The Rule and life of the Minor Brothers is this, namely, to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, by living in obedience, without property and in chastity. That is the very first line of the Rule of Saint Francis of Assisi to his brothers. Those humble words, “to observe the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” always blew my mind due to their simplicity, clarity and danger! The holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing more, nothing else!
Yet I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had at first (Rev 2:4) The love you had at first… There is a saying in Spanish that I like and roughly translated into English goes something like this: “It is not the years what weight on you; it is the kilos!”. As time passes by, we accumulate, we lose sight of “love at first”, we become cynical, we wrap ourselves around us instead of the other and the simplicity of the Gospel, we tend to believe there is not redemption, that everything is the same… Temptations in which we easily fall. Not only us as individuals, our collective, the Church as well, as we are so aware in these painful days.
People think of Francis as “the bird saint”. There is nothing further from the truth. Francis is fire, abandonment in the life of Jesus, a person opened, widely opened, to God’s will, not desiring to do his will but His’. That is why, I believe, this craziness of love catches our attention, admiration and, why not, envy, hundreds of years after his life and death. Francis is eternal, same way as love is eternal, without end and always so dangerously attractive. Francis has been referred to as the “Universal Saint” and I believe the main reason why is not because of the birds; rather it is his daring trust in the God of Jesus, his abandonment in God’s will and out of that the experience the word “brotherhood” permeates his existence and he is willing to reach out, without malice and in peace, to all creatures
October is around the corner and for the ones who ashamedly carry the name of “Franciscan” another time not only of conversion, but of contemplation and thanksgiving for the wonders performed in the Poverello by God, wonders that are ours too!
In this spirit, the Franciscan spirit, I invite all of you to come celebrate and give thanks to God for his servant, Francis of Assisi, the Alter Christus, the “other Christ” as he was known in his life.
This is how we are going to celebrate the Franciscan “fool of God”:
The Transitus, on Wednesday October the 3rd. This Franciscan celebration exults in the “passing” or transitus of Francis from this life to the Life. Our own Youth Group will help us pray in a bilingual ceremony. 7 pm in the church.
Feast of S. Francis. On Thursday October the 4th. Mass at 7pm
Franciscan Holy Hour. The first Friday of October, praying before the Blessed Sacrament.
Spirit of Assisi prayer. A Franciscan prayer of unity and peace. Tuesday October the 30th at 7 pm in the church.