(This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Spring/Summer 2021 Issue #103)

By Kathleen Molaro, OFS

National Franciscan Youth and Young Adult Commission Chair

When I served as a youth director, each summer we participated in a week-long service program called “Young Neighbors in Action.” One year, our week was spent in an orphanage in Mexico. Among other chores, we were each asked to choose one child and befriend them, rather than spread ourselves among the large group. We were told it would be better for that one child to benefit from extra love and attention, even if only for a week. “A little bit of love goes a long way. The love settles in their hearts and can be drawn on later,” the director explained.

I believe the same philosophy applies when reaching out to youth and young adults. Young people are often in flux at this point in their lives, so we may only have them for a short time. Every moment counts in building a loving relationship that might “settle in their hearts.” Are we genuine? Do we truly live what we preach about gospel life? Are we willing to hear their story and share their successes, fears, and struggles?

Many fraternities have shared that a young adult will call or drop into a gathering to check out the Secular Franciscans. They often have but a few months to join us, considering they may be on a break from school, looking for a job elsewhere, moving away from family to start their own, or any number of reasons. They may or may not stay, depending on their need and intention— but also on what they find when they arrive. The FY/YA Commission has encouraged all fraternities to be ready for the possibility of younger members by taking a close look at their fraternity dynamics.

I found myself reflecting on the Instrumentum Laboris in light of this challenge. On pages 5 and 6 there is a list of ways to animate and guide our fraternities. Simply rephrasing them a bit helps us see why they are important to consider if you are serious about offering the gift of fraternity and Franciscan spirituality to young people.

✦ Do we understand the importance of a Christcentered life, and are we able to inspire young people to adopt that goal?

✦ Do we encourage one another to accept and respect the young person simply because they are a brother or sister of Christ?

✦ Do we witness a life of prayer and intimacy with the Lord, both as individuals and as fraternity?

✦ Do we work for justice and invite young people to join us, and do we join young people in their work toward a more just world?

✦ Do we share concrete experiences and truthful stories of our own spiritual journey and allow young people to do the same, without judgment?

✦ Do they see us in fidelity with the Church, our Order, and each other? Are we obviously growing in our faith and in our charism?

✦ Do we model lives of vital and reciprocal communion, and are we an active presence in the world?

✦ Do our young people see us as a family, working together and sharing responsibilities?

Jan Parker wrote in the Winter 2021 TAU-USA about the term “prophetic creativity” used in the Instrumentum Laboris. She describes prophetic creativity, saying “It is innovative action we take in response to the Holy Spirit working within us.” The Holy Spirit is moving across our country, inspiring us to journey together with our younger Catholic brothers and sisters. The apostle Paul says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Gal. 5:22-23) Practicing these virtues and modelling a way of life led by the Holy Spirit and our beloved Saints Francis and Clare is what we are called to do as Secular Franciscans. A little love goes a long way. Just think what a lot of love can do!

The commission gathers via Zoom monthly with FY/YA Regional Animators for ongoing training, prayer, networking, and formation. Our meeting right before Pentecost included a “Prayer for Perfect Charity,” and ritual for strengthening the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The prayer can be found on the National Website on the FY/YA page, in the young adult faith development document, Living a Gospel Life: Walking in the Steps of Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi—Session 10.

https://secularfranciscansusa.org/2021/09/27/a-little-bit-of-love-goes-a-long-way/

(This Article originally appeared in the Spring/Summer Issue of TAU-USA #103)

Ecumenical Interfaith Committee Joint Committee on Franciscan Unity

by Donna Hollis, OFS, National Councilor

We are called to rebuild. We must dare to dream! We must dare to Hope!

(Reflection from the book “Let us Dream” by Pope Francis)

Pope Francis has been transforming the tone and approach of the Catholic Church towards Ecumenism by reaching out to non-Catholic denominations to reconcile past differences, opening the doors to dialogue and understanding, focusing on what we have in common and not differences, celebrating and reconciling “That they may all be one.”

Pope Francis inspires us to dream of a future that seeks to restore the dignity of every person and creation in order to foster healthy relationships. As Franciscans we ask, “How do we work to heal the Body of Christ, to speak as Franciscans to the world based on ‘one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism?’” Certainly, our vocation is meant to be one of healing and witness to the urging of the Spirit. Doesn’t our vocation to “live the gospel in fraternal communion” call us to create a sisterhood and brotherhood beyond borders of our beliefs? Fraternity itself is our challenging new frontier.

How might these ideals look in practice? Scripture asks us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and give hope to those in most need. Doing these works of mercy tears down the walls of differences, and we find ourselves working together for the common good for all people.

Members of a number of Christian denominations are working together to assist refugees coming across our Southwest Borders seeking asylum due to threats, and a way out of violence and poverty. They have their own stories to tell. One family arrived with their oldest son, having left the younger behind, only to find out that he was killed while they were on their journey. They faced a difficult choice. Going back would mean not being able to return; moving forward in search of a better life would require leaving the heartache to heal in time.

We listen to their stories and our hearts are broken; compassion is released as we serve together in helping those whose hearts are already broken. We recognize that we are all children of God, men and women of every race, of every faith. If we really see someone in their fullness, recognizing the Divine seed in everyone, we cannot help but treat treating them with kindness and compassion.

Where do we go from here? Working with the refugees reminds us that God Himself chooses to go to the margins; they are places full of possibilities. We need to become those “saints”’ who have an awakened heart to seek those in the marginal places where possibilities are waiting. We let those stories told of the journey of desperation change our hearts. We need to rethink our priorities and dare to take risks. Enkindle the fire of the Spirit that we experienced when we were first Professed, and that in itself will be a witness to others and catch on like wildfire! So, keep living it out!

“Live a life worthy of your calling”

Prayer for Franciscan Unity

O gracious and loving God,

Having brought us into the Body of Christ

And Called to follow Francis and Clare:

Let your Holy Spirit inspire all

In the Franciscan Family to be of

One heart and mind in love with

You and one another.

Grant, we pray, that our common Charism and Vocation,

Shared by Franciscan Orders, from every

Christian tradition, help build up

The Body of Christ

And heal the Franciscan Family,

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

https://secularfranciscansusa.org/2021/09/20/new-beginnings-with-a-hopeful-vision-of-unity-among-all-people/

(This article originally appeared in the Spring/Summer TAU-USA Issue #103)

Formation Commission

Francis of Assisi: Saint and Writer

Justin Carisio, OFS

National Formation Commission

Thomas of Celano tells us that two years before St. Francis’s death:

While the saint was secluded in a cell on Mount La Verna, one of his companions was yearning with great desire to have something encouraging from the words of our Lord, commented on briefly by Saint Francis and written with his own hand.… One day Saint Francis called this brother and said: “Bring me paper and ink, because I want to write down the words of the Lord and his praises upon which I have meditated in my heart.” What he had asked for was quickly brought to him. He then wrote down with his own hand the Praises of God and the words he wanted and, at the end, a blessing for that brother, saying: “Take this paper for yourself and keep it carefully to your dying day.”[1]

That small parchment from 1224 is now in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. Francis wrote “The Praises of God” on one side and “A Blessing for Brother Leo” on the other. It is one of only two surviving documents actually written in Francis’s own hand. The other is “A Letter to Brother Leo” preserved in the Cathedral of Spoleto. They are among the 30 or so writings composed by Francis. They range from prayers and letters to longer documents. They include Francis’s great poem, The Canticle of the Creatures, the value of which extends beyond the Franciscan family and which has an important place in the canon of Italian literature.

The number of Francis’s writings may, at first glance, appear limited. However, consider the era in which he lived, the radical poverty of the life he chose, and the uncertain conditions under which anything he wrote would have been preserved. It quickly becomes apparent that we are blessed to have as much as we do in the voice of our founder. By comparison, only four writings by Francis’s contemporary, St. Dominic, who founded the Order of Preachers, survive.[2]

Regis Armstrong, OFM Cap., suggests that Francis’s writings reflect his deep humility, his “determination to hide the gifts the Lord has bestowed on him.”[3] Even so the gifts of a writer’s temperament and a poet’s impulse invariably shine through. Francis had a natural inclination to use words to communicate his beliefs, to record his thoughts, to create beauty, and to offer praise. Murray Bodo, OFM writes, “Although St. Francis’s whole being was that of a poet, he was not a poet in the modern sense of someone whose vocation or avocation is the writing of poetry.” Rather, “he walked and praised as a poet would as he followed Jesus.”[4]

Familiarity with Francis’s writings should be part of the initial and ongoing formation of every Secular Franciscan, especially considering that one of his writings, The Earlier Exhortation, forms the “Prologue” to the Secular Franciscan Rule. His writings let the saint speak for himself. They permit us to encounter him on his own terms.

What are some ways to enhance this encounter?

First, fundamental to understanding Francis as a writer is to understand that Scripture always informs his documents. His writings are replete with quotations from the Gospels and Psalms as well as other scriptural references and allusions.[5] Our encounter with Francis’s writings is a reminder that even for us, Scripture comes before the documents. Knowing and following Jesus and what the gospel life entails is our life’s work just as it was Francis’s.

Another consideration to keep in mind is that biographies over the centuries, as well as film and video over the past hundred years or so, have filled our imaginations with convincing representations of Francis’s life and times. It becomes difficult to see through these cultural, religious, and media filters and confront Francis as he was: a medieval, urban, Italian man.[6] The time in which we live separates us in profound ways from the world in which Francis’s ideas and experiences were shaped, defined, and expressed. The Francis we meet in his writings is fascinating, ardent, and devout, but also frank, determined, and assertive. The places where he lived and travelled appear intriguing and exotic, but also remote and dangerous. The reader of Francis’s writings who takes time to learn about late 12th and early 13th century history or to study the art and objects from that era will find it time well-spent.

Also, for most of us, our encounter with what Francis wrote will be through translations. All but two of his writings were in Latin. (The Canticle of the Creatures and The Canticle of Exhortation for the Ladies of San Damiano were written in his Umbrian dialect of Italian.[7]) Fortunately for English readers, there are outstanding modern translations in printed book form (Francis of Assisi, Early Documents, vol 1, New City Press) or on the web at the Commission on the Franciscan Intellectual- Spiritual Tradition (CFIT).[8] We may not hear Francis’s voice in the most immediate way, but the translators’ scholarship and skill help to reveal for us the saint’s spirit and personality. These translations are also accompanied by valuable introductions and footnotes that aid in opening up the documents by providing context and explanations.

Finally, although Francis was not a writer by profession or avocation, he was yet a serious writer. He considered what he wrote to be important. He insisted when his words were being copied for sharing with others that they be reproduced exactly as he had written—nothing added or subtracted.[9] Thaddée Matura, OFM, underscores this: “He was able and loved to write or have others write for him. He insisted on the preservation of what he wrote…. He was convinced of the power of the Word of God, which he had received in faith and to which he had oriented his life. The necessity of transmitting this belief into writing for everyone of every generation was a mission for him.”[10] We are the most recent generation to receive what Francis wrote. Let us take the time to read, measure, and heed his words.

[1] The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul by Thomas of Celano, in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol 2, The Founder, ed. Regis J. Armstrong, OFM Cap, J. A. Wayne Hellman, OFM Conv., and William J. Short, OFM (Hyde Park, N.Y.: New City Press, 2000), 282.

[2] “Dominican Documents: Letters of St. Dominic,” www.domcentral.org/trad/domdocs/0002.htm, accessed May 3, 2021

[3] Regis J. Armstrong, OFM Cap., St. Francis of Assisi Writings for a Gospel Life, (New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1994), 25

[4] Murray Bodo, OFM, Poetry as Prayer St. Francis of Assisi, (Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 2003), 56.

[5] Thaddée Matura, OFM. Francis Of Assisi The Message in His Writings (St. Bonaventure, N.Y.: Franciscan Institute Publications, 1996, 2004), 16

[6] Augustine Thompson, O.P., Francis of Assisi, A New Biography, (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2012), 3

[7] Matura, 9.

[8] See: https://franciscantradition.org/early-sources

[9] Regis J. Armstrong, OFM Cap. and Ignatius C. Brady, OFM, Francis and Clare The Complete Works (New York: Paulist Press, 1982), 7.

[10] Thaddée Matura, OFM. Francis Of Assisi Writer and Spiritual Master (Cincinnati: Franciscan Media, 2005), 1

https://secularfranciscansusa.org/2021/09/13/formation-commission-2/