The four of us have a deeply rooted Franciscan devotion. St. Francis to us is a father figure, a role model, a brother, and a saint whom we ask daily for intercession as we continue to discern and move forward toward our collective and personal vocations through this foundation. With the great feast of St. Francis having just been celebrated this week I would like to share with you a profound insight that struck my heart when I was reading the short book The Threefold Way of St. Francis by Murray Bodo, O.F.M.
For those of you who are not familiar with the life of St. Francis - his outstanding conversion was culminated by a deeply mystical experience before the crucifix at San Damiano. While praying in the dilapidated chapel of San Damiano, the crucifix that hung there spoke to Francis, speaking the words "Go and rebuild my Church, which is falling into ruin." When Francis first heard this he took those words literally and began to rebuild the physical church that was falling to ruin around him. "Actually what the Crucified Christ was speaking of was the Catholic Church itself, and the way it was to be repaired was by Francis's continued embracing of the poor, the rejected, the real and symbolic lepers of his time" (Bodo 14).
Having a Franciscan devotion for years, and attending Franciscan University, I had heard of this experience of St. Francis very often. After reading that quote from The Threefold Way of St. Francis I was deeply struck with it and it stayed with me for weeks. For Francis, his love of "Lady Poverty" freed him from worldly distractions in such a way that opened his heart more fully to the service of the Church. But it wasn't that that hit me so hard, because that aspect of Francis's life had always been attractive to me. It was the end of the phrase that still strikes me profoundly - "Francis's continued embrace of the poor, the rejected, the real and symbolic lepers of his time."
All of a sudden it hit me - why this phrase struck my heart so profoundly. Francis in his own time was embracing the call of the New Evangelization. "The New Evangelization calls each of us to deepen our faith, believe in the Gospel message and go forth to proclaim the Gospel. The focus of the New Evangelization calls all Catholics to be evangelized and then go forth to evangelize. In a special way, the New Evangelization is focused on 're-proposing' the Gospel to those who have experienced a crisis of faith. Pope Benedict XVI called for the re-proposing of the Gospel "to those regions awaiting the first evangelization and to those regions where the roots of Christianity are deep but who have experienced a serious crisis of faith due to secularization." (Pope Benedict XVI, "Homily of First Vespers on the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul," The Vatican) The New Evangelization invites each Catholic to renew their relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church." (New Evangelization - USCCB)
This is exactly what St. Francis did in his own life. He deepened his faith through his conversion to Christ and his mystical experience at San Damiano. He dedicated his life to the work of the Church of his time through preaching, ministry, the founding of the Franciscan Order, and the spiritual guidance he gave to St. Clare and her Sisters. Francis walked the streets of what was then the "middle class", ministering to them by proclaiming the Gospel message and speaking through the experience of his own conversion. Francis is to me, not only all of those wonderful things I mentioned at the beginning of this post, St. Francis was, is , and will be an outstanding witness and model of an authentically lived call to the work of the New Evangelization! The life and ministry of St. Francis challenges us all to embrace the call of Pope John Paul II, the Bishops, and the Catholic Church at large, to the New Evangelization!
This is exactly what we feel called to in the foundation of this religious congregation. We are enthusiastic to embrace a life of continuous conversion and minister to the rejected of our time - those who embrace the culture of life in this culture of death and fight for religious freedom in our beloved nation no matter what the cost. To minister to the symbolic lepers of our time - and offer mercy to those in need. To go out into the wilderness like Francis into the middle class of our day, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ to those who have had a crisis of faith. It's amazing how awesome the Holy Spirit is working through centuries to challenge each and every one of us to the same call of ministry to the Church!
"Everyone wants to know if he or she id good, is beautiful, has something to give. The Franciscan gift to them is affirmation of the light, manifest or hidden, of their true face" (Bodo 8).
Let us all, no matter our state in life, be evangelized and go forth to evangelize!!!
Written by Nicolette
