Saint Francis’ Way in the World: the encounter with Christ

RCantalamessa.jpgCapuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the Pontifical Household, spoke to the participants in the Chapter of the Mats in Assisi, on the occasion of the eighth centenary of the Church’s oral approval of the life proposed by Saint Francis of Assisi.

Friar Raniero gives the reader a terrific sense of the Franciscan charism through the centuries but resting on the one and only central aspect of Franciscan life: Christ is everything. His point is that believe that Francis is really unimportant in comparison to following Christ because our salvation comes not from following Francis but Christ crucified and risen. That is, Francis kept his focus on Christ and Christ alone –and we ought to do the same. Hence what we ought to do is to closely follow Christ with the assistance of Saint Francis (and the Franciscan saints). As Francis kept his eyes on Christ so ought we to do the same.

The text of his remarks is found here.

Pope to Franciscans: define yourselves by the beauty of the Gospel

Innocent III with Francis.JPG

On Saturday, April 18, the Holy Father received various members of the Franciscan family at Castel Gandolfo to observe the 800th anniversary of the ecclesial recognition of the Charism of Saint Francis of Assisi. His remarkable talk is presented here with my emphases. As always the Pope gently and clearly speaks a word of truth and hope.

With great joy I welcome you all at this happy and historic occasion that has gathered you all together: the eighth centenary of the approval of the “protoregola” [monastic rule] of St. Francis by Pope Innocent III. Eight hundred years have passed, and those dozen friars have become a multitude, scattered all over the world and now here, by you, worthily represented. In recent days you have gathered in Assisi for what you wanted to call the “Chapter of Mats” to recall your origins. And at the end of this extraordinary experience you have come together with the “Signor Papa” [Lord Pope], as your seraphic founder would say. I greet you all with affection: the Friars Minor of the three branches, guided by the respective Ministers General, among whom I thank Father José Rodriguez Carballo for his kind words, the members of the Third Order, with their Minister General; the Franciscan women religious and members of the Franciscan secular institutes, and knowing them spiritually present, the Poor Clares, which constitute the “second order.”

I am pleased to welcome some Franciscan bishops, and in particular I greet the bishop of Assisi, Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino, who represents the Church of Assisi, the home of Francis and Clare, and spiritually, of all the Franciscans. We know how important it was for Francis, the link with the bishop of Assisi at the time, Guido, who acknowledged his charisma and supported it. It was Guido who presented Francis to Cardinal Giovanni of St. Paul, who then introduced him to the Pope and encouraged the adoption of the Rule. Charism and institution are always complementary for the edification of the Church.

What should I tell you, dear friends? First of all I would like to join you in giving thanks to God for the path that he has marked out for you, filling you with his benefits. And as Pastor of the Church, I want to thank him for the precious gift that you are for the entire Christian people. From the small stream that flowed from the foot of Mount Subasio, it has formed a great river, which has made a significant contribution to the universal spread of the Gospel. It
all began from the conversion of Francis, who, following the example of Jesus “emptied himself” (cf. Phil 2:7) and, by marrying Lady Poverty, became a witness and herald of the Father who is in heaven. To the “Poverello” [little poor man], one can apply literally some expressions that the apostle Paul uses to refer to himself and which I like to remember in this Pauline Year: “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And this life, I live in the flesh, I live by faith of the Son of God who has loved me and given himself for me” (Gal. 2:19-20). And again: “From now on let no one bother me: for I wear the marks of Jesus on my body” (Gal 6:17).

St Paul icon.jpgFrancis reflects perfectly the footsteps of Paul and in truth can say with him: “For me, to live is Christ” (Phil 1:21). He has experienced the power of divine grace and he is as one who has died and risen. All his previous wealth, any source of pride and security, everything becomes a “loss” from the moment of encounter with the crucified and risen Jesus (cf. Phil 3:7-11). The leaving of everything at that point becomes almost necessary to express the abundance of the gift received. A gift so great as to require a total detachment, which itself isn’t enough; it requires a entire life lived “according to the form of the holy Gospel” (2 Tests, 14: the Franciscan Sources, 116).

And here we come to the point that surely lies at the heart of our meeting. I would summarize it as follows: the Gospel as a rule of life. “The Rule and life of the Friars Minor is this, to observe the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:” this is what Francis writes at the beginning of his Rule (Rb I, 1: FF, 75). He defined himself entirely in the light of the Gospel. This is his charm. This is his enduring relevance. Thomas of Celano relates that the Poverello “always held himself in the heart of Jesus. Jesus on the lips, Jesus in his ears, Jesus is his eyes, Jesus in his hands, Jesus in all the other members […] In fact finding himself often traveling and meditating or singing about Jesus, he would forget he was traveling and would stop to invite all creatures to praise Jesus” (1 Cel., II, 9, 115: FF115). So the Poverello has become a living gospel, able to attract to Christ men and women of all ages, especially young people, who prefer radical idealism to half-measures. The Bishop of Assisi, Guido, and then Pope Innocent III recognized in the proposal of Francis and his companions the authenticity of the Gospel, and knew how to encourage their commitment for the good of the Church.

Here is a spontaneous reflection: Francis could have also not gone to the Pope. Many religious groups and movements were forming during that time, and some of them were opposed to the Church as an institution, or at least didn’t seek the Churches’ approval. Certainly a polemical attitude towards the hierarchy would have won Francis many followers. Instead, he immediately thought to put his journey and that of his companions into the hands of the Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter. This fact reveals his true ecclesial spirit. The little “we” that had started with his first friars he conceived from the outset inside
francesco assisi.jpgthe context of the great “we” of the one and universal Church. And the Pope recognized and appreciated this. The Pope, in fact, on his part, could have not approved the project of the life of Francis. Indeed, we can well imagine that among the collaborators of Innocent III, some counseled him to that effect, perhaps fearing that his group of monks would end up resembling other heretical groups and pauperisms of the time. Instead the Roman Pontiff, well informed by the Bishop of Assisi and Cardinal Giovanni of St. Paul, was able to discern the initiative of the Holy Spirit and welcomed, blessed and encouraged the nascent community of “Friars Minor.”

Dear brothers and sisters, eight centuries have passed, and now you have wanted to renew this gesture of your founder. You are all sons and heirs of those origins, of that “good seed” which was Francis, who was conformed to the “grain of wheat” which is the Lord Jesus, died and risen to bring forth much fruit (cf. Jn 12:24). The saints propose anew the fruitfulness of Christ. As Francis and Clare of Assisi, you also commit yourselves to follow the same
Crucifix of San Damiano.jpglogic: to lose your lives for Jesus and the Gospel, to save them and make them abundantly fruitful. While you praise and thank the Lord who has called you to be part of such a great and beautiful family, stay attentive to what the Spirit says to it today, in each of its components, to continue to proclaim with passion the Kingdom of God, the footsteps of your seraphic father. Every brother and every sister should keep always a contemplative mood, happy and simple; always begin from Christ, as Francis set out from the gaze of the Crucifix of San Damiano and from the meeting with the leper, to see the face of Christ in our brothers and sisters who suffer and bring to all his peace. Be witnesses to the “beauty” of God, which Francis was able to sing contemplating the wonders of creation, and that made him exclaim to the Most High: “You are beauty!” (Praises of God Most High, 4.6: FF 261).

Dear friends, the last word I would like to leave with you is the same that the risen Jesus gave to his disciples: “Go!” (cf. Mt 28:19, Mk 16:15). Go and continue to “repair the house” of the Lord Jesus Christ, his Church. In recent days, the earthquake that struck the Abruzzo region has severely damaged many churches, and you from Assisi know what this means. But there is another “ruin” that is far more serious: that of people and communities! Like Francis, always start with yourselves. We are the first house that God wants to restore. If you are always able to renew yourselves in the spirit of the Gospel, you will continue to assist the pastors of the Church to make more and more beautiful the Church’s face, that of the bride of Christ. The Pope, now the same as then, expects this of you. Thank you for coming! Now go and bring to all the peace and love of Christ the Savior. May Mary Immaculate, “Virgin made Church” (cf. Greetings to the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1 FF, 259), accompany you always. And may my Apostolic Blessing, which I cordially impart to all of you here present, and the entire Franciscan family, support you as well.

Benedictus PP. XVI

See the video clip on the Pope-Franciscan visit

Saint Anselm

Saint Anselm, Abbot, Bishop, Doctor of the Church (1033 – 1109)

St Anselm.jpgThis year marks the ninth centenary of the death of Saint Anselm, often referred to as the “Father of Scholasticism,” though he is one among many who are said to be the “Father of Scholasticism,” a philosophical movement which sought to express religious dogma within a philosophical framework dependent on the Fathers of the Church, especially Saint Augustine of Hippo, and the teaching of Aristotle. He relied on reason to argue for the existence of God and other theological tenets.

Three of Anselm’s best known works of more than 10 known works, On Divine Being (Monologion),  Why God Became Man (Cur Deus Homo) and the treatise on the Knowledge of the Existence of God (the Proslogion) continue to keep his name alive in philosophical and theological circles.

Born in Aosta, Italy, he traveled to France for his education where he eventually became a monk at the newly founded monastery of Bec in Normandy. In 1063 he was appointed Prior of the monastery. He was profoundly influenced by the charismatic scholar and abbot, Lanfranc, who was to become the close friend of the Norman Duke, William, famous for his conquest of England in 1066. Lanfranc was appointed archbishop of the primatial See of Canterbury, continuing to be the trusted advisor of the king and pursuing a policy of reforming the Church in England along Norman lines through ecclesiastical administration, liturgical ritual, and Romanesque architecture.

Anselm, after his election as abbot of Bec (1078), was able to use his long tenure in office for scholarly and spiritual pursuits, a life to which he was ideally suited. Under Anselm Bec as an intellectual center expanded. Following Lanfranc’s death, William II nominated Anselm to the See of Canterbury (1093), where, however, his temperament and continual conflicts with the Anglo-Norman kings caused him bitter disappointment and exile.

 

We beseech Thee, O Lord, graciously enlighten Thy Church, that being illumined by the teaching of blessed Anselm, Thy Confessor and Bishop, she may attain to eternal gifts.

Visiting Portsmouth Abbey

Abbey church & lawn.JPGThis past week I spent it visiting friends at Portsmouth Abbey. Savoring the graces of Easter was an important part of my desire to be away from that which is “normal”  plus visiting friends who I haven’t seen in a while was refreshing. There are 13 monks resident.

Portsmouth is a monastery of Benedictine monks under the patronage of Saint Gregory the Great. The abbey has been in Portsmouth, Rhode Island since 1926 located 7 miles north of Newport and 20 minutes south of Fall River on Narragansett Bay. The location is beautiful and for me, quintessentially “New England.” Among many things the abbey is famous for historically being populated by monks who converted to Catholicism and for the school the monks run, Portsmouth Abbey School.

Continue reading Visiting Portsmouth Abbey

The depth of love made visible

… the proverbial scene of the doubting Thomas that occurred eight days after Easter is very well known. At first he did not believe that Jesus had appeared in his absence and said: “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe” (Jn 20: 25).

Incredulity of Thomas Mazzolino.jpgBasically, from these words emerges the conviction that Jesus can now be recognized by his wounds rather than by his face. Thomas holds that the signs that confirm Jesus’ identity are now above all his wounds, in which he reveals to us how much he loved us. In this the Apostle is not mistaken.

As we know, Jesus reappeared among his disciples eight days later and this time Thomas was present. Jesus summons him: “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing” (Jn 20: 27).

Thomas reacts with the most splendid profession of faith in the whole of the New Testament: “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20: 28). St Augustine comments on this: Thomas “saw and touched the man, and acknowledged the God whom he neither saw nor touched; but by the means of what he saw and touched, he now put far away from him every doubt, and believed the other” (In ev. Jo. 121, 5).

The Evangelist continues with Jesus’ last words to Thomas: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (Jn 20: 29). This sentence can also be put into the present: “Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe”.

In any case, here Jesus spells out a fundamental principle for Christians who will come after Thomas, hence, for all of us.

It is interesting to note that another Thomas, the great Medieval theologian of Aquinas, juxtaposed this formula of blessedness with the apparently opposite one recorded by Luke: “Blessed are the eyes which see what you see!” (Lk 10: 23). However, Aquinas comments: “Those who believe without seeing are more meritorious than those who, seeing, believe” (In Johann. XX lectio VI 2566).

In fact, the Letter to the Hebrews, recalling the whole series of the ancient biblical Patriarchs who believed in God without seeing the fulfilment of his promises, defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11: 1).

The Apostle Thomas’ case is important to us for at least three reasons: first, because it comforts us in our insecurity; second, because it shows us that every doubt can lead to an outcome brighter than any uncertainty; and, lastly, because the words that Jesus addressed to him remind us of the true meaning of mature faith and encourage us to persevere, despite the difficulty, along our journey of adhesion to him.

A final point concerning Thomas is preserved for us in the Fourth Gospel, which presents him as a witness of the Risen One in the subsequent event of the miraculous catch in the Sea of Tiberias (cf. Jn 21: 2ff.).

On that occasion, Thomas is even mentioned immediately after Simon Peter: an evident sign of the considerable importance that he enjoyed in the context of the early Christian communities.

Indeed, the Acts and the Gospel of Thomas, both apocryphal works but in any case important for the study of Christian origins, were written in his name.

Lastly, let us remember that an ancient tradition claims that Thomas first evangelized Syria and Persia (mentioned by Origen, according to Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 3, 1) then went on to Western India (cf. Acts of Thomas 1-2 and 17ff.), from where also he finally reached Southern India.

Let us end our reflection in this missionary perspective, expressing the hope that Thomas’ example will never fail to strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Our God.

(Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience 27 July 2006)

Divine Mercy

Divine Mercy.JPGOn one occasion Saint Faustina heard these words of the Lord:

“My daughter, tell the whole world about My Inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will I contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.” (Diary 699)

Happy 4th anniversary Pope Benedict!

Pope with child.jpgLord, source of eternal life and truth, give to Your shepherd, Pope Benedict, a spirit of courage and right judgment, a spirit of knowledge and love.

By governing with fidelity those entrusted to his care may he, as successor to the apostle Peter and vicar of Christ, build Your Church into a sacrament of unity, love, and peace for all the world.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

 

May God grant Pope Benedict many years!

The Resurrection of Christ Proves that the Body Rises

Resurrection Veronese.jpgIf [God] had no need of the flesh, why did He heal it? And what is most forcible of all, He raised the dead. Why? Was it not to show what the resurrection should be? How then did He raise the dead? Their souls or their bodies? Manifestly both. If the resurrection were only spiritual, it was requisite that He, in raising the dead, should show the body lying apart by itself, and the soul living apart by itself. But now He did not do so, but raised the body, confirming in it the promise of life. Why did He rise in the flesh in which He suffered, unless to show the resurrection of the flesh? And wishing to confirm this, when His disciples did not know whether to believe He had truly risen in the body, and were looking upon Him and doubting, He said to them, “Ye have not yet faith, see that it is I”; and He let them handle Him, and showed them the prints of the nails in His hands. And when they were by every kind of proof persuaded that it was Himself, and in the body, they asked Him to eat with them, that they might thus still more accurately ascertain that He had in verity risen bodily; and He did eat honey-comb and fish. And when He had thus shown them that there is truly a resurrection of the flesh, wishing to show them this also, that it is not impossible for flesh to ascend into heaven (as He had said that our dwelling-place is in heaven), “He was taken up into heaven while they beheld,” as He was in the flesh. If, therefore, after all that has been said, any one demand demonstration of the resurrection, he is in no respect different from the Sadducees, since the resurrection of the flesh is the power of God, and, being above all reasoning, is established by faith, and seen in works.

Saint Justin Martyr, before A.D. 165, from some lost fragments on the Ressurection