) of God. The Condescension presents visibly the Good News Incarnate (the Divine Word) born at Bethlehem, Whose presence in time St. Francis re-enacted in tangible form at Greccio. This journey others shared with St. Francis leads to his Spiritual and Physical Conformity to Jesus in the reception of the Stigmata. St. Francis reached the visible heights of conformity to Jesus at La Verna in 1224. As we are told by the Franciscan Sources: What was impressed on his heart at San Damiano was imprinted on his body at La Verna. At La Verna St. Francis received, as it were, the “Seal of Approval” of God for his response to the call at San Damiano and faithfulness to his response.
Physically exhausted and seriously ill, bearing the beauty and the burden of the Stigmata of Jesus, St. Francis “explodes” into a hymn of Joy and Praise in the Canticle of the Creatures (1225). Unable to “do”, St. Francis can truly “be” the Troubadour of the Great King. Filled with the joy of fulfillment, the Poverello sings the Praises of Creation in and of a God Who becomes one with us that we might share the fullness of God’s life for eternity. The Canticle Year (2025) celebrates the Franciscan awareness of the Goodness of God and our call to make the whole world aware of the ever–present Goodness of the God of Creation. All the earth and what is in and around and beyond it, called into existence by God, praise and glorify God each according to their own nature.
Inanimate creatures, living things, and human beings form a part of this Hymn of Praise. All have by nature of their being the ability to manifest a joy for being present by the Creator’s Will. Human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, are uniquely mentioned for their ability to be like God in offering the mercy of forgiveness in imitation of God’s merciful love, and the ability to live life fully in view of the fullness of life that we seek in God’s grace. The Canticle of the Creatures celebrates Francis’ immersion into the dignity of life and being. All share in praising the Creator in time until the promise of the New Heaven and New Earth (Revelation 21:1) is fulfilled.
The Canticle of the Creatures celebrates:
-the wonder and beauty of every created being that gives glory to God by just being who/what it is,
-the interaction of all creation that complements the uniqueness of the other,
-the magnificent attributes each shares in its own way with the God Who created everything, directly or indirectly,
-Mary, Mother of Creation, Who allowed God to enter human history as a human being, thus allowing Mary to become Mother God’s children,
-children of God in harmony with creation disarming their hearts to one another, especially to those who seek or need pardon,
-the soul who recognizes the awesomeness of God and the responsibility to live in grace avoiding what leads away from God, our Creator,
-the soul’s immersion into the beauty and wonder of God through the human experience and who accepts the invitation of “Sister Death” to enter the fullness of life in the New Heaven and New Earth promised the faithful children of God.
Words of praise are rather simple. Living sincerely what our “Praises” convey and celebrate can often be a struggle. We desire but often struggle to be what God wills for our good. We trip or fall along the way. We should be at peace. The joy and even serenity is in the hope-filled struggle for the goal.
The Symphony of Life began with the Father’s Let there be (Genesis 1:3). The Symphony of Redemption at one point sounded a note that soured the great symphony, the Fall of Adam and Eve, Original Sin. They distorted the sound of God’s Masterpiece of Creation. Then, millennia later, through Mary’s “yes”, that sour note became the first note of a new symphony. The Letter to the Hebrews states: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5: 21). Jesus is the note of the Fall that becomes the first harmonious note of the Symphony of Redemption that sets the tone and direction for all that follows. Jesus is the beginning without end, the Alpha and Omega, of the glorious praise of re-creation in grace through His Death and Resurrection. Is there any wonder that St. Francis of Assisi, even as he prepared for Sister Death, could sing in anticipation of the glory that awaited him? Remember his saying: So great is the good I expect that all pain is to me a delight.
From the lens of God’s grace, our Seraphic Father sang the glories of a world in harmony with God. He was conformed now to the Christ he loved and sought to emulate. He went even further by imitating Jesus in a manner he would never have presumed to achieve. Intimacy with God brings the soul to express a holiness that goes beyond the mere external. He desired that his brothers and sisters and all who sought his counsel:
-seek peace in understanding rather than tranquility through aggression, war, destruction, death,
-justice in mercy rather than retribution in violent reprisal,
-availability to all rather than judgmental distancing from those who do not share the same ideas and values as we,
-serenity in life even through the turbulence of occurrences where God’s providence reigns through faith,
-joy of being and great anticipation for the moment of the eternal encounter.
Two years before his death, already very sick and suffering especially from his eyes, (St. Francis ) was living in a cell made of mats near San Damiano. … During his stay … blessed Francis could not bear the light of the sun during the day or the light of the fire at night. He constantly remained in darkness in his cell … One night, as he was thinking of all the tribulations he was enduring, he felt sorry for himself and prayed interiorly: ‘ Lord help me in my infirmities so that I may have the strength to bear them patiently”… (A voice spoke to him and said): …be glad and joyful in the midst of your infirmities and tribulations; as of now, live in peace as if you were already sharing my kingdom”… The next morning on rising, he said to his companions: … I should be full of joy in my infirmities and tribulations, seek my consolations in the Lord, and give thanks to God the Father, to His Only Son Our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the Holy Spirit … Therefore, for His glory, for my consolation, and the edification of my neighbor, I wish to compose a new “Praises of the Lord,” for His creatures … He called these “Praises of the Lord” which opened with the words: “Most high all-powerful, and good Lord, the “Canticle of the Sun”… He often intoned this canticle and had his companions take it up; in that way he forgot the intensity of his sufferings and pains by considering the glory of the Lord. He did this until the day of his death. (Legend of Perugia, 42-43)
The Poverello of Assisi was one of the wealthiest persons to ever live. His wealth went far beyond the treasures that human beings consider desirable. The power he wielded over thousands of his day and millions over the centuries make him also one of the most influential and effective individuals to ever live.
-He was simple, surely not what the authoritative and commanding seek.
-He was poorly dressed, surely not what attracts the people of this world.
-He was not much to look at, surely not a figure that imposed himself by physical stature.
-He had a basic education for his times, surely not an ‘intellectual giant’ to dialogue with the ‘learned’ and prominent of his day.
-He had no bands of armed guards and militant forces, surely not what the dominant forces sought out.
What he had was a ‘treasure’ that far surpasses all others: He was a man in love with God, and God’s presence in all creation. He was passionately in love with life. His spirit was contagious. Many originally considered him out of his mind, most believed him to be eccentric, but all eventually recognized the uniqueness of a soul in love with God, life, and all people. Our Seraphic Father, St. Francis of Assisi, is a constant reminder and image of a life in love with Life.
In the beginning … God looked at everything He had made, and He found it very good. (Genesis 1: 1-30) The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7) Life is the first gift of God’s Eternal Love. Goodness, of its very nature, cannot be contained. Goodness overflows its own limits and reaches out in all directions. Eternal Goodness offers the greatest gift of Himself: the gift of being. During a lifetime conditioned and limited by time, we who share the ‘breath of God’, His Holy Spirit, enter a journey that leads us from living in the mystery on earth to living its fulfillment in eternity. In Christ Jesus we recognize Him Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). What seemingly begins as a merely natural process is now transformed into a ‘Journey of Faith’ that places us in a relationship with our Creator and eternal Life-giving Father, Who continues to ‘breathe’ His Holy Spirit into our hearts, because of the Redemptive Life-Death-Resurrection of His Incarnate Son, Jesus, Who made the Father ‘real’ for us by showing us the merciful and loving Face of God.
Men and women are on a journey of discovery which is humanly unstoppable – a search for the truth and a search for a person to whom they might entrust themselves. Christian faith comes to meet them, offering the concrete possibility of reaching the goal which they seek. (Pope John Paul II – Relationship Between Faith and Reason, Encyclical of September 14, 1998). Life is that period of time we have been allotted to know, love, and serve our God both in Himself and in each other. We follow Jesus Who invites us to walk this journey of faith as ‘pilgrims and strangers’.
St. Francis of Assisi’s ‘Canticle of the Creatures’ is his prayer of praise to God Who can be seen in all creation, and at every moment of life’s journey. Many ‘cradle Catholics’ often take their Christianity too much for granted. There is a tendency to forget that external religious practices, to be authentic, must be an expression of the greater gift of Faith infused at Baptism and to which they are called to be convinced and committed.
Faith is not a list of dogmas to believe, but a Person to accept and follow. Faith, strengthened through Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church, accompanies and encourages life in the midst of a world that hears the words of Jesus but often closes its heart to the message that must be personally accepted and lived to be effective and fruitful. Although we are all called to be saved, there is no such thing as ‘global salvation’. Jesus died for all humanity and His redemption is once-for-all; it is ‘global’ in that sense. However, it is the personal responsibility of each individual to cooperate with the graces he/she receives from the Redemptive Sacrificial Blood of Jesus poured out for us all, if that person hopes to be ‘saved’ and share in Eternal Life.
St. Francis’ desire to live the Gospel ‘without gloss’ is his way of reminding us that Jesus’ words must be taken to heart and lived. Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. (James 2: 17-18) Our journey of faith begins in the accounts of the Old Testament Scriptures with the call of Abraham, when he responded in faith to God’s urging to leave Ur of the Chaldeans. Abraham may not have completely understood his unique relationship with God and the role he was called to fulfill, nonetheless he had all the necessary elements for faith. He promptly responded ‘yes’ to God’s call, a divine call that more often than not turned Abraham’s own plans upside down. Faith reaches its fulfillment in the New Testament in the Son of God Who manifested Himself and proclaimed the kingdom of God. This proclamation of God’s will and invitation to believe requires the same response as that of Abraham, our ‘Father in Faith’.
Faith becomes victory over the isolation we create in our lives when we close ourselves to the ‘Other’. Faith helps us to gratefully accept life as a marvelous experience. Filled with challenges that may try us to the limit of our strength, life is supported, nourished, and ennobled by a faith that trusts in an ever-loving and all-providing God. From the very beginning of our existence, God calls each one of us from the nothingness of ‘not being’ to an existence that bursts into time and is ultimately transformed into the immortal gift of unending Life for all. Isn’t the Canticle of Creatures an act of joy-filled faith in an unseen presence pervading everything, everyone, everywhere? Faith flourishing in the joy of the unseen seen in the depths of the heart energizes life’s journey and opens the spiritually blinded eyes to the brightness of an eternal goodness that envelopes all willing to see.
One of the greatest Gospel witnesses we can offer the family of St. Francis of Assisi flows from living in the Presence of God. Convinced of this, tranquility and peace overtake us because God is in control. Together we focus on the Lord Who calls us to share Life in our Eternal Homeland after having sought to Restore all things in Christ (Ephesians 1: 10). Life’s journey for all Christians, even more for Franciscans, should be a “Canticle of Praise” to the Lord for every facet of life. Each step we take is a step forward surrendering ourselves unconditionally to the ever-loving providence of God, Who never leaves His children unaided.
Faith and life walk hand-in-hand. It is our Faith that strengthens our spirit and nourishes our life. Jesus reminds us: It is the spirit that gives life … The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. (John 6:63) When we allow the Spirit of Faith to fill our minds and hearts, when we accept the words of Jesus in truth, when we live today where God and we encounter one another, we live in hope, free from fear, trusting in divine providence that clears all intimidating imaginings from our minds and hearts. Peace, joy, and serenity become a reality. And, they become ‘contagious’ for those whom we encounter.
Spiritual Children of St. Francis of Assisi live every moment of life fully! The spirit of prayer that enveloped our Seraphic Father who ‘became prayer’ encourages us to pass through whatever crucible of life we encounter. Thus we become one with the Suffering Servant Who became One with us. Let us be grateful to God for the life He has called us to live, and make our prayer You are my God…I trust in You…be my refuge…I fear nothing…(for I seek to be in You as You are within me).
May God bless you; my Our Lady and good St. Joseph guide, guard, and protect you; and may our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi and our holy Mother St. Clare, look upon each one of us, and our loved ones, with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
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