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Posted By Kate Kleinert, on May 2nd, 2022 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 2022
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Risen Christ bless you with His peace!
Our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi speaks so lovingly of Mary. He places Her in that privileged position She holds as Mother of the Savior and “Virgin made Church”. St. Francis never forgets to refer to Mary in Her role as Mother of Christ and example for all the children of God. Without being a formal theologian, St. Francis always places Mary in Her proper position within the mystery and history of salvation. Her eminence and his love are beyond question. She is the Heavenly Mother, greatest of all mothers, whose love and protection he had always been able to see images of in his own mother, Donna Pica. St. Francis saw in Mary the highest example of humanity after that of Christ. She embodied the image of the first disciple who followed the Christ faithfully, as well as the mother who gave birth to the Master. She is the first among all the faithful of the Church. The following praises says so much of the love the Poverello had for Mary:
Hail, O Lady,
Holy Queen,
Mary, holy Mother of God,
Who are the Virgin made Church,
Chosen by the most Holy Father in heaven
Whom he consecrated with His most holy beloved Son
And with the Holy Spirit and Paraclete,
In whom there was and is
All fullness of grace and every good.
Hail His Palace!
Hail His Tabernacle!
Hail His Dwelling!
Hail His Robe!
Hail His Servant!
Hail His Mother!
What beautiful words! They are the fruit of a heart enamored of Our Lady. In these words we are reminded of the love and devotion that people of all times and at all levels of society and learning fostered for the Blessed Virgin Mary, the great Mother of God. In a few words, St. Francis reminds us of the great dignity of Mary and Her intimate relationship with the Most Holy Trinity. We are reminded of humanity’s dignity and the depth of God’s love for what might seem to others to be a “lesser level” of creation. Human beings are a “lesser level”, yes, because we are not God. Nonetheless, humanity bears the greatest of dignities because God deigned to become one of His own creatures through the collaboration and consent of one of His creatures, Mary. Accepting and believing the impossible, the Divine became human through a human being, so that humanity could share in the Divine who became one with us. What a mystery! What a marvelous gift! And all this because Mary, one of God’s own creation, said YES!
Love for Mary has been a source of strength for so many, from the time the early Church gathered with Her at prayer in the Upper Room. Her love for the first followers gave them strength. Though they had abandoned Her Son, their Lord and Master, in the time of His most need, She loved them and understood as a mother understands her children’s inadequacies and fears. Mary’s loving acceptance of humanity at the foot of cross as Her own children, began a love story so near to us, especially in our present era, of Mary’s constant presence, counsels, and encouragement for all Her children to do whatever He tells you (John 2: 5). The Motherhood of Mary for the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, began at the moment Her “yes” allowed eternity and time to become one in Her womb. Francis’ love for the mystery of the Incarnation filled his life. Mary, because of her prominent place in this great mystery, was always the love of his heart and life.
Love for Mary goes to the very heart of who we are as children of God redeemed in the Blood of Christ. A wonderful example of this is the person of one of the most visible and renowned men of the last century and beginning of this one, Pope St. John Paul II. When asked what motto he would assume for his pontificate, he gave the simple and deeply meaningful motto: Totus Tuus! (Totally Yours!) There was no need for explanations. It was quite clear. Those two words said it all: Everything is yours! It’s all yours! I dedicate myself and all that I do and am to your loving care, that you may present me and everything to God”. How simple, trusting, and full of love. Our own present Holy Father, Pope Francis, expresses a similar loving devotion and entrustment to Mary in all his major endeavors. We can note this on his immediate visits in thanksgiving to Mary on his return from His pastoral visits.
Tradition has held that one of the reasons for Lucifer’s fall from grace and Heaven was his refusal to accept the Mystery of the Incarnation because it demanded reverence for a “lesser” creature. Yet, in the words of Psalm 8, the Psalmist praises the magnificence of God and prays: O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is Your Name over all the earth! What is man that you should be mindful of him? You have made him a little less than the angels (some translations understand the ancient word, ‘elohim’ as ‘god’) and crowned him with glory and honor. Creation is the theater of redemption. Creation is the overflowing of God’s eternal love in time that offers all the “work of God’s hands” the privilege to know, love, and serve God in this world so that all who are created in His image and likeness, can be happy with God forever in Heaven (cfr. Old Baltimore Catechism). When God looked at all He had created, He saw it as “very good” (cfr. Genesis). When humanity lost that grace-filled beauty because of Original Sin, the Creator promised to intervene personally and intimately. God became His own creation as a human being that the beauty of the original image of God in creation might be restored. The Blood of Jesus and our collaboration with God’s grace allow our redemption in Jesus to bring about our eternal salvation. And Mary, Virgin made Church, Virgin image of the Mystical Body of Her own Son, becomes the one whose acceptance allowed God to begin the fulfillment of His Divine Plan of restoration. He who created us without our permission, wanted our collaboration in our salvation. (cfr. St. Augustine, Sermo 169, 13)
Human beings are called to fulfill key roles in the work of redemption. In the fullness of time, a young woman from Nazareth, Mary, heard a greeting that challenged her understanding and faith. She was offered a privileged gift that She could have refused. She didn’t though. The greeting informed Her of the unique gift She had received from God Himself: Hail, full of grace. She was told: You will conceive in your womb and bear a Son. He will be called Son of the Most High. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born of you will be called holy, the Son of God (cfr. Luke 1: 26-38). Mary accepts totally with unconditional trust not only in Her own name, but in the name of all humanity. Our Mother’s willingness to become Mother of the Christ, led Her to the foot of the Cross on Calvary. It is here where Mary becomes Mother of the Christian and Mother of the Church. The love that was kindled in Mary’s womb begins a process that will last until the end of time. In Mary’s motherly Immaculate Heart we feel the warmth of God’s peace on all who follow Her example and accept Her Motherhood in/with/through Christ over them.
Our hope is renewed in Mary. She stands between the Majesty of Her Son and all humanity. She is not the source but the channel of graces. In other words, She is the Mediatrix (channel) of all Grace. Through Her we more easily approach God. Jesus is the Incarnation of Almighty God in time, so that humanity, in, with, and through Jesus might know God’s love and mercy. The humanity of Jesus comes to us through Mary, and our adoption as children of God comes through the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Jesus, only-begotten Son of the Father. It follows, therefore, that through Mary we receive Jesus, through Whom we are once again restored in grace to our original image and likeness of the Creator. Mary’s powerful example and almighty intercession, assists us in remaining faithful to this grace helps us quickly to have it restored if and when we might lose it. As the first and greatest among the created children of God, Mary continues Her “yes” to the Father as She carries each one of us, created in the image of Her Son, in Her Immaculate Heart.
We are children of this age. We cannot extricate ourselves from the time in which we live. The hectic pace, technological advances, social demands, financial difficulties, international concerns, scandals in the Church, and so much more, can easily fill our minds and hearts so that there is no longer room for the spiritual child within each one of us to thrive. Though we must be involved in life, we must not lose that inner peace and simplicity that help us to place everything in perspective. Love for Mary and a heart open to Her can help us keep focused. We have our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi, and so many other holy women and men, even of our own age, as wonderful examples. They encourage us to love Mary and discover in Her a vital presence in the Church and our daily life. A simple loving relationship with our Blessed Mother Mary brings calm and serenity to the heart. We surrender more easily to Her love. In that total surrender (Totus Tuus), we experience openness to God and His most Holy Will. Our life becomes full, fulfilling, and worth living. Mary leads us to Jesus the Christ and Christ to the Father in His Spirit. With God within us, we recognize the truth and power of the words of the Apostle John: Greater is the One within you, than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4). Is there any wonder why our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi was so enamored of Mary?! Should there be any question about our unconditional love and surrender to so loving and powerful a Mother?! Peace and Joy is facilitated in this crazy and often frightening world: never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided (Memorare of St. Bernard of Clairvaux). All to Jesus through Mary; all from Jesus through Mary (Remember John 19: 26-27). What more could we desire?
With every best wish for you during this season of rebirth and new life, I pray we all be open to the working of the Holy Spirit, First Gift, with Pardon and Peace, of the Resurrection. May the Spirit inflame our hearts as He filled that of our Mother Mary. Animated by this Holy Spirit, may we follow the Spirit’s inspiration and confidently respond, as Mary did, with a determined “Yes” to everything the Father asks of us, so that we may be more like Jesus.
God bless you and your loved ones. Our Heavenly Mother and her beloved husband St. Joseph guide, guard, and protect you. Our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare of Assisi watch over each one of you, 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 January 9th, 2022 My apologies for the lateness in posting the January writings of Father Francis. Some lovely person took over my debit card and my email account more than a week ago and it has been difficult regaining control. The devil herself has been after me!
St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
January 2022
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!
(St. Francis of Assisi)
May He live in you. May you always live in Him.
(St. Clare of Assisi adapted)
The image of our Blessed Mother introduces us into an experience of faith-filled events during the New Year 2022. The events presented throughout Sacred Scripture that we will hear during our Sunday or daily liturgies will speak to us profoundly about ourselves and our relationship with God and one another. Our Mother Mary is the highest honor of our race (cfr. Judith 13). Like the great Judith of the Old Testament who fearlessly led and liberated her people and of whom these words were first spoken, Mary is afforded the highest honor. Our Blessed Mother precedes and far surpasses us in faith. Her availability and courage make her the eminent model for all Christians. Through her divine maternity, she gives humanity our Redeemer, in Whose Death and Resurrection we are liberated from sin and fear. We are offered the challenge that promises success to those ready to live in the freedom of God’s grace, and in the light of God’s love and will.
The last day of the calendar year reminds us that every end is a new beginning. In the Gospel for that day, the Apostle John reminds us: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…He came to His own and His own did not receive Him…To as many as did receive Him, He empowered to become the children of God…those begotten not by human means, but by God (John 1). The Eternal Word entered a profound relationship with humanity at His Conception in the virginal womb of Mary.
The people of Israel continued to pray in hope. They expected the God of vindication to reveal His power and subdue their enemies. The Word, however, entered the scene of this world as a simple human being. He was subject to all the experiences of time and human nature, except sin. His identity remained so concealed that He was rejected by many of His own. He eventually received an untimely death by execution as a common criminal and instigator of the people against Mosaic Law and Roman rule!
St. John tells us that those who accepted Him would become the children of God (John 1: 12). This adoption in the Spirit allows us to say Abba, Father (cfr. Romans 8: 15; Mark 14: 36; Galatians 4: 6). The Father sees in us an image of His Son. Jesus, the Incarnate Word of God, accepted the mission entrusted to Him by the Father to enter creation and lead all humanity back to the original grace-filled relationship with God in which humanity was created. We are created to be an overflowing extension of God’s eternal love and life. Goodness of its very nature seeks ever to extend itself. God is the essence of goodness. Thus the extension of His goodness is found in creation. The glory of God is Man come to full stature (St. Irenaeus adapted). We are the highest form of creation. We are the epitome in this world of the kaleidoscope of God’s unique yet varied image. If we only recognized and appreciated the dignity in which we were created and the majesty to which we are called! O Christian, recognize your dignity (St. Leo the Great – sermon on the Incarnation). The more we exemplify the life of Jesus in our own lives, the more we recognize and begin to restore that dignity and wonder to creation.
It is interesting how brief the liturgical season of Advent/Christmas is. Advent preparation lasts no more than four weeks, and the Christmas celebration of the infancy and childhood of Jesus may last no more than two weeks. No sooner do the Wise Men leave the house where they offer their gifts – symbolizing love, prayer and sacrifice – to the Child Jesus, than the liturgy introduces us to the wilderness of the Baptist’s desert where in the Jordan River Jesus begins His journey to Jerusalem and the cross. From the Crib to the Cross is the life of Jesus: Bethlehem to Calvary! Life to Death and New Life! All for us!
Jerusalem is the City of the Most High, where God’s Temple speaks of a mysterious presence among the People, the People God chose to be His own. Jerusalem is where Jesus makes His Father’s Presence known and seen in Himself, the Word-made-flesh. Jerusalem is the City of Peace where the Prince of Peace enters, is proclaimed, rejected, and crucified…and rises! As the journey to Jerusalem begins for Jesus, we too journey with the Infant and the Man: the Child of hope and the Man of Fulfillment, the Infant who flees in exile to safety and the Man Who confounds his enemies, the Infant who needs protection and the Man Whose miracles marvel those who benefit from them confounded those who opposed Him. We become one in prayer and reflection – one in the Spirit – with our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.
Jesus is the Promised One of God (cfr. Genesis 3) offered to our first parents in the Garden of Eden. He is The One Anticipated for centuries in the words of the prophets and the hearts of the people. He is The One Who bursts into time from eternity (cfr. Wisdom 18: 14-15) when Mary says Yes (cfr. Luke 1:26-38) to the Father’s invitation for her to be humanity’s spokesperson and Mother of His and thus her Son. The fulfillment of the Father’s promise and Jesus’ mission reached its climax during those few years that lead to the wood of the Cross at Calvary. From the beginning of His earthly journey the wood of the Cross is prefigured in the wood of the manger at Bethlehem. One wood embraces the Infant, the other receives the Man. One wood protects the Infant, the other wood raises the Man in ignominy and glory. One wood makes people wonder in joy at the Infant, the other wood makes people responsible for their lives before the Man. One wood speaks of the beginning of a life, the other wood proclaims the beginning of Life. One wood reminds us of the doors of Bethlehem closed to that young life, the other wood reminds us of the Doors of Eternity opened for all to enter Life. Again, as St. Francis, exclaimed: O sublime humility! O humble sublimity!`
We have celebrated a brief yet powerful season. Like the introduction or preface to a good story, we have been introduced into a life that we must not only read, but live. It would be consoling and pleasant to remain in the nostalgia of the intimacy of the Infancy of Jesus. The intimacy of the Family of Nazareth speaks of the normal challenges of daily life. Everyone encounters these challenges in one way or another. When we accept the invitation of the Master, who summons us to Follow Me, our life begins to have purpose and fulfillment. Leaving the comfort and security of the past, we begin to notice new horizons and achieve greater goals than we had ever imagined. One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore. (Andre Gide) We must leave the security of sight to travel in the light of a trusting faith that leads where God wills, and to all we could ever imagine or desire.
The beginning of the calendar year is always surrounded by the thought of new beginnings. Many see the New Year as an opportunity to clean the slate and begin all over again. We could attempt this, but it is really impossible to do. No matter how much we may try to put past things out of our minds, they are still with us. Past events and decisions are either in our thoughts, or their consequences in one way or another seem to affect the circumstances of life. Who we are depends greatly on where we have come from and the decisions we make. And where we go depends on how we build and learn from past experiences. We cannot remain in the past. We cannot allow ourselves to be walled into a nostalgic reminiscence of historical facts. We must forge forward in God’s will. The Will of God provides for those who trust in Him. Acceptance of His Will leads to and guides through ways often never imagined, but always fruitful for those who let God be their Forerunner, Scout and Guide.
We die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of wonder, the source of which is beyond reason (former Secretary General of the U.N., Dag Hammarskjold). The “source” is the Father Who illumines us through His Spirit as we wonder at the magnificence of the mystery revealed in Jesus His Son. We no longer wander through life aimlessly. We are led by faith in that same Spirit. How can anyone just sit back and not be excited about the numerous possibilities God offers us each day! God calls us to proclaim His goodness with our lives and to be His heralds of hope. We are instruments of God entrusted with the mission of enkindling hope in a world that often lives in shallowness. The world is always being seduced by the ancient serpent. This “spirit of division and confusion” even had the audacity to contend with Jesus His entire earthly life. The same “serpent” continues to contend with the Mystical Body of Christ till the end of the ages.
Our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi loved the mystery of the Incarnation. The gentleness and love of the Savior’s Birth in the poverty of Bethlehem filled him with a tenderness and love for so gentle and humble a sublime and supreme God. The Infant Jesus, for St. Francis, was the little playful lamb at Bethlehem prepared by the Father to be the sacrificial lamb on Calvary. The Poverello’s simplicity, humility, innocence, love were all images of the Jesus Whose visible image he became at La Verna. This Divine Intimacy St. Francis experienced enveloped his life. What an example of Seraphic Father offers us to emulate! What a challenge for us this New Year!
St. Francis entered the peace of God in his early years and was led quite soon to the God of peace. God asks that we seek not the feeling of God but the God Who excels all feeling. God asks that we enter the mystery of His hidden yet uniquely obvious presence. How can we seem to always wait to see the miracles of God before accepting the truth of His Presence! Our Seraphic Father lived in the mystery that enfolds and protects with love and truth, but does not always caress with feeling. St. Francis offered those who asked to follow in his footsteps the possibility of sharing in becoming Christ to the world. The example and words of St. Francis of Assisi led others to disarm their hearts day-by-day to everyone and everything.
A we enter the New Year of Grace 2022 the following could be a simple prayer as well as a reflection of gratitude and trust in the goodness and graciousness of God throughout life:
For all the Yesterdays, THANK YOU, GOD!
For Today, THANK YOU, GOD!
For all the Tomorrows, YES! YES! And AGAIN YES! ABBA!
May God bless us, and Our Heavenly Mother and good Saint Joseph, with our beloved parents, Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi, guide, guard, and protect us and our loved ones now and throughout the New Year 2022 in God’s Grace and Providence.
Blessed and Happy New Year 2022
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on November 1st, 2021 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: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
November 2021
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you His peace!
Creation speaks to us of God. The human mind, through experience, can come to know there is a God, but it is faith that opens our hearts, souls, and minds to deepen our knowledge and awareness of the magnificence of our Creator, our Redeemer, and the ever-present Advocate-Guide-Sanctifier. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are known to us and we enter an intimate relationship with this sublime Trinity through God’s revelation of Himself through Jesus in the Spirit. Thus, Faith responds to Revelation.
Once we have read God’s Word in Scripture and recognize His work and attributes in Creation, faith leads us to accept and live the message God speaks to us through these. Sacred Scripture requires faith as a response to revelation. God calls us to faith, and this call of God is through creation. It is a response in time directed toward eternity. Believing is accepting God as creator, liberator, protector, savior. Belief is recognizing Jesus through His death and resurrection: This Jesus, God raised from the dead. And we are all witnesses to this … therefore, let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus Whom you crucified. (Acts 2: 32, 36)
In books we search for God, in prayer we find Him. The love of God the Father sacrificed His only begotten Son for the salvation of all humanity. Christ Jesus, totally one with the Father and Holy Spirit always, even when journeying in time as a man, lived in a harmonious acceptance of the Father’s Will, for it is His Will as well! Thus, through Christ and in Christ Crucified there is salvation. This was also the depth of awareness and total surrender to Christ of our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi. His faith in Christ Crucified urged him to seek more deeply what was imprinted on his heart at San Damiano, and even before in the restlessness of his search. The challenges of life, especially those presented so often by the brotherhood that had grown far beyond all expectations so quickly, kept St. Francis always aware of his need to surrender to the Will of God.
During November we celebrate the month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. We celebrate, for they are saved, but not yet in the fullness of eternal life. They have finally passed the crucible of life. What about those who live daily emotional, physical, spiritual deaths that challenge the faith to believe beyond oneself alone, and who are still on life’s journey? The daily demands and challenges influence the decisions we all make and will ultimately be the determining factor on how we pass from time to eternity. These little crucial challenges or “deaths” to any disordered expression of our “ego” have a great deal to do with achieving the purpose for our creation. “What’s it all about?” We should never be totally pleased with ourselves. Grateful for all we have done cooperating with God and His direct or indirect will, we know that the challenges end when time does, not before. Joy and gratitude in the Lord at the good we have been able to accomplish is wonderful, but we must never grow complacent.
Francis blessed the hands that guided him. He saw in those moments God’s Love offering, not imposing, opportunities to live in “perfect joy”. The sole purpose was to sanctify him, to render Francis similar to Jesus, the Father’s only begotten Son. Trials are not a sign of God’s “irritation” with us. Faithfully accepting those crucial moments and also the persons who may be involved in them, our faithfulness and trust are increased. Like our Father St. Francis, we feel “the love you felt in your crucifixion” (These are the words of the prayer of St. Francis seeking a greater experience of Christ’s love in His ultimate act of redeeming grace on Calvary) The marks are not visible on our body, but when the Cross of Jesus is firmly imprinted on the heart and lived with the joy of a unifying love, the serenity and joy of the blessed are ours already here on earth. Calvary is the hill of the saints. The purifying process leads us to the cross of dying to ourselves. This leads to a transformation of mind, heart and soul. Thus, we enter a participated inner glory in time as we continue, transformed inwardly, to the fullness of glory in God for eternity. “World without end”, as we were and are accustomed to conclude many prayers, is a firm reminder that the world, “Theater of Redemption”, would not end but be forever transformed. And we are the protagonists of that world God calls to restored beauty and holiness in Him.
In Christ. we are transfigured by death to ourselves and thus ascend to eternal glory. Per Crucem ad Lucem (Through the Cross to the Light!)
We often encounter difficult “mountains” to overcome. Face them with determination and trust in God first and in the gifts God has bestowed on you to be used gratefully and wisely. Confidently and cheerfully move on and do not be discouraged. The more violently the enemy attacks the more we must abandon ourselves to the Lord. St. Paul reminds us: ‘God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted (tested) beyond your strength, but with the temptation (challenge) will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it’. (1 Corinthians 10: 13) The goodness of our God is beyond all our imaginings? It seems more often than not that God is more concerned than we are for our salvation. Think of God’s love for you and his zeal for your well-being. Remain calm and never doubt that He will always protect you with Fatherly care against all your enemies.
Serenity in the midst of trouble is a wonderful witness of a faith that continues to trust in the love of an eternally-loving, ever-present and all-providing God. Reason may help us to know that God exists, but it is our faith that leads us into a relationship with life-giving Love. It is this Love that fills the hearts of those who search for Him. It is this Love that is mysterious in His nature but accessible through His works. It is this Love that we seek to know and understand more during life’s journey so that when time meets eternity in death we can joyfully, trustingly, and lovingly ‘let go’ and let this Eternal Love embrace us with a fullness we could never have imagined. This Love, Who is God, the Father-Creator, the Only-Begotten-Son-Redeemer, the Holy Spirit-Advocate-Sanctifier, can be studied about in books, discussed with others to deepen our human knowledge, but can be personally known, loved and lived only when we surrender ourselves to that Love and His Infinite Will.
We have to go beyond trying to merely learn about spiritual things. We are expected to listen to the Holy Spirit and live in the spirit of God. We are not part of a “spiritual movement” of the year or age. Spirituality is not reading and knowing the writings of all the mystics, or knowing the prophecies of all the visionaries. They may be interesting, helpful or even necessary for us to know. Nevertheless, we are directed to live holy lives in the present, to trust God in all things, and to resign ourselves to His most Holy Will. Facts only accumulate with other facts whether theological, spiritual, or what have you. The ‘book’ that makes all others more understandable is the ‘book’ of Christ Crucified. Reading that ‘book’ and learning its message well increases faith, rekindles hope, and leads us into a transforming intimacy with Eternal Love and the Source of Life.
Trust God unconditionally. Believe God is Who God is. Submit to God’s loving providence. Receive all that God permits to come your way. The saints encourage our need to recognize, in any distress, whether spiritual or physical, God’s purifying presence. We are thus led to a more transparent relationship with God and neighbor, because in God we have become transparent to ourselves. We have come to know ourselves better because we see ourselves in the knowledge we have of God.
We have come to live in a world, a society, of masks and mirrors. The mask seeks to hide our true identity. The mirrors seek to deflect clear and true vision from any who seek to know us, or perhaps even “target” us. No matter. Trust in God and who you are created to be. The need will be supplied by the Eternal Provider. St. Francis of Assisi says: You are who you are before God and nothing more. Knowing God more deeply through prayer, meditation, God’s Word, and celebrating and receiving the Eucharist often and worthily, strengthens faith, focuses vision, clarifies reason, confirms trust in God’s will – direct or indirect – calms fears, establishes inner peace and serenity, generates inner joy…LOVES!
The ‘process’ intensifies as we seek to respond to God’s will without reserve. God invites us to go beyond the limitations caused by our fears, hesitation, caution, or perhaps even our indifference or spiritual lethargy. What God asks of us is based on what God knows about us, not the other way around. Let us remember that God sees the ‘whole picture’. We see only the ‘now’. True faith enkindles our hope in the One in Whom we responsibly commit ourselves to risk all the world holds dear – power, prestige, possessions. Let go of fearful caution. Ride the wave of God’s will. Experience the exciting fulfillment of recognizing and achieving your purpose in life. Then we can say with St. Clare of Assisi: Thank you Lord for creating me.
The Spiritual Children of the Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi know from the example of St. Francis how necessary it is to enter the mystery of Christ Crucified before we can recognize the miracles of grace that surround us. All too often people go in search of extraordinary expressions of God’s Love yet fail to see and acknowledge the magnificence of God’s presence at work every moment, especially in the daily responsibilities, where, with God’s grace, we go beyond our limitations and fears. Human reason and logic tell us to be careful, think things out, take time. Do not be overcome by fear of failure. Do not accept the mediocrity of tepidity. Believe, trust, and act without hesitation in the Name of God Who strengthens and assists all who surrender to His will.
Prayer acknowledges God as the source of all good. Believe God is Who He says He is. We cannot help but hope in the One Who loves us. We thus know that God makes all things work for the good of those who love Him. If God is for us, then who can be against us? (Romans 8: 31) The thought of death and dying that are the focus of so many Catholics in this month, can be such a disheartening thought. When life is lived in God’s Will, then death is the point of encounter between time and eternity. It is the moment when a life leaps joyfully and gratefully into the arms of God. Praise be You my Lord God for Sister Bodily Death (Canticle of Brother Sun-St. Francis). Such good awaits me that every pain is a delight. (St. Francis of Assisi) These brief sentences speak volumes.
My God bless you; Our Lady and good St. Joseph, guide, guard, and protect you; and St. Francis of Assisi and our Holy Mother St. Clare watch over each one of us, their Spiritual Children, with loving care. May all the Holy Ones of our Seraphic Family living in eternity intercede for us. May their lives teach and inspire us, their sisters and brothers still journeying. They were where we are; we will be where they are! … saying, as our Mother Mary, “yes” at all times to the Loving and all-Merciful Will of God!
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, OFM Cap
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on October 2nd, 2021 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: skdsfo
email: pppgusa@gmail.com
October 2021
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace. Our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi is undoubtedly one of the most revered saints. Catholics, non-Catholics and non-Christians value the authenticity of his life and spirit, and the message he offers the world of peace and universal brother/sisterhood. The spirit of the Poverello of Assisi has left and still leaves its mark on the hearts of millions of people.
History, legend, poetic romanticism, aspirations of those searching for the meaning of their lives as well as life itself (i.e. what’s it all about?), and many other reasons point out Francis to be among the unique individuals of history to have made a deep impression on so many people. His sons and daughters of any Roman Catholic Franciscan “obedience” (religious groups of men and women living a structured form of life officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church) continue his legacy in varied ways. They do not deviate from the essentials of his rule and testament, while they adapt to the times, without adopting the worldly spirit into which even our religious world seems to have fallen.
We cannot forget also the men and women of other non-Catholic Christian religious traditions. They admire and seek to live the spirit of the values St. Francis sought to instill in the hearts of seekers of the truth of God’s Paternity over all creatures. These are those whose faith only God knows, and found mercy in God’s sight, as we are reminded in the Eucharist Prayer for all who were pleasing to you at their passing from this life.(Third Eucharistic Prayer), and all who seek You with a sincere heart (4th Eucharistic Prayer). He is an incentive for them to live their beliefs for a better world as they sincerely continue their search for the fullness of Truth. They strive to better themselves by accepting those values that help raise a fallen nature to a higher and greater realm of integrity and wholeness of life. As the Universal Brother, St. Francis of Assisi appeals to all people of good will.
Truly Catholic in his spirit and desire, there were those who requested that he accept them under his guidance. To assure himself and the followers he had now acquired that their desire was of God, St. Francis sought the guidance and approval of Pope Innocent III. This pope was considered one of the most powerful men of the Church and of society at that time. He had a powerful influence on the religious, social, political, and even militaristic actions throughout the Church and known world.
The famous story, written by Saint Bonaventure (cf. St. Bonaventure’s Major Legend of St. Francis, III:10) speaks of the encounter of St. Francis and Pope Innocent III: The servant of Almighty God, giving himself totally to prayer, obtained through his devout prayers both what he should say outwardly and what the pope should hear inwardly. For when he told a parable, as he had accepted it from God, about a rich king who gladly betrothed a poor but lovely woman who bore him children with the king’s likeness … he added his own interpretation. “The sons and heirs of the eternal King should not fear that they will die of hunger. They have been born of a poor mother by the power of the Holy Spirit in the image of Christ the King, and they will be begotten by the spirit of poverty in our poor little religion. For if the King of heaven promises his followers an eternal kingdom, he will certainly supply them with those things that he gives to the good and the bad alike.” While the Vicar of Christ listened attentively to this parable and its interpretation, he was quite amazed and recognized without a doubt that Christ had spoken in this man. But he also confirmed a vision he had recently received from heaven … He saw in a dream, as he recounted, the Lateran basilica almost ready to fall down. A little poor man, small and scorned, was propping it up with his own back bent so that it would not fall. “I’m sure,” he said “he is the one who will hold up Christ’s Church by what he does and what he teaches.”… Then he granted what was asked and promised even more. He approved the rule, gave them a mandate to preach.
St. Francis did not preach new Church dogma, or secular ideologies in vogue at the time. He may have been influenced by groups seeking to live a more basic expression of Christianity in the Church, but he always remained faithful to the Church and the Magisterium. What was not permitted, he would not do. He also demanded this as part of the Rule of life that the brothers (and St Clare and her sisters) were expected to live without gloss. The universal brother, the man with a disarmed heart, permitted no excuse or deviation from this road of total Gospel and Roman Catholic life.
His purpose was to live God’s will, as it had been impressed upon his heart when the Crucifix spoke to him at San Damiano: Francis, go rebuild my Church. As you see, it is falling into ruin. In the best way he knew how at the time, he fulfilled the “command” by rebuilding the three churches of San Damiano, St.Peter, and the Portiuncula. Not much later, he realized that the “church” about whom the voice spoke was the established Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. An earlier liturgical prayer for the feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis states: when the world was growing cold, in order that our hearts might burn anew with the fire of Your (God’s) love… Francis’ mission was to rekindle love in the Church and the hearts of all. His enthusiasm, energy, excitement about life, personal immersion into the reality of God Whom he experienced in everything and everyone made him weep so often saying: Love is not loved. Love is not loved. Eccentric maybe, but totally engaged in the awesome majesty and magnificence of the Divine. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as can be noted in his writings, were an ever-present, affective, and effective reality in his life and works.
Saint Francis was recognized as a Saint by his contemporaries even while he lived. His orthodoxy, his dedication to poverty, his burning desire to spread the faith, and the miracles of grace that sprang up about him all represented to medieval Catholics what a saint should be. Pope Innocent III likewise represented to medieval Catholics what a pope should be: an unrelenting champion of orthodoxy, a vigilant guardian of the Church ever willing to call men to arms for the sake and honor of the Cross to protect the Faith. Pope Innocent III’s life was a personal life marked by piety and charity, with a “confusing” and often “forceful” means to attain a goal. (Let us remember that we must not judge one era by the values of another. Grace builds on nature. God assists us through experiences in time to understand His Will and grow in grace.) Nevertheless, though different in office and personality, Pope Innocent III was always an admirer and protector of Saint Francis and his new order. He saw in St. Francis and his Friars Minor an ardent attempt to live out the perfect way of life called for by Christ, and yearned for by so many. For many of them “life gets in the way”, but not for the son of Pietro Bernardone. Innocent knew that Francis “had it together”.
The lives and funds of the Church employed in all the Crusades against the Moors and Albigensians, cost nothing for the Poverello of Assisi. He revolutionized those who encountered him. His disarming demeanor invited people and even animals into a friendship of dialogue and understanding. Remember Francis and the Sultan, Francis and the Thieves, Francis and the Wolf, and more. St. Francis was poor in the wealth of the world but enriched those who knew him. He became the champion of the Church. His sermon was the simple word of down-to-earth faith. He took no money, nor expected any recompense for his labors. He lived on the alms given him and his brothers for services rendered in spiritual or manual labors. All was accepted in the name and for the good of the poor.
St. Francis of Assisi was no pushover. He dealt with the friars, sisters, and all who sought his assistance in living the Gospel Life he sought to live in response to God’s call. He got terribly annoyed when the friars, while he was in the Holy Land, sought to “mitigate” the life by even changing what Francis knew was what he had been given by God to live. He demanded that the words of Scripture and the Rule not be “glossed” according to personal desires and whims. It is God who must be proposed and not our personal egos.
We are living in challenging times for the Church. The Church is being criticized, ridiculed. The Holy Father is being opposed by the very ones who should be working with him and assisting him. The faithful and even those outside the Church are taking sides and campaigning in one way or another. Nothing really changes though. The Mystical Body of Christ (the Church), like the Christ of history, will always be a Sign of Contradiction for those who seek to “mitigate” His Way. The Church and our Order as well have gone through these moments regularly throughout history. We are called to challenge others by our way of life and to be challenged by our personal call to be Franciscans. The uniqueness of our characters, personalities, quirks and what have you, find our unity in the bond of our “yes” to God’s invitation. There is always room for various expressions of ministry within the family. They must, however, be in accord with Church Laws regulating the work of any group acting in the name of the Catholic Church, and the Rule and Constitutions of the religious Orders approved by the Church. Let us pray that we always recognize our unity in pluriformity, and that our pluriformity always be faithful to what makes us Catholic Christians and committed Franciscans.
As Mary journeyed Her life with that of Jesus, may the mysteries of the Rosary we celebrate this month and hopefully pray everyday be our strength in walking with Jesus in the loving company of His and our Mother. May the Rosary (or the Franciscan Crown) be a daily reminder of our lives immersed in the reality of Jesus ever with us through all the moments of our lives, and of Mary’s intimate presence encouraging us. We are Her children, whom she accepted as her own at the foot of the Cross. It is in the mystery of the Incarnation of the God Who became one with us through Mary, that we can recognize and hopefully understand in the integrity of our faith the wholeness of conviction in our commitment to live “without gloss” the beautiful gift of the Franciscan vocation we have been offered. As we reflect upon the Word Who gave the pledge of His faithfulness to the Father’s Will even to the Cross, let us remember the word we gave to be truly faithful.
The adage holds true and essentially so: Your only as good as your word. How true are we to the Word Who asks faithfulness to our word to always be “yes” to the call we received as Christians, Catholics, and Franciscans? Our sincere answer will reveal much, maybe more than we would like.
May God bless us. May Mary, Queen and Mother of our Seraphic Family, keep us in the depths of Her Immaculate Heart. May Our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi and our Holy Mother St. Clare of Assisi watch over each one of us, their Spiritual Children, with loving care, encouraging all of us to the faithful fulfillment of our “yes” to the Gospel Life as Franciscans.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on September 3rd, 2021 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 2021
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. (John 3: 16) 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.
2) Meditate on the Sufferings and Love of Jesus – Keep the image of the Passion-Death of Jesus alive in your heart.
3) Love the Cross – The Cross without Christ is a lie. With Christ, the Cross becomes not a sign of Life and Love.
4) Grow in Christian Perfection – The spiritual life is not static.
5) CLIMB CALVARY – To grow in our Christian life is to be one with the mystery of our redemption.
6) Embrace Everything with a Cheerful Soul – God loves a cheerful giver. Let go of false securities, and trust.
7) Be Faithful – The Spirit’s work is kept alive by faith-filled lives that never slacken. Faith is a verb, not a noun.
8) Place the World Under Your Feet – The world is the “Theater of Redemption” to use gratefully not serve slavishly.
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.
May the Impression of the Sacred Wounds of Jesus on the body of our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi speak to our hearts as a challenge to grow ever more Christlike. May God bless us; Our Lady guide, guard, and protect us; and our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi look upon each one of us, 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, 2021 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 2021
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace!
In a letter, dated January 1985, entitled, The Bread of Life is still in the Dust, a bishop writes to a pastor of his diocese in Italy. The parish priest has just had his church vandalized, precious vessels stolen, and the Blessed Sacrament thrown all over the pavement of the church. This was not the first instance of profanation of the Eucharist and a church building in that diocese. The people and their priests were deeply saddened. They were sorry for the building having been vandalized and various gold and silver vessels and reliquaries taken, which can never be replaced because of their ancient historical value (the diocese goes back to the early middle ages in Italy), but they were devastated over the heinous disregard for the precious gift of the Eucharist. This people, steeped in their ancient and popular traditions yet fully modern in their immersion in the realities of the twentieth century, gathered around their priest and bishop to lament their violation, to support their shepherds, to pray for the perpetrators, and to implore God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness. ‘Eucharistic People’ are capable of so much!
Saddened, hurt, offended, angry, the people were immediately ready to pick up the ‘pieces’. The first of the ‘pieces’ were those of the ‘strewn’ Body of Christ, the Gift of Jesus Himself, blasphemously discarded for the sake of a few baubles the thieves could possibly gain from the sale of the vessels to other unscrupulous individuals such as they. How we allow ourselves to get sidetracked by the glitz and glitter of things around us! We fail to recognize so often the true treasures that God is making available to us! It is quite easy for us to enter a Church building and forget that this is none other than the House of God and the Gate of Heaven! (Genesis 28: 17) Familiarity can condition us to the point that we assist at liturgies for their social, artistic, educational, ‘entertaining’, traditional value, and fail to realize that the ‘frame’ only indicates but is not the ‘masterpiece’. The ‘masterpiece’ is the very Presence of God calling us to a greater relationship with Him so that we may continue to achieve that full stature of Christ (Ephesians 4: 13) we were created to reach. We are gifted with life that we might become, according to our cooperation with God’s grace, more the image of Christ in our world. We live in a world that has ears to hear but does not listen, and eyes to see but refuses to recognize (cfr Matthew 13: 14-38) God in our midst.
Once the Eucharist is the center of our worship, then the family of the Church – local, diocesan, universal – can begin to strengthen its unity with the shepherds of the Church. It is the Eucharist that makes the Church as the Church makes the Eucharist (Vatican II). Some have relegated the Eucharist to a pious devotion rather than a reality to be lived. The Eucharist is a miracle that cannot be seen, thus it is a deeper mystery that must be lived to recognize the reality and experience the transforming effects for those who are illumined by faith.
Some do not see the relevance of the Eucharist as the Center of “Catholic” (universal) life because it tends to separate us from other Christian denominations. The Eucharist is the Center of Catholic Christian life inviting others into a deeper awareness of eternal truth. The people of that devastated church mentioned above, because of their faith, were shaken into a reality that some may have forgotten. The sight of the Eucharist thrown on the floor in a predominantly Catholic country and very Catholic area was a stark reminder to all of how delicate our faith is and how easily it can be abused. The vandalism actually brought the people of the city and the parish closer together. It is the story of Calvary all over again. Jesus had to be abused and disregarded once again, so that those who loved Him, even lukewarmly, could be rekindled in their love for Him and for one another because of Him. The Eucharist is Calvary re-lived for all to look upon Him Whom they have thrust (cfr. Zechariah 12: 10), so that when I am lifted up I will call all people to myself (John 12: 32). And those who look may, with John and the centurion on Calvary say: The one who speaks knows that it is true (John 19: 35) for truly this man was the Son of God. (Matthew 27: 54)
The sacrilegious incident which took place several decades ago in Italy, continues to speak to the heart. We are quite aware, or perhaps not, that sadly incidents like the one mentioned above have been taking place more frequently around the world. What makes it worse is that they happen not only in non-Christian countries, but in Christian and even so-called Catholic countries. The Eucharist, a Sign of Contradiction (cfr Luke 2:34; Acts 28:22) for those who refuse or are unable because of their personal religious traditions, to acknowledge the Divine Presence, becomes a beacon of light that attracts all people in one way or another to listen to the words of Christ and respond. The response is as varied as those who approach it. The Eucharist is either a ‘mystery’ to be accepted and lived or just a ‘Catholic practice and/or superstition’ for others. Even those who do not believe as we regarding the Real Presence, still admire those who believe the impossible and live that belief. Those who consume the Lord in the Eucharist allow themselves to be consumed by Him so the two become one. It is this ‘oneness’ with Christ that manifests itself to others. Without necessarily understanding fully, they observe the effects the Eucharist produces in those who celebrate and receive with loving and living faith.
Our pastors and all priests – priests and bishops – are called to make the Eucharist come alive by their life of dedication and commitment. The priest is called to be a Eucharist who nourishes his people with the very Lord with whom he nourishes himself. The priest, in persona Christ, celebrates the mystery of the Passion-Death-Resurrection of Christ. He offers the Christ he celebrates in the Eucharist to the faithful. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, both priest and faithful strive to grow into the full stature of Christ (Ephesians 4: 13) every day. The people are a source of spiritual nourishment for their priests. The holiness and sinfulness, joys and sorrows, successes and failures, faith and doubts, offer countless opportunities for the priests to offer the faithful the compassion and love of the Savior. Thus, the Eucharist that priest and faithful both share becomes an effective sign of Jesus’ Presence in their lives calling them to greater intimacy with their Lord and God (cfr John 20: 28).
If the priest is not ‘Eucharistic’, how can we expect our people to become more than just traditionally and devotionally ‘aware’ of what (Who) they have been told the Blessed Sacrament is? If our priests do not show adoring love and reverence for the Mystery they have the responsibility and privilege of celebrating and offering, how can we expect the faithful to see beyond the signs of bread and wine? When we priests see ourselves in each celebration of the Eucharist as Christ re-presenting His Passion-Death-Resurrection and redeeming grace, the People of God participating in the celebration are taken up in and with the mystery. They too experience more clearly and profoundly their priestly role in the Sacrifice we offer and the Table we share. When the priest lives the Eucharist he celebrates, the people to whom he ministers notice the grace of the sacrament working in, with, and through him, and in, with, and through them. The people thus are enveloped by the effects of God’s love that comes to us through the Eucharist that makes all of us not simply bystanders but participants in this great and awesome Mystery of Redemption.
Because of today’s society, the priest is often bogged down with administrative responsibilities and other ministerial duties over and above what would normally be asked and expected. It is in the Eucharist celebrated with attention and devotion that he once again can find the perspective from which to view all he is asked to do, as well as who he is asked to be. It is from the perspective of the Lamb of God Whose compassion is selfless, Whose giving is total even to death and death on a cross (Philippians 2: 8), Whose love is infinite in time and all-embracing, that every facet of priestly life, even the seemingly banal, makes sense and is eternally rewarding. Once the priest sees himself, with all his faults and sins, loved by Jesus, the Victim offered once for all on Calvary and repeatedly re-presented for all in the Eucharist in every Mass, his life is changed and so are the lives of those whom he serves. The Priest is Not His Own is the title of one of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s books of many years ago. No truer words could ever be written! Until the priest lives for the other, he can never be the Other who sacrifices and offers “Life, the Living One” so that others may live.
The priest becomes the Eucharist. He is weak, flawed, faulty, yet can be a most effective instrument of a life-giving flow of graces for those who participate in the “mysteries” of Word and Sacrament. They grow in the gifts of God according to their own cooperation with grace. They are empowered by the Sacrament to live the Jesus they receive. The light of Jesus thus shines through them, according to their collaboration with grace, in a world filled with so many shadows and dangerously blinding and alluring ‘lights’.
Our Seraphic Father speaking to all says: All those who saw the Lord Jesus Christ according to the humanity and did not see and believe…that He was the Son of God, were condemned. In like manner, all those who behold the Sacrament of the Body of Christ which is sanctified by the word of the Lord upon the altar by the hands of the priest in the form of bread and wine, and who do not see and believe according to the Spirit and Divinity that it is really the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, are condemned. This is affirmed by the Most High Himself Who says: This is My Body, and the Blood of the New Testament, and he that eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has everlasting life. Therefore, children, how long will you be hard of heart? (The Admonitions, 1)
The Poverello of Assisi, whose deep love for the Sacred Presence of Christ in the Eucharist was a driving force in his life, reminds not only those who call him their spiritual father, but all Catholics, to revere this extraordinary gift of Christ’s Presence in the Eucharist. He had a personal and deep respect for the priest who confected the Eucharist at Mass and gave Christ to others. Though he was never ordained a priest, God made St. Francis a sign of one called to be another Christ by imprinting the visible marks of the wounds of Christ on his body. He became an undeniable image to others of the mystery we are all called to celebrate, share, and become spiritually in our “Holy Communion” with Christ and one another in the Eucharist.
Following St. Francis’ deep respect and love for the priest, we pray for all priests, that the Eucharist may be the Center of their lives, and the center of ours as well. We pray that Mary, Mother of the Eternal High Priest, may be a strength and support for all priests and all God’s children as Jesus asked of Her on Calvary when He presented John to Her saying Woman behold your son! and to John Behold your mother! (John 19: 26). Mary is not only Mother of the ministerial priests, but also of the priestly people we become by Baptism. Embracing Mary as Mother we are facilitated in seeing Jesus in the Eucharist and recognizing the True “Viaticum” (food for the journey) of life to Life. Let us pray for all the faithful, especially ourselves, that we may grow in our love for the Great Prisoner of the Tabernacle and find comfort and solace in the quiet moments we spend before Him, and in the community moments when we celebrate His love with the Eucharistic community-the Church.
As we celebrate a month filled with reminders of our Heavenly Mother’s powerful and loving presence in our lives (Aug.2, Our Lady of the Angels; Aug.15, Our Lady’s Assumption; Aug.27, The Seven Joys of Mary-suppressed as a liturgical feast but very much alive in the hearts and devotions of most Franciscans), may God bless you; Our Lady, Virgin Made Church and good St. Joseph guide, guard, and protect you; and our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi and 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, 2021 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 2021
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace!
There is a practice which seems to have originated at the beginning of the first centuries of Christianity. When a bishop who desired to express communion and solidarity with another bishop, he would break a particle of the Eucharist consecrated at the celebration over which he presided and send (“missa est” that is “it is sent”) that particle of the Eucharist to the other bishop. The precious Consecrated Bread was placed together with the Consecrated Wine. The Sacramental Signs of the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Jesus, sharing in the common bond of faith in the Eucharistic re-presentation of the Paschal Mystery celebrated by the Church, was shared as the real and lasting intimacy of all the People of God forming the Mystical Body of Christ, in His Body and Blood. What a beautiful and powerful practice!
It was called the gift of the “fermentum”. The word “fermentum” probably referred to the Eucharist as the “leaven” of the Christian life, and as the instrument by which Christians spread throughout the world were united in the one Body and Blood of Christ as a “leaven” in the world. The receiving bishop would then consume the particle sent to him during the next celebration of the Eucharist of which he presided, as a sign of the communion between the churches.
It has been many centuries since this practice has unfortunately fallen out of practice. The sign of our unity is the Eucharist. The Divine Presence always among us encourages us, especially in the trying times, to share the “fermentum”. We believe in Jesus and His Promise fulfilled to remain with you always until the end of the age (Matthew 28: 20) in the Eucharist. We are bonded in His Body and Blood as a family in God. We are redeemed in the saving Body and Blood of Jesus offered once on Calvary and re-presented through the centuries in the celebration of the “Fractio Panis” (“Breaking of Bread”). Through the Eucharist we become a “leaven” in the world. We become the living Mystical Body of Jesus. In the Eucharist we accept to be the bread broken and shared among ourselves as a communion in the Blood of Christ.
In the common bond of our celebration, participation, and consumption of the Eucharist, we share the “fermentum” and become the “fermentum” of unity, peace, and concord with one another and all creation. The sharing, begun among ourselves, must inevitably prepare us to be kneaded into the daily Body of Christ among ourselves and in our world. We begin the process and slowly add the elements outside ourselves that they too may become the daily bread “overshadowed” by the Holy Spirit to become the mystical Bread of Life.
The love and extreme devotion our Seraphic Father had for the Eucharist is undeniable. He emphasized the essential importance of the Eucharist in the life of the Lesser Brothers, the Penitents of Assisi. He wanted the friars to reserve, revere, and preserve anything that is part of or can be used for the Eucharistic Sacrament. This may seem at first sight to be an exaggerated eccentricity. No way! Our Seraphic Father had a profound awareness and love and devotion for the Sacrament of the Eucharist, as well as for those who “confected” the sacrament by their priestly ordination. Even the possible personal sinfulness of the priest did not keep St. Francis from kissing their hands in thanksgiving for their Eucharistic ministry.
The Mystery of Christ’s Passion-Death-Resurrection is once again presented for our reflection during the month of July, traditionally dedicated to the honor of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus. That Blood, poured once for all to redeem humanity as was the blood of the spotless lambs poured out over and over again in ancient times for the People of Israel, urges our hearts to remember, celebrate and believe the Paschal Mystery that every person who bears the name of Christ is called to enter and live.
The whole person of Jesus, as the Christ, Incarnate Son of God, is pledged to the mission of redemption entrusted to Him by the Father. His total surrender to the Father’s Will transforms the cross of hatred, into a sign of love, and the body of Christ dying in agony, into a sign of life. We live in times that seek the easy way out. We want to sidetrack the Cross, and still have life make sense and be fulfilling. It just does not happen that way for people of faith!
World events alone, as well as events in our own neighborhoods and cities, all too often remind us of humanity’s inhumanity to its own kind. Our lives tell us that no one is totally free from difficulties, sufferings, tragedies, death. We encounter Christ and see His glorified wounds with the eyes of our hearts. We touch the wounds of His hands, feet and side, the immortal signs of His selfless love for us, in the daily experiences of life. It is becoming that “fermentum” we share as an effective remembrance of our unity in the Blood of Christ, that the secret of the Paschal Mystery’s life-giving grace becomes evident and effective in/with/for us.
The Savior’s Blood that flowed from the Cross is a sign of the totality of His selfless Sacrifice. Our Seraphic Father entered ever more deeply into this profound mystery so that what he prayed and reflected upon became impressed indelibly on his body. His “fermentum” in sharing physically as well as mystically in the Blood of Jesus reminded others of the totality of the selfless surrender he had made in response to the Father’s invitation to share in the Mystery of His Son. He invited others to share in this “leaven” of the Body and Blood of Christ. Sharing, others could become with him a united presence of Christ in the world. We Franciscans are invited, in fact called, to follow the example and share our hearts as “fermentum” with the uniting strength of our Gospel Fraternity.
The world searches for meaning, direction and true fulfillment of its deepest desires. Like the belligerent adolescent who finally becomes a conscientious young adult, today’s society seems to be searching for those spiritual values that for so long were forgotten or ignored by many. Franciscans, by vocation to Gospel fraternity, are called to eliminate all that separates us from each other. We are called to heal the brokenness around and within us by becoming, one for the other, “wounded healers”.
Life finds meaning in the Cross of Jesus. We realize that in the Father’s eyes we are worth the death of His own Son. Through His death, we are offered unending Life. The Blood of Jesus indicates the direction our lives should take. It points the way to the One Who calls us from the earth in which we live to the Life on high we have been promised, a life worth any sacrifice. There is an unimaginable sense of fulfillment for those who take on the challenge to die to themselves and their distorted egos each day. We “allow” God to be alive in us making life worth living and heaven a promise fulfilled progressively each day.
The Precious Blood of Our Savior is a reminder of that life-giving element that flows mystically in the veins of all God’s children through the Eucharist. Sharing the gift of the Eucharist we, like the bishops mentioned above, offer one another the gift of ourselves in Christ. We are the living “fermentum” called to unity in the peace of Christ. The Savior takes on a nature that will eventually betray His Love (the symbol of His Sacred Heart) and destroy His life (the symbol of His Precious Blood). To some these spiritual images may seem somewhat macabre reminders of death. For the Christian, they are signs of the Infinite Love expressed in the life of Jesus.
Are you willing to share the Eucharist you receive with others? Are you willing to share the Eucharist you are supposed to become with each Communion received as a united act of love for any and all of God’s children, with special regard for our own sisters and brothers without exception, in other words “without gloss”? Is the Blood of Christ shed in His Passion and Death just a ritualistic celebration with no lasting transforming effect in you? Have we, who pride ourselves on being called Franciscans and that is spiritual children of St. Francis of Assisi, truly sought to follow the example of the Poverello by sharing the Eucharist we become, that is ourselves, with all, or only the select few? As a Eucharistic fraternity – and we are! – do we strive to live the Paschal Mystery of Christ, in one mind and heart as the “fermentum” we are called to be in this divided and violent world? The response will determine how true we are to the Spirit Who calls us to Life as a ”fermentum” that leavens the dough of our life to become a “real presence” of the Mystical Christ in our midst. Our honest response will indicate the direction and integrity of our Catholic Faith and Franciscan Profession.
May Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, intercede for us, Her children, and encourage us not to fear but to embrace the Cross of Her Son. The Cross is our Anchor of Salvation. The Cross-anchor gives stability to lives often caught up in the troublesome waters of the sea of life.
In your fraternal charity let us keep each other in prayer. May God bless all of you, Our Lady and good St. Joseph guide, guard and protect you, and our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi look upon all of us, his Spiritual Children, with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, OFM Cap
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on June 2nd, 2021 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 2021
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you his peace!
St. Francis of Assisi had a deep love and reverence for the Most Blessed Sacrament, and concern for the proper respectful reservation and handling of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Writing his Testament, he made it a point to speak of the reverence and adoring posture he had when he passed any church: And the Lord gave me such faith in churches that I would pray with simplicity in this way and say: > We adore You, Lord Jesus Christ, in all Your churches throughout the whole world and we bless You because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world – (Testament).
He encouraged the clergy – of whose group he was as an ordained deacon – to consider the Body and Blood of Christ that they handle and offer. His concern was that the Eucharist be celebrated and received worthily, and be kept with dignity in appropriate places: Let us all, clergymen, consider the great sin and the ignorance some have toward the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and His most holy names and written words that consecrate His Body. We know it cannot be His Body without first being consecrated by word. For we have seen nothing bodily of the Most High in this world except His Body and Blood, His names and words through which we have been made and redeemed from death to life. (Exhortation to the Clergy).
Admonishing the friars responsible for the various fraternities of the brethren Francis wrote: I beg you, when it is fitting and you judge it expedient, you humbly beg the clergy to revere above all else the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy names and the written words that sanctify His Body. They should hold as precious the chalices, corporals, appointments of the altar, and everything that pertains to the sacrifice … Let it be carried about with great reverence and administered to others with discernment (Letter to the Custodians). We must, of course, confess all our sins to a priest and receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ from him … But let him eat and drink worthily because anyone who receives unworthily, not distinguishing, that is, not discerning, the Body of the Lord, eats and drinks judgment on himself (Letter to all the Faithful, 2nd Version).
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. They give us spirit and life (John 6: 63) 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 after the faithful have received the Body and Blood of Christ and shared in their Holy Communion seems as though the faithful are given a quick ‘good-bye’ with no ‘follow up’ or ‘follow through’. Nothing of the sort! The Dismissal is a capsulized and intensely packed moment that carries with it an extraordinary responsibility and an awesome power.
From the moment we sign ourselves with the sign of our salvation at the beginning of the Eucharistic Celebration, In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, until we receive the Final Blessing in the same words, we are participants in an extraordinary spiritual journey through a mystical experience of our salvation history. We are intimately immersed and active participants in the mystical and real re-presentation of the Passion-Death-Resurrection-Glorification of Jesus. As the early followers of Jesus did, we listen to and reflect on the words of our ancestors in the Faith. As the first disciples did, we listen to and learn from the words of Jesus. In the power of the Holy Spirit Who will remind you of all that I said, (John 14: 26) we grow in the strength that will empower us to go forth and be ‘heralds of the Great King’. The Eucharist is our “viaticum”, that is “food for the journey”.
St. Francis proclaimed himself 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 the world. We become ‘heralds of the Great King’. We are asked not only to bear a message to others in words, but to become the message in our actions, fearless of any opposition we might receive for the sake of the Name.(3 John 1: 7)
Human nature definitely influences the way we receive the mission and how we are received in the ministry. 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. Then there are those who stand in opposition to Him, 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, faced 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; they are 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 (cfr.2Corinthians 12: 19) 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 (1 John 4: 4) 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 (1 John 1: 1) – 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. (Acts 10: 39) 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 at the Eucharist 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 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 (Matthew 28: 20). Do not be afraid (Isaiah 41: 10; Matthew 10: 26-28; Mark 6: 50) of 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. (adapted St. Augustine) He too is called to be victim with the Victim that he too, with all those entrusted to his ministry, may share in the Victory of the Eucharist that fills the world with the Real Presence of an awesome God Who invites us to an intimate relationship with Him and then delegates us to be Eucharist, to be an act of thanksgiving in God, to all.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a reminder of the eternal extravagant love of God for us in Jesus through the Holy Spirit. The Franciscan Family is called to live in that Love. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a powerful reminder of the totality of the Savior’s Love. In Him we we live, and move, and have our being. (Acts 17: 28) 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. (cfr. John 16: 30-33) 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 I have conquered the world. Do not be afraid. Greater is the one within you that the one in the world. (1 John 4: 4) Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28: 20)
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 open leading to the Father’s loving embrace. May Mary, Queen and Mother of our Seraphic Family and Her beloved Husband St. Joseph, keep us in the depths of their Immaculate and Pure Hearts. 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 2nd, 2021 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 2021
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
May the Holy Spirit of the Father and the Son
Fill our hearts with the joy of the Risen Christ.
May Mary, His Mother, redeemed ahead of time,
Lead us closer to Jesus, the only
Way, Truth, and Life.
Throughout Salvation History there is one person, after that of the Messiah, whose presence was prophesied and awaited as a sign of fulfillment of God’s Promise to all creation – the Woman. Second only to Jesus, the Incarnate Word of God, this Woman is the greatest human being who every walked the earth. Her presence was prophesied and taught in the sacred texts and oral tradition of the People of Israel. Her historical presence is recorded in the Gospels and writings of the early Christian community. Mary is that Woman veiled in mystery for so many, but clothed in glory for all who call Jesus Lord and Savior. It is Mary, the Mother of the Savior, who facilitates the journey with God in Jesus and to God in Jesus through the Spirit.
The figure of Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth, Mother of Jesus the Christ, is almost as controversial a figure for many people as is that of her Son, Jesus. The controversies concern her intimate connection with the person of Jesus, her Son, our Lord and Redeemer, in the whole mystery of Jesus’ saving Life-Passion-Death-Resurrection-Glorification. She experiences, in an eminently greater way than all other human beings, the effects of living the Gospel. If living the Gospel is living with Jesus and all that He taught, who more than She lived the Gospel!? Her very lifeblood flowed in the human veins of Jesus; even her physical features to a certain degree were no doubt those of Jesus. To see Jesus was to see Mary, His Mother; to see Mary was to see Jesus, Her Son. Throughout all of Scripture, Mary’s presence speaks eloquently and reminds us that all things can more easily be directed To Jesus through Mary! … and From Jesus through Mary!
Mary is the Hoped-for-Woman offered by the Father to all creation when humanity opted to defy God’s Will in the Garden of Eden: I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel (Genesis 3: 15).
Mary is the Humble Cloud of Refreshing Rain that satisfied the thirst of a wayward nation parched by its unfaithfulness and relieved through the Prophet Elijah’s intercession before God on their behalf, Whose heavenly sign brought the life-giving rain: Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel … and the youth returned (to Elijah) and reported, There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea … and a heavy rain fell (1 Kings 18: 42-45).
Mary is the Virgin Mother, who overturned humanity’s defiance in Eden by her availability to God’s will, and allowed, in the name of all humanity, for the Creator to become one of His creatures, and thus begin the fulfillment of the Plan of Salvation for all Creation: Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you … Do not be afraid, Mary … You will conceive and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus … The Holy Spirit will overshadow you … (and Mary said) May it be done to me according to your word (Luke 1: 26-38).
Mary is the Ever-Vigilant and Self-Sacrificing Mother whose last words recorded in the Gospels at the marriage Feast of Cana, are typical of a loving mother’s concern for the happiness of her children. She sees, before others seem to notice, that the wine has run out. To save the newly-wed couple from embarrassment She informs Jesus: They have no more wine (John 2: 3). This simple phrase offered for the sake of a young man and woman beginning their new life together set off a sequence of events leading to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus for us on the Cross and her acceptance as no longer the Mother of Jesus the carpenter, but Jesus the Rabbi, Master, Lord and Savior, and Sacrificial Lamb of God. This role meant that she could no longer have Jesus for Herself alone but she would have to offer Him for the sake of everyone. Her vigilant awareness of the needs of humanity – manifested at Cana – and her self-sacrificing encouragement hastening the start of the ministry of Jesus – Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come. (John 2: 4) – are all for the sake of a mother’s love for her children.
Mary is the First Disciple whose words, again at Cana, offer us the secret to achieving eternal life: Do whatever He tells you (John 2: 5). These words were a prelude to the words of the Eternal Father on Tabor, Who would emphasize at the moment of the Transfiguration, the fact that Jesus was not only the Son of Man (truly human) but the also the Son of God (truly divine – truly God): This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him. (Matthew 17: 1-8). Mary truly lived the Word of God as a faithful Daughter of Zion, as Mother of the Christ, as Temple of the indwelling of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Her life was always and in all ways tuned into God’s Word, and Her heart was always and in all ways available to God’s Will, without exception, without gloss. (Remember that our own Seraphic Father wanted us to live the Gospel and Rule without gloss)
Mary is the Co-Redemptrix whose courage and strength were manifest at the foot of the Cross of Jesus. There Mary consoled her Son Who in turn entrusted Her to us as our Mother, thus making us His sisters and brothers, redeemed children of the Father: When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, Woman, behold, your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold, your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home (John 19: 26-27). As our Mother, She gave us an example of strength, courage, and fearlessness in expressing openly all that we believe and are as Her children, the Mystical Body of Christ entrusted to Her as She to us, on the Day of our Redemption – the Day of Atonement (at-one-ment) with God. (It is undeniably true that we have only One Redeemer, Jesus the Christ. But, spiritually, “biologically”, in her heart, a mother shares in the events of her child’s life. In this sense the title is not “theological” – that I leave to the wisdom of the Church and the Holy Spirit’s timing – but a filial and loving acknowledgement of the closeness of our Mother Mary to Christ Her Son and the Christian, Her Son’s image continued in time in each one of us.)
Mary is the Virgin-Made-Church, whose silent-strong-prayerful-loving-motherly presence among the followers of her Son who had locked themselves in the Cenacle for fear of retaliation from those who had executed Jesus, prepares her children, the Infant Church, to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’s power promised them by Jesus: When they went to the city they went to the upper room where they were staying … together with some women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus … When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled … there came a driving wind … then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which came to rest on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit … and began to speak … as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim (cfr. Acts 1: 13-14; 2: 1-4). Mary eminently received and profoundly lived the manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit of the Father and the Son. She truly was the dwelling place of God. (cfr. John 1: 14; Corinthians 6: 19)
Mary is the Sign of Hope Fulfilled as She brings the Prophecies to full circle, as Mother of the Christ, Mother of the Christian, Mother of the Church, Whose life so clearly shares in the Passion and Glory of Her Son and Her children redeemed in His Blood: A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child…then another sign appeared, a huge dragon…about to devour Her Child…She gave birth to a Son…destined to rule the nations…Her child was caught up to God…The woman herself fled to a place…prepared by God (Revelation 12: 1-6).
Mary is the one Redeemed “Ahead of Time”. Mary is the image of humanity as it journeys to God. She, as we, is a child of creation. She, as we, experienced the difficulties, sorrows and joys of life. She, as we, had to ponder the events of life to understand God’s Will for Her. And, She, as we, had the awesome gift of free will that could choose other than the Will of God. Unlike us, however, in virtue of Her Son’s redeeming death, she is Conceived Confirmed in Grace.
To immortalize Mary in our hearts and express our deep love for Her, we often allow our emotions to run away from reason. We may even create an image of Mary which is totally foreign to all She truly is. As we consider Her particular privileges that we celebrate every year, we can see how, though far beyond anything we could ever hope to achieve in the spiritual realm, Mary is still attentive to our needs, accessible to our loving advances, and an advocate before the Almighty God in favor of His creation whom She accepted as her children in Christ at the Foot of the Cross on the Day of Redemption. Her Immaculate Conception signals the power of God’s redeeming love whenever, wherever and however He so desires. Her Divine Motherhood reminds us of the intimacy God has entered with humanity through one of His own creation. Her Assumption encourages us on life’s journey to travel confidently through life with our hearts steadfastly set on heaven while our feet are still firmly treading the roads of earth and all that entails – joys and sorrows, successes and failures, grace-filled moments and sinful moments. Mary is so eminently greater than all of us, yet She is still infinitely less than God, Her Father, Her Son and Her Spouse. In that “in between state” She is the channel of God’s graces for all the Mystical Body of Her Son – She is the Mediatrix of Graces. Life’s journey is made easier through Her presence, enlightened through Her encouraging example and words, and we are empowered through Her almighty intercession to achieve more easily the graces that flow from God and that lead us to His Everlasting and Loving Embrace.
As Spiritual Children of St. Francis of Assisi, let us follow his example. The prayers and example of St. Francis of Assisi speak of gratitude, strength, trust, indebtedness, protection, intercession, praise, victory, following, union, imitation, and LOVE for the greatest Daughter of the Church, the First Disciple, and Mother of us all – Mary. She was entrusted to us as Mother and we to Her as children. She is Mary, Mother of the Christ, Mother of the Christian, Mother of the Church. She is Mother, whose mere title speaks of life and love. Our Father’s love for the Eucharist reminds us of the greatest Gift left for us to celebrate and seek to become more deeply everyday. Mary is the first Tabernacle and the First Monstrance Whose example we seek as we receive Christ in the secret of our heart and then present Him to the world in our daily lives. The Spiritual Children of the Poverello of Assisi, united in the common bond of prayer as sisters and brothers professed in the Franciscan Family around the world, remember, honor and love as the Woman prophesied in Scripture, the Virgin-Mother of the Lord, the Queen of the Universe. Mary keeps us in her Immaculate Heart and intercedes for us as our advocate whose almighty intercession before the Divine Majesty pleads for Mercy and Pardon for her children. How could we ever not honor Her with the same simplicity, devotion, and love as the Seraphic One of Assisi?! Let us always keep Her, our Mother Mary, Queen and Mother of the Seraphic Family, in your hearts and on your lips!
May God bless you. Our Lady and good St. Joseph guide, guard, and protect you. Our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi watch over each one of us, his spiritual children, with loving care.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, OFM Cap
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Kate Kleinert, on April 1st, 2021
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 2021
Dear Sisters and Brothers in St. Francis,
The Lord give you His peace!
Through the mystery of the Passion and Death of Jesus
May the Joy of His Resurrection and Renewed Life fill your hearts and lives!
Lent has run its course. We journeyed through the season by prayer, fasting, acts of charity. Now we enter the joy of the Resurrection through our spiritual immersion into the mystery of the Passion and Death of Jesus. Every day of the week we call “Holy” is another moment in that wonderful drama of our salvation. In the Father’s Plan, Jesus is the Victor, only after passing through the crucible of His Passion-Death. His Victory over suffering and death is for all humanity.
The week began with the “Hosannas” of the populace. In a brief time, “Hosannas” are followed by the intrigue and betrayal of Jesus by His nearest and dearest friends “hand-picked” by Himself. What ensues is choreographed by the religious leaders of His own nation and the foreign occupational forces. The protagonists play out their roles in the Governor’s palace, in the streets of Jerusalem, and on Golgotha. “Hosannas” turned to “Crucify Him” leading Him to crucifixion and death. Jeering remarks ridiculing a dying man are directed at Him as He hung dying on the Cross. The drama still must peak in a tragic-bloody-humiliating manner when Jesus, nailed as a criminal to the cross, is mockingly hailed as Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, (John 19: 19) and lead to a moment of desolation when He exclaims My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?! (Psalm 22: 1; Matthew 26: 46) His death makes the bystanders return to their homes beating their breasts (Luke 23: 48), and compels a Roman centurion to say Truly this was the Son of God (Matthew 27: 54). Everything climaxes with the death of Jesus. His death continues to proclaim love, compassion and forgiveness for all. As His spirit ebbed from His body, conflicting sentiments were felt by all present.
If everything ended there, what a tragedy it would be for us all! But, the story does not finish there! It cannot! Our story does not end on the Cross. Our story finds its true beginning there, at the Cross, and its “confirmation” only hours later on Sunday morning. When Jesus cries: Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit, (Luke 23: 46) our life-blood is renewed and we again are offered the opportunity to be one with the God who became one with us.
We are a people who profess and proclaim not death but life! Saint Paul tells the community of Corinth: If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching; empty, too, your faith…and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain…But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep…for in Christ, all shall be brought to life…so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15: 13-28).
Each year all Christians throughout the world gather to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. The denomination does not matter. Every Christian is a true Christian only if he/she believes that Jesus was nailed to a cross and died, and on the third day rose from the dead. If one does not believe in the physical Resurrection of Jesus, he/she cannot really call him/herself a true Christian. Many non-Christian people admire all that Jesus said and did; they even seek to emulate His life. But, if one does not believe in the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, as Saint Paul says, life for that individual really has no personal meaning beyond the here and now moment of philanthropic or self-centered survival. As socially, economically, or otherwise materially fulfilling as it might all seem, what way is this to live one’s life! What kind of life can it be? Is it really living?! Is it not just a co-existence (albeit good, respectful, moral…) with the world and all the world proclaims? Why would anyone invest so much of him/herself in the world if all their endeavors and accomplishments ended with the soul’s exit from the body? Unless our passage from life to Life is a reality we truly believe, and by which we live, as St. Paul says, We are the deadest of the dead. (1 Corinthians 15: 17)
We are children of the Resurrection. Our song is “Alleluia”. The theater of Redemption is the world in which we live. St. Francis in the Canticle of the Creatures and Pope Francis in the Encyclical Laudato Si’ both remind us, with so many other holy men and women, of this wonderful truth of God’s gift of Creation. And Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer, is the Victim of humanity’s ingratitude to Love Incarnate. Our hope, founded on faith in an impossible event, proclaims that the finality of death was conquered by the reality of the Resurrection of Jesus. He is alive and well! Life is worth living! Death has lost its sting! Death is no longer the “grim reaper” that destroys and reduces us to nothingness. In the Resurrection of Jesus, Death is the point of convergence of one’s life, and the threshold of eternity. Life is merely changed, not ended. And, when the body of our earthly dwelling lies in death, we gain an everlasting place in heaven (Preface for Masses for the Deceased).
Why do we Catholics, like the Corinthians who were reprimanded by St. Paul, fail so often to live as the redeemed people we are? Who more than we Franciscans should be the joyful troubadours of Resurrection Joy of the “enfleshed” Son of God, Jesus the Christ?! This joy we share because the Almighty One, Who could have done all alone, sought the collaboration of a creature, our Mother Mary, to believe and accept the impossible. In our Immaculate Virgin Mother, humanity becomes an essential participant in the whole Eternal Plan of the Redemption (or Restoration in Grace) of Creation! What grace! What gift! What trust! WHAT LOVE!!!
Our world and our own immediate society is impregnated with hatred, violence, terrorism, war, terminal illnesses, tragic lifestyles, deadly addictions, pandemics, and more. This is a reality we cannot deny. But the world is, as stated above, the theater of Redemption. It is an enormous setting where all are protagonists of a marvelous story that has God Incarnate in the lead role, and the rest of us as understudies who seek to image God by the way we live. In this theater roles are exchanged often: sometimes we are among the central figures, other times we watch with hope-filled anticipation as the whole story of our salvation unravels before our eyes. What do our eyes see? Hopefully, we all recognize the Risen Lord Jesus, alive and well in our midst, as we seek to share in His Life following His words and example.
How often are we like the Israelites who kept the wounds of their years of slavery in Egypt open, even though their Passage through the Red Sea was an undeniable proof of the power and the credibility of their God. They continued to complain and expect God to do for them what they had the ability, in God’s grace, to do for themselves. We have not let the wonderful effects of Jesus’ Resurrection – our Passage from Death to Life – on that first Easter Sunday penetrate our hearts. We still have not lived our Exodus experience as profoundly as we ought. God leads and strengthens those who recognize and acknowledge their vulnerability, and who admit to their needy state without Him. Is not that what being a “penitent” means; are we not originally the “Penitents of Assisi”? God accompanies us from the mentality of self-centered individualism, to an open-hearted availability and acceptance of others. Like the Israelites of old, we would rather have the onions and garlic of a bondage we have learned to accept/tolerate, rather than the challenge to be free and go beyond the barriers we set in our lives. The Resurrection of Jesus encourages us to look beyond our failures, to move courageously forward beyond our fears, to trust confidently and use well our God-given gifts, to believe in the Life Jesus came to give us.
To go beyond is eventually to enter the Land of Promise. We cannot continue to mix the straw of complacency and indifference with the mud of confusion and earthliness. This only fabricates bricks of slavery that erect walls that hinder our journey to God. We complacently build the cities of man, rather than struggle to build the City of God. A culture of death still pervades our society. Children of the Resurrection, freed in the Blood of Jesus, imbued with the gift of the Holy Spirit, Loved by the Father, we are called to freedom – a freedom the world does not understand and yet still attempts to create through power, prestige, possessions, and the like. The motto seems to be “leave me alone and in peace, and I’ll accept anything”. No risk, no gain! (Mother Francis Bachmann, foundress of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia). In Jesus there is no risk of loss, only gain. Yet, often we opt for the slavery that stunts our spiritual growth and blinds us to the wonder and glory of the Resurrection that speaks to us of our dignity and freedom as redeemed children of God in Jesus through the Spirit.
Like the first followers who experienced the Savior’s Passion and Death, we can allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the difficulties and delusions of life. Or, we can fix our gaze on the Risen Lord. Like the women who went to the tomb, we may love Jesus deeply, but feel and act as though He is still in the tomb. Their love could not separate them from Him, even in death. It was that loyalty, that fidelity, that offered them the gift of being the first to see the Resurrected Lord… and they kissed His feet and ran to tell the others. (Matthew 28: 9) Eventually His love wins the hearts of those who sincerely seek Him, even through difficulty and failure.
The Cross was a fixed moment in time, whose effects would last eternally. There is a powerful phrase in the Passion account that many read and pass over: from noon until three in the afternoon, there was darkness over all the earth. (Matthew 27: 45) The evangelist reduces this horrific moment of humanity’s ingratitude to its Creator to a determined amount of time. Thus, we are reminded that the powers of darkness can rule only for a time, but will never prevail forever. His Life and His Light will always have the advantage over death and darkness. He is risen, go tell His brethren that He precedes them! (Matthew 28: 7)
Spiritual children of the Seraphic One of Assisi, whose body was visibly “stigmatized” with the signs of God’s love for us in Jesus, do we preach without words our belief in a living faith that leads to eternal life? Or, are we “stigmatized” not with Jesus’ selfless love for us, but with our self-centered love for survival and acclaim? Does the Resurrection remind us of Jesus’ words, Unless the grain of wheat dies, it remains just a grain of wheat ? (John 12: 24)
Fear not! He has conquered death … Have courage! His Spirit within you can withstand all that surrounds you … He is Risen! We never stand alone before the world because we are victors in the Victim in Whose death we come alive. Easter proclaims a message of liberation and long-lasting-Life. Easter is the day and the Season that continually reminds us that the Son will always cast His Light on us. The darkness of sin, cynicism, skepticism cannot keep the light of the Son of God from enlightening our lives and our world. The question is whether we will accept to bask in the Light of the Son, or remain in darkness. When we create room in our hearts for the Lord to enter, then the power of Easter can take us to heights never imagined.
As Spiritual Children of St. Francis of Assisi, we too are reminded that only through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives can we fathom something of the mystery of Christ’s love for us. It is the Risen Jesus who teaches us the value of the Cross – you cannot separate the Victor from the Victim. The Cross without Christ is tyranny; Christ without the Cross is a lie (Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen). In the midst of all this is the silent, dignified, and loving figure of Mary; she is always with us on our journey, leading us, who love her as our Heavenly Mother, closer to one another and to Jesus her Son. May our Easter Season help us to value all that God asks of us, so that through Mary to Jesus, in Whose Passion-Death-Glorious Resurrection we enter the Father’s loving embrace, we may live virtuously, die piously, and achieve the fullness of the rewards of Eternal Life.
May God bless you; Our Lady and her beloved husband St. Joseph guide, guard, and protect you; and may Padre Pio watch over each one of you, his Spiritual Children, with loving care. May the Risen Lord inflame your hearts with love, and bless you and your loved ones with the gift of His Easter Peace and Joy.
Christ is Risen! He is truly risen! Alleluia!
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, OFM Cap
Regional Spiritual Assistant
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