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LIFE AND APOSTOLIC ACTIVITY
Emerenziana Rossato SFO
Franciscanism qualifies as a way of life,that is as an evangelic and fraternal experience.Starting from the SFO rule and the Constitutions we shall examine two highly existential moments:life and apostolate.
The second chapter of the new Constitutions deals with the "-Form of life and apostolic activity-". Both the Rule and the Constitutions underline the value and importance of the form of life associated with the apostolate for the Secular Franciscan. This is so because at the moment a secular franciscan takes the Rule seriously enough to conform her or his life to it, apostolic activity will become an important and logical consequence.
To give the Rule this power is linked to the certainty that at the bottom of it all there is a vocation, which is the key to everything. We have entered the SFO because of a vocation which is fundamental because it is a part of God's salvific plan for us, for whose fulfillment we should be ready to give our lives.
The initiative was His, not ours. It is God who calls and continues to call and at each call chooses, destines, places and guides a person. God calls for a certain purpose and furnishes the means to reach it. He calls for the benefit of the person but also for the benefit of the community. And it is the answer of the person that fulfills or not fulfills the will of Him who calls. So each fulfillment of a vocation will never be a small matter, but a fullness of grace.
Each vocation echoes and vibrates in the person concerned with particular accents of gifts, illuminations, talents, and sensibilities, different internal and external situations. We are called to deepen the components, the characteristics and the dimensions of our vocation in order to answer it well and not to eliminate it.
We gave our first affirmative reply with our Profession, the public ecclesiastical act that brought us into the Fraternity. We professed in the Church, creating a new bond. We professed the Rule, that is a way of life, and entered the Franciscan family. This personal reply asks for continual fidelity if we want to realize our vocation. We should often remember our given word, our solemn pledge and try to keep our promises.
Living our Profession is part of a personal dedication that precedes that of the community, just as the apostolic action of the Fraternity presupposes that of the single person linked to the conversion of our heart. Because it is not the SFO, but the single member which can be transformed. It is not the SFO as such that makes us what we are, but our own personal virtues. This is so even if it goes without saying that the strength of the Fraternity can stimulate new desires, renew our lives and give us franciscan happiness. It is the personal virtues of each one put together with those of the brothers and sisters that gives light, splendour and life to the Fraternity.
Living our vocation and our Profession presupposes the Rule, a great gift that tells us who we are, how we should live and what we must do.
The first Chapter describes our nature and our identity; the second, the form of life to acquire; the third, life in Fraternity. All three Chapters are essential. By realizing the third chapter, we can more easily live the second and reach the goals described in the first.
God's design for us is fulfilled through the Rule that shows the direction and the form our vocation should take to qualify as secular Franciscans. The Rule gives us a "-Form of Life-" in relationship to God, to human beings and to the whole creation.
It is good to note that the new Constitutions have no other purpose than to help us to understand the Rule, explaining its parts and indicating concrete solutions.
From the Rule's 26 Articles, sixteen regard the "-Form of Life-". It is this form of life we should realize, observing the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the example of St. Francis of Assisi.
Therefore, passing from the Gospel to life and from life to the Gospel; looking for Christ in our brothers and sisters; being witnesses and instruments of the mission of the Church among people; conforming our way of thinking and acting to that of Christ; making prayer and contemplation the soul of our being and working; proclaiming love for the Virgin Mary and following her example; faithfully fulfilling our obligations in our state of life.
Therefore, the right use of possessions; purity of heart; fidelity to our vocation; the acceptance of our brothers; competently carrying out our responsibilities; initiatives in favour of justice; the spirit of peace; respect towards all creatures; faith in the presence of the divine seed in people and the transformative power of love and pardon; serenity in awaiting the final encounter with the Father.
The Constitutions reinforce and explain the Rule. They speak of the "-Form of Life-" in the first part of the Second Chapter, composed of 9 Articles: from 8 to 16.
The Constitutions stress the commitment made by our profession to live the Gospel according to Franciscan spirituality in our secular condition, according to the Rule of the SFO in a journey of conversion; open to the opportunities that come from society and from the Church; in the personal and communal dimensions of this journey (Const. 8).
Franciscan spirituality is called a plan of life centered on the person and on the following of Christ, rather than a detailed program to put into practice. It asks for study and love of the Gospel, to know and understand it as it is proclaimed by the Church (Const.9).
Christ, "-poor and crucified-", the greatest manifestation of the love of God for humanity, is for Secular Franciscans the book wherein we learn the way of living, loving and suffering; in which one discovers the value of contradictions, the meaning of the difficulties and the crosses, the Franciscan spirit of peace (Const. 10).
Mindful that the Holy Spirit is the source of their vocation, Secular Franciscans should desire above all things "-the Spirit of God at work within them-" (Const.11).
We are called by the Constitutions to live with faith the great gift Christ has given the revelation of the Father and to bear witness of it before all: in family life; in work; in joys and sufferings; in associating with all, brothers and sisters of the same Father; in our presence and participation in the life of society; in fraternal relationships with all creatures (Const. 12).
We need a spirit of continual conversion, both individually and in Fraternity that brings with it love for the renewal of the Church; love for the works of charity in the interactions with the brothers and sisters; love for penitential practices (Const. 13).
We are called to a faith-inspired reflection on the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation; on its mission in today's world; on the role of the Franciscan laity within the Church to foster its growth and the spreading of the Kingdom.
We are called to make the Eucharist the center of our lives and of the Fraternity; to give priority to the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours; to find times of silence and recollection dedicated exclusively to prayer (Const. 14).
The constitutions urge us to live the spirit of the Beatitudes and, in a special way, the spirit of poverty that demonstrates confidence in the Father, reduces personal needs in favour of those most in need, effects interior freedom and promotes a more just distribution of wealth, attentive to the instructions of the Church and the demands of society (Const. 15).
We are urged to look at Mary as a model of listening to the Word and of faithfulness to one's vocation: we, like Francis, see all the gospel virtues realized in her. To Her then our intense love, imitation, prayer and filial abandonment (Const. 16).
Mary has given the Word flesh and bones, and went to Elizabeth. And as everyone in life has an "-Isaac-" to immolate, a "-leper-" to kiss, a "-wolf-" to tame, everyone has an "-Elizabeth-" to visit. "-Pray to Mary and run-", goes a Spanish saying. A good listener...
Emerenziana Rossato SFO
Franciscanism qualifies as a way of life,that is as an evangelic and fraternal experience.Starting from the SFO rule and the Constitutions we shall examine two highly existential moments:life and apostolate.
The second chapter of the new Constitutions deals with the "-Form of life and apostolic activity-". Both the Rule and the Constitutions underline the value and importance of the form of life associated with the apostolate for the Secular Franciscan. This is so because at the moment a secular franciscan takes the Rule seriously enough to conform her or his life to it, apostolic activity will become an important and logical consequence.
To give the Rule this power is linked to the certainty that at the bottom of it all there is a vocation, which is the key to everything. We have entered the SFO because of a vocation which is fundamental because it is a part of God's salvific plan for us, for whose fulfillment we should be ready to give our lives.
The initiative was His, not ours. It is God who calls and continues to call and at each call chooses, destines, places and guides a person. God calls for a certain purpose and furnishes the means to reach it. He calls for the benefit of the person but also for the benefit of the community. And it is the answer of the person that fulfills or not fulfills the will of Him who calls. So each fulfillment of a vocation will never be a small matter, but a fullness of grace.
Each vocation echoes and vibrates in the person concerned with particular accents of gifts, illuminations, talents, and sensibilities, different internal and external situations. We are called to deepen the components, the characteristics and the dimensions of our vocation in order to answer it well and not to eliminate it.
We gave our first affirmative reply with our Profession, the public ecclesiastical act that brought us into the Fraternity. We professed in the Church, creating a new bond. We professed the Rule, that is a way of life, and entered the Franciscan family. This personal reply asks for continual fidelity if we want to realize our vocation. We should often remember our given word, our solemn pledge and try to keep our promises.
Living our Profession is part of a personal dedication that precedes that of the community, just as the apostolic action of the Fraternity presupposes that of the single person linked to the conversion of our heart. Because it is not the SFO, but the single member which can be transformed. It is not the SFO as such that makes us what we are, but our own personal virtues. This is so even if it goes without saying that the strength of the Fraternity can stimulate new desires, renew our lives and give us franciscan happiness. It is the personal virtues of each one put together with those of the brothers and sisters that gives light, splendour and life to the Fraternity.
Living our vocation and our Profession presupposes the Rule, a great gift that tells us who we are, how we should live and what we must do.
The first Chapter describes our nature and our identity; the second, the form of life to acquire; the third, life in Fraternity. All three Chapters are essential. By realizing the third chapter, we can more easily live the second and reach the goals described in the first.
God's design for us is fulfilled through the Rule that shows the direction and the form our vocation should take to qualify as secular Franciscans. The Rule gives us a "-Form of Life-" in relationship to God, to human beings and to the whole creation.
It is good to note that the new Constitutions have no other purpose than to help us to understand the Rule, explaining its parts and indicating concrete solutions.
From the Rule's 26 Articles, sixteen regard the "-Form of Life-". It is this form of life we should realize, observing the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the example of St. Francis of Assisi.
Therefore, passing from the Gospel to life and from life to the Gospel; looking for Christ in our brothers and sisters; being witnesses and instruments of the mission of the Church among people; conforming our way of thinking and acting to that of Christ; making prayer and contemplation the soul of our being and working; proclaiming love for the Virgin Mary and following her example; faithfully fulfilling our obligations in our state of life.
Therefore, the right use of possessions; purity of heart; fidelity to our vocation; the acceptance of our brothers; competently carrying out our responsibilities; initiatives in favour of justice; the spirit of peace; respect towards all creatures; faith in the presence of the divine seed in people and the transformative power of love and pardon; serenity in awaiting the final encounter with the Father.
The Constitutions reinforce and explain the Rule. They speak of the "-Form of Life-" in the first part of the Second Chapter, composed of 9 Articles: from 8 to 16.
The Constitutions stress the commitment made by our profession to live the Gospel according to Franciscan spirituality in our secular condition, according to the Rule of the SFO in a journey of conversion; open to the opportunities that come from society and from the Church; in the personal and communal dimensions of this journey (Const. 8).
Franciscan spirituality is called a plan of life centered on the person and on the following of Christ, rather than a detailed program to put into practice. It asks for study and love of the Gospel, to know and understand it as it is proclaimed by the Church (Const.9).
Christ, "-poor and crucified-", the greatest manifestation of the love of God for humanity, is for Secular Franciscans the book wherein we learn the way of living, loving and suffering; in which one discovers the value of contradictions, the meaning of the difficulties and the crosses, the Franciscan spirit of peace (Const. 10).
Mindful that the Holy Spirit is the source of their vocation, Secular Franciscans should desire above all things "-the Spirit of God at work within them-" (Const.11).
We are called by the Constitutions to live with faith the great gift Christ has given the revelation of the Father and to bear witness of it before all: in family life; in work; in joys and sufferings; in associating with all, brothers and sisters of the same Father; in our presence and participation in the life of society; in fraternal relationships with all creatures (Const. 12).
We need a spirit of continual conversion, both individually and in Fraternity that brings with it love for the renewal of the Church; love for the works of charity in the interactions with the brothers and sisters; love for penitential practices (Const. 13).
We are called to a faith-inspired reflection on the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation; on its mission in today's world; on the role of the Franciscan laity within the Church to foster its growth and the spreading of the Kingdom.
We are called to make the Eucharist the center of our lives and of the Fraternity; to give priority to the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours; to find times of silence and recollection dedicated exclusively to prayer (Const. 14).
The constitutions urge us to live the spirit of the Beatitudes and, in a special way, the spirit of poverty that demonstrates confidence in the Father, reduces personal needs in favour of those most in need, effects interior freedom and promotes a more just distribution of wealth, attentive to the instructions of the Church and the demands of society (Const. 15).
We are urged to look at Mary as a model of listening to the Word and of faithfulness to one's vocation: we, like Francis, see all the gospel virtues realized in her. To Her then our intense love, imitation, prayer and filial abandonment (Const. 16).
Mary has given the Word flesh and bones, and went to Elizabeth. And as everyone in life has an "-Isaac-" to immolate, a "-leper-" to kiss, a "-wolf-" to tame, everyone has an "-Elizabeth-" to visit. "-Pray to Mary and run-", goes a Spanish saying. A good listener...
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