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Posted By Teresa Redder, on August 1st, 2023 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
August 2023
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace!
The Feast of Our Lady of the Angels is celebrated each year on August 2nd by the entire Franciscan Order. The religious family of St. Francis of Assisi joyfully commemorates the little chapel below the town of Assisi that St. Francis rebuilt out of love and respect for the Eucharist and Our Lady in Whose honor the church is dedicated to God. The chapel was given to the friars by the Benedictines of Monte Subasio. Francis, not desiring to possess anything, offered a basket of fish yearly to the monks for the use of the chapel. It is the birthplace of the Franciscan Order. Santa Maria degli Angeli (St. Mary of the Angels, also known as the Portiuncula, “the Little Portion”) is dear to and revered by all Franciscans. It is the “homestead” of the Brotherhood of the Friars Minor where they finally had a place to pray, gather, live their consecrated life, and from where, in the beginning, they were sent out as messengers of their Gospel life. It is an expression of Francis’ particular love and devotion for Mary the Mother of Jesus, Virgin made Church because Virgin-Mother of God. It is the refuge that welcomed St. Clare on Palm Sunday night in March 1212 when she left her family home, was joyfully greeted by Francis and the friars, and began a new family of consecrated Franciscan women. At the Portiuncula St. Clare began her life and ministry as foundress, mother, sister, of thousands of consecrated women down through the centuries. Here she was the confidant of Francis and the brothers as well. These are only a few of the reasons our Seraphic Father loved this place. Franciscans also revere the Portiuncula because it is also the place where our Seraphic Father passed from time to eternity the night between October 3rd and 4th in 1226.
The Poverello himself, lover of extreme poverty, made what seems an exception to the Rule when he told the friars: See to it, my sons, that you never abandon this place. If you are driven out from one side, go back in at the other. For this place is truly holy and is the dwelling place of God. Here, when we were but few, the Most High gave us increase; here He enlightened the hearts of His poor ones by the light of His wisdom; here He set wills afire with the fire of His love. Here he who prays with a devout heart will obtain what he prays for and he who offends will be punished more severely. Wherefore, my sons, consider this dwelling place of God to be worthy of all honor, and with all your heart, with the voice of joy and praise, give glory to God in this place.” (II Celano 19)
Truly Catholic, Apostolic and Holy, Francis always was One with the Church. He sought out the blessing of the Pope for all his endeavors. According to the narrative, Francis heard Mary calling him to the Portiuncula. When he arrived there, he saw Mary and Jesus. St. Francis’ burning desire to save souls was granted an indulgence by heaven itself, as long as he received the approval for such an indulgence from the Holy Father. He asked the Holy Father to grant plenary indulgences to those visiting the chapel to honor Jesus and Our Heavenly Mother. His Holiness asked Francis how many years he desired for the indulgence. Francis response to the Pope was that he desired not “years” but “souls”. The plenary indulgence of the Pardon of Assisi was granted from noon on August 1st and lasting the entire day of the feast, August 2nd. Going back to the friars, Francis was heard to say: I want to send you all to heaven!
The promise of what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and what you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16: 19) that Jesus gave to Peter after his Confession of Jesus as the Messiah and Son of the living God (Matthew 16: 16), encountered no hesitation of total belief in the heart of Francis. For St. Francis of Assisi as for all his spiritual children the Pope is the successor of Peter and Vicar of Christ. Thus, the Holy Father is to be revered, loved, and obeyed.
The story of the “Pardon of Assisi”, as the indulgence of the Portiuncula is called, only corroborates the more universal celebration of Mary that affects the whole of the Catholic Christian world. It speaks of a reality we must always be aware of and believe in, the Assumption of the Blessed Mother body and soul into heaven. Assumed to heaven in the fullness of her personhood (body and soul) She, Mediatrix of all Graces, intercedes for Her children in any way that facilitates their journey to the fullness of life.
The Assumption of Our Blessed Mother is celebrated and solemnized by Catholics each year by participating in the Eucharist. This celebration helps to reflect upon an essential and consoling truth about time and eternity. During August when we celebrate this crowning moment for Mary, most people are planning how to cram in the last few available weeks or days of summer vacation before getting back to the routine of daily life and work after Labor Day. The activities revolving around summer vacation and relaxation often condition us to forget that we are a “wholeness”, body and soul. There cannot be on earth, one without the other and be fully alive (St. Irenaeus) Every human being in their entirety, spirit, soul, and body, is created by our Heavenly Father, redeemed by the Incarnate Son, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and called to participate one day in the fullness of redemption.
In view of Her Divine Motherhood, Mary was conceived without sin. She was a co-redeeming presence in the name of all humanity at the foot of the Cross. And, when her life’s journey was completed, our Blessed Mother was assumed body and soul into heaven. The new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21, 1) is the “gift” God gave Mary ahead of time for being Who and How She is. In that saving grace of Mary, we are reminded that we too are called to share eternal life with God in the totality of our being. St. Augustine reminds us that the greatness of Mary is in Her faith in all God asked and revealed. Believing the impossible, She is Mother of the faithful. Though eminently greater than us, yet infinitely lesser than God, She is a unique sign of all that is promised to those who, as She, say “yes” to the Lord’s invitations and challenges. Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1: 37). Trust! Oh Christian, Remember your dignity! (St. Leo the Great Christmas Sermon concerning the Incarnation). The thought of Mary’s Assumption keeps the truth of our ultimate eternal life a reality to anticipate with joy, and a life to celebrate with gratitude
The body, as well as the soul, restored in grace, is called to share the fullness of life eternal with all the holy ones. The body (human nature) is an essential element of holiness. Many do not recognize its spiritual value. They see the body solely as an object of indiscriminate pleasure. Today’s means of communication make an immense amount of material available that often misrepresents and/or degrades the human body. In various ways it presents the body as an object of hedonistic pleasure rather than presenting the entire person worthy of the respect it deserves. Every human being is a Temple of God’s Presence. Our bodies are all signs of the means our Creator took upon Himself to become intimately one with His creature. We lose sight of the fact that the body and soul cannot be separated in this life without destroying the person’s ability to continue on life’s journey in time with all the spiritual and material help that God affords us. Thus, it will not be separated in eternity.
St. Francis, was quite aware of his own humanity and its fragility and vulnerability. Yet, with all his flaws, he still could joyfully praise the God Who created all that is. Francis sang the praises of God present in all God’s attributes seen in all creation. There are two beautiful and powerful reminders of mercy and life in the Canticle of the Creatures. St. Francis praised especially those capable of willingly forgiving others with a disarmed heart (mercy), and those surrendering with serene trust their total being to “Sister Death” (life) in anticipation of the joyful encounter with the Author of life. A heart that forgives, and a soul ready to let go and take flight into God, is a person truly free!
Even the disfigured bodies of the lepers, whom Francis of Assisi feared terribly, became a source of strength for him. He was able to overcome his fear and repugnance of these suffering souls. He embraced the afflicted brother or sister. He saw beyond the infirmity and recognized a member of the family of God, his sister or brother. Their body suffered outwardly, but through loving acceptance of Francis and others, their soul could find serenity and even inner joy. When they were accepted as sister, brother, companion on the journey of life, the lives of the “walking dead” began to change. They regained their joyful awareness of being children of God, while still severely challenged in health and by many of the society they were part of. Francis and the friars helped these ostracized of their world to realize they were no less loved by God. A wholeness and integrity for one whom only a miracle could heal, was embraced as an equal, though they still bore the marks of the passion on their bodies (Galatians 6: 17). Challenges may have differed, as they do today for each one of us, but the responsibility to accept God’s way instead of “my way” is always the determining factor that makes life worth living and every moment fruitful. Love was able to bring about the transformation of the whole person.
The whole body, the whole person, redeemed and saved is an essential reminder offered us in the celebration of the Assumption of Mary. Our Franciscan Family has always promoted and encouraged this wonderful privilege of our Blessed Mother. Among our sainted members was the great Saint Anthony of Padua who was a champion of the Assumption of Mary. A true Franciscan, he realized the effectiveness of the Incarnation of the Savior as an essential reminder for all of us in our spiritual and daily life. Who more than our Blessed Mother experienced the truth of this statement?
We Catholics honor Mary in her Assumption. We praise and thank God for raising Mary to share beforehand in the gifts of the Resurrection of her Son. Her Assumption is a reminder of the promise God made to all His children in Jesus through the Spirit. God Who creates, never annihilates anything created. Nothing is useless, especially when it fulfills its purpose. It might be transformed, but never destroyed, unless to raise it up to a greater state. Our Blessed Mother’s Assumption, ultimate privilege of the Marian trilogy – Immaculate Conception, Divine Motherhood, Assumption – is the crowning moment that awaits all of God’s children. We are called to listen to the prompting of the Spirit of God and live in the Word that challenges us to grow. The challenges in life can be the means that lead to our restoration to the original grace conferred on humanity in Eden. We reap the fruits of our collaboration or not with the One Who knows what is necessary and of what we are capable. In so doing, like Mary, the whole person shares in the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21: 1).
Do we properly care both physically and spiritually for our bodies as the Temples they are of the Holy Spirit? Do we have a healthy respect for ourselves and who we are and what we are about? Do we respectfully treat one another as members of the one family of God’s children, who have promised to be sisters and brothers of the other in the Secular Franciscan Order, spiritual children of St. Francis of Assisi? Do we regulate our time wisely in such a way that even our pious practices enhance and do not detract from our God-given family, social, religious, and the like, responsibilities? Do we realize that everything has its place in God’s plan? Do we see the world as the theater of redemption? Do we realize that the world, as bad as things can seem, is not evil in itself, because it was created by God? Do we acknowledge that any evil we see is often the effect of how human beings misuse and abuse the wonderful gift with which they have been entrusted? Have we accepted the challenge to work toward the restoration of the wholeness of creation, and our own personal wholeness?
We must look to see, and hear to listen. We focus with our whole being to be able to understand how to live the Gospel life effectively. The integrity of creation and the integrity of creation’s reply to what the Creator has entrusted to all is essential to God’s love. Franciscans accept responsibility and accountability for creation and their use of this wonderful gift. This envelopes the world in general, relationships among nations and peoples, and even our own personal worlds (our bodies created in the image and likeness of God, endowed with God’s love, life, and the awesome gift of free will).
The Blessed Virgin Mary’s most glorious and crowning moment is the epitome of a life’s journey in, with, through, and to God. Mary’s Assumption tells us we are called to share in the gift of the Resurrection of Jesus. Our whole person – body and soul – is destined for eternity. Mary’s acceptance of the Father’s Will made Her the First Disciple and the Mother of the Christ, Mother of the Christian at the foot of the Cross, and thus Mother of the Church in Her journey on earth and in the fullness of life in eternity. Her acceptance of the Father’s challenge to be Mother of the Messiah introduced Her to all the other privileges we celebrate in Mary and, ultimately, Her Resurrection, ahead of time, as Queen of Heaven and all Creation. The Word was made Flesh (John 1: 14) in Her and through Her.
The Eucharist is made ‘Flesh’ through the words of the priest, as well as in each one who receives Him. In Mary’s Assumption we see the dignity and glory to which we, Her children, are called. The Eucharist is our pledge of future glory (Sacrosanctum Concilium), as it was for the Seraphic one of Assisi. The Mass we celebrate and offer with the priest will be a sun that irradiates blessings (Padre Pio of Pietrelcina) and joys on us and on all whom we encounter. May it be as one of our Capuchin Saints, Saint Lawrence of Brindisi, said: The Mass is my heaven on earth. That it could be so for us all! That our bodies could become more deeply, as was the body of our Blessed Mother, Tabernacles that “house” the Lord when we receive Him in Holy Communion, and Monstrances that manifest Him to all whom we encounter when the goodness and holiness of Jesus irradiate in our lives to all! Our bodies and lives are so privileged that Jesus has chosen us as His way of profoundly touching the lives of others. We, in turn, offer them with us and with God’s help and in His Will, to achieve the “perfection” to which we are all called.
With every best wish for you for the remainder of the summer, I ask a remembrance in your prayers that I may fulfill my ministry among you as God wills. May God bless you; Our Lady and good St. Joseph guide, guard, and protect you; and our Father St. Francis of Assisi and our holy Mother St. Clare of Assisi watch over you and all your loved ones with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap
Regional Spiritual Assistant
August 2023-Monthly Spiritual Asst Greetings
Posted By Teresa Redder, on July 1st, 2023 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
July 2023
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you His peace
Everything is a grace; everything is a gift. Everything that we are, have, experience; everything that we like, dislike, enjoy or not, everything, seen with the “yes” of faith, is a grace! God’s direct or indirect gifts help us grow through life and become the saints we were created to be. All we have to do is accept the gift and use it to the best of our abilities.
Luke, the evangelist, after the story of the finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple and His return with Mary and Joseph to Nazareth, writes that Jesus grew in wisdom, age, and grace before God and men (Luke 2, 52). Jesus is born, grows up, and fulfills his human and spiritual formation at a specific moment in time and in a determined place. He is the eternal God Who limits Himself to a historical and physical presence among His own creatures. Though He knows all things, our God, in the Incarnate Person of Jesus the Christ, “experiences” what He knows, as we are told in all things but sin (Hebrews 4: 15).
This is what takes place in the life of all people. It was an essential part even of the lives of the ‘officially canonized’ saints. No one is born a saint but he/she has a lifetime to become one. Saints are creatures whose human nature is not deformed by grace but elevated by it. It strengthens and perfects us day-by-day when we trust and cooperate with this divine gift. God’s Grace and graces are offered us that we might become what we were created to be; that we might recover what was lost when our First Parents decided to follow their own will rather than that of our God Father and Creator.
The saint is that person who has taken the narrow road (Matthew 7: 13-14) and allows the action of grace to transform his/her soul and thus re-creates the person in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1: 26-27). We may have heard the saying, What I am is God’s gift to me. What I become is my gift to God…and…God and I together can do the impossible. Without God I can do nothing of true worth.
If it is true that supernatural grace perfects and does not destroy nature, then it is vital that our lives be rooted in the working of grace and the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Before any of us can ever hope to stand out as an example of virtue, it is necessary to become that perfect person come to full stature in Christ (Ephesians 4: 13) in the ordinary daily matters of living.
Health, culture, character, environment all contribute to the “saint becoming process”. God’s grace does not destroy a person’s right and ability to act on his/her own initiative. It does not take away free will. God would never reduce us to mere robots. Grace respects the character and the will of each and every individual. We are the ones who accept or reject the challenge to allow the love God has for us to take hold of our lives. We are the ones who decide to live in holy fear of offending God. And this ‘fear’ is not the uncontrolled anxiety of being condemned by an Eternal Just Judge. It is the enlightened and prudent ‘fear’ of gratefully knowing ourselves as God’s creation and of what we are capable in the light of our freedom as a child of God. It is a ‘fear’ of wounding the love of a compassionate and loving God Who brought us into being, died for us, and calls us to an ever more intimate relationship with Him in mystery. This ‘fear’ of ourselves and trust in Him helps us to recognize the daily miracles of grace around us, as we yearn for that time when we will see Him in the reality of the Eternal Life promised His faithful children.
An Italian psychologist, speaking of the humanity of the saints, wrote: The soul of the saints is not like the Dead Sea whose waters are never agitated by so much as a breeze, and in which there is no sign of life. The soul of the saint resembles rather the Sea of Genesareth (Sea of Galilee) that has terrible storms and can be calmed only by the hand of the Master. Saints had their ups and downs, delusions and difficulties, weaknesses and temptations. They also had their faults, like those that Saint Alphonsus Liguori speaks of when he says that he would consider himself a happy man if he could be freed from these faults a quarter of an hour before dying. These are the words of a saint known for his joyfulness even when he was being persecuted and for his understanding in patience of human weakness. Fear is a lack of faith and even more so a lack of love.
We must allow ourselves to be directed and molded by the action of God’s grace. The obstacles that we may encounter on our way or those we ourselves create must be eliminated. Through our personal commitment, the task of overcoming our own weaknesses takes shape and progresses. We begin to see how our life is slowly lifted up to greater heights, spiritually first and foremost, and then, as a wonderful effect, our very soul is lifted up naturally, intellectually, psychologically, as our mind and heart are more in harmony with God and His holy Will.
We strive to regain innocence of spirit and life. Encouragingly we remember that not all the saints were as innocent as we are told was Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Just consider some: St. Mary Magdalen (from whom seven demons were expelled), St. Mary of Egypt (whose notoriety as a woman of loose morals was proverbial in her area of the world), St. Margaret of Cortona (who was a kept woman), St. Paul (who was rather violent), St. Augustine (whose Confessions speak of numerous sins and his own prayer: “Lord, make me chaste, just not yet”, tells us a great deal.), St. Francis Borgia (about whom the philosopher Leibnitz remarked regarding the ingenious method Francis used to overcome his exaggerated love for wine).Even St. Vincent de Paul, the loving Father of Charity, seemed to have a crotchety character at times and was subject to anger. So many others could be named who during their lives, as we, were all masterpieces of the Artist in progress.
And what about all those holy men and women who did not live in the shadow of the cloister, convents, or friaries! From the very beginning of their life they too had to combat the vehemence of their passions and temperaments! We have all heard the phrase, Still waters run deep (Latin proverb). Even those placid souls who seem to be impervious to any annoyance still have the inner part of their nature that must deal and decide on the course to take at any given moment. The temptations we experience are the challenges for change that God through nature offers us. How we respond will determine who we become, and where we are headed. The examples of the lives of our sisters and brothers raised to the honor of the altar continually remind us that we all have more than just a chance at heaven. It is ours for the taking! All we have to do is Let go!, Let God! And Let Loose of all that keeps me from Him! In other words: say yes to the prompting of grace and trust.
God is a jealous God (Leviticus 24: 14-16)! God does not want other things to disrupt the loving relationship He has established between Himself and His creation. He knows we can become that new wine in new wineskins (Matthew 9: 16-17) that Jesus, our Incarnate Lord, challenges us to become. The saints we revere and honor all tell us that it is not only possible but necessary. How we accomplish this task is easier than we might imagine. Among the many ‘things’ we could do, I can think of a few that are essential:
– Abandon yourself to the working of the Holy Spirit. When God ‘calls the shots’, you can be sure success is in sight. We are called to Heaven. Our journey through life often encounters difficulties that challenge our choices. The Spirit of God speaks to our minds and hearts. Trust the Spirit of God. Seek it out through prayer, meditation and, at times, through the counsels of people of proven faith and life who can encourage you and clarify your difficulties and doubts. God works through others to bring us to Himself. No man is an island (John Donne). We need each other.
– Be committed to your own conversion. Health enthusiasts will do anything for that better looking body. They go through painful exercises, extreme fasts or diets, and often will spend good hard-earned money, sacrificing other legitimate pleasures, to achieve their goal for a better physical look or material situation. How committed are we to a better soul?!
– Be an enemy to duplicity. God knows you better than you know yourself. You are what you are before God and nothing more (St. Francis of Assisi), and I like to add ‘nothing less’, that is, ‘nothing less than a child of God called to eternal life’. We are entrusted with an awesome responsibility to make sure that our authenticity, integrity and credibility never be placed in doubt. Struggling to become saints – we are a work in progress (And what a piece of work many of us are!!!)
– Don’t hide the rough edges and cracks and flaws. They will be obvious. As the Master works on us, we show others the good that is happening and how powerfully transforming God’s grace is. ‘Duplicity’ is just another word for ‘hypocrisy’. Avoid it! Let God shine through. Once the light of God’s presence shines through us, we live in the glow of His Eternal Love.
Years before Vatican Council II and its reminder of our Universal Call to Holiness, one of our Capuchin saints, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, wrote to a spiritual daughter, Erminia Gargani (January 27, 1918): I have never ceased, nor will I cease to pray to the most sweet God that He may be pleased to accomplish His holy work in you; that is, that you may have a strong desire and intention to reach perfection in the Christian life; a desire which you must love and nurture tenderly in your heart, as the work of the Holy Spirit, and a spark of His divine fire.
We too accept the gift of our humanity with gratefulness; our difficulties, burdens, challenges, and even our sins as traveling companions on the road of life. They help us keep our feet well grounded in reality. In this reality we yearn and strive for where our heart is directed, that is Life with God in Heaven. And let us all become saints – It takes only a lifetime, and God will be with us all the way!
As our nation celebrates Independence Day on July 4th, let us always remember that our “independence” is fruitful when our “dependence” on God and His Holy Will, opens our hearts to be “interdependent” on one another as the Franciscan fraternity and family we professed to be.
May God bless you; Our Lady and good St. Joseph guide, guard, and protect you; and our Father St. Francis of Assisi and our holy Mother St. Clare of Assisi intercede for you and all our loved ones with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, OFM Cap
Regional Spiritual Assistant
July 2023-Monthly Spiritual Asst Greetings
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on June 4th, 2023 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
June 2023
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
In the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Through the Immaculate Heart of Mary
May you enter the loving embrace of the Father
Whose Holy Spirit fills us with Life and Love.
The Cross, earth’s greatest pulpit, raised our King for all to see in the glory and majesty of his infamy and humiliation. The Heart of Jesus unloved by those loved by Him must have felt such deep sorrow and pain that words cannot fathom, much less explain. His words cut deeply into the hearts of those who stood by. The words of the bystanders to the Cross were filled with anger, ridicule, blasphemy. Jesus responded with words from the Cross filled with understanding,
compassion, forgiveness, surrender, and LOVE.
The Cross-Road of Calvary offers a challenge to all who look upon the Crucified. It indicates a needed directional change “upward” and beyond. Jesus, exhausted and weak, musters up the strength to say It is finished (John 19: 30). If we only would reflect and understand the powerful meaning and impact of these few words, how our lives might change! While the English translation is good, it is the Latin expression that so powerfully expresses the deeper significance of the words. They speak of the completion of a mission, the fulfillment of the Promise God made to our first parents, as well as of all the prophecies up to that time regarding the Messiah. Nevertheless, they also speak of the intimacy and fruitfulness of the greatest act of God’s love: consummatum est! – It is consummated! (John 19: 30) When an agreement is consummated, when a love is consummated, the total surrender of one to the other is made without reserve, and from the two a new way of being emerges, unique in its own personality, but similar to those whose agreement and love have allowed it to be. Jesus totally surrendered His Will and existence to the Father and thus also to all humanity.
We are the children of that consummated act of love that introduced humanity once again to the loving embrace of the Eternal Father. In the Blood of the Savior, and His love for us, we are re-born into a new creation and receive our status as children of God, (cfr.1 John 3: 1) in the blood of Christ. We are unique in our individual personalities but are one with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, through the Blood of Christ. The Easter Proclamation of Light Service chants: What good would life have been had Christ not come to us as our Redeemer! Father, how wonderful your care for us! How boundless your merciful love! To ransom a slave you gave away your Son. It is this same Incarnate Son Who completed His mission on earth by being “consumed” upon the cross. It was this consummation that brought an end to the earthly life of Jesus and began a new Life for us.
The completion of His mission from the Father was the beginning of our being sent forth as His “backup plan” as His Mystical Body in time. This awesome responsibility and trusting mandate of Jesus continues for the sisters and brothers of the Poverello of Assisi who responded with their “yes” to live the life of the Gospel. The Gospel is the “Good News” and the Good News is the person of Jesus the Christ, Son of God, Word Incarnate. He continues His life-giving ministry of presence and power through us, a compassionate presence of powerful love.
The Divine Heart of Jesus burned with love for everyone. The crown of thorns was a sign to mock Him as Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews. (John 19: 19) His majesty was marked by the throne of the cross, the crown of thorns, nails for jewels, and a beaten body covered in blood for a royal robe. The image of the Crucified Savior and His pierced Heart is a constant reminder that Love is not loved. St. Francis of Assisi weeping profusely often repeated this phrase so that others might consider the Love of Christ that is so often taken for granted, or “not taken” at all.
Many great Saints have promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is not some emotional expression of pious prayers intended to excite our feelings, as some seem to believe. All true prayer should be able to arouse within us a sense of the Divine Presence. Prayers help us feel good and trusting in what we believe God will respond to our needs according to His Will. However, when we speak Cor ad Cor (heart to Heart) to the Lord, the relationship deepens and we move from feeling to becoming. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a symbol for us to focus upon that reminds us of a love unequaled and always desired. Prayer keeps the loving relationship alive and, hopefully well, with the Source of all we are and are called to be.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart offers us the image that society uses to express the transparency of truth (cross my heart and hope to die – used by children), unquestionable integrity (put my whole heart and soul into it), and the depth of limitless love (I love you with all my heart). We use the heart to confirm and seal many a relationship we desire to establish with others. The heart is mentioned not just as an emotional symbol but as a verifying reality of the depth of a person’s desires and availability. The heart conditions the thoughts and actions that people often express. The following of one’s heart reveals a great deal about who a person is, or desires to be.
The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, following The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), is the crowning celebration of the liturgical year. All the other liturgical celebrations originate and revolve around the great Paschal Mystery of the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Jesus. More often than not they concern some truth of our Catholic Faith that we accept and believe as “Catholics”. The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus may not be a dogma of faith, but it summarizes in this image the love of Jesus for humanity. In a sense it explains everything we believe as God’s continued act of Eternal Love. It becomes the ultimate explanation for all the events celebrated during the year by reminding us of their origin in God’s Love, their development and progression in God’s Love, and their ultimate fulfillment in God’s eternal Loving Embrace.
Reflection and meditation on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, our Lord and God, Crucified Savior, Pierced Redeemer, invites all to come to the Throne on which hung the Savior of the world (cfr. Veneraton of the Cross Liturgy of Good Friday). Ascending to the right hand of the Father He bears with Him the “engraved” signs of His love for His family redeemed in His sacrificial offering on the Cross. The nail prints and open side are eternal reminders for us of the love of God Who became one of His own creatures, the condescension of compassion as St. Leo the Great refers to the Incarnation. For all eternity He bears the marks of His indelible unity with creation and the length He was willing to go as one of us to seal an unbreakable bond with the Father. In Jesus, the bond between time and eternity is made sure and we are offered the undeniable road that leads to the fullness of Life. God devised the way in Jesus, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds us of the solid connection that leads to Life.
The human Heart of Jesus is one with the Eternal Love of God and the two who are one call us to seek first the kingdom of God and His holy operation (Scripture and St. Francis of Assisi) Come, let us adore Him! As we do, our eyes are open to see, our minds to understand, and our hearts to receive the message of love and compassion we are called to continue. Unless we can open our hearts to envelop others in love, our love remains stale and life-less, or better, love-less. As our Mother St. Clare of Assisi wrote to a spiritual daughter St. Agnes of Prague: Gaze upon the Lord. Gaze upon His Face. Allow the image of the Crucified and His pierced Heart to enter your soul through the windows of your eyes and experience the love that emanates from that image.
The Love of Christ forgets our sins and remembers only His mercy. Jesus makes his voice more clearly audible in our hearts when we focus in prayer and gaze upon the Lord. St. Francis knew that love is recognized in the daily crosses of our lives. It is as though Jesus is saying Courage! Do not be afraid! (Mark 6: 50) I have conquered the world! (John 16: 33) The love of Jesus and the images of that Love in the Crucified and the Sacred Heart empower us to be courageous in proclaiming, faithful in living, and thus at peace in our trust in the One Whose Love can never fail. The moment of His greatest defeat, was the moment of His victory.
Franciscans of any obedience strive to embody for deeply the charism of our Seraphic Father. We are called to disarm our hearts as Jesus disarmed His Most Sacred Heart. Through His ultimate sacrifice to death we are able to rejoice in our restored nature to grace and new life. Faith in Jesus empowers us with courage rooted in an active hope that conquers hearts and the world. After the battles of life comes the serenity, peace and joy that can only be lived and not even imagined. We are consumed by love for God and love for neighbor. God is continually fixed in our mind and imprinted in our heart. We can never lose sight of Him. We feel nothing except the desire to have and want what God wants. How overpowering it is to live by the heart! It means living at every moment a death to our egos that never kills the body, but energizes and enlivens our spirit, our soul. Who will set me free from this consuming fire! (cfr Hebrews 12: 29)
St. Francis of Assisi lived in the presence of God and was consumed by God’s love. The more he lived in God, the more he was aware of the concerns and needs of his sisters and brothers. How can we speak of love of God in our hearts, when we have no love for our sisters and brothers?! Love is not always materially fruitful. In fact, some may think us foolish, others may think us exhibitionists, others may call us hypocrites. We may be ridiculed by those who cannot understand a forgiving heart. Some may think us weak because we have disarmed our heart towards those who may oppose or offend us. Others may fail to recognize us now that we have unmasked our fears and are willing to stand courageously and trustingly before one another in the Name of Jesus.
True devotion for the Love of Jesus in His Sacred Heart is found in its epitome in our love for the Hidden Prisoner in the Tabernacle. This love is a transforming antidote to all that affects us in spirit and often even in the body. Jesus, I trust in You! (Prayer of Divine Mercy) We trust in Jesus, because Jesus has shown us the depth of his trust in us, to the point of being pierced that we might be healed. Through His wounds you are healed (1 Peter 2: 24).
It is most obvious how the Poverello of Assisi lived the image of the Crucified. A few years before he died his body received the visible stigmata of the wounds of Jesus. Hearts were rekindled in their awareness and love for the Passion-Death of our Savior. It was in the wound of the heart however, seen by only a privileged few, that Francis could say I have died, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me (Galatians 2: 20). The holy heart of St. Francis, empowered by the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Whose image he was gifted to be, could now say with St. Paul: I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s sufferings, for the sake of his body, the church (Colossians 1: 24). Now he understood, the words of the Cross of San Damiano: Francis rebuild my Church for as you see it is falling in to ruin. The consuming love that filled the heart of our Seraphic Father was one with the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the spirit until the mystery became fullness of reality for eternity.
As Spiritual Children of St. Francis of Assisi, the Crucified of La Verna, how much we still have to learn about Love! The Sacred Heart that pulsated from the womb of Mary until it was pierced by the soldier’s lance as Jesus hung upon the Cross keeps reminding us that Love is not loved. Can we ever learn to love God for God’s Love’s sake without looking for return?! When we can love without fear, though we recognize our sins and failures that never seem to leave us, then it is that we can truly say Jesus I trust in you.(Divine Mercy prayer) Redemption was sealed with the last drop of blood and water from the Sacred Heart of Jesus spilled on the cross at Golgotha by the soldier’s lance. This gift of redeeming and forgiving love is repeated whenever we celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation with sincere loving repentance. The Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus knows no limits, His love is everlasting (Psalm 136). Do not let human inconstancy, foolish fear, and senseless shame keep you from the well of Jesus’ Love that is overflowing for all to drink from the richness of His Most Sacred Heart. And may that forgiving Love lead us to the uniting and empowering Love of the Eucharist that allows us to be one with Him as He is in the Father.
May the Good Lord bless you; Our Lady and good St. Joseph, guide, guard and protect you; and may our Seraphic Father St. Francis and holy Mother St. Clare watch over you, their Spiritual Children and all your loved ones, with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, OFM Cap
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on May 5th, 2023 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
May 2023
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis of Assisi,
The Lord grant you the gifts of Easter Joy,
given on the first Easter Sunday to those gathered in the Upper Room:
The Paraclete of Divine Presence
The Pardon of Divine Mercy
The Peace of His abiding Divine Life-giving Love within and around you…and
The ever-present warmth of motherly love of our Mother Mary
Who accepted us as Her children at the foot of the Cross
Our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi tells us so much of his love for Mary and his awareness of Her place in the mystery of our salvation. His love for Her was undeniable. Francis saw the Mother of God and our Heavenly Mother always in relationship to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and, because of that, to the Church.
Holy Virgin Mary, among the women born into the world,
there is no one like you.
Daughter and servant of the most high and supreme
King and of the Father in heaven,
Mother of our most holy Lord Jesus Christ,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
pray for us with Saint Michael the Archangel,
all the powers of heaven and all the saints,
at the side of your most beloved Son, our Lord and Teacher.
The Easter Season calls to mind the great truths of our Faith celebrated in this most holy period. The Incarnation of the Word in the womb of Mary is the beginning of the fulfillment of the Father’s Promise to humanity. Human nature is redeemed on Calvary, assured of salvation for those who live in the light and truth of the Resurrection of Jesus, and is raised up with Jesus and glorified in His Ascension. The last Sunday of this month celebrates the Coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and heralds the birth of the Church and its coming of age to Proclaim the Gospel to every creature. (Mark 16: 15-16). The Holy Spirit continues this action of restoration and sanctification of creation down through the ages. And Mary is an integral protagonist at every moment in this Drama of Redemption and Theater of Salvation from the beginning to the fulfillment of God’s Promises.
Our Blessed Mother Mary, the mere mention of Whose name speaks of the ‘Yes’ with which she responded to God’s offer to become His earthly Mother, is a powerful yet gentle reminder of the eminent role She fulfills in the mystery and history of our salvation. Throughout the liturgical year Our Lady is always present as the Church celebrates the mysteries of Her Son. True devotion to Mary, our Mother and Queen, whose Immaculate Heart envelops all Her children with tender loving care, always leads us to Jesus, Her Son, and to a greater love and trust in God.
With the passing of time, many ‘obvious’ remembrances are institutionalized as feasts or celebrations of some sort, so that we do not forget their significance in our journey of faith. The further away we move in time from the actual events and persons we habitually celebrate, the more they can become a mere memory of the past rather than a living experience for us today. When we celebrate God and His saving action in and for humanity, the experience and relevance are always actual and timely. There can never be a time or occasion when God is not relevant or necessary. If God does not build the house, in vain do the laborers labor. If God does not watch over the city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil. (Psalm 127: 1)
It is this active presence of God that demands we return to our origins to re-discover the relevance of God’s Word and the impact His Word must have on our daily life. If we could see the events of our Faith with the heart of those who had seen and walked with Jesus, before and after His Passion-Death-Resurrection, things could be drastically different. If we only allowed the events of our lives and how God manifests Himself to us to penetrate our hearts as Mary did! She kept all these things in Her heart. (Luke 2: 19) If we could only remember that we as Franciscans are called to live the Gospel, and thus reflect – keep in our hearts – upon the words of the Word and take them to ourselves, how different our response would be to the challenges of openness, compassion, understanding, patience, acceptance, detachment, transparency, obedience, Franciscan fraternity … LOVE! That little word “if” packs a wallop when it is taken seriously!
With the eyes of a Faith convinced and committed, we can experience the same zeal and enthusiasm of the first followers. We too can be excited, enthused and encouraging not only about our Catholic Faith in general, but also about our Franciscan vocation in particular, and all that envisions and expects of us who profess to be Franciscans. As a faith-filled Jewish woman, Mary knew what collaborating with God usually entails: to put it in Franciscan terms, “Perfect Joy”. The “joy” was in knowing that everything that would be asked of Her was a part of God’s Plan to restore creation to its original grace-filled beauty. The “perfect” part was accepting a central collaborative part in the process of faith-filled dependence on God’s will with a hope-filled acceptance of all that is asked, regardless of how much is totally understood or desired. Only Love, and true love, can so completely abandon oneself with serenity to the unexpected, unknown, undesired, and say “yes” with such trust, that a God could become human, without every losing anything of His Divinity, and humanity could actually share in the Life of God Himself. Wow! What more can anyone ask! All this is thanks to a young virgin who said “yes” to the impossible, because God asked Her permission and assistance!
The Holy Spirit that descended on the first followers is the same Holy Spirit that we receive at Baptism and Confirmation. The distinction is seen in the effects of the Spirit’s presence based on the availability of the person ‘gifted’ by the Holy Spirit. Our Faith, founded on the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Jesus, would be of no value had it not been for the empowering of the Spirit in those first followers whose availability to His prompting allowed them to be led by the Holy Spirit of God that they might lead others. We are called to lead others to know, love and serve God in the Gospel Life proclaimed by Jesus. In the Spirit, we remember, we celebrate, and we believe Jesus to be the Incarnate Son of God and Redeemer of humanity. This Faith will bring us to a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Jesus, and consequently with one another, just as it did for the first followers of Jesus. Mary, once again, is the prime exemplar; She believed the unbelievable, was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, (Luke 1: 34-35) and the impossible happened! The Creator became one with His creature; divinity and humanity became one through the total surrender in Faith of Mary to the Father’s will.
The first and most excellent of all the faithful was Mary, our Blessed Mother. Faith accompanied Her into the divine plan that made Her Mother of the Christ, Mother of the Christian, Mother of the Church. The depth of Faith of the Mother of God, expressed so powerfully at the foot of the Cross of Jesus, was enhanced with the added ministry entrusted to Her by Her dying Son. He called Her to become the Mother of all the Faithful: Woman, behold Your son; Son, behold Your Mother. (John 19: 26-27) Infinitely less than Jesus and eminently greater than all humanity, Mary makes the ultimate sacrifice in offering Her Son to the Father with the same availability to the Father’s Will with which She offered Her first ‘yes’ to become the Mother of the Savior. She manifests Herself to be, in the words of our Seraphic Father St. Francis, the Virgin made Church.
The Church maintains the living presence of the Savior, most especially in the great gift of the Eucharist – the living Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Savior. This same Church continues, with Mary, to offer Her Son – our Brother, Lord, Savior, Word Incarnate, GOD – to the Father, in that one perfect Sacrifice perpetuated through the ages in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We are that Church! We, like Mary, offer ourselves each day in loving response to God’s tremendous and extravagant love for us in Jesus. And we are spiritually transformed by the graces that flow to us from Jesus through Mary. We are offered the challenge and opportunity to become the living image of the One whom we consume, as He consumes us, JESUS.
Mother of the Redeemer, She excels in the example of total surrender to God’s Will. Her Faith is an active and essential element of Her very being. Faith is not just a static acceptance of some theological truth. It is living life in the light of what we have come to believe. St. Augustine tells us that faith is believing what you do not see, and seeing what you believe. Thus, ‘believing is seeing, not vice versa as we are accustomed to presume. Believing God’s Word, we see God’s almighty power and providence at work in our lives, and thus we can confidently yield to all the Father requests of us. This same Faith places Mary in a position of total trust in God and profound love for all His children, now entrusted to Her motherly care by Jesus. She stands as the Advocate for all Her children before the Majesty of the Blessed Trinity. Truly She is, as St. Francis of Assisi acknowledged: Daughter and Servant of the Most High and Supreme King and of the Father in heaven, Mother of our most holy Lord Jesus Christ, Spouse of the Holy Spirit. (Antiphon Office of the Passion) Her intimate relationship with the Triune God enables Her to be our most powerful Advocate in heaven.
Present in prophecy, present in history, and present in the expectations of all God’s People, Mary is a life-giving presence that speaks of the power of God working in human history. Mary is a sign of hope for a waiting world. She reverses the obstinacy of creation in Eden and accepts wholeheartedly to cooperate with all the Father asks of Her. She becomes the Mother of all the Faithful Who enter into a New Covenant with the Father in the Blood of His Son, conceived in Her by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary’s loving response and daily re-commitment to that response encourages us to respond to the Father and to ask that Jesus come alive in our hearts through the same Holy Spirit working within us.
Mary was the first to practice the Gospel in all its perfection before it was written. May Her example and prayers enable us and stimulate us to follow that example. We must make every effort, like many elect souls, to follow invariably this Blessed Mother, to walk close to Her since there is no other sure path leading to Jesus – the Way, the Truth and the Life – except the path followed by our Mother. We cannot afford to refuse to take this path, we who want to reach our journey’s end “successfully”. With Her, close to Jesus, we can proceed confidently through life in the midst of whatever we may encounter or must bear.
As Followers of the Poverello of Assisi, we strive to live the Faith we profess and to see in Our Heavenly Mother a sure Advocate Who pleads our cause. We open our hearts to the Spirit we have received and we listen to God Who speaks to us in the silence of our hearts. Francis encourages us to foster an ever-growing love for our Mother Who stands to intercede for us at every moment. Mary’s life was one continual ‘yes’ to God. Following Her example, let us gratefully accept sorrows, hardships, fortune, and all life offers and/or demands with the same ‘yes’ Mary offered to God. Her response to God’s invitation allowed the Eternal One to be enfleshed in Her life. During these trying times we have been experiencing, we continue to entrust ourselves to our Mother’s “almighty intercession”. May Her Son Jesus hear the plea we make through Her, and grant this world the peace, stability, and faith in God it so desperately needs to bring an end to the political, social, economic, international, religious, spiritual, moral, and more, confusion and fear that affects the whole world.
With every best wish for you during this season of new birth and new life, I pray we all live as the ‘People of the Resurrection’. In the midst of the world’s uncertainties and global threats, let us pray earnestly that God bless our earthly home with healing and freedom from the evil one and the evil that has and continues to affect all creation. May our lives be a song of praise to the God Who creates, redeems and sanctifies. He gave us Mary, His daughter, His mother, and His spouse as our intimate companion to help us come closer to one another as Her children, as She leads us ever closer to Jesus Her Son. May we confidently respond, as our Blessed Mother Mary did with a determined ‘Yes’ to all the Father asks of us, and thus become more like Jesus in Whose image Scripture tells us we are created. Let us all be open to the working of the Holy Spirit, first gift of the Resurrection, Whose descent upon the early Church gathered together with Mary in the Cenacle, we celebrate this year on the last Sunday of May. May the Holy Spirit inflame our hearts as He filled Our Mother Mary and all the first followers.
God bless and keep all of you safe; 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 watch over each one of us, their Spiritual Children, with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on September 1st, 2018 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
September 2018
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace!
In September 1224, two years before death would usher him into eternity early in life, while at prayer at a solitary site on a mountaintop in Tuscany, our Seraphic Father, St. Francis of Assisi, received the answer to his prayer: O Lord Jesus Christ, two graces do I ask You before I die: the first, that in my lifetime I may feel, as far as possible, both in my soul and body, that pain which You, sweet Lord, endured in the hour of Your most bitter Passion; the second, that I may feel in my heart as much as possible of that excess of love by which You, O Son of God, were inflamed to suffer so cruel a Passion for us sinners. A winged Seraph appeared to him and signed him with the visible marks of the wounds of Christ. St. Francis of Assisi, the Little Poor Man, the Universal Brother, had become a living image of the Crucified Christ. The marks gave witness to the integrity of the person who bore them and credibility to the message he had now become, so that when a spirit of indifference was taking over the world, (The Lord) renewed in the flesh of St. Francis the Sacred Stigmata of (His) Passion to rekindle in our hearts the fire of (His)love. (adapted Opening Prayer for the Feast of the Impression of the Stigmata).
St. Francis received a wonderful privilege that carried with it a great responsibility. He was entrusted with a mission: to rekindle the fire of Divine Love in the hearts of God’s children. The Stigmata he bore speak volumes for those willing to ‘read’ them in a spirit of faith. To see him was to see the living image of the Crucified. To see him was a challenge to change. To encounter him was to recognize God speaking through him reminding all of God’s limitless love and calling everyone to cooperate with grace and become the persons we were all created to be: children of the Father, redeemed in the blood of the Son, bound together in the family of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Those willing to understand and accept the message of the wounds and the person signed with them, knew they were ‘called to action’. The Stigmata call to action not apathy, loving not loathing, conviction not complacency, determination not doubt, commitment not compromise, life not lethargy.
Like the great priest-prophet of the Old Testament, Ezekiel, St. Francis was called to be a living prophecy to a lethargic world suffering from spiritual dryness. Ezekiel’s prophetic words speak of numberless dry, lifeless, disjointed bones, lying on a vast field, (see Ezekiel 37: 1-14); they could be compared to many periods in human history, to St. Francis’ time, and even to our own, when war and its after-effects on society, violence, economic difficulties, contagious illnesses, social restlessness, immorality and amorality take their toll on the spiritual life of God’s people. Even those of deep faith can experience a dryness and spiritual fatigue. They look for understanding and direction. They seek someone who will journey with them and nourish them with God’s Word and healing grace. To see St. Francis, signed with the sign of the Crucified, made Jesus come alive in the hearts of those he met and with whom he spoke. The Stigmata he bore were a visible sign to all of a presence that was reassuring, encouraging, life-giving. Isaiah spoke of the wounds of Christ centuries before His Passion and Death – Through His wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53: 4-5). St. Francis of Assisi accepted to let those wounds come alive once again in his own body, and thus be a reminder and a sign of hope through Jesus’ self-sacrificing love in His Eucharistic Presence that re-presents His redemptive Passion-Death-Resurrection; those wounds kept the reality of that one great sacrifice vividly alive before the eyes of all.
The great scene of that field of bones in Ezekiel is also a reminder of what we are without God, and what we become once we allow His Word to enter our lives and His Spirit-breath to enter our hearts. There is a gradual and effective rebirth, a new creation, a re-creation in each one of us. God Himself intervenes by doing in-with-for us what is otherwise humanly impossible. When we feel like ‘dry bones’ – tired, discouraged, disillusioned, even despairing – that is the moment for us to hope against all hope (Romans 4: 18). God Himself will bring about our spiritual ‘resurrection’ in this life. The sign of our faith is the Resurrection of Christ and the Eucharist offers us the opportunity to participate in His Passion-Death-Resurrection, our pledge of future life and glory. Love for the cross is the distinctive sign of chosen souls. Jesus’ wounds remind us how He loved us to His death that we might live with Him.
As Spiritual Children of St. Francis of Assisi, we continue to let Jesus come alive in a world grown cold to the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The ‘Good News’ that we preach with our lives is that God so loved the world He sent His only Son so that all who believe in Him might have life … He did not come to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. When we ‘climb Calvary’ with Christ and accept to receive ‘our own stigmata’ and bear joyfully the responsibilities and burdens that come with life, we begin to rekindle the flame of faith in the hearts of others, as it grows stronger by God’s grace in ourselves.
The signing of our Seraphic Father with the Sacred Stigmata of Jesus calls us to action. It must however begin with each one of us first, then reach out to others. Ultimately we reach a point where everything is in perspective and even the world is put under our feet; it becomes the theater of salvation, rather than a stumbling-block of distractions and seductions that destroy fervor and lead to tepidity, indifference, and finally separation from all that is good and all that is God. St. Francis’ Prayer asking to experience the love that Jesus had in dying for us and the reception of the Stigmata on La Verna help us to reflect upon a simple and powerful way to strengthen and deepen our spiritual lives.
1) Imitate Love – Ask God for the ability to surrender totally in trust to God’s will. Love is total surrender to the One Who surrenders Himself for us on the Cross and to us in the Eucharist.
2) Meditate on the Sufferings and Love of Jesus – Keep the image of the Passion-Death of Jesus alive in your heart. We Franciscans are noted for our affective prayer. It touches the heart and makes the reality of what we consider more vivid and impressive.
3) Love the Cross – Do not fear the image of suffering and death. The Cross without Christ is a lie. With Christ, the Cross becomes not a sign of death but Life, not a sign of hatred but Love. Keep the image always alive in your heart and your life, especially in the midst of the heavy burdens that might come.
4) Grow in Christian Perfection – The spiritual life is not static. Once Christ and the Cross become ‘real’ and present to the heart, we must proceed forward by ‘living Jesus’ and His Gospel more intensely.
5) CLIMB CALVARY – Once we grow in our Christian life, we cannot help but desire to ‘climb Calvary’ to be one with the mystery of our redemption.
6) Embrace with Cheerful Soul Everything – Having embraced the Cross and stood with Jesus, all else becomes a gift we can easily embrace with gratitude, trust, and cheerfulness. Yes, ‘cheerfulness’. To embrace one thing is not to embrace something else. God loves a cheerful giver. When we embrace cheerfully what God’s permits, we let go of our false securities and comfort zones, and just trust.
7) Be Faithful – Nothing can be taken for granted. We must be ever on the watch to remain faithful. Never become complacent thinking that everything happens now automatically. The Spirit’s work is kept alive by faith-filled lives that never slacken, that renew the ‘process’ everyday with greater commitment and intensity.
8) Place the World Under Your Feet – Like the famous image of St. Francis embracing the Crucified with the world at his feet, now we are able to use the world as the theater of redemption it is and make use of all creation as the gifts that can lead us to the fullness of life, rather than allow the world to control, condition, and ultimately condemn us.
The impression of the Stigmata of Jesus on Saint Francis of Assisi, celebrated this month, challenges us to remember and live the words Per Crucem ad Lucem –Through the Cross to the Light. The wounds of the Passion speak of a world that refused and rejected that incarnate God, Who took on human nature that humanity might rise above what was leading it astray. Treachery, betrayal, capture, torture, and death were the ‘thanks’ offered all the blessings bestowed and received. The wounds we celebrate in Our Seraphic Father call us to be spiritually impressed with the same ‘signs’ and respond to the gift as did St. Francis.
– The nails in the hands remind us to use our hands to bless and not offend, to give not seek to receive, to embrace rather than push away, to raise up rather than put down, help rather than hinder …
– The nails in the feet remind us of the Scriptural phrase: blessed are the feet of the bearer of peace. They lead us to approach all as sisters and brothers, move towards those in need rather than remain stationary in our own comfort and security, take the first step and seek out those estranged rather than wait for the other to take the first step …
– The heart pierced reminds us that we must disarm our hearts to one another and allow all to enter our loving embrace that they too, as we, may discover the limitless and unconditional love of God through us.
Let the Impression of the Sacred Wounds of Jesus on the body of our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi speak to you. May God bless you; my Our Lady guide, guard, and protect you; and may our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi look upon each one of you, his Spiritual Children, with loving care. Happy Feast Day to all!
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on August 1st, 2018 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
August 2018
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace!
For centuries the Christian world has celebrated the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary body and soul into heaven. This crowning moment in Her life was never really disputed by most Christians before the rise of Protestantism. As time moves on, the world and its values often clouds the vision of our minds and hearts. As the modern world places humanity at the center rather than God, society takes a different view of life and basic human values. Technology has become the ‘god’ for many, a practical atheism if not a theoretical one. Materialism, commercialism, hedonism, just to mention a few ‘isms’ of our day, have sunk their roots deep into the human experience and often seduce the heart and soul urging us to confide in the passing things of time rather than in the lasting gifts of eternity. The cult of the body has dominated our society for years. Sixty years ago, recognizing these serious dangers, Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, body and soul, into heaven, November 1st, 1950, amidst a gathering of thousands in St. Peter’s Basilica. This proclamation was the crowning recognition of the simple Maiden of Nazareth, Whose unconditional faith opened Her life to God’s will, and the world to salvation.
The story of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is beautifully told in the Apocrypha (texts not inserted among the books of Sacred Scripture by the Bishops gathered at the Council of Nicea in the fourth century). The story lets us see how the early Church truly loved Mary as the highest honor of our race. It is no wonder that so many saints have had a particular and deep love and filial devotion for Our Lady. Our own Seraphic Father St. Francis and Holy Mother St. Clare were devoted children of this Most Holy of Mothers, Whose love envelopes us with Her protective mantle. Close to Her Immaculate Heart, Her children feel secure from harm and assured of an Advocate almighty by intercession with God.
Saint Francis loved Christ and was deeply struck by the humility of the Incarnation and the love of His Passion. He wanted to conform himself totally to Christ, so that Christ would be the true foundation of his life. This love for Christ inevitably led him to a profound love for Mary, the Mother of the Lord. In fact, as Celano states: He embraced the Mother of Jesus with inexpressible love, since She made the Lord of Majesty a brother to us. He honored Her with his own Praises, poured out prayers to Her, and offered Her his love in a way that no human tongue can express. But what gives us greatest joy is that he appointed Her the Advocate of the Order, and placed under Her wings the sons to be left behind, that She might protect and cherish them to the end. (2 Celano, chpt.150) Love for Our Lady moved him to imitate Her virtues. He would tell his friars that it is the example of Christ and His Most Holy Mother that we follow in choosing the way of true poverty. (Legend of Perugia, #3)
St. Francis wanted this basic element of his spirituality to be the same basis for the spirituality of St. Clare and her religious family. Thus an essential element of the life of Clare and her sisters is the love and devotion they have for the Mother of Jesus, whom St. Clare considers their true Mother. The love of Clare for Mary is apparent from the first moment of her consecration to God. Once she abandoned her home, city and family, she fled to Saint Mary of the Portiuncula (Our Lady of the Angels), where the brothers, who were waiting for her in prayer before the little altar in that chapel, received Clare with lighted torches. (Life, #8). It was here that St. Francis cut her hair before the altar, in the Church of the Virgin Mary (Process, #12), and it was here that the humble handmaid was wed to Christ (Life, #8) Saint Mary of the Portiuncula is that famous place where the new throng of the poor began, guided by Francis: thus it appears clearly that the Mother of mercy gave birth to both Orders in Her own dwelling place. (Life, #8)
St. Clare began her new life at the feet of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She had a particular love and devotion for Her and wanted her sisters, although they received the precious Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion only seven times a year, to receive communion on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. (Rule, #3) Clare even desired that any form of fasting be dispensed on the feasts of Mary. As much in love as Clare was with Christ Crucified, so also was she with the His Mother, reflecting upon Her sorrows. She wrote to Sister Ermentrude: Meditate constantly on the mysteries of the cross and the agonies of His Mother standing at the foot of the Cross. (Letter to Ermentrude)
Clare was deeply convinced that perseverance in her vocation gave honor to Mary. She prayed for the gift of perseverance, and in her Testament she writes: Let us be very careful that, if we have set out on the path of the Lord, we do not at any time turn away from it through our own fault and ignorance, or that we do a great wrong to so great a Lord and His Virgin Mother, and our blessed father Francis, the Church Triumphant and even the Church Militant…For this reason, I bend the knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ so that, through the prayers and merits of the glorious and holy Virgin Mary, His Mother, and our most blessed father Francis and all the saints, the Lord Himself, Who has given a good beginning, may give the increase and may give final perseverance. Amen. (Testament)
Clare’s love for Mary was a transforming element for her, that she expressed in the imitation of Mary’s virtues. Even Cardinal Rainaldo in the letter of Approval of the Rule, recognizes that the community of St. Clare follows in the footsteps of Christ and His Most Holy Mother, and have chosen to live a cloistered life. Of all the aspects of the life of Jesus and Mary, Clare is particularly concerned with imitating the poverty of Mary that she might be also faithful to the example of Francis, who sought to follow the poverty of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Holy Mother. It was this deep love for Mary that merited for Clare the assistance of Our Blessed Mother during her illness. One biographer writes that when Clare seemed close to death, surrounded by her sisters who were weeping, a Benedictine nun had a vision and saw a beautiful lady at the head of the bed who addressed the weeping sisters saying: Daughters, do not cry for one who still must live on until the Lord with His disciples comes to her. (Life, #40)
Mary is the Mother of all the living (Lumen Gentium, #56) Mary gives birth to God, by giving Him our human nature. And Her Son, receiving from Her all that is human, gives Her, as much as possible, all that is of God. Jesus was like Mary in Her human form, and Mary was like Jesus in His spiritual form. There was never a creature so much ‘like God’ than Mary. Between Mother and Son there was a full and perfect union and correspondence, even in that insurmountable distance that separates the divine Son from Her, a pure creature. (Free translation from St. Lawrence of Brindisi) It is this relationship between the human and the divine that Clare will learn and deepen through her love for Jesus and Mary.
Clare’s love for Jesus and Mary leads her to an active contemplation of Jesus and Mary that culminates at the foot of the Cross in the ultimate sign of the depth of God’s love for humanity, and humanity’s participation with God in Mary. Her love for the Crucified Christ leads to Mary, the Virgin Made Church, Whose ‘yes’ to God made our redemption possible. Before the image of the Crucified, Clare opens herself to the mystery of God’s limitless love for all humanity, and there she finds the Mother of the Redeemer Who leads her to contemplate the role Mary was called to fulfill in our salvation history. From the first moment of Her Conception until Her glorious Assumption to the right hand of Her Son Jesus, Mary is an intimate collaborator in the mystery of salvation. She offers Jesus to others, disregarding the disadvantages to Herself, so that Jesus in turn could offer Himself for us all. Mary’s collaboration from the first moment of the Lord’s conception in Her womb is remembered by the Evangelists. Mary carries Jesus, still within Her womb, to Elizabeth and the Baptist; She presents Him to the Magi; She offers Him to Simeon and Anna; She encourages Him to perform His first miracle to save a young couple from embarrassment; She accompanies Him to Calvary and death where, at the foot of the Cross, She offers Him and Herself with Him. In the sufferings of Calvary Mary became our Mother in the life of grace. Her spiritual itinerary is the life of one who accepted and lived God’s Will. When Mary and her relatives went to see Jesus at Capharnum, Jesus said to the one who told Him His Mother and relatives were looking for Him: My Mother and my brothers are those who hear the Word of God and live It. Jesus does not distance Himself from His Mother Mary but, on the contrary, extols Her greatness because She believed and accepted the Father’s Will, as He Himself was doing even in His own journey to the Cross.
Clare, in imitation of Mary, opened her heart and life to live God’s Will as it was proclaimed by the Magisterium and counseled by St. Francis. Yet, with all her simple, humble obedience, Clare is a woman radical in her approach to the life she has been called to live, flexible towards her sisters and the human weaknesses she encounters, and truly free to be detached from all that could keep her from focusing on the eternal gifts and striving for them. Clare is an image of that strong Woman who stood at the foot of the Cross with the dignity of an empress and a heart pierced with the sorrow of a loving Mother. Clare could stand her ground firmly convinced for years with the officials of the Church for the Privilege of Poverty that eventually she was granted shortly before her death; yet she would be aware of and respond with the love, concern, and the flexibility of a caring mother to the needs of her sisters and any who came seeking her assistance. She lived the words she wrote to her spiritual daughter, St. Agnes of Prague: Embrace the poor Christ. Look upon Him Who became contemptible for you, and follow Him, making yourself contemptible in this world for Him…gaze, consider, contemplate desiring to imitate your Spouse. (2nd Letter to St. Agnes of Prague)
Saint Clare of Assisi ‘gazed upon the Lord’ in the depths of her heart and in the faces of her sisters and others. With the love of a mother, she responded to their needs, and even placed her own life in jeopardy for their sake. Remember the two times we are told she saved the monastery from invasion and the sisters from harm by standing with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament between the sisters and the invaders. Jesus was the center of her life. He filled her with courage and strength; Mary was the valiant woman of Scripture whose example helped her instill serenity and peace in others.
As spiritual children of our seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi and our holy Mother St. Clare, let us follow their example. Let Christ be our center so that we too may irradiate goodness and peace to all. Let Mary be our Mother whose life, from Her Immaculate Conception to Her Assumption body and soul into heaven, be a constant reminder of our origins in God’s love. God’s love for us is His pledge to us in Jesus that we, one day, will have the opportunity to share the eternal joys of heaven in the body with which we were known on earth and through which we sought to give glory and praise to God. O Christian, remember your dignity (St. Leo the Great) and live as redeemed children of God.
We have considered the marvelous privilege of our Heavenly Mother’s Assumption into heaven, the great love of our Seraphic Father St. Francis for “the Virgin made Church”, and the life of our Mother St. Clare, truly filled with the same spirit and love of St. Francis for Mary. May we follow the examples of our “Assisian Parents”.
My God bless you; may Our Lady, guide, guard, and protect you; and may our Seraphic Father St. Francis and our Holy Mother St. Clare watch over each one of us, their Spiritual Children, with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on July 1st, 2018 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 email: pppgusa@gmail.com
July 2018
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace!
St. Francis of Assisi has a powerful hold over the hearts of many Catholics, non-Catholics, and even non-Christians. The ‘Poverello’ of Assisi, whose death occurred over eight centuries ago, lives on in his spiritual children and all those who have come to understand the importance of his all-embracing ministry. God offers us extraordinary signs to remind us that God is with us. The miracles that suspend or enhance the laws of nature are only messages reminding us that what seems permanent is only passing. The famous ‘bookmark’ of Saint Teresa of Avila states: Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things are passing. God alone remains. Who possesses God possesses all things.
Holiness is being possessed by God. If we seek only the extraordinary, we may fail to recognize the wonderful gifts found in the ‘ordinary’ experiences of life. God is always at work fulfilling His will in both the ordinary and the extraordinary. Focusing on ‘the wonder of the miraculous’ in the life of any holy person, we may lose sight of the ever-present gifts of grace in him/her, that we too share with the saint according to our cooperation with God’s grace. » Click to continue reading “Greetings from Father Francis Sariego, OFM Cap. July 2018” »
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on June 1st, 2018 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
June 2018
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace!
ur Seraphic Father Saint Francis of Assisi was a totally Eucharistic soul whose love for the Eucharist led him to revere all priests, even those whose lives were not as exemplary as they should have been. Why? Because they give us spirit and life through the sacraments they offer and the Word they proclaim. All the faithful have a share in this marvelous gift of the priesthood through their baptism and attentive participation in the celebration of the Eucharist.
The immediacy with which the celebration of the Eucharist ends seems so abrupt. After the faithful have received the Eucharist and shared in their Holy Communion the liturgy seems to say a quick ‘good-bye’, ‘be on your way’ to the assembled faithful. Nothing of the sort! The Dismissal is a capsulized and intensely packed moment that carries with it an extraordinary privilege, responsibility, and awesome power.
When (Jesus) had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene…Then He appeared to the (disciples) … He said to them, ‘Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not be believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover… (Mark 16: 9-19) And behold I am with you always, until the end of the age. (Matthew 28: 20) (The disciples) went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs. (Mark 16: 20)
The moment we sign ourselves with the sign of our salvation in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we begin an extraordinary spiritual journey. This mystical experience of our salvation history is an intimate immersion and participation in the Passion-Death-Resurrection-Glorification of Jesus. As the early followers of Jesus, we also listen to and reflect on the words of our ancestors in faith. As the first disciples, we listen to and learn from the words of Jesus. In the gift of the Holy Spirit Who will remind you of all that I said, we grow in the strength that will empower us to go forth and be ‘heralds of the Great King’.
Our Seraphic Father proclaimed himself as the ‘Herald of the Great King’ when confronted by a band of robbers. The robbers beat, stripped, and threw St. Francis into a ditch, considering him a mentally challenged person of little worth. They could not and would not accept or understand the freedom and joy that Francis had encountered when he allowed Jesus to ‘take over’ his life. The Eucharist, celebrated well and received with the appropriate spiritual dispositions empowers us in the same way to be free to ‘be Christ’ and proclaim Him to all the world. We become ‘heralds of the Great King’. We are entrusted not only to bear a message to others in words, but to become the message in our actions. With courage, and fearless of any opposition we might receive for the sake of the Name, we preach Jesus with our lives. How others receive the message/messenger depends on human nature that influences that reception.
Today we sense a growing aversion in many areas of our world to Christ and His message. There are those who seek to follow Him with a sincere heart. There are those who follow the image they have created in their own likeness that responds to their personal situations rather than His Word. There are those who stand in opposition to Christ, even going so far as to proclaim they are acting in His name.
Often those who seek to foster a love for the Gospel, the Church, and our Catholic Christian values and traditions face the same problems the first followers of Jesus, and all sincere seekers of Truth, face down through the centuries. If they are not physically attacked, those who seek to do God’s will and live in His Truth are beaten with barrages of negativity and harsh words, or stripped of integrity by slander, false accusations, or even by an embellishment of the truth for the sake of destroying the reputation of the innocent, who are left on the ‘road of indifference’ or in the ‘ditch of discouragement’ alone to fend for themselves with their physical, and sometimes spiritual, strength depleted. There is no stifling the power of God and His Spirit in those who seek His will. We find strength in our weaknesses, as St. Paul reminds us when speaking of his own vulnerabilities and defects. One of the great Fathers of the early Church, Tertullian, stated: The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church. What greater ‘martyrdom’ is there than the ‘witness’ of bearing with patience, trust, and forgiveness, an ‘ongoing death’ that seeks to destroy the soul over the course of days, weeks, months and perhaps years! What greater amount of ‘blood’ can we shed than the ‘lifeblood’ of our time, talents and even treasures spent in the daily practice of our faith and its defense against the power of the one who is in the world’. This ‘one in the world’ is always at work insidiously in the minds and hearts of those who proclaim a ‘heaven on earth’ and a god created to their own image!
The Eucharist offers us a bit of heaven on earth,. We bask in the light of the Son, and find strength and peace in Him. Once we have received the Lord in the Eucharist at Mass, it seems as though everything precipitates so quickly that we have little time to spend with the Lord in the protected solace of the church, chapel or other ‘sacred space’. The brief words and quick dismissal, Go, the Mass is ended or perhaps, translating the words literally, Go, it is sent, are an urgent commission entrusted to all who participated (and the key word is ‘participated’) in the Eucharist. Christ sends us out, as He did His disciples when He ascended to the Father, to bring to others what we have seen with our own eyes, heard with our own ears, and touched – Jesus. The commission is urgent. Thus the dismissal is immediate. We have celebrated the mysteries of our salvation. We have re-presented the Passion-Death-Resurrection-Glorification of the Savior. We have actively participated in the Mass – we are witnesses to all this. There is no time to waste. We must be out and about with the Lord and proclaim Him with our lives!
At the very beginning of the Acts of the Apostles we read: (Jesus said to His disciples) you will be witnesses in Jerusalem … and to the ends of the earth … As (the disciples) were looking on, he was lifted up … from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky … suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? ( cfr. Acts 1: 1-12) The celebrant conveys the same command to us at the end of Mass. It is as though he were saying: ‘You have celebrated the sacred mysteries of our salvation. You have entered the ‘inner circle’ of the Great King’. You have been privileged to be entrusted with His message and His Spirit to inform and remind you. The Victim is sacrificed. Our offering is sent and received by the Father. The Sacred Communion that empowers those who receive worthily has been received and consumed. What are you waiting for? Don’t stand around! It’s time to go and be the One we received. Drive out the demons of ill will, confusion, doubt, discouragement, despair by the spirit of goodness and compassion. Speak the new language of Christ’s command of love that can be understood by anyone regardless of ethnic origin or even religious affiliation. Deal with the deadly serpents of verbal and physical persecution for the sake of the Name. Know that I am with you all days even to the end of the age. Don’t fear the deadly poison of a world that insidiously attempts to corrupt mind and heart from within with seductive enticements and glittering allurements. Lay hands of reassurance and sensitivity on those who have grown ill through lives that are weak, those who have possibly given up … Be their strength … Be the Jesus you have celebrated and received to them’.
Do not forfeit what divine authority confers on you. Put on the garment of holiness, gird yourself with the belt of chastity (transparency of character and life) . Let Christ be your helmet, let the cross on your forehead be your unfailing protection. Your breastplate should be the knowledge of God that he himself has given you. Keep burning continually the sweet-smelling incense of prayer. Take up the sword of the Spirit. Let your heart be an altar. Then, with full confidence in God, present your body for sacrifice. God desires not death, but faith; God thirsts not for blood, but for self- surrender; God is appeased not by slaughter but by the offering of your free will. (Saint Peter Chrysologus, Sermo 108)
Spiritual Children of St. Francis of Assisi do not use prayer, personal sacrifice, and even charitable giving as an excuse to keep aloof from the realities of life. Our Eucharist is celebrated sacramentally everyday at the altar, and then continued in the streets and our homes through our daily activities. Once we’ve received the sacramental Jesus and allowed the grace of His Spirit to flow through our veins, we must ‘Go, the (liturgical) Mass is ended’ … ‘It is (or we are) sent’, to bring others, to lead the whole world, into the mystery of God’s love in the Sacrifice and Sacrament of Jesus the Christ. The Eucharist is not just a goal to be reached but also a starting point that leads to greater heights in, with, and for God and His People. The priest who acts in persona Christi (in the person of Christ) accompanies us as one of God’s People, and prays with and for us as one set aside to intercede as a ‘mediator’ between the divine and the human. He too is called to be victim with the Victim. He and those entrusted to his ministry are called to share in the Victory of the Eucharist that fills the world with the Real Presence of an awesome God. God invites us all to an intimate relationship with Him, and then commissions us to be ‘Eucharist’, to be an act of thanksgiving in God to, with, and for all who accept His Love.
Continue to pray for all priests and those contemplating the priesthood. Pray that we priests live according to the Heart of the Savior in Whose person we live, and move, and have our being. Pray that we may be willing ‘victims’, if the Lord should ask that grace of us, that others with and through us may experience the victory promised by the One Who said: I have conquered the world. Do not be afraid. ‘Greater is the one within you that the one in the world’. ‘Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age’. Pray for yourselves, as I do for you, that the Jesus we celebrate and receive may always be the One Whom others see in you.
May the Eternal High Priest, Jesus, show us His Most Sacred Heart, pierced by the centurion’s lance, that we may enter the door thrown wide open leading to the Father’s loving embrace. May Mary, Queen and Mother of our Seraphic Family, keep us in the depths of Her Immaculate Heart. May Our Father St. Francis of Assisi watch over each one of us, his Spiritual Children, with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on May 1st, 2018 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
May 2018
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Risen Christ bless you with His peace!
The Middle Ages was a time of wonderful monuments built to the glory of God. Many of them were dedicated to the Great Mother of God, our Blessed Mother. The devotion of the people and the great saints of the Church saw Mary as the Virgin Mother who gave birth not only to the Christ, but as the Mother of the Christian and thus the Church as well. Saint Francis of Assisi was among these great ‘lovers of Mary’. His own Salutation of the Blessed Virgin gives proof of the depth of his awareness of Mary’s place in our Salvation History and the honor with which he personally held Her in his life. She is the virgin made church whose faith and openness to the will of the Father encourage us to abandon ourselves to so great a God and His most holy will.
Just as our Seraphic Father sought to honor Mary in his life, how could we allow this most sacred time of our Christian calendar to go by without thinking of that simple Virgin of Nazareth. Mary’s cooperation with the Father’s Will accepted the work of the Holy Spirit to ‘overshadow’ Her and thus gave us Jesus, the Messiah, our Savior and Redeemer. Infinitely less than God but eminently greater than all humanity, Mary stands above us, yet always journeys with us. We are Her children entrusted to Her by Jesus as She stood at the foot of the Cross. The ‘Woman’, praised in the first Book of Sacred Scripture, who gave birth to the Christ, is the same ‘Woman’ who gave birth to the Christian as the Church was born from the open side of Her Son as He hung on the Cross for all humankind. From that moment, Mary, the virgin made church, watches us with a mother’s eye, intercedes for us with a mother’s concern, and embraces us with a mother’s love. All humanity appeals to Mary as the ‘highest honor of our race’. Saint Francis saw Mary always in this light. Mary is Mother of the Church, because Mother of the Christ, since She is Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son and Spouse of the Holy Spirit. Her life was an intimate relationship immersed in the reality of the Most Holy Trinity. Totally human, Mary was privileged to reach the heights of holiness ahead of time, through the merits of Her Son’s redeeming Passion-Death-Resurrection, that She might be forever a sign of the greatness and holiness to which all God’s children are called.
Mary’s presence, prominence, and popularity, even among those not of the Catholic/Orthodox expressions of Christianity, are indicative of the yearning of the human heart to be loved. After the Marriage Feast at Cana, our Heavenly Mother takes a silent place in the Gospels. We meet Her again at the foot of the Cross and then in the Upper Room awaiting the Promised Gift of the Holy Spirit on the Early Church. Not until St. John writes of the ‘Woman about to give birth’ assailed by the ‘dragon’ in the Book of Revelation do we meet ‘the Woman’ again in Scripture, and for the last time. The Church has always seen the image of the ‘Woman’ of Sacred Scripture as the image of Mary. Our love and devotion for Mary has kept Her always alive in our hearts. She is the one to whom so many of us run with our joys and sorrows, successes and failures, hopes and fears. She is the one most Catholics will defend when Her name and honor are being attacked. We speak of Her as we do of Her Son. The Real Presence of Jesus in the Sacrament is equaled by no one and nothing in this world, yet often we speak of Mary as another ‘real presence’ that accompanies us in such a way that with Her in our hearts and minds we move forward confidently. Saint Francis praised Her as Palace, Tabernacle, Home, Mother, in his Salutation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary offers Jesus the space and place through which He makes Himself present among us and for us. Saint Francis is so simple, yet so profound!
What was celebrated in sign, Mary bore in Her heart and mind with a depth and reality that no one ever could or ever will be able to equal. She not only received Her Lord in the Eucharist – Her Son, Savior (yes, ‘Savior’, because She was sanctified and freed of Original Sin ahead of time in Her Immaculate Conception, but had to be redeemed nonetheless), and God – but also maintained such an intimacy with Jesus by grace upon grace, that we can lovingly and devotedly say that heaven walked with Her wherever She went. To see Mary was to see a glimpse of heaven upon earth. Isn’t that what happens to us – or at least should – when we receive Jesus in the Eucharist? When we allow the Sacred Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Savior to enter our humanity and become one with us in an intimate and sacramental manner, aren’t we doing just as Our Blessed Mother did so many centuries ago? We ‘give birth in faith to Christ’ as St. Augustine reminds us. This faith and its challenges, at Communion time, must be embraced, energized, and empowered to manifest itself in the life of the one who receives the Eucharistic Lord.
In his Admonitions, our Seraphic Father writes: All those who see the sacrament sanctified by the words of the Lord upon the altar at the hands of the priest in the form of bread and wine…believe according to the Spirit and the Divinity that it is truly the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit of the Lord, therefore, That lives in Its faithful, That receives the Body and Blood of the Lord. Behold, each day He humbles Himself as when He came from His royal throne into the Virgin’s womb; each day He comes to us, appearing humbly; each day He comes down from the bosom of the Father upon the altar in the hands of the priest. As He revealed Himself to the holy apostles in true flesh, so He reveals Himself to us now in sacred bread. And in this way the Lord is always with His faithful, as He Himself says: ‘I am with you until the end of the age.
How powerful and profound is this intimate love between the human and the Divine! When we encounter individuals who are deeply in love, that love can be seen in their demeanor. Ask them about their love, though, and they seem embarrassed to respond. The intimacy true love reaches in hearts and souls ‘in love’ can only be experienced, never exhaustively explained. It can be seen in its effects but not really ‘dissected’ in explanations. Love is of God, and true love is a mystery to which all are called. Love must be lived to be experienced, and once experienced it must be loved to be lived fully. The ‘virtuous circle’ of love consists in this: the more we love, the more we know love and are capable of loving. The Eucharist we receive at the moment of Holy Communion – our ‘sacred bonding’ with Jesus – offers us the opportunity to enter the Love of God in Jesus. We allow His Holy Spirit to ‘overshadow’ our lives with grace. Just as Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit and became the Mother of God, so we have the possibility to be filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit according to our cooperation with grace, and thus we ‘give birth to Christ in our hearts’. Even the ‘eccentricity’ of Saint Francis of Assisi can most often be attributed to his relationship with the Christ Who was so real to him in prayer and particularly in the Eucharist, that his very behavior became uninhibited. The joy of that one-ness with Christ let him forget all human respect, just as King David danced with abandon before the Arc being brought into the City of David.
The millennial continuation of the Real Presence of Our Savior among us around the world depends upon the consecration of the sacramental signs of bread and wine. This is accomplished through the ministry of those men called and ordained to the ministerial priesthood. The faithful share in this priesthood through Baptism. In the Eucharistic Sacrifice they accept to participate actively in the mystery of the Life-Passion-Death-Resurrection-Glorification of Jesus. They acknowledge their belief in the Sacrifice offered and strengthen the unity of the Mystical Body of Christ in their Holy Communion worthily received. They, like the priest, are called to let the Sacred Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of the Savior enter their lives and flow through every fibre of their being, thus enlivening their faith and filling their hearts with inexpressible inner joy and peace – the effects of the Eternal Love that possesses them. How many of us can really say we allow that to happen? How many of us ‘feel’ the effects of their Holy Communion, and like Saint Francis, feel a real change in attitude that even affects our demeanor? Some may even consider the expressions used above exaggerated, unreal, poetic, or of another era! We find difficulty expressing the depth of the love we experience in the Eucharist, often because we do not give ourselves the time and silence to allow the Sacred Guest to speak to our hearts, that we might ‘feel’ it. We are always in such a hurry. How many good Catholics run out of Church as soon as they have ‘devoutly’ received Communion?! The brief period after Communion, before the Last Prayer-Blessing-Dismissal, is an awesome moment, and a necessary one for us to allow the Truth Whom we have received, to lead us on the One Who is the Way, as He nourishes us with Himself and strengthens us on our journey to Eternal Life.
One of our Third Order brothers, Don Bosco, great saint of the nineteenth century, was known for his ‘dreams’. His dreams, visions, and prophecies concerning the Church are quite revealing. Among them he speaks of seeing the Church as a ship, with the Holy Father at the helm, steering it through severe weather on rough and stormy seas. The ship moves to a safe harbor as it is directed between two columns. The Eucharist is atop of one and Our Lady is atop of the other. The Eucharist and Mary are the strengths (the ‘columns’) of our Catholic Christian faith. Mary leads us to Jesus. Mother of the Most Blessed Sacrament, First ‘True’ Tabernacle, First Monstrance, She indicates the way. Let us follow Her example and invoke Her prayers and protection in the ancient Easter Marian Anthem that reminds us of the severe plague that subsided at Her intercession. The Church and the world need the intercession of the Mother of all Humanity to abate the plague of anti-Catholic, anti-Christian, anti-God campaigns that afflict the world today. May we witness Her almighty intercession with the Eternal Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We rejoice and are glad for the Lord is truly risen, and we sing our ‘Alleluia’, ahead of time, for a God Who renews the joy of our youth, as we acclaim Our Mother, the virgin made church.
Queen of heaven rejoice, Alleluia,
For the Son Whom you merited to bear, Alleluia.
Has risen as He said, Alleluia.
Pray to God for us, Alleuia.
Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, Alleuia,
For the Lord is truly risen, Alleuia.
May the Risen Lord Jesus shower you and your loved ones with peace, joy and abundant blessings for a continued Happy Easter time. May Mary, Mother of the Redeemer and our Mother, help you to live with Jesus in the light of the New Life His Resurrection offers each one of us. May our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi watch over each one of you, his Spiritual Children, with loving care.
Peace and Blessings in the Risen Lord Jesus
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on April 12th, 2018 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
April 2018
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Risen Christ bless you with His peace!
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’. When He had said this He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them, ‘Peace be with you’. As the Father sent me, so I send you…(John 20: 19-21) It was on that same first day of the week that two disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus…Jesus Himself drew near and walked with them…but their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him… While he was with them…their eyes were opened and they recognized Him and He vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures for us’…So they set out at once to return to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven…The two recounted what had taken place on the way and how He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. (cfr. Luke 24: 13-35) A week later His disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace be with you’ (John 20: 26)
The season of Easter is saturated with Peace. It is a time for us to enter the Joy of the Risen Jesus and realize that our God is alive and well. We see in the few chapters that end the Gospel accounts a transforming experience for all the first followers of the Lord. It was an inner transformation, for as yet they were fearful of the Jews, but joy-filled at the sight of the Savior. No doubt some may have thought that ‘now He will re-establish Israel’, ‘now He will manifest Himself to the world and conquer our dominators’, ‘now the sinners and sinful nations will be put down and Israel will reign as the righteous nation’. As childish as this manner of thinking may seem, I do not doubt that some, if not all the disciples, may have had similar thoughts or feelings. All we need do is remember what the concern was on the road to Jerusalem as Jesus spoke of His pending capture-torture-death…and resurrection; the apostles were talking about who would be first and powerful in the kingdom, and who would reign on the right and left with Jesus.
The disciples saw Jesus captured and tortured; they knew He died and was sealed in a guarded tomb. Things were not as the disciples expected. Things were not as the first followers had hoped. Things seemed to be moving in a direction totally different than expected and desired. The disciples stayed together in the upper room with Mary the mother of Jesus. They were afraid and confused, but found inner strength in their common bond in Jesus’ name and all He taught them. They were at peace within themselves, while still frightened of the world around them. Calm demeanor, conscious awareness, and cautious outlook, were now the elements that helped them slowly regain a hope they had lost on Calvary. They began to bond as the ‘Apostolic Community’ that would fearlessly proclaim the Messiah-ship and Divinity of Jesus the Christ throughout the world.
Calvary was a tragic day for he first followers of Jesus. The hopes and dreams of the disciples hung with Jesus on the cross. Until He gave up His last breath, Jesus could have made everything happen as they had hoped. When He said, ‘It is finished’, ‘Father into Your hands I commend My spirit’, the Master seemed to go the way of all other Messianic pretenders who, as good, patriotic, and even faithful Jews as they could have been, still ended their hopeful enterprise of re-establishing the independent nation of Israel with their own deaths. Could Jesus be any different!? In this case, the answer was ‘Yes’! These followers could not let go, could not forget. They were a hodgepodge crew, yet the diversity and diametrically opposed personalities among them, seemed to find a consolation and strength now with each other. There was a ‘troubled peace’: ‘troubled’ because of human uncertainty regarding the future…’peace’ because the spirit of the three years of His life they had shared with Jesus and His teachings made them believe that the dream of a ‘new heaven and a new earth’ was attainable…and for some reason, they knew they were the messengers who had to become the message…Jesus’ acceptance of Calvary told them it was ‘the hard way’ they had to follow to give a more effective witness.
At Mass, just before we receive the Body and Blood of our Savior in Holy Communion, the priest celebrant prays ‘in Persona Christi’ for all the community as well as for himself; he too needs the graces and blessings as a member of the Mystical Body of Christ. The priest prays: Lord Jesus Christ, You said to Your apostles, I leave you peace. My peace I give you. Look not on our sins but on the faith of Your Church (people)… Again we hear the Lord in the Liturgy, after His death and resurrection sacramentally re-presented, gifting us with His peace. This peace can only be felt if it is given away, if we become peacemakers with others because we are at peace with God and ourselves. We can be at peace and be peacemakers only if and when we disarm our hearts to one another. If the sign of peace we extend at Mass is not sincere or is even refused, the reception of the Eucharist (the Real Presence of the Living Lord) will have little or no effect in the one receiving Him. We are integral members of the Mystical Body of Christ. No member of the body acts on its own without affecting the whole body. No member can refuse to support, encourage, forgive the whole body without affecting his/her own spiritual health. (cfr. 1 Corinthians 12: 12-26) Let us never forget that Franciscans have always been considered the women and men with ‘disarmed hearts’. Our Secular Franciscan family has always been singled out as those people of God who truly make peace a characteristic and a challenge for them to live.
Behold each day He humbles Himself as when He came from the royal throne into the Virgin’s womb; each day He Himself comes to us, appearing humbly; each day He comes down from the bosom of the Father upon the altar in the hands of the priest. As He revealed Himself to the holy apostles in true flesh, so He reveals Himself to us in the sacred bread. And as they saw only His flesh by the insight of their flesh, yet believed that He was God as they contemplated Him with their spiritual eyes, let us, as we see bread and wine with our bodily eyes, see and firmly believe that they are His most holy Body and Blood living and true. And in this way the Lord is always with His faithful, as He Himself says… (Admonitions, #1)
Our Seraphic Father St. Francis reminds all the faithful that only in the living presence of Jesus among us can we ever hope to find inner peace and external serenity. The Eucharist is that awesome and most wonderful gift of the Spirit that re-presents the whole mystery of our salvation – the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Jesus. As the early followers were strengthened and empowered to become the message of “Peace and Blessings” to the world, so are we, the spiritual children of Saint Francis, called to live the joyful peace of the Resurrection and offer the experience of new life in Jesus to all whom we encounter.
Our God is a ‘hidden God’ … hidden in the hearts of everyone, for some as a Real Presence, and for others as a nostalgic memory. St. Augustine expresses the longing of the human heart when he writes: O Lord, we are made for You, and our hearts can find no rest until they rest in You. Repeating this expression, the Church also prays: O God, You have placed in our hearts such a deep yearning for You, that only those who find You can find peace! It is this hidden God that the yearning of all human beings for ‘Someone’ seeks out. This is the God we are called to encounter in our individual lives and help others find and live in theirs. This is the God with Whom we seek a deeper relationship during the Lenten Season. This is the God of Life in Whose Spirit we have come to recognize Jesus as the Christ, incarnate Son of God, in Whose Death and Resurrection heaven is once more made accessible to us.
People of science tell us how difficult it is today to speak about God when the immensity of the galaxies and the materialism of an entrenched secularism in today’s world question anything that cannot be tangibly experienced. Even those involved in pastoral ministry realize the difficulty there is to speak about God today. Talking about God has become always more problematic, both because of the new ‘verbage’ required, as well as the difficulties created by a world that has ‘to see to believe’ and anything other than what can be ‘touched’ with the senses is just a ‘figment of the imagination’, ‘a relic of times past’, ‘pious people’s inability to move with the times’, and the like. The spirit of the Apostle St. Thomas lives on! Our society wants instant gratification and concrete answers. No sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights so shall, the Son of man be … It is precisely this ‘sign’ we Christians throughout the world remember, celebrate, and believe during the Easter Season, and every time we enter the Mystery of the Eucharist. As Spiritual Children of our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi are we making every effort to be this ‘sign’? Can people hear in our words and see in our actions that Jesus’ Resurrection has filled us with confidence as it did the early disciples to fearlessly confront our world in the power of God’s Word? Has the experience of Calvary helped us see the cross as a crowning moment in life rather than a collapse of our hopes and dreams? We are spiritual children of St. Francis of Assisi; the cross was the unique gift he ‘wore’ visibly before he died; do we wear ours with dignity and joy, and carry it with confident hope in its fruits?
God’s presence envelops us, even those who have not met or even know Him. When we build on the positives of life, the beauty of creation, the diversity-power-wonder of nature at all its levels, the complexity of the human person and our ability to reach horizons that other creatures cannot, we encounter a God of Love and Life. All too often we seek God in the drastic, disastrous, difficult, dilemmas of life; global fears, economic instability, incurable diseases, natural disasters all ‘make us think’ of God. At those moments we perhaps see a distorted image of the One Great God of the Covenant who entered an agreement with Humanity and seeks to fulfill it each day. The Death and Resurrection of His only begotten Son, Jesus, speaks to us of this God of Life. St. Francis sang the praises of this God Who is alive and well in all creation, in those who forgive … and even in Sister Death who accompanies us to Life. Do we accept the challenge our Holy Father Francis offers us to do likewise? Have we learned what it means to be an ‘Easter People’ and how to live the ‘Alleluia’ we so often recite in our liturgies and prayers?
When we accept our moment in life and believe in the Lord’s Resurrection, ignorance gives way to knowledge, fear to courage and strength, prejudice to impartiality and tolerance, pride to humility, indifference to concern, over-indulgence to self-control, hypocrisy to sincerity, discouragement to hope, doubt to faith, and hatred to love, because…You can’t hold back the dawn! And the Resurrection of Jesus is the New Dawn bringing the Light of Christ to all willing to accept Him.
May the light of Christ’s Resurrection shine in your life that we might have life, and have it in abundance. May the Risen Lord Jesus shower you and your loved ones with peace, joy and abundant blessings for a Happy Easter season. May Mary, Mother of the Redeemer and our Mother, help you to live with Jesus in the light of the New Life His Resurrection offers each one of us. And may our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi watch over each one of us, his Spiritual Children, with loving care. With a promise to keep all of you affectionately in my Masses and prayers, I wish you and your dear ones a very Happy and Joyous Easter season.
Peace and Blessings in the Risen Lord
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
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