THE DIVINE PLAN

            From our reading of the gospels and the epistles, especially St Paul's, we learn that Jesus Christ, the God-man, was the being first thought of and first willed by God when God decided to make his goodness known by creating. We find a firm foundation for our conviction in Colossians 1:15-20. I ask you, please, to read the text before you proceed.

            Clearly, St Paul is talking here about God the Son made man, the historical person Jesus Christ. God the Father decided that Jesus would be the one through whom and for whom all creation should exist. But the historical person Jesus who was born in a certain year and died in a certain year, St Paul says, is the head of a vast body extending through all space and time until the last day, and that is the whole Christ, the Church. God planned all creation to contribute to the whole Christ. When the whole reaches his full stature, when the Church reaches the fullness of love that God planned for it in the first place, then Jesus will present himself, the whole of his Church, to God the Father, and all creation will have achieved the purpose that God made it for.

            The order of priorities in God's plan is one thing; the order in which he realized his plan in creation is another. In fact, it was realized in the reverse order of priorities. This isn't surprising; it is the way in which any intelligent person carries out a plan - the goal is always the last thing to be realized, after the preparations.

            We can fail to recognize God's plan in creation  if we notice only the order of events in time.  From man's limited viewpoint, there first appeared creatures, then a man and a woman, then they sinned, then Jesus Christ was promised and lived, and continues to live on in his Church. It would seem from the order in which things happened that his coming was conditioned by human sin, and that his becoming man at all was merely an emergency measure to repair something that went very wrong in God's plan for creation.

            But, in the light of St Paul's revelation to the Colossians, which gives us God's point of view, Jesus Christ must be seen as chosen by God the Father as the end-product of creation, before any creatures were actually made. The whole Christ will comprise all those who will eventually make up the Church.

            St Paul describes the place of Jesus Christ in God’s plan again in his epistle to the Ephesians 1:3-11, which I ask you to read and meditate on.

            From these most precious revelations in Ephesians and Colossians, we see that the central place Jesus Christ has in God' s plan for the universe involves the following:

 -          All creatures exist for the sake of Jesus Christ;

 -          All are made in the likeness of Jesus;

 -         He is the appointed mediator between God the Father and all creatures.

-         He is the head of a body, and he gathers all things into unity in that body, the church.       (The  Catholic Church as we know it must constantly strive to be identified with that ultimate Church).

-        He is the supreme king and Lord of all, appointed so by God the Father; and the eternal priest, offering the worship of all creation to the Father. He is the adequate adorer and glorifier of the Father;

-       Only through him can we human beings come to know the Father and reach him;

-         He is the perfect model of our loving response to the Father.

            We who are searching to understand the meaning of our human existence will find it, fully and adequately, when we grasp with our mind and our heart all that Jesus Christ means with regard to all creation. This is what Jesus meant to St Francis, so much so that this vision of reality has been called Franciscan. It would be equally correct to call it Pauline (as we have seen, it was St Paul's vision), or Johannine (we shall see  that it also sums up St John's insight), or simply, Christocentric (Christ-centred).

GOD CREATED OUT OF GOODNESS AND LOVE

            We may still be wondering why did God devise a plan for creating Jesus Christ, because we haven't touched on that question. So far, we have filled out the statement that God did devise such a plan, and that it was St Francis's deep awareness of this that made Jesus Christ mean so much, literally everything, to him. St Francis also had deep insights into why God devised such a plan, and the Franciscan theologians studied these insights systematically. God himself provides the answer to why he devised the plan, and St Francis found it again in God's revealing word, the scriptures, especially in John.

            Before creation, and also after it, God is, eternal, and perfectly happy in the community of three Persons. So it wasn't to complete himself that he decided to create; it wasn't to fill out his happiness. St John has the reason: God is love. God foresaw the infinite number of ways that he could be imitated by creatures, different ways in which he could share his goodness and make others happy.

            God is goodness. God is love. He wanted to create a receiver of his unselfish love and generosity who would also give love of the same quality. Divine love planned and created with divine wisdom. The enormous complexity of countless millions of creatures, each one imitating God in some way, would be built into a perfectly splendid unity, the whole Christ loving God adequately.

            The object of his love-inspired plan, then, would be a perfect creature, a man, and a vast unified body of men and women, who would be identified with God the Son. He would be the perfect receiver and giver of love in the plan, and he would be the model according to which all other creatures were made.

                                                                                                          Carl Schafer OFM

                                                                                          National Assistant SFO - Oceania

PRIVILEGED

Immaculate Conception - December 8

            Today, we celebrate Our Lady's Immaculate Conception. Mary was conceived free from original sin. She was never estranged from God, and was never under the influence of the sinful disorder that we all inherited.

            God made an exception of Mary in view of her part in God's plan, because she would be given the choice of being the mother of God's Son. From the first moment of her existence when her parents conceived her, she was free from the condition of alienation from God, and from that accumulation of sinfulness which we have inherited from our parents, since the beginning.

            This was a remarkable privilege that God bestowed on the future mother of his Son, which still left her free to accept that motherhood. There is a danger that we may overstress this exceptional aspect of Mary. We may excuse ourselves from imitating her, and we may fail to appreciate our own privileged place in God's plan.

            God invited a particular woman to be the model of a life of faith, and to be his Son's mother and Mother of the Church. A model is meant to be copied. A mother is supposed to be imitated by her children.

            We may object that if this extraordinary person had the unique privilege of being conceived immaculate, how can we wayward individuals copy her? Let's think for a moment how being conceived immaculate compares with our privileges as Christians.

            God chose Mary to share in his life and love in a special way from the first instant of her human life. God chose each of us to share in his life and love in a special way when we were baptized. Most of us were baptized very soon after we were born.

            Mary never suffered the condition of estrangement from God. We no longer suffer that condition, not since our baptism, unless we deliberately choose to reject God. Even then, God offers us reconciliation.

            Did Mary have other privileges resulting from her freedom from original sin? Was she spared from death? The strongest tradition says that she died a natural death before her assumption, just as Jesus died a natural death before his resurrection. Was she spared from suffering? Certainly not. The gospels are clear about that.

            Sin holds a powerful fascination for us, and we show pitiful moral weakness in our lack of self-control. But Mary was free from the strong tendency to sin that plagues us. She did not inherit the moral weakness of her forefathers.

            But so were our first parents free from any inherited moral weakness, but that didn't stop them from falling out with God through pride. Also, the angels had freedom of choice to follow God's plan or their own, and many chose to reject God.

            Mary still had to cope with her freewill. If we do not believe that, then we make Mary out to be a goddess, or a robot. Mary could have chosen not to serve God. She was more capable of that sin than we are with our weakened freewill.

            Mary was privileged, but so are we. Her privileges suited her for the part that she was invited to play in God's plan, and so do ours.

            At Baptism, we are invited to share God's life and love. We are incorporated into his plan for Jesus Christ and the Church, as Mary was at her Immaculate Conception.

            At Confirmation, the Holy Spirit gives us added strength for our tasks in the Church and in the world, as he did to Mary at the Annunciation and at Pentecost.

            We, too, conceive the Son of God in our persons when we receive Jesus in Holy   Communion and we foster his growth by our loving service of others.

            God knows how many other privileges he has granted to each of us, or wishes to bestow on us for carrying out his plan. We should recognize the great things God has done to us, and express our thanks to the Blessed Trinity.

            Mary shows us how to be in tune with God's plan as it works itself out in us. She says: “Let it be done to me, Lord, according to your word.”

            St Francis expressed Mary’s prayer in his own words: “Most High, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart and give me true faith, certain hope, and perfect charity, sense and knowledge, Lord, that I may carry out your holy and true command” (FA:ED I, p.40).

            This is the way to use our privileges: “Lord, you have your plan for me. Do what you like with me.”

Carl Schafer OFM

National Assistant SFO - Oceania

Monthly Spiritual Message                                 

                                        “Where there is Despair, let me sow Hope

            What is hope? It is a theological virtue that makes us desire God as our highest Good, so that we expect, with a firm confidence, eternal happiness and the means to attain it. We have this conviction because of God’s goodness and power. Hope is infused into our soul with faith and charity when we are baptized. It is a firm and confident expectation because of God’s faithfulness to his promises.

            Jesus told us when he was here in earth: “He who perseveres to the end shall be saved” (Matt 24:13). “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find…. Knock and the door will be opened to you…. If a son asks for bread, will he give him a stone?” (Lk 11:9-11). Jesus in heaven is constantly interceding for us with the Father, and this assurance should give us great confidence and hope!

            Divine hope excludes anxiety and worry, though it is tempered with a salutary fear, because we realize our human weakness. We are not presumptuous because we also realize God’s goodness and power and love. St. John Chrysostom suggests that all our most grievous sins, set side by side with God’s mercy, are but a cobweb which is blown away by a single puff of wind. This thought is not an incentive to commit sin, which is always evil in the sight of God, but it is a strong statement of the infinite mercy of God, which is above all his works!

            It would be presumption on our part if we hope for heaven without divine help, or without good works, or if we sin because of God’s mercy.

            Our aim should be the growth of divine hope within us by using all the helps available to us. Let us begin with the psalms. In Psalm 55(56), we read: “Have mercy on me God, men crush me, they fight me all day long and oppress me. My foes crush me all day long, for many fight proudly against me. When I fear, I will trust in you, in God whose word I praise. In God I trust, I shall not fear: what can mortal man do to me? All day long they distort my words, all their thought is to harm me….You have kept a record of my tears, are they not written in your book? Then my foes will be put to flight, on the day that I call to you. This I know, that God is on my side. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not fear, what can mortal man do to me.?” How beautifully the psalmist expresses hope and confidence in God in this and in so many of the psalms!

            If we look at the many stories and parables in the New Testament, we see clearly how God wants us to trust and hope in his help. Before Jesus calmed the storm (Mk 4:35-4l), while he was in the boat with the apostles they underestimated his awareness of the situation and thought he was asleep. But he said to them: “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” If their faith was weak, their hope of safety in the treacherous storm would also have faded away! But in Psalm 145 we pray: “The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds. The Lord supports all who fall and raises all who are bowed down. The eyes of all creatures look to you and you give them their food in due time. You open wide your hand and grant the desires of all who live.”

            Among the stories of St. Francis, we read that he had terrible pain in his eyes for some fifty days and could not sleep. In his prayer, he heard the words: “Francis, if all the earth were gold, and the rocks precious stones, and the rivers ran with choicest balsam, and then if you were to find so precious a treasure that in comparison with it the gold were as vile as dust, the jewels of less price than common pebbles, and the balsam less valuable than water…and if all this were given to you as a reward for your present illness, would you not regard these sufferings precious and rejoice at them?” Francis replied: “I do not deserve such a treasure.” The Lord continued: “This priceless treasure is life everlasting which I have prepared for you, the pledge of which I give you in this infirmity.” The Saint rejoiced, he was encouraged and said: “Such is the happiness I seek, that every pain is delightful to me!”

            St. Vincent de Paul once said: “Even if the entire world were to rise up to destroy us, it could do nothing but what is pleasing to God, in whom we have placed our hope …You point out to me your miseries. And who is there that is not full of them? The only thing is to know them and to love the humiliation arising from them, as you do, without stopping except to lay the strong foundation of confidence in God. Then the house is built upon rock, and when the storm comes, it remains firm!”

                                                                                                Carmel Flora OFMCap

                                                                                       National Assistant SFO - Oceania

     Spiritiual Message For October 2008

Monthly Spiritual Message

                                                              September 2008

            "Where there is injury, let me sow pardon..."

The "Peace Prayer" of St. Francis reflects the sentiments of the Psalms which have a lasting value. Psalm 102 (103), for example, tells us to praise the God of merciful love..."My soul, give thanks to the Lord; all my being, bless his holy name. My soul, give thanks to the Lord, and never forget all his blessings. It is he who forgives all your guilt, who heals every one of your ills...who fills your life with good things, renewing your youth like an eagle's. The Lord does deeds of justice, gives judgment for all who are oppressed....The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy. His wrath will come to an end; he will not be angry for ever...

            "He does not treat us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our faults. For, as the heavens are high above the earth, so strong is his love for those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our sins....for he knows of what we are made, he remembers that we are dust.....But the love of the Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear...The Lord has set his sway in heaven, and his kingdom is ruling over all....

            "Give thanks to the Lord, all his hosts, his servants who do his will. Give thanks to the Lord all his works, in every place where he rules. My soul, give thanks to the Lord."

            God's loves for us is expressed most wonderfully in his mercy. This truth is expressed very clearly in a book written by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen O.C.D. titled, Divine Intimacy, published in the 1960's. He writes: "God's love for us assumes a very special character, one that is adapted to our nature as frail, weak creatures, the character of mercy. Mercy is love bending over misery to relieve it, to redeem it, to raise it up to itself. It almost seems that God, in loving us, is attracted by our weakness, not because it is lovable, but because being infinite goodness, his compassion stoops to compensate for it by his mercy. He wants to heal our imperfection by his infinite perfection, our impurity by his purity, our ignorance by his strength. God, the supreme, eternal good, wants to be the remedy for all our ills, "for he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust."

            "Since our greatest evil - rather, the only real evil - is sin, infinite mercy would be the remedy. Assuredly, God hates sin, but, although he is forced to withdraw his friendship - that is, his grace - from the soul of a sinner, because of the offense, his mercy still finds a way of continuing to love him. If he can no longer love him as a friend, he loves him as a creature, as the work of his hands; God loves him for the good that is still in him and which gives hope of his conversion. God's mercy is so immense that no misery, however great, can exhaust it: not even the most infamous sin can halt it, provided the sin is repented of.

            "There is no limit to God's mercy. He never rejects us because of our sins. He never grows weary of our infidelities. He never refuses to forgive us. He is always ready to forget all our offenses and to repay our ingratitude with graces. He never reproaches us for our offenses, even when we fall again immediately after being forgiven. He is never angered by our repeated failures or weakness in the practice of virtue, but always stretches out his hand to us, wanting to help us. Even when others condemn us, God shows mercy to us, he absolves us and sends us away justified, as Jesus did with the woman taken in adultery: "Go, and now sin no more." He also said to us: "Be merciful therefore, as your heavenly Father is also merciful."

            "How far does our mercy go? How much compassion do we have for the faults of others? The measure of God's mercy toward us will be our mercy toward our neighbour, for Jesus has said: 'With what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you again.' Jesus revealed to us the mystery of his heavenly Father's merciful love, not only for our own consolation and personal benefit, not only to give us absolute confidence in God, but also to teach us to be merciful to our neighbour. Good attracts good, goodness engenders goodness, and kindness inspires kindness. Therefore, the more we penetrate the mystery of infinite mercy, the more we will be incited to emulate it.

            "When we feel irritated with someone and little disposed to indulgence and pardon, we ought to plunge with all our strength into the consideration of the infinite mercy of God, in order to smother all harshness, resentment and anger in ourselves. It would not be difficult for us to realize that there is no moment of our lives in which we do not need the mercy of God."

            A beautiful prayer of St. Bernard may help us in our efforts to forgive, to show mercy and love to those who hurt us in some way…."O Lord, I run to you because you are so good and merciful, and because I know that you did not despise the poor nor hate the sinner. You did not reject the thief who confessed his sins, nor the weeping Magdalen, nor the suppliant Canaanite woman, nor the woman taken in adultery, nor the tax collector sitting at his counter, nor the publican who implored your mercy, nor the Apostle who denied you, nor even those who crucified you ….

            "O Lord, pour into my soul the dew of your mercy, fill my heart with charity, that I may know how to be all things to all people....Teach me to distil the sweet perfume of your mercy, which is composed of the needs of the poor, the anguish of the oppressed, the anxieties of the afflicted, the failures of sinners, and finally, all the pains of those who suffer, even if they be my enemies....All these things are repugnant to my nature, but you have said: 'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.’

            "O Lord, grant that I may pour out the perfume of mercy, not only on your head and your feet, but on your whole body, which is the church, so that it will lessen the sorrows of all your suffering members."

Carmel Flora OFM Cap.

National Assistant SFO – Oceania.

Year 8, No.8             

 Inner Healing as a Key

to Overcoming Personal Dysfunction.

Many of us can remember the fire burning within us as we sought to draw closer to God.  Part of this was to deepen our religious commitment.  For those of us truly afire with the Spirit, nothing seemed impossible, indeed all things were possible in Christ.  Unfortunately, after a period of time this zeal and energy diminished.  We don’t exactly know why or how it diminished within us, but we now often find ourselves in a dry difficult place.  Does any of this resonate with you?  Perhaps, one of the reasons isn’t the people around us as much as the way our past, if left unhealed, can imprison us.

As you may be aware, there is a very close relationship between memories of past hurts and the way we look upon our lives in the present.  For example, even our image of God can be coloured by the negative experiences we may have had in dealing with human authority.  A person who grew up with a father who seemed distant is likely to view God as being distant and inaccessible as well.

Behind every wounded memory is a fear.  That could be the fear of rejection, the fear of being unloved or uncared for. In any case, whatever the fear is, it is buried deep inside and operates automatically. Such fears become strongholds in us that drive aspects of our personality.  These strongholds are designed to protect and shield us from further pain or damage, which they do.  Unfortunately, they also keep us trapped in past hurts and prevent us from developing.  They impede our conversion, and therefore also impede our freedom.

It is only when we give God access to the recesses of our hearts that we will begin to experience divine healing. Divine healing?  Yes, divine healing because, as Sacred Scripture shows, at its root, every wound and every sin flows from a wounded relationship with God.  Therefore, when we seek to repair these wounds God can restore us.  So what are some of the features that we need to be aware of if we are to be restored to that relationship with God, through the Holy Spirit, where our hearts will once again be burning within us?

• We need to admit that we have a problem.  This is often apparent when people have problems with us (arguments or gossiping).

• We need to pray and ponder the Sacred Scriptures every day, especially the gospel accounts of our Lord’s passion and suffering.  As he forgave those who crucified him, we are touched by the Holy Spirit to forgive those who have done us harm.

• Be aware of, and alert to, the thoughts that go through your mind every day.  Compare the thoughts going through your mind with the gospel accounts.  For example when you encounter a certain person that irritates you, be aware of your thoughts towards them.  Are they gospel centered or not?

• Open your heart to true repentance.  Just because you go to confession or say that you forgive someone doesn’t mean that metanoia has taken place in you.  Metanoia involves a change in the way we think.  ‘I believe in Jesus now, I want to be with him and like him, I’ll not think about so and so like that again!’

• Practise forgiveness through faith in Jesus.  After all, Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 6) says: ‘Unless you forgive others their sins against you, your Father in heaven will not forgive you!!!!!’  If you have great difficulty in forgiving people from your heart (not just with your lips), then pray to Jesus for the gift of true forgiveness.  As you do this, look at a crucifix.

• Pray to God to set you free from the deformity of the past.  Healing can be immediate, or it might unfold over time (I’ve experienced both).  In any case, God’s healing, if sincerely and persistently sought, will always come.  After all, becoming holy is nothing more than becoming whole – the way God meant us to be.

• Seek help if necessary.  Get a spiritual director or spiritual friend,  one who is gospel orientated and interested in helping you.  That means one who listens to you, not one who does a lot of talking when you are with them.

Allowing God to break down the strongholds of negative and dysfunctional memories within us leads to healing and, via this, to freedom and renewed life.  It defuses and washes out of our system the self centered and destructive attitudes that have developed due to past hurts.  Like Francis, it is only when we embrace the liberating message of the Cross that we, like him, will know true healing and true joy.  Amen.

May the Lord grant you peace.

Friar David M. Huebner OFM Conv,

 National Assistant SFO – Oceania.

Almighty, eternal, just and merciful God,...
may we be able to follow in the footsteps of your beloved Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
 and, by your grace alone, may we make our way to you,
Most High, who live and rule
in perfect Trinity and simple Unity,
and are glorified God all-powerful, for ever and ever.
Amen.

St Francis, Letter to the Entire Order

AUSTRALIA'S VOCATION

April 25: Anzac Day

A nation, like a man or woman, comes to maturity through pain. On April 25, 1915, units of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps went ashore at a little cove on the Dardanelles. Australia came of age in Anzac Cove.

A nation's vitality is measured in struggles, sacrifices, and even tragedy. On this day, we remember, not only those who lost their lives at Gallipoli, but also those who died in France and Flanders, Palestine and Mesopotamia, the Western Desert, Syria, Greece, and Crete, in the skies above England and Europe, in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic; and those who died closer to home, off the coasts of Java, Timor, and in the Coral Sea, in New Britain and Bouganville, in Korea and Vietnam, recently in Afghanistan; in all theatres of war, in Europe, in the Middle East and in Asia, especially in Papua New Guinea.

In moments of tragedy, a nation has no time to reflect. Those who fell - our own fathers and brothers, your husbands and sons - some complainingly, some indifferently, some resignedly, and some heroically, all lost their lives for us. Whether they knew it or not, their vocation was self-sacrifice. They were called to save the land that they knew and loved.

They saved Australia for us, and for our future. That future is now.

Now, years later, when we remember those days, and the men and women who were sacrificed for us, we have time to think. Those who died bought us more time to reflect, to see ourselves clearly and the world around us, time to realise our calling.

There are Australians who see no special purpose for Australia. They don’t accept that God has any plan for us. Even if God exists, He has no interest in world affairs, they say. People are born, eke out an existence, and die, and all to no purpose. Self-sacrifice is insane; heroism is futile. Their grandfathers, fathers and brothers went looking for adventure. They found pain, and died.

People of faith see it differently. God loves us, and has plans for us. God loves those who threaten us. He has plans for them. God has brought us to maturity through tragedy and sacrifice, at a cost that was almost extreme. We count our northern neighbours in hundreds of millions, not Christian and even anti-Christian. But we, by the will of God, are a tiny, mainly Christian nation. Our service men and women fought to defend our freedom to be that way. We still survive as Christians.

I do not speak of destiny or fate. These are pagan ideas. I speak of God’s will and his calling us and keeping us. I believe that Australia has a vocation from God. We are Christ's door to Asia. He stands at the door even now and knocks. Furthermore, Asia has come to us. Our door has been opened wide. We have a vocation from God also with regard to them.

North Africa was once intensely Christian. Sainted bishops graced those lands, St Augustine and St Cyprian among many others. Christian mothers bore children in prison. Fine soldiers laid down their lives for their country and their Christian faith. However, Christian North Africa died with them, many centuries ago. We do not want this to happen to Australia.

Rome was no sooner Christian than she was crushed by pagan hordes. But Rome brought her conquerors to the feet of Christ. Only the Christian faith survived those invasions, but Rome fulfilled her calling, and continues to do so by God’s grace. Surely, this is Australia's vocation, to preserve the Christian faith for Asia and for Australia itself.

We pray for the survival of the land that we know and love, that Australians died for; not in vain, we trust. We pray for the survival of our Christian and Catholic faith and way of life.

In today’s Eucharist and in the two minutes' silence observed this day, we pray for our fallen who could show no greater love than the sacrifice of their lives. And in the face of new threats, we pray for strength to fulfil our own calling. Let our response be humble and grateful, and courageous.

On Anzac Day, we are not out to glorify war. Our heroes are not the war-mongers. War spells the victory of hatred and inflicts maximum injury, mainly on innocent people. We pray today for all those, combatants and also non-combatants, who have lost their lives through the ravages of war, that our merciful Saviour will claim them as his own.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.

Where there is hatred let us sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

And where there is sadness, joy.

Carl Schafer OFM

National Spiritual Assistant SFO – Oceania

  We're reminded today of a saint very dear to Irish-born Catholics among us and to many Australians (and New Zealanders) whose parents at some stage came from Ireland.

 Surely, this is the most colourful saint's day of the year, celebrated with sports carnivals, concerts and balls, patronised by countless O'Apostrophes festooned with green ribbons and clover leaves in lieu of shamrocks.

 Of course, there are many other Australian Catholics whose parents come from almost any country that you care to name, and from every continent, but the apostles of other nations aren't given anything like the recognition that the Australian Church accords to St Patrick.

 The Dutch in Australia celebrate their St Willibrord, the Germans their St Boniface, the Slavs their two Saints Cyril and Methodius. The Italians celebrate St Francis and the Maltese St Paul. But the Australian Catholic Church doesn't mark any of these days with the same degree of celebration, much less drink green beer for the occasion.

 I would be the last person to deprive our St Patrick's Day of its Irish colour. But why does the Australian Church celebrate the feast of St Patrick with special solemnity? Why is he the Patron Saint of the archdioceses of Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart and Auckland, and of hundreds of parish churches and schools?

 The prayer of St Patrick's Mass gives us the clue. It refers to St Patrick not as the apostle of Ireland (which he certainly was) but as the man who "preached God's glory to the nations”.

 This is precisely why he is so much venerated in Australia. It was in the person of Irish immigrants, whether in priest's biretta or nun's veil, in top hat or soft cap, or in convict chains, that St Patrick preached God's glory to our nation. St Patrick's day is essentially a festival of Australia's Catholic faith.

 The truth of it is obvious. Predominantly Irish people brought the Catholic faith to this apparently God-forsaken land. In spite of successive waves of immigration of Catholic people from many other countries, the Australian Church has always been deeply influenced by Irish Catholicism. Our faith was stamped with Irish qualities, and still is, although the influence has waned considerably.

 Outstanding among the fine qualities of the Faith in this country in earlier days was the people's tenacious hold of the Catholic faith as best they knew and loved it, in the face of extreme hardships:

 - their loyalty to the pope as head of the universal Church, to their local bishop and to their priests, when many of their fellow immigrants esteemed Roman clerics as a very low form of life;                            
                                      (compare SFO Rule Art. 6, Gen.Const. Art. 99)

 - their fidelity to the Mass - they had an unerring Christian sense that it was the Mass that mattered;                 (compare Rule8. Gen Const Art 99)

 - their courageous and often heroic support of Christian education for their Australian children, as opposed to the government's free, compulsory and secular education;                                    (G.C. 25)

 - their personal piety which is essentially belief put into practice. Practices of piety can become obsolete, but piety itself is never out of date.                                       (Compare Rule 7, Gen.Const. 17)

 These are some of the qualities of Irish faith that flourished on Australian soil, and that laid the foundations of the Australian Church. This is why we celebrate the Feast of St Patrick.

 But do we merely celebrate glories of the past, the accomplishments of the faith of our Australian pioneers? If that's all we're doing, we have put away our Catholic faith like a museum piece - to be admired but not to be touched, let alone put into effect in grappling with modern life.

 Consider just one of the fine qualities of Australian faith derived from the Irish - their fidelity to the Mass. It was the Mass in Latin, of course, and most of the people said their rosary while Father performed the Holy Sacrifice with his back to them, in mysterious isolation.

 It was a big shock to the system when a pope introduced the people's hand missals in 1900, and encouraged priests to spread this way of taking part in the Mass. What was Father doing, encouraging people to read a book at Mass? How can we say the rosary and juggle a book at the same time?

 Then it was an almighty shock when another pope in 1969 introduced the Mass in English. English! It's a profane language. How can we use that in the Holy Sacrifice? And why couldn't they have left us in peace with our lovely Key of Heaven manual?

 But the principle behind these changes is always the unerring Catholic and Irish one: "It's the Mass that matters." The SFO Rule, Article 8, and the General Constitutions, Article 14, say the same: “the Eucharist is the centre of the life of the Church... Therefore, the Eucharist should be the centre of the life of the fraternity.”

Carl Schafer OFM
National Spiritual Assistant SFO – Oceania

“Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace…..”

These first words of the “Peace Prayer of St. Francis” give us a good subject for meditation as we begin the New Year 2008 .If there is anything we really need in the world, it is peace within our own hearts and peace among one another. St. Francis was such a person who attained the reputation of being a peacemaker, as we see in the following story.

In the year 1220, Francis was preaching in the public square at Bologna, to a large gathering of people who listened intently to what he had to say. His style was not like the manner of other preachers of the day, but was very plain and unpretentious. The City had experienced much violence and bloodshed, but Francis’ manner and words touched their hearts. Their thoughts of violence were changed into thoughts of peace and reconciliation. That day, the little man of peace brought unity to a turbulent population, a conversion of hearts towards a union of mind and spirit.

Francis took the words of the Gospel seriously. “When you come into a house, salute it saying: ‘Peace be to this house’.” And even when he came to die these same thoughts were on his lips: “The Lord revealed to me this salutation that we should say: ‘May the Lord give you His Peace’.” St. Thomas says that peace is the “tranquility of order, within oneself and with others…Within ourselves in so far as we love God with our whole heart, by referring all things to Him, so that all our desires tend to one Object, God…With others, in so far as we love our neighbor as ourselves, so that we wish to fulfil our neighbor’s will as though it were our own.”

If charity is the cause or basis of peace, then failures in charity will certainly lead to a loss of peace; for example, a stubborn clinging to our own opinions, our own ideas. Someone expressed this attitude very well by saying: “There are two sides to every question – my side and the wrong side!” To have peace there must be consideration of the thoughts and feelings of others, a true listening to what may be different from our own opinions.

St. James says: “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” A little condescension, mild speech, can go a long way towards a peaceful home. “A mild answer breaks wrath, but a harsh word stirs up fury.”(Prov.15:1). A friend once told me –“The stubborn, angry person forgets that we are all human, we all make mistakes. That’s why there are erasers on pencils!”

A beautiful example of a peacemaker is our own St. Elizabeth of Portugal, a Secular Franciscan. Her very birth in 127l brought about reconciliation in her own family, between her father and grandfather. When she grew up and married King Denis of Portugal and bore him two children, her husband became a dissolute man who was a scandal to the court and whole country! Elizabeth was hurt not so much for herself, but that her husband was offending the Lord. So she persevered in prayer and penance until he finally received the grace of conversion.

That was not the end of her suffering. Her husband had a very serious quarrel with his brother over property rights and possessions. Elizabeth again became the peacemaker by giving to her brother-in-law an estate of her own. Harmony was once again restored, but her role as peacemaker continued.

Her own son, Alfonse, became ambitious and rose up against his father.  He gathered a considerable army to overcome his kingship. Not only did Elizabeth pray fervently for peace, but when the two armies faced each other, she mounted her horse and rode out into the middle of the two opposing groups, and her stirring words and courage prevented a terrible calamity. Her son was so moved by her courage and presence and pleas, that he dismounted from his horse and cast himself at the feet of his father, and asked his forgiveness….And her final effort as a peacemaker, was a similar feud between her son and son-in-law in which war was once again averted by her peacemaking efforts. All this took a terrible toll on her health and she died in 1336…..”How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, for they shall be called children of God” (Rom.10-15).

Carmel Flora OFMCap

National Spiritual Assistant SFO – Oceania.

   God made himself man, and became like us, even one of us. To those who lived near Jesus, he looked like a deeply spiritual religious man.“He worked with human hands, he thought with a human mind, acted by human choice, and loved with a human heart” (Gaudium et Spes 22).

   Those who accept Jesus see the Son of God incarnated in the life of every person. The Second Vatican Council proclaimed him as “the focal point of the longings of history and of civilization, the centre of the human race, the joy of every heart, and the answer to all its yearnings” (GS 45). Of course, this is nonsense to those who do not accept him, as St John points out. We are talking nonsense to a great many people around us. Our actions speak louder to them than our words.

   With Christ, our coming close to God has exceeded all hope. Jesus has made himself our brother. He has won for us entry into the family of God. We are sons and daughters of the one Father, his heirs, and guests at his table.

   St John’s gospel outlines the personality of the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, and reveals to us especially his obedience to the will of his Father. The gospel also shows his attractiveness as a leader and friend, his capacity to scrutinize hearts, his struggle against pharisaical duplicity, the power of his message to overturn the status quo.  The gospel highlights his dedication to peace and service, his attention to people suffering, his love for the poor and his own life of poverty.

   St Clare of Assisi caught that message when she wrote: “The King of the angels, the Lord of heaven and earth, is lying in a manger! What marvellous humility, what astonishing poverty!”

   We compose our own hymn to the Word of God by the way we live:

The Word is life. If we are fading, let us take heart.
The Word is light. In darkness, let us light our lamp from him.
The Word is grace. If we are self-sufficient, let us repent.
The Word is truth. Clinging to our own opinion, let us reflect.
The Word is life and light, grace and truth.

The Word is love. If we harbour resentment, let us give it up.
The Word is joy. If we are depressed, let us rejoice in him.
The Word is peace. If we hold antipathies, let us be reconciled.
The Word is love, joy and peace.

 Dear brothers and sisters, the eternal Word of God has been given to us as a human being. The Son of God the Father has been born to save us. St Francis loved Christmas day more than any other day of the year. He used to say, “The beloved most holy child has been given to us and has been born for our sake at the wayside and laid in a manger.”

   May we find in his poverty true riches; in his littleness true greatness; and in his self-giving love for all.

Car Schafer OFM

National Spiritual Assistant - Oceania

“The Sacrament of Love” and Saint Francis

 Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI released his Second Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, The Sacrament of Love , 22nd February 2007. In his introduction he writes: “The sacrament of charity, the Holy Eucharist, is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God’s infinite love for every man and woman. This wondrous sacrament makes manifest that greater love which led him to ‘lay down his life for his friends’ (Jn 15:13). Jesus did indeed love them “to the end”. In those words the Evangelist introduces Christ’s act of immense humility: before dying for us on the Cross, he tied a towel around himself and washed the feet of his disciples. In the same way, Jesus continues, in the sacrament of the Eucharist to love us “to the end” even to offering us his body and blood. What amazement must the Apostles have felt in witnessing what the Lord did and said during that Supper! What wonder must the Eucharistic mystery also awaken in our own hearts!”

      In the first part of his Letter he tells us that the Eucharist is a Mystery to be believed in faith. We need a “renewed awareness of the decisive role played by the Holy Spirit. Through the working of the Spirit, Christ himself continues to be present and active in his Church, starting with her vital centre which is the Eucharist. It must never be forgotten that our reception of Baptism and Confirmation, is ordered to the Eucharist. The gifts of the Spirit are given for the building up of Christ’s Body and for ever greater witness to the Gospel in the world. The Holy Eucharist brings Christian initiation to completion, and represents the centre and goal of all sacramental life. A love for the Eucharist leads to a growing appreciation of the sacrament of Reconciliation. The Fathers of the Church emphasized that the outcome of the process of conversion is also the restoration of full ecclesial communion, expressed in a return to the Eucharist.

      In the Sacrament of Holy Orders, “the priest is victim and altar, the mediator between God the Father and his people, who offers himself on the altar of the Cross…The ordained minister also acts in the name of the whole Church …above all when presenting the prayer of the Church…avoiding anything that might give the impression of an inordinate emphasis on his own personality…it is the office of the good shepherd who offers his life for his sheep.” The Eucharist, as a sacrament of charity, has a particular relationship with the love of man and woman united in marriage. A deeper understanding of this relationship is needed at the present time. The entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of Christ and the Church. If the Eucharist expresses the irrevocable nature of God’s love in Christ for his Church, we can then understand why it implies, with regard to the sacrament of Matrimony, that indissolubility to which all true love necessarily aspires.

      The Holy Father ends this first Chapter of the “Sacrament of Love” referring to the life to come. The Eucharistic banquet is described in the New Testament as the “marriage-feast of the Lamb” to be celebrated in the joy of the communion of saints. Celebrating the memorial of our salvation, strengthens our hope in the resurrection of the body, and in the possibility of meeting once again, face to face, those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. And finally, in Mary most holy, we also see perfectly fulfilled the sacramental way that God comes down to meet his creatures and involves them in his saving work. Obedient faith in response to God’s work shapes her life at every moment.

   “She is the Immaculata, who receives God’s gift unconditionally, the model for each of us, called to receive the gift that Jesus makes of himself in the Eucharist.”

      It has been said of St. Francis, that when he spoke of the Lord Jesus, he had foremost in his thoughts the Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. In his Testament he wrote: “In this world, I see nothing corporally of the Most High Son of God, but His most holy body and blood in the Eucharist.” In his “Reminders to the Brothers” he explains: “Our Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples…I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me. If you had recognized Me, you would have recognized my Father too.

      Now the Father dwells in light that cannot be penetrated, and nobody has ever seen God. Because God is a spirit, He can only be seen by means of the spirit; for it is the Spirit that gives life, whereas the flesh is of no avail. But since the Son is like the Father, He too is seen by nobody otherwise than the Father is seen, or otherwise than the Holy Spirit is seen. And so it was that those who saw Our Lord Jesus Christ only in a human way, and did not see nor believe that He was the true Son of God - as His divine nature demand - they all stood condemned. And so now with all those who see the Blessed Sacrament, sanctified by our Lord’s words on the altar through the hands of the priest, in the form of bread and wine – if they do not see and believe as the spirit and divine nature demand, that it is truly the most holy body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, they stand condemned, for it is the Most High who bears witness to it. He says: “This is My body, and the blood of the New Testament,” and “he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood, has life everlasting.”

   “Thus it is the spirit of the Lord, which dwells in those who believe in Him, that truly receives the most holy body and blood of our Lord. All the rest, who have nothing of that spirit and presume to receive Him, eat and drink judgment to themselves. So, you children of men, how long is your sense going to stay dull? Why do you not see the truth and believe in the Son of God? See day after day, He humbles Himself, as when He came down from His royal throne into the Virgin’s womb. Day by day He comes to us personally in this lowly form. Daily He comes down from the bosom of His Father, on the altar into the hands of the priest. And just as He appeared before the holy apostles in true flesh, so now He has us see Him in the sacred bread. Looking at Him with the eyes of their flesh, they saw only His flesh, but regarding Him with the eyes of the spirit, they believed that He was God. In like manner, as we see bread and wine with our bodily eyes, let us see and believe firmly that it is His most holy body and blood, true and living. For in this way our Lord is ever present among those who believe in him, according to what he said: ‘Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world’.”

      As Fr. Augustine expresses it: “The faith of Francis beholds behind the crystal of the monstrance, on the linen of the altar, and on the tongue of the communicant, the hands and feet, the personality and the saving grace of Him who once walked the fields of Galilee and Judea, and to whom he himself had sworn allegiance as a knight of the cross. And this unfathomable mystery and infinite treasure, the priest calls back from the bygone days of Palestine into hearts of the least of men. The thought is overwhelming, is staggering to the human mind.”

      I believe St. Francis, were he alive today, would read and re-read Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Letter on “The Sacrament of Love” with deep love and appreciation.   

                                                                           
Carmel Flora OFMCap
National Spiritual Assistant SFO – Oceania.

The Transitus of our holy father St. Francis will already have been celebrated when most of you receive this spiritual reflection.  Francis’ passing from mortal to everlasting life can be viewed in many ways.  One worldly way to view the time leading up to and including Francis’ death is negatively (typical of the world). Namely, that he was in poor health, nearly blind, loosing lots of blood every day, in very poor physical shape, wracked by pain & in desolate surroundings (lying on a bed made of sticks & pestered by biting mice).  The worldly would say, “Why believe in a god that allows so much misery to afflict a faithful soul?”  This is a very real concern.  This is a very real question.  How would you go about answering it?

One way to go about entering into a dialogue with our worldly minded brothers and sisters is from the perspective of Christian hope.  Not much is written or even heard of Christian hope these days, yet it accompanies us on ‘every step home to heaven.’  Christian hope is different from a worldly hope: I hope I’ll win the lotto tonight; I hope things get better; I hope I’ll get a pay rise; I hope so and so wins the election, etc.  Here hope is a kind of weak wish that things will get better.  Christian hope is something entirely different.

Hope revealed in Sacred Scripture means more than a vague wish that something positive will happen.  It is grounded in faith, with a sure and confident expectation in God’s promises and presence.  For a Christian, hope is the horizon that extends beyond death into the eternity prepared by God himself, the reality of which is guaranteed by Christ, namely: God & Christ are the hope of believers (Ps 71.5; Jer 14.8; Mt 12.21; Acts 28.20 & many more).  Specifically hope has the foundation of the promise of an everlasting, ever joyful resurrection from the dead (Acts 23.6; Tit 1.2; Rom 8.18-21; 2 Cor 3.10-12; Gal 5.5; & many other references).  The temporal world is not our permanent abode.

It is precisely the elements of Christian hope that are lacking in the worldly minded, in the self-centered, in the self-indulgent, & the materialistic who live from a “only one life, make the most of it” mindset.  An absence of Christian hope leads to a loss of vision, a sense of despondency and ultimately despair.  Sounds depressing, in fact this sounds like depression, doesn’t it?  (See Job 17.13-15; Isa 19.9; 38.18; 2 Cor 1.8; Ezk 37.11; Jer 8.3; Rev 9.6.)  And let’s not forget that depression is very alive and active in today’s world, afflicting many.

At times God can seem very close to us and hope becomes real and tangible.  But at other times, especially when trouble, grief or tragedy strike our hope seems to evaporate.  Brothers and sisters of Jesus and Francis, sometimes we can be very worldly minded and devoid of hope.  We run on automatic, attend mass, attend meetings, receive spiritual input yet remain dry, despondent, and lifeless. 

This is precisely why the witness of St Francis is so important.  Despite his pain, discomfort, suffering, ailments, alienation, weakness and trauma; he always witnessed to his hope of being resurrected in the Lord Jesus.  This was his goal: to be with the One he loved and served on earth.  The One he always trusted to work ‘all things’ for the good of those who believe.  Difficult circumstances did not drag him down, as they do the worldly minded.  Indeed all the burdens he bore culminated in the kind of death we recognize as leading to eternal life.

As I said earlier, I strongly believe, and the lives of the saints testify to the fact that hope accompanies every step of those who are ‘heaven directed.’  How else could Francis have died joyfully and at peace?  And what was the powerhouse that drove him to this vision?  Please take a little pause and think about it.  After all this is what spiritual input is about.  What would you say was the powerhouse of Francis’ happy death despite being surrounded by what the worldly minded fear and despair about? 

We do not have to guess at the answer because Francis himself said at the end of his life “When I left the world what was bitter to me seemed sweet. ………. The Most High Himself revealed to me that I should live according to the form of the Holy Gospel.” (Testament)  “I have done my part; may Christ teach you yours.”  (2 Cel. 214)  In this we can see ‘hope fulfilled’ despite what the world would call unfair circumstances.

What the world thinks contemptible can be, for the heaven directed soul, a means of sanctification.  Therefore with the memory of Francis’ Transitus fresh in our minds let us embrace the hope-filled legacy it contains: “I have done my part; may Christ teach you yours.”  Let us use the discomfort and suffering that difficult circumstances generate in worldly minded people as an opening in order to try to restore a vision of Christian hope in their lives.

Father Francis we thank you for this legacy of hope; we accept your hope directed aspiration that Christ is indeed teaching and guiding us to do our part.  Please pray for us that we may be become beacons of hope in our part of the world.  And may we offer this hope to those we encounter.  Amen.

SFO Spiritual Letter for August 2007

Ordinary Time: A Season of New Life & Hope in Christ through Prayer.

Pax et Bonum my dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus and Francis.  The winter period of Ordinary time can be for many of us a time of spiritual desolation.  A time where going to bed early, sleeping in, or relaxing in front of the tele in a warm room can take priority over the need for prayer at a deeper level.

I’m not talking about praying the Divine Office or actively participating in the Eucharist, even perhaps on a daily basis for those blessed with access & a deeper than normal sense of dedication to our Sacred Mysteries.  What I am talking about is personal prayer at the level of real personal connection with God.  Heart to Heart, spirit to Spirit, life to Life.  The kind of prayer that our Pope of happy memory J. P. II has often described as “the well from which we draw salvation.”  This insight accurately describes Francis’ own sentiments, frequently seeking out isolated places for deep bouts of personal, encountering prayer.

Outlined below is a method of “Encountering Prayer” that I use.  It is one that I have come to under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and I thank God for it, because if done properly one will have a personal encounter with God.  Are you ready to discover it?

* Before beginning we need to make a transition from the secular (the every day) to the holy.  We need a personal holy space dedicated to the task, preferably in our own homes where we can minimize disruptions (take the phone off the hook for example), and feel comfortable.  We need to have a focus point: a blessed candle, a San Damiano Crucifix or similar icon.  We can even face in the direction of the nearest Tabernacle and make a spiritual communion: “Lord I know that your real presence abides in this tabernacle, I bind myself to you; please help me to pray.”  Obviously you have your own methods for doing the same.
* Once this has been organized sing a holy song out loud.  I usually use Taize or Benediction music & sing along with the C.D.  This is necessary in order to lift our heart and mind to God.  In entering the song properly, and by offering it to God whole heartedly, we can make a journey of “transition of disposition” open to Encounter.  Once this has been done we may be ready to begin prayer. 
* Please note that the process I outline never fails to work if the ‘transition of disposition’ is made.  At least I’ve never experienced it failing.  If transition is not made; how can it work?  Step 1:  Think to yourself and say out loud and keep repeating, “God, you are first in my life!”  When you believe this without doubt you will already have experienced God drawing closer.  Do not attempt step 2 without completing the above steps.  The same holds true for all that follows.
* Step 2:  Already experiencing Him drawing near make an act of love and trust, “Lord I trust in your providential love and concern for me.  Father thankyou for accepting me as your child through Christ Jesus your Son.”  This step is not a formula, you can use your own words.
* Step 3:  And this is very important, bless God for all the current circumstances in your life, both good and bad.  For example, Lord thank you that all my physical needs have been met and thankyou for my failing health because it makes me more aware and dependant on you.  After you have sincerely done this, and it can be done quite briefly once you are proficient, ask for forgiveness.
* Step 4:  Name your sins out loud, pray for contrition if it is lacking, confess them (if the sin is of a serious nature you still need to frequent the Sacrament of Penance), ask for forgiveness and renewal of life.  Thank our Lord sincerely when forgiveness is experienced, then go onto stage 5.
* Step 5:  Address God directly, “ABBA, FATHER” or “Jesus my Lord,” or similar.  It must be your personal direct approach to God, who is now sensed by you as being very close and truly present.  Offer him yourself, speak to him of your needs and concerns.  Offer him your intentions or petitions.  Whatever is on your mind: problem, praise, request, etc – speak it out loud to him.
* Step 6:  Once you have spoken to God thank him for this opportunity to express your reliance upon him.  “Thanks Lord, I trust in you and am happy that you provide all I need,” or similar sentiments.
* Step 7:  Ask God for his direct assistance.  For example you may have offered up a petition to him to help an ill friend, so ask: “ABBA, FATHER,” in Jesus’ name I ask you to please assist my friend in regaining her or his health.  This is more than simply re-offering a petition.  This is now a deep personal plea to the God who has power to grant the request.  Our aim is that through our love of the person, God will respond in love and help.  None of the above steps can ever happen if motivated by self-seeking, after all Jesus came to be served, not to be served.  However this should not hinder us in making our own personal needs heard.
* Step 8:  Expect (look for, anticipate, hope) to receive an answer, but in God’s time and in his way.  After all he is Sovereign Lord.  Doubt not in your heart that his help is already delivering on your request.
* Step 9:  Thank him whole-heartedly for visiting you in this special way.  I usually sing him a final song with as much love as I can muster after asking him to bless me through Jesus his Son.

I’ll be interested to hear any comments.  I pray that new life be poured out upon all who sincerely seek re-newel of life and a deeper, personal connection with God.

May the Lord grant you peace.

Friar David M. Huebner OFM Conv, National Assistant SFO – Oceania.

Shrine of Gorcum Martyrs

MARTYRS

In recent years and almost every day, we hear of suicide bombers called martyrs. "Martyr" means "witness". What these men and some women witness to is opposite to what Christian martyrs have witnessed to for two thousand years. They are intent on killing as many of their perceived enemies as possible in the act of killing themselves. Their reward is expressed in terms of superabundant bodily pleasure promised to them after their death.

Christian martyrs never take their own lives. Instead, their life is taken from them out of hatred for their Christian faith. Rather than deny Jesus Christ, their Saviour and the Son of God, they accept a usually violent death at the hands of their persecutors. Their reward is expressed in terms of the fullness of eternal life, love, joy and peace, in union with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In July, we remember some eminent Franciscan martyrs. The Memorial on July 8 of the Boxer martyrs of China falls on a Sunday this year, but the Martyrs of Gorcum in Holland are remembered on Monday, July 9.

About 25,000 Chinese Catholics and 43 European missionaries were martyred during the Boxer Persecution of 1900. The Boxers were a fanatical sect who, with official approval, murdered Christian missionaries.

On July 9, 1900, 26 Catholics of Taiyuanfu were murdered. Five of them were Franciscan friars, including two bishops, Gregory Grassi, and Francis Fogolla. Seven were Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, the first martyrs of their congregation. There were five Chinese seminarians, all of them Franciscan Tertiaries. There were six Tertiary laymen and three laymen who were not Tertiaries. The Tertiaries are celebrated as martyrs by the Secular Franciscan Order and the entire Franciscan Family.

The Calvinists in Holland in the late 1500’s persecuted those who confessed the Catholic Faith. The martyrs gave their lives particularly in defense of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and the Primacy of the Roman Pontiff.

When the Calvinists occupied the city of Gorcum, they detained nineteen of the clergy as prisoners There were four secular priests, four priests of other religious orders, and eleven Friars Minor of the friary at Gorcum, with their Guardian Nicholas Pick. They suffered furious abuse from their captors. Eight days later, they were taken to Briel, where the Calvinist leader had them all hanged, on July 9, 1572.

What did these ordinary people like us witness to? How did they react in the worst of circumstances?

It is a natural reaction to be defensive and offensive to an enemy. Jesus, in Luke's gospel (Lk 6:22), mentions some death-dealing reactions: hate, curse, treat badly, do bodily harm, take away necessities, rob, judge, condemn.

As Christians, we suffer the same negative stimulus from an enemy, but we can react in life-giving ways. We are expected to overcome evil with good. We do this, not by any power of our own, but by the Spirit of Jesus active and living in us. We discover we can do what we thought was impossible in the circumstances: love, do good, bless, pray, endure bodily harm, do without necessities, give, surrender possessions, lend, be compassionate, refuse to judge, refuse to condemn, and grant pardon.

The Christian martyr discovers he or she can love in the face of another's enmity. Merciful love, love revealed in forgiving, this is the love we can have for someone who has hurt us, even to the extreme of killing us. This is how our Franciscan martyrs reacted.

Jesus had to die at the hands of his enemies in order to live. He had to love his enemies in order to love utterly. Our believing the Christian faith is defective if the impossible "Love your enemies" is not made possible by Jesus living in us.

St Francis reminded us of what the Lord said: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who persecute and slander you." St Francis commented, in his ninth Admonition, "That person truly loves his enemy who is not hurt by an injury done to him, but, because of love of God, is stung by the sin of his soul. Let him show [the enemy] love by his deeds." This is Christian martyrdom, witnessing to the God of love.

Merciful love is revealed in forgiving. The Spirit inspires life-giving reactions where there was only death-dealing provocation. The Spirit of the risen Christ creates love where love was humanly impossible.

"Love your enemies." We must love and forgive, since we call on the mercy of God for ourselves. If we are afraid that this is impossible, Jesus assures us we can love our enemies by the power of his Spirit living in us.

It has been typical of Christian martyrs to sing the Te Deum in prison and on the way to their death. Let us join them in their praise of our God of love.

We praise you, O God:
we acclaim you as the Lord....
The white-robed army who shed their blood for Christ,
all sing your praise.
And to the ends of the earth
your holy Church proclaims her faith in you....
You, Christ, are the king of glory,
Son of the eternal Father.
You redeemed your people by your precious blood.
Come, we implore you, to our aid.

Carl Schafer OFM
National Spiritual Assistant SFO - Oceania

RESURRECTION

Every Sunday, as we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, we also look forward to our own resurrection with Christ. We express our faith and hope in the Creed.

We believe that Jesus of Nazareth was a man like us in every way, yet never sinned (Heb 4:15). We believe that the same Jesus rose from death in his human body and that he lives with God for ever.

We believe also in the resurrection of our body from death and in everlasting life with God. As St Paul says, "If we have died with Christ, we believe that we are also to live with him" (Rom 6:8).

Even as we state our belief, perhaps we feel that there is a great gap between the creed that we say every Sunday and what we experience every day. It is possible that our belief in the resurrection has no influence whatever on our daily life. But a creed that we really believe in gives rise to faith, confidence and trust. A creed that we really live has an influence on our daily lives and leads to positive action.

If we think of resurrection as, at least, the ability to keep growing as a person, spiritually and morally, then our human experience is full of resurrection.

It is certain that our bodily life, through ups and downs, reaches a climax and declines. Then weakness and bodily failure prevail, and the body eventually dies. Also our mental faculties have their peaks and troughs, and finally die out. But at the same time our moral and spiritual life can keep growing as we get older and our person is prepared for its final resurrection from bodily death.

We all experience resurrection whenever we grow in faith, hope, and love. From day to day, we are raised to lasting life when, for example, we develop a better understanding of ourselves before others and before God. This self-knowledge often comes to us through pain, illness, or depression, or just through being overlooked.

We have an experience of resurrection also when we pull ourselves together after failure and try again We give proof of resurrection when we run the risk of opening ourselves to the needs of others, and when we develop our talents for the good of others.

We experience the resurrection when we check bitterness, resentment, or anger, and in the same situations find reasons to be thankful and generous.

We have some part in the resurrection when we begin something good and persevere in it, for example, our baptismal commitment, marriage, priesthood or religious profession.

Each new self-revelation humbly accepted, and every new attempt that we make after failure are experiences of resurrection in our daily life. Likewise, the resurrection is revealed in every act of trust in response to another's love, and every effort to broaden our point of view and judge with compassion.

If we come to know resurrection in our daily life, we will have some inkling of what will happen when, with the Risen Christ, we will conquer death of body and mind.

If we open ourselves continually to the love of God and others, whatever happens, we will eventually be taken over by Love in person. When the course of our life reaches its lowest point in death, we will be taken up into an entirely new existence, which is the life of the risen Christ.

We were not made for suffering. We were made for resurrection. We can get too caught up in the mystique of suffering. At first glance, it may seem that St. Francis was too caught up in it. However, we should remember the joyful way that he lived and invited others to live. If we recall the way he died, we will realize how centred he was in the Resurrection. He understood the Cross as the way to his final objective, which was fullness of life in Jesus Christ, his risen Lord.

We are not dealing with some vague expectation or with only a future resurrection. We are living in a reality already present and active, already at work in our lives through our baptism. We are already mysteriously resurrected. At the same time, we are painfully aware that Christ’s resurrection still hasn't penetrated fully into our daily life. We are and we aren't resurrected. Between these two poles lies our path through life.

Saint Francis incorporated the Cross into the Resurrection in the experiences of his own life. On Alverna the winged Seraph appeared to him crucified, but radiant in glory. The vision filled him with immense joy. But because Francis was still on the road to his goal, the Stigmata caused him physical agony, in fact, a two-year crucifixion.

In those two years especially, Francis endured the test of physical suffering, went through terrible spiritual darkness, and suffered abandonment. But the agony was translated into a deep joy which never left him. Joy came from knowing that he was travelling the path by way of the Cross to resurrection with his Lord. At the end, Sister Death was only a transition from this life to eternal life, in the expectation of his bodily resurrection.

Not the Cross but the Resurrection is our goal in life. Let us pray that Jesus will bring about his Resurrection in each of us through the little resurrections in our everyday lives. Let us feel it intensely, live it out faithfully, experience it joyfully, and proclaim it boldly.

Carl Schafer OFM

National Spiritual Assistant SFO - Oceania

HUMILITY OF GOD

FRANCIS AND PENANCE

Unlike Christ who was without sin, we who are sinners must undergo continual conversion, what Francis called a "life of penance." In the beginning of his conversion, he realized his need to overcome his repugnance to lepers in order to follow Christ completely, without reserve. He attributed the grace to love lepers, to help them even to bathe them, to the Lord "who led him among them". And what seemed so bitter before, now that he was "free", was turned into sweetness of soul and body.

Here we have a good example of how each one of us must approach penance, with our own particular needs, weaknesses, sinfulness. Penance, the cross, is for all, but the manner of penance, the form which the cross takes, is not the same for all. It is very much individual. We are each called to move along a particular way of penance. Our identification is with Christ, not with this or that act of penance, or mortification, or self-denial, or particular discipline.

So we need not "force" ourselves to practise a particular type of mortification, unless it is imposed on us by the Church or obedience or necessity. The Church has mitigated the severity of external mortifications in our days, to leave scope for individual needs and attractions of grace. We may admire the austerity of St. Francis who drank hardly enough water to quench his thirst, but we may not be called to imitate him in this particular act of penance. In all humility, we must adopt another form of discipline to help overcome our sensuality.

Our mortifications must give expression to our inner turning to God in love. The pruning of the vine is only a means to produce greater fruit: penance is a help to true fulfilment. The emphasis is always on turning completely to the Father, total self-surrender to the Father's love and will for us. We may have little understanding of what "total self-surrender to God" means for us in all the details of our life, but we are approaching penance from the proper perspective. By concentrating on the outward manifestation of penance, we are in danger of forgetting what penance is all about. The goal of penance is God, not mortifications. The approach has to be by way of love; it must have its roots in charity, not austerity. Austerity may be a by-product but it is not the essential fruit. The infallible signs of penance are humility and charity.

A "false" saint can give a good account of himself in the matter of austerity, but no false saint can keep up humility and charity for long. Total surrender to God means that we do not tell him what kind of "penances" he should like to have from us: rather that we do and accept the style of penance that he indicates to us in prayer, in obedience, through circumstances and through others. We must listen to the Lord, rather than tell him what he wants or should want from us.

Prayer and penance are aspects of the same thing: prayer informs penance, and penance expresses prayer. It is like inhaling and exhaling. Neither is complete without the other. So in our life of penance there is the mystical receiving from God and the ascetical giving. To keep alive spiritually, we need both. In prayer we have the light to know what to do and how to do it. We realize more and more that the only approach to true penance is that of complete surrender to the will of God.

Francis expressed it simply when he said: "We should wish for nothing else and have no other desire: we should find no pleasure or delight in anything except in our Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour...Nothing must keep us back, nothing separate us from him, nothing come between us and him". And the way to this goal is penance, renouncing selfishness and self seeking and surrendering totally to God.

The more deeply we experience the love of God in Christ, and the more completely we let the saving grace of God flood our soul and work within us, the less we impede that action of God by our selfishness, our pride, our sensuality. God alone becomes the centre of our lives and our one desire is to please Him. As Francis says: "Now that we have left the world, we should have nothing else to do, save to be solicitous to follow the will of the Lord and to please Him."

The more closely we reflect the life of Jesus and the mind of Jesus, the more true our penance. If I train myself to "walk in Christ", I am living a life of penance. In all that I do, I must keep Christ before me as a practical living model. The words and actions of Francis will help me in doing this. He says: "In the love which is God , I entrust all my (followers) to put away every attachment, all care and solicitude, and serve, love, honour, and adore our Lord and God with a pure heart and mind; this is what he seeks above all else". This is our "life of penance".

Carmel Flora OFMCap

National Spiritual Assistant SFO - Oceania

CHRIST AND PENANCE

How do we see Christ in relation to penance?
He had no need of conversion, of metanoia. He emptied himself and took on the form of a slave. He became like us in all things except sin. Though he was always turned towards his heavenly Father, he chose the way of renunciation and suffering, he accepted what was inseparable from the limitations of our human nature, and thus he overcame the powers of evil and transformed the tree of man's shame into the tree of victory.
St. Augustine puts these words into the mouth of Christ: "I have given you an example. I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was tired, I slept, I was taken prisoner, I was beaten, I was crucified, I was killed. I have spurned all earthly goods to show that they ought to be spurned. I have put up with all earthly evils which I commanded people to put up with...I who created all things became poor too: so that no one who would believe in me would dare to accept praise for earthly riches. I did not want men to make me king, because with humility I was pointing out the path to the lowly, whom pride would have separated from me."
While Christ did not have to "turn away from sin" as we do because of our sinfulness, he eagerly embraced the cross and all the suffering it entailed. "I have a baptism with which I am to be baptized, and how I desire that it be accomplished." When he told his apostles that he must suffer and die, Peter said: "Lord, be it far from you". Jesus replied: "Get behind me Satan, you are a scandal to me, because you savour not the things that are of God, but the things that are of men."
St. Paul tells us ,"If you live according to the flesh, you shall die: but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live." Only on condition that we are made "conformable to the image of his Son, will the Father receive us into life. This means participating in the Passion of Christ, submitting ourselves voluntarily to the discipline of suffering. This is an important part of our conversion, of our life of penance.
The Passion of Christ is an appeal for co-operation: "I looked for one who would grieve together with me, but there was none", said the prophet. Though few respond, the appeal goes out to many. Penance means putting off the old self and being renewed in the spirit of our mind, and this means sharing in the Passion of Christ. St. Paul says: "If we suffer with Christ, we shall also be glorified with Christ." And he adds: "I will fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh, for his body, which is the Church."
Is something wanting to the sufferings of Christ? No. But to understand the mystery of Christ, we cannot separate him from his Body which is the Church, the People of God. Although all was accomplished in him, our Head, it must now be accomplished in us, the members. He wills to continue his Passion in us, so that we may be associated with him in the work of redemption. Jesus, who could have accomplished his work alone, willed to need us, in order to apply and extend his merits to the whole world.
Penance, suffering, is a means of being assimilated to Christ crucified, in order to reproduce and prolong his Passion in our own body! "Love makes similitude and equality." One who truly loves has a spontaneous desire to share in the sufferings of the loved one. St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi says: "It is not fitting to be a delicate member of a Head with thorns and crucified....... nor the unmortified bride of a suffering Spouse."..."God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world" (St.Paul).
Leaving out the Passion, suffering is an evil, not a good. But taking into account the sufferings of Christ - the foundation and principle of Christian penance and suffering - then suffering is of infinite value. Suffering may not be wasted. It should be gathered up and offered in union with the Passion of Christ. This applies especially to the many difficulties and pains of life which come unbidden, unexpectedly, and which we would never seek ourselves. They are invitations to share in Christ's sufferings, and to turn more completely to him in faith and love.
Carmel Flora OFMCap
National Spiritual Assistant SFO - Oceania

PENANCE

In his Testament, St. Francis writes: "This is how the Lord granted to me, brother Francis, to begin to do penance. When I was in sin, it seemed too bitter a thing to see lepers. But the Lord Himself led me among them, and I showed compassion to them. And when I left them what before seemed bitter, was changed into sweetness of soul and body: and after that I hesitated a while, and left the world."

Francis proposed a "life of penance " for his followers. They called themselves: "penitents from the town of Assisi." The Secular Franciscans were called the "brothers and sisters of penance." Obviously, penance had a great importance in the Franciscan beginnings and in the entire movement.

For Francis, penance was not merely fasting, mortification, wearing hairshirts, and other external penances. These he did. But the life of penance for him was essentially the METANOIA of the Gospel, a change of mind and heart, the complete and unceasing renewal of a person who tends to God with his whole being.

Francis' life of penance began with God, not with himself. He was filled with overflowing gratitude for the benefits the mercy of the Father had bestowed on him in His love, through Jesus Christ. He gave thanks for the great mercy of God, which began with our creation through Christ, which redeemed us through the Incarnation and Redemption in Christ, and which will reach its climax through the second coming of Christ in glory.

Francis' gratitude does not suffice , so he pleads that Jesus Himself, the beloved of the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, will render God thanks in our name. He pleads that Mary and all the saints will also praise and thank the Father, because his thanks are so unworthy. He shows this gratitude in the twenty-third chapter of the "unconfirmed Rule", a beautiful prayer and exhortation of thanksgiving. Here is a very brief excerpt of his prayer:

"Almighty, most high and supreme God, Father, holy and just, Lord King of heaven and earth, we give you thanks for yourself. Of your own will you created all things, spiritual and physical, made us in your own image and likeness, and gave us a place in paradise, through your only Son, in the Holy Spirit. And it was through our own fault that we fell. We give you thanks because, having created us through your Son, by that holy love with which you loved us, you decreed that He should be born, true God and true man, of the glorious and ever blessed Virgin Mary, and redeem us from our captivity by the blood of his passion and death.

"We are all poor sinners and unworthy to mention you name, and so we beg our Lord Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, in whom you are well pleased, and the Holy Spirit, to give you thanks for everything, as it pleases you and them. There is never anything lacking in him to accomplish your will, and it is through him that you have done much for us..And we beg his glorious mother, blessed Mary, ever Virgin, Saints Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and all the choirs of blessed spirits (and all the saints) to give thanks to you, the most high, eternal God, living and true, with your Son our beloved Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, for ever and ever."

This starting point, thanksgiving, places the focus on God, rather than on us. We easily judge everything from the human viewpoint, we emphasize the goodwill of the individual, we stress the psychological means. While there is value in this approach, Francis began with the Goodness of God. The Father's goodness and mercy is the starting point of his life of penance, the basis of his response.

With the realization that our life of penance does not depend merely on our will, but on the action of God, we are less likely to strive for holiness only as long as we have the desire for holiness, or as long as our motivation towards holiness urges us on, or only within the limits which we set for ourselves. Francis' approach makes us put ourselves more and more in the background so that the grace of God may be perfected in us. A conversion from selfish concerns, so that the Lord alone may work in us, is the penance Francis achieved and wants us to achieve also.

Carmel Flora OFMCap

National Spiritual Assistant SFO - Oceania

Discernment.

My brothers and sisters a New Year is upon us, and with each New Year come opportunities for new beginnings.  Francis’ thinking regarding new beginnings was this: “brothers & sisters let us begin again to do penance, for up until now we have done nothing!”  This may seem a bit harsh.  But in order to understand such thinking we need be aware that for Francis all is “Grace,” that is everything is dependant on God, & we need to co-operate with him.  The invocation to “begin again” then, is based on a presumption that you and I want to live ever more deeply a life giving union with God that is flavored, infused and animated with a Franciscan approach.

 In order for this to eventuate we need to begin again to be discerning.  What is discernment?  Well it can be many things, but for it to be a holy thing operating in our lives it must comprise the seeking of the will of God, with the help of the Holy Spirit, and actively putting into practice in heart, mind and deed that which is discerned as coming from God.  It is a religious-spiritual approach which then forms and informs the basis of the attitudes through which we manifest our life.

The subject of discernment is two-fold.  It can be the individual person asking him or her self what is better for him or her before God.   Or it can be the local or even national fraternity seeking the best decision regarding an apostolic commitment, a question or problem, future direction, etc.  Both personal discernment and communal discernment need to be integrated if it is to be true and genuine.  So my brothers and sisters let us examine in a holy way some of the principles that govern a life-giving discernment process.

The Discernment of St. Francis:  Right throughout his life Francis actively engaged in both communal and personal discernment.  Often in his writings the expression occurs, “as it seems more opportune according to God” (Rnb 5.17; Rb 7.49; amongst others).  This reveals his attention to what God was asking of him and also reflects Paul’s attitude in Rom 12.2.  His example to us for a new beginning is:  “God what is best for you in my life!”

The Attitude of St. Francis:  At the end of his Letter to a Chapter Francis adds a prayer that reveals his fundamental attitude: “Grant us, O Lord, by your grace to do what you want, and to will what pleases you.”  This is a guiding principle in his life.  Is it a guiding principle in our life? 
As an act of discernment it may be worthwhile asking yourself the question: what is the guiding principle of my life?  When I’m in conflict; when I pray; when my fraternity meets; towards my Franciscan sisters and brothers?

Actively Seeking the Will of God in Prayer:  One of the moments when Francis needed to seek God’s will for the direction of his life was whether he should live a more active life among the people or be more contemplative.  Francis favored contemplation.  “The servant of Christ, not trusting in his own experience … placed his trust in prayer to definitely discover what was the will of God in this matter.” (Leg. Mag. 4.2). 
Our Seraphic Father never made any decision great or small without having recourse to prayer.  He acted on what was revealed even if it went contrary to what he thought was the best way to go.  What about us?  Do we want a share in the joy and peace that dominated Francis’ life?

Discovering God’s Will in the Scriptures:  Francis at times would seek God’s will in Sacred Scripture.  He opened the Bible with firm, prayerful and profound conviction that he would find God’s will for his life (1 Cel 22; 2 Cel 15).  From the references there emerges some indispensable and fundamental principles of Franciscan discernment: The fervent request made to our heavenly Father to send the Spirit to enlighten us, the belief once the request is made that the Spirit is enlightening us, the faith that God takes an active interest in our lives and that he is guiding us by speaking through his Word, and most importantly, the interior disposition of complete readiness to hear from God and to act on his communication.  Have you ever opened Sacred Scripture in this way?

Guided by the Church:  Another means by which Francis discerned God’s will for him in life was through the voice of the Church.  Francis acknowledged that the Church was an extension of the authority of Christ (Mt 28.16-18).  The Rule of St. Francis opens and concludes with the commitment to listen and follow “holy Church” (Rb 1; 12).
Do we listen fully to the voice of the Church, or are we selective in what we take on board?

Interior Reflection:  Francis professed an interior sweetness that flooded him with joy when he did the Father’s will (2 Cel 9).  Even if this was something highly repugnant to his nature, like embracing a leper.  Francis discerned God’s will for him through interior reflection: here am I lord, I come to do your will (Mt 6.10; 12.50; Jn 4.34; 5.30; 6.39-40; Rom 8.27; Eph 5.17 amongst many others).  Have you experienced this flooding with interior sweetness?  Would you like to?  Perhaps more contemplation is needed in your personal mix of spirituality?

Dialogue With Our Franciscan Sisters and Brothers:  Another preferential way for Francis to discern the will of God for him was to enter into dialogue with the brothers and sisters that God gave him. We have examples of this in his Letter to a Minister and in Leg. Mag. 12.2.  Are there those we have written off in our local fraternities?  Have we withdrawn and keep to ourselves because we can’t be bothered with all the hassles?  Have we opted out of a very real pathway to God’s will for us and our sanctification?

In summary, Francis based discernment on prayer, listening interiorly to the Spirit, listening to Sacred Scripture, being in dialogue with the Church, fellow Franciscans and wise “others” in order to be filled with an authentic- ness that left him open to the peace, sweetness, love and joy of God.
In this current New Year we can make New Beginnings and be infused with New Life if this is what we choose to do.

Happy New Year and may the Lord grant you peace.

Friar David M. Huebner OFM Conv, National Assistant SFO – Oceania.

Called to Incarnate Christ for the World

The liturgical season of Advent is upon us.  It’s a time of preparation for the feast of the Nativity which commemorates our Lord’s first coming.  It is also a time when we anticipate the end of temporal existence with his second coming.  Advent is usually observed with some fasting, extra prayers and more intense meditation to dispose one to welcome Christ – that is to welcome Christ as a new born infant into the world.

Often the idea of welcoming the new-born infant Christ, cuddling him next to our hearts, is lost in a secularized Xmas.  Having the attitudes of welcome and hospitality towards our new born King are often swallowed up in the jingle bells and ho, ho, ho of a materialistic feast called Christmas, but is so in name only.  This is precisely why we have to prepare ourselves spiritually.

It is often said that adoration is the highest form of prayer.  This is because praise of God is the pinnacle of a well lived life, as well as a vehicle which allows God to release his grace in our lives.  In order to praise God from the heart we need to imbued with an attitude of gratitude towards God.  This is precisely what Christmas can do in our lives.  However if the spirit of a worldly Xmas is alive in us we may not be able to arouse in us this attitude of gratitude towards God that is needed to release his life giving joy and abundant supernatural life within us.

I’m sure we can all remember and recount how grateful our hearts were when we welcomed our first child into the world, whether that is our own child, grandchild, or the child of a dear friend or relative.  We were caught up in the safe birth, the relief of the parents, and the awe of looking upon the face of a new-born, and wholly innocent human being.  A little person wholly dependant on others for life.  Let’s take a little time to focus in on the words, “wholly dependant on others” for a moment.

An attitude of gratitude towards God – on whom we are totally dependant, is paramount if God, who is within us, is to transform our soul totally into his sanctuary by grace.  Grace needs an atmosphere to act in, and for us that atmosphere is gratitude.

When we were Baptised we not only became members of the Church, brothers and sisters of Christ and sharers of the Divine Nature; we were also made temples of God.  When Mary carried Christ within her she burst forth into her Magnificat, her soul alive and imbued with a sense of gratitude that glorified God.

We too, this Advent need to initiate a spirit of adoration towards God.  A spirit of adoration will release those attitudes of gratitude within us that can allow God to transform our souls and transform our lives for the better, for the happier.  So how can this be done?  I have some suggestions.  You may be aware by now that I like six step suggestions.  The reason being that one can take a suggestion each day, and act on it when and if appropriate, then bring it all together during our Sunday Eucharist:
 
* First and foremost is forgiveness.  Brothers and sisters of penance seek forgiveness for yourselves and with others, especially those of your own fraternities.  Be merciful towards yourself.  There is nothing like the feeling of being forgiven, or in forgiving others, wholly and truly, which make your heart well up and overflow with gratitude towards Our Father.
* Think about others and forget about yourself.  After all Christ came into the world for us, not himself.
* Practice being gentle and kind – this is what we do for infants.  Be kind and gentle towards yourself and others.  Try to avoid those situations and people that usually make you harsh, critical, judgmental, self-righteous or gossipy.
* Be complimentary.  Compliment people in a real and sincere way.  Tell them what you like about them.  If this is done in a truly Franciscan way it can never be merely crawling or sucking up to someone.
* Give peace, bring peace, look for peace, offer peace, and most important of all: be at peace.  That is why all the other suggestions leading up to this one are so very important.
* And this is very important – at the beginning and end of each day, during Advent, think of at least 12 things to thank God about from your heart.  It may be as simple as, “thankyou Lord for the roof over my head.”

God is trying to inspire us from within our soul.  He is trying to help us to incarnate the same attitudes that resided in his divine Son, and beloved daughter Mary.  Francis recognized this and joyfully proclaimed that he was herald of God the Most High, therebye becoming life-giving for others, including us who follow him.

Francis recognized how Christ did it, & tried to incarnate him.  Jesus became Incarnate in a humble young virgin, grew up in obscurity.  He was born at a time when the world was in darkness, full of violence, strife, oppression.  He drew his first breath in a dark, cold and damp cave that was used as an animal stable.  He was born in a town called the House of Bread and his first cot was a feeding trough for animals.  There were only a few people who even noticed his birth, shepherds scorned by the general public as being smelly rough types.

Yet the humble shepherds called by angels to adore their new born Messiah did so with an attitude of gratitude towards God for the birth.  Let us as lowly brothers and sisters of Francis and Clare also have this “attitude of gratitude” of the lowly.  Let us journey towards Christmas preparing gratefully to remember our Saviour’s birth.  Let the peace and goodwill that becomes more alive in us via a proper preparation allow us to incarnate Christ ourselves, so that we do our part to add to a bountiful harvest when Christ comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead.  Amen.

Wishing all of you peace and a bountiful Christmas.

Friar David M. Huebner OFM Conv, National Assistant SFO – Oceania.

Called to be Life Giving.

As we try to follow the footsteps of Francis and Clare in the post modern world, we can at times be taken aback by our lack of progress living the Gospel.  Often times I feel the struggle of time: not enough to go around.  At other times I am all too aware of the disparity between what I would like to do (the spirit is willing), and what I actually do (the flesh is weak).   At times do you feel the same?  Very often we struggle in our relationships with others.  Many times these relational flaws occur within our own fraternities.  These can become ongoing wounds that sap us of energy and strength.  What to do?

Often prayer does not seem to be enough and we grope for guidelines to imbue us with renewed sense of purpose.  Some such guidelines occur in Pick More Daisies pp 15-16:  “Franciscans have a lot of work to do.”  If we are to relate to our brothers and sisters in our fraternities, and to others in the world, “we need a sense of courtesy, understanding, compassion (the ability to suffer with someone), listening and dialogue.  …  It is a daily challenge to maintain a life-giving union with them.”

Yes, it is a daily challenge to maintain life giving relationships, because more often than not we allow negative opinions of others to flourish within ourselves.  This makes it very hard to forgive, extremely difficult to love people who cause us problems, and nearly impossible to be life-giving to those we disagree with.  Again I pose the question, what to do?  It is precisely during such moments of insight that we realize our need for healing.  We need to receive the healing touch of God deep within ourselves.  We need a renewal of peace, joy, goodwill, and also a sense of well-being for ourselves coupled to renewed trust and acceptance of others.

So how does one open the door anew to Christ and receive God’s healing touch?  Francis instinctively knew that he had to go before the Crucifix.  For him and for us the Crucifix is focal point and source for healing.  Why?  Because its always tempting to try to avoid the death to self that is part of allowing God to prune us of the old attitudes, thought patterns, and routine behaviors that that keep us from being life giving, that keep us from receiving new gifts of life.  By looking at Love hanging upon the Cross we see the way forward to everlasting life.

As a way of moving away from what saps our strength, what causes problems and perplexity for others, and as a way of moving towards a renewal of life I offer six insights, some of which may be helpful to you, while spending some quality time before a crucifix:

1. Pray and ponder the scriptures every day, especially the gospel accounts of the passion of Christ.  Ask Jesus for the grace, with absolute trust and confidence in the power of the Cross to forgive others and to give up any anger or desire for retaliation.  Offer quality prayer for those you are having difficulties with.

6. Seek help.  Go to confession.  Seek a personal spiritual director.  Perhaps the intervention of a health care professional is needed?  Seek help after all you only have negativity to loose and life to gain.  Always remembering that when new life is gained it can be passed on.

Advent is around the corner and is a time of preparation for a renewed encounter with Emmanuel, God-with-us.  Renewed encounter is not superficial, nor is it fleeting, nor is it able to be purchased with tokens.  Renewed encounter, indeed ongoing encounter with God through Christ depends on how poor one is.  After all, Francis teaches that Gospel poverty lives in the heart.  It looks at life, and all that fills ours, from the perspective of Jesus.  All created things are a gift from God to be used in a conscious and wise way.  Relationships are to be fostered, or at very least not passive/aggressively or actively hindered.

Let us strive for renewal then, after all Franciscans have a lot of work to do.  We need to give of what we have. This is what we need to have in order to give:  a sense of courtesy to all, compassion, understanding, an active listening ability, genuine concern, and the ability to dialogue.  Impossible for the worldly motivated.  Absolutely possible for those who open their hearts to God, and who on a daily basis welcome the ongoing gift of renewal and wholeness available through God’s pruning, love, support and encouragement.  After all this is what life-giving-union with God is all about, and in life-giving union with Him we then have the ability to enter into life giving union with others.

May the Lord give you Peace!

Friar David M. Huebner OFM Conv, National Assistant SFO – Oceania.

SAVING MISSION

St Luke, Evangelist - October 18

The gospel for the feast of St Luke, Evangelist, has its parallel in Matthew 10:1-16, the mission of the Twelve Apostles, but in Luke (Lk 10:1-9), not only the Twelve are sent out as missionaries but also another seventy-two disciples. "The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit" (Lk 10:1)

Francis, soon after his conversion, was struck by the parallel passage in Matthew when the priest explained it to him after Mass at the Portiuncula. "Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with a few coppers for your purses, with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the workman deserves his keep" (Matt 9-10). He immediately exulted in the spirit of God. "This is what I want, this is what I seek, this is what I desire with all my heart" (1 Celano 22).

St Francis combined elements of Luke and Matthew in Chapter XIV of his Earlier Rule: How the Brothers Should Go Through the World: "When the brothers go through the world, let them take nothing for the journey, neither knapsack, nor purse, nor bread, nor money, nor walking stick. Whatever house they enter, let them first say: Peace to this house. They may eat and drink what is placed before them for as long as they stay in that house."

All Christians can identify with the seventy-two disciples, especially lay people, "whose particular vocation places them in the midst of the world and in charge of the most varied temporal tasks. They must for this very reason exercise a very special form of evangelization." (Evangelii nuntiandi, 70).

Secular Franciscans "should go forth as witnesses and instruments of the Church’s mission among all people, proclaiming Christ by their life and words" (Rule 6). "Their preferred apostolate is personal witness in the environment in which they live and service for building up the Kingdom of God within the situations of this world" (General Constitutions 17.1).

The motive for sending out the disciples is that "the labourers are few" (Lk 10:2).

Their orders are explicit. They are to be: humble ("lambs among wolves", Lk 10:3), poor ("carry no purse", Lk 10:4), bearers of peace ("Peace to this house!", Lk 10:5-6), contented ("take what they offer", Lk 10:7), and interested in the needy ("cure the sick", 10:8). They are to announce the kingdom ("say, ‘The Kingdom of God is very near to you’", 10:9), and to repeat their message even if it is rejected ("Yet be sure of this, the kingdom of God is very near", Lk 10:11).

Those who welcome the missionaries are reminded that "the labourer deserves his wages" (Lk 10:7), so not even the primitive Church could ignore its economic requirements.

Those who do not welcome the missionaries are warned that "it will not go as hard with Sodom as with that town" (Lk 10:12) - a terrible threat!

So Luke insists on two requirements of the missionary disciples:

First, they are not to be worried about their earthly future. They are to live as poor people, but their poverty is to give the clear message that the kingdom of God is near.

Secondly, they are to behave in a particular way towards those who welcome them. They must be obviously pilgrims on their way to the Kingdom of God, and satisfied with the hospitality that they receive. "Eat what is set before you" (Lk 10:8). It may not be so good, or it may be most enjoyable.

St Francis counseled two ways of living spiritually among the Saracens and non-believers. His advice is particularly relevant in our present multicultural society, especially in our living with Muslims, today’s "Saracens":

"One way is not to engage in arguments or disputes but to be subject to every human creature for God’s sake and to acknowledge that they are Christians.

"The other way is to announce the Word of God, when they see it pleases the Lord, in order that [unbelievers] may believe in almighty God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Creator of all, the Son, the Redeemer and Saviour, and be baptized and become Christians." (The Earlier Rule, Chapter XVI).

The Second Vatican Council had a word to say about the harvest being rich but the labourers few (Lk 10:2). The bishops addressed all Christians, especially the laity, entreating them in the Lord, to "give a glad, generous, and prompt response to the voice of Christ, who is giving them an especially urgent invitation at this moment, and to the impulse of the Holy Spirit. Younger people should feel that this call has been directed to them in particular, and they should respond to it eagerly and generously" (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, Apostolicam Actuositatem, 33).

Let us earnestly pray that all Christians, young and old, will associate themselves with Jesus in his saving mission, which is entrusted to every baptized person, and in a special way to the bishops.

Carl Schafer OFM

National Assistant SFO – Oceania

In this painting, dating from about 50 years after the saint?s death,
Francis is depicted as receiving the stigmata, or wounds of Christ,
confirming the widespread belief that Francis was a holy
man marked in a special way by God. 
Attributed to the School of Berlinghieri. 
Tempera on panel.  31 by 20 inches.  Ca. 1274

HUMBLE LOVE EXALTED

Triumph of the Cross - September 14

A favourite prayer of St Francis was, "We adore you, Lord Jesus Christ, in all your churches throughout the whole world and we bless you because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world" (Testament 4). He based his prayer on the liturgy of the feast of the Triumph of the Cross and also of Good Friday: "We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your cross you have redeemed the world."

The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century, after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614.

The second reading of the feast is taken from the Letter to the Philippians (Phil 2:6-11), which was also a favourite of St Francis. St Paul quotes a hymn popular at the time, describing the kind of person Jesus was. He was, and still is, both divine and human. God and man are united in his person.

The hymn describes the various stages of Jesus Christ’s existence. First, there was the eternal existence of the Word of God. Then the Word became human at the birth of Jesus. In his life, Jesus set aside his divine privileges, such as knowing everything as God does, and being all-powerful. In his death, he gave up even the privilege of human life.

His death was the lowest level of his existence, and it reveals how greatly he loved, since he deprived himself of so much - everything - for the sake of his fellows, and to fulfil God’s plans for us. St Francis thought of Jesus as humble love in person.

Selfless love and faithfulness sum up the life of Jesus among us. He was there for others. His great mind saw beyond a present insult; he would always pity rather than resent, forgive rather than condemn, persevere rather than despair, see cause for sympathy rather than for abuse, for love rather than for hate.

Precisely these attitudes of mind led to his death. He went out to people who did not have these attitudes. He came to us as a man, in order to show us God in our midst.

Jesus stirred up hatred no less than love. Some could not stand his honesty, openness and simplicity. Others, like St Paul and later St Francis, were attracted by him and responded with their own love and faithfulness to Jesus.

Christ gave the finest example of humble, selfless love working itself out in the life of a man, and in doing that he revealed the quality of divine love. Without losing his divinity, he surrendered his divine glory and became poor for the sake of his fellows. By nature, he was God and man, but in his human life he never had himself publicly treated as anyone other than a simple man.

Mighty people want to be seen to be like God. Jesus, the faithful man, showed us what God is really like: God is humble, self-effacing love. God among us led a life of responsibility and humble service, in the normal ways of submission required of any man: obedient to parents, to public authorities, to the Word of God, to the demands of daily living, having to accept the things he couldn’t change, and courageous in changing the things that he could.

He was as all of us are, but sinless and much humbler, even accepting the death that came to him. A man like this had to pay a price for his integrity: he was nailed to a cross, in shame.

Our response to this God of love who became a love-torn man is to shoulder our own responsibilities, and to accept the consequences of our love and faithfulness. We are to force ourselves on no one, but give Christlike service to any who will have it, whether they look as though they deserve it or not. Let no one exhaust our tolerance, no matter whether they like or dislike us. We are to keep up a selfless service of those whom we live and work with, whether the people and the work are satisfying or not.

Jesus Christ’s existence did not finish on the cross. After that, God’s love and faithfulness to Jesus were most powerfully shown. He was raised to a new life as both man and God, recognized by the whole of creation, and adored as the Lord of all. "Exaltation of the Cross", in the Orthodox tradition, means "the cross brought to light".

His divine nature was revealed in that divine name, "Lord", and in the divine honour of knees bent in adoration. But the glorified person is still the crucified man. He does not throw off his human nature. He is still named "Jesus". The humble man Jesus is almighty God: "Jesus Christ is Lord."

Our response as brothers and sisters of Jesus to God’s faithfulness in exalting him is to accept God’s personal invitation to each of us, to follow out his will. We know no less and no more than Jesus knew about what the future held in store for him if he remained faithful to God’s will.

Our lives and destinies are inseparable from the life and destiny of Jesus. If we pay close attention to his life and where it led him, we will see the pattern of our own lives: through love, joy and peace, but also through some degree of needs, loneliness, misunderstanding and opposition, to death, then through death to victory unlimited and God’s favour bestowed on us in full.

Let our response be humble love: to keep on spending ourselves on God and our fellows, and to trust God who wants only what is best for us.

Carl Schafer OFM

National Assistant SFO – Oceania.

FRATERNITY MEETING

Several times recently, I have been asked about commitment to Fraternity meetings, specifically to the monthly meeting. When asked questions like this, I look for the answers first in the SFO Rule and General Constitutions, since these are the authoritative sources that define the secular Franciscan way of life. Some interpret this approach as legalism. However, the Rule and Constitutions provide a solid foundation on which to build an answer.

Article 24 of the Rule states: "To foster communion among members, the council should organize regular and frequent meetings of the community ... and encourage everyone to a life of fraternity." The General Constitutions speak of "Participation in the Life of the Fraternity." Article 53.1 fills out the Rule: "The fraternity must offer to its members opportunities for coming together and collaborating through meetings to be held with as great a frequency as allowed by the situation and with the involvement of all its members."

Neither the Rule nor the Constitutions specify a "monthly" meeting. Rather, they speak of "regular and frequent meetings", "with as great a frequency as allowed by the situation." Where, then, did we get the idea of the "monthly" meeting?

The rule for penitents of 1221, Memoriale propositi, states: "All the brothers and sisters of a local fraternity should come together once a month to assist at Mass" (Chapter VII,1). The Rule of Nicholas IV, Supra montem, states: "Let all the healthy brother and sisters of each city or place ... assemble each month in the church or place, in which, and/or to which the ministers have taken care to point out, to hear Solemn Mass there" (Chapter XIII). These directives are reflected in the present General Constitutions in Article 53.2: "The fraternity should come together periodically, also as an ecclesial community to celebrate the Eucharist in a climate that strengthens the fraternal bond..."

Leo XIII’s Rule of 1883 simplified and minimalized the previous rule. Misericors Dei Filius, states: "Let them attend the monthly meetings called by the Prefect" (Art.11). This is where we got the idea of a "monthly" meeting. We have seen that this idea was not adopted by Paul VI in his Rule of 1978, Seraphicus Patriarcha. The present Rule advocates "regular and frequent meetings".

The National Fraternity of Oceania is one of the few that maintains the Leonine structure of the monthly meeting. Most have adopted the Pauline structure and meet more often than once a month. They have learnt that fraternity life cannot thrive on a monthly meeting but needs more frequent gatherings. Although this is not possible for many local Fraternities whose members are gathered from wide areas, it is possible for some and is worth considering.

However, my inquirers are concerned about the commitment of the members to the "monthly" meetings of their Fraternity. They have made a reasonable effort to bring their records up to date by offering non-active members the options of returning to meetings, or applying for a transfer to another more conveniently located Fraternity, or applying for a definitive withdrawal.

They haven’t overlooked the National Statutes regarding justifiably absent members: "The councils of fraternities with members who are unable to participate actively in fraternity life shall make provisions for the unity and care of these brothers and sisters... (Art. 8.5.1). They are concerned rather with the unjustifiably absent members (Art. 8.5.2).

First of all, it is important to keep an accurate record of attendance at meetings.

Most non-active members do not warrant dismissal, which is only for "serious causes, provided they are external, imputable, and juridically proven" (Gen.Const. 58.2). At most, they would be open to suspension owing to "the repeated and prolonged default in the obligations of the life of the fraternity" (Gen.Const. 56.3). Suspension "involves exclusion from the meetings and activities of the fraternity, including the right to active and passive voice, but membership in the Order itself is not affected."

The most important clause here is exclusion from voting. A list of active members should be drawn up before an election. If any non-active persons present themselves at an election expecting to have active or passive voice, then the Minister and another Council member together should speak to the person privately before the election. If the person insists on voting, that vote is not counted. The Council has serious reason for suspending that person, but should seek competent civil legal advice before proceeding with suspension. The Council could decide prudently not to take action.

But if non-active members present no problems by their non-attendance then I would advise that nothing more be done about them after three reminder notices, but to keep a record of non-active members.

Does this qualify as a "spiritual" message? When we consider that fraternal life is essential to any form of Franciscan life, and that the commitment of the members is essential to the life of the SFO local Fraternity, then we are certainly concerned about the spiritual life.

It is the spirit of the fraternity members that builds the appropriate structures to express themselves as a local Fraternity, and also as a regional and a national fraternity. How often do they need to meet in order to create and experience a genuine fraternity life? The answer will differ "as allowed by the situation" (Gen.Const. 53.1). Some may have to be satisfied with the structure of the "monthly" meeting and may find even that much a big effort. Some other Fraternities already meet more frequently because they have felt the need to do so. Some have no difficulty meeting as Secular Franciscans weekly because they all attend the same parish church and get together afterwards. But those who think that a monthly meeting for an hour or so is all there is to SFO fraternal life are sadly missing out.

Carl Schafer OFM

National Assistant SFO – Oceania.

Negativity and Conversion.

Scripture, St Francis and the Saints have consistently described the Christian life in terms of a spiritual battle or spiritual warfare.  We don’t seem to hear much about spiritual warfare these days, perhaps some out of a misguided sense of “the God of love” don’t preach or teach it anymore, but it is necessary for our ongoing formation and heaven directed development.  In fact Francis’ Admonitions, his Testament and all his Rules implicitly preach the need to fight the spiritual war that leads to heaven. 
So how to make it a little more relevant for today?  I think the answer is ‘negativity.’  So many people that I encounter nowadays are so very, very negative.  They whinge, whine and gripe about so many people and things that when I point out to them how negative they are, most barely recognize the fact.  They usually go straight into denial “I’m not negative!” and follow it up with “I’m a positive person!” 
They have lost touch with themselves.  Many people like this are religious.  Therefore the image of spiritual battle can help us identify ways in which our environment, culture, those around us and even Satan cause us to be unempowering, dark, negative, in short a dysfunctional influence to those around us, who are in need of hope, enlightenment and conversion.

The Mind as Battleground.
The mind is possibly the most precious of God’s gifts to us.  With it we are capable of reasoning, imagining, expressing and receiving love and affection, making decisions, remembering, and many other things.  The mind is also the residence of our conscience and will.  God acts on our minds through grace in order to transform us into loving, self-giving people.  Satan and many other factors also seek to influence our mind, and through our mind the conscience and will, in order to make us self-serving.  I have never encountered a negative person that was not self-serving.  Therefore we need to be in touch with the thought stream that constantly flows through our mind.

Lies, Lies, Lies, Our Mind Can Be Full of Them.
Once we begin to entertain a lie, whatever its source, this lie takes on a life within us and from that moment influences our actions.  Soon more lies begin to appear which reinforce the original lie.  After a while our judgment is confused and unreliable.  We may even assume that our sinful behavior is justifiable, therebye we think we are in the right, while all the time being horribly wrong.  I have people coming to me for confession all the time, whining and whinging about other people and what these people do that causes them to sin.  Such people have lost touch with themselves and God.  They are in need of conversion.  Do we recognize the signs in ourselves?  What kind of false beliefs and lies underlie blaming others for your failures?  I’ll let you answer that.
As a result of things like this, sin, shame, guilt, dissatisfaction and other negativities enter our minds, hearts and lives; we can feel over burdened, weak, and estranged and distant from God.

The Perils of a Mind Filled With Self-Seeking.
Once our judgment is confused and unreliable we can cross the line and justify even those things that are clearly against God’s design.  Justifying homosexual relationships or abortion being two examples relevant to our age.  Once confused we find it difficult to discern right from wrong. 
My name’s sake King David is a very good example of a cycle of lies leading to a greater sin.  In 2 Samuel 11.2-4 we hear how David slept with Bathsheba.  This grave sin of adultery generated more lies and more grave sin.  It was only after being confronted by God’s prophet Nathan that David’s eyes were opened as to how far removed from God he really was.
This story about David is meant to show us how we can be deceived by lies and also how negative behavior is one way we can recognize that lies and false beliefs can be all too active within us.  If David had been alert for the things of God he properly would not have slipped.

Winning the Battle for the Mind.
Get in touch with the voices whispering in your mind.  These might be words of low self-esteem or high self-esteem.  We may be weighed down with guilt, or our conscience may have become dull.  Perhaps we lash out at people, or keep our emotions all bottled up inside.  This list is by no means exhaustive but serves to point out that hell does have a strategy to get you inside.  The strategy is to prevent us from using your minds for God’s glory. 

So Lets Use Our Mind for God’s Glory.
Maybe we can all pray for a prophet like Nathan to point out to us the error of our ways.  More likely there have been many prophets speaking to us and we choose to ignore them.  Such a person may be a fellow Franciscan, a parishioner, a priest, a spouse, etc.  But when we let lies and false beliefs reside in our mind we will find ourselves hurting each other and we will find ourselves separated from God.
We need to build a Godly database in our heads to counteract the magnets of hell driven negativity trying to gain a foothold in our mind.  On a practical level St Paul (2 Cor 10.5) tells us to take our thought process captive in order to obey Christ.  In other words we need to ground our thinking in the truth.  This is why reflection on Holy Scriptures or spiritual reading is so very important.  When love for God’s truth is active in us, we learn to apply a godly discipline in the way we approach the various aspects of our lives, the things we have to do, and the people that we encounter.
We learn to take our thoughts captive when they tend toward greed, lust, selfishness, back biting, whining, whinging, grumbling, blaming, justifying and other works of the flesh.  Our Rule for our walk in life, the Admonitions, and other Franciscan writings are geared up to do this for us.  But only if we make use of them.  Only if we read them prayerfully.  And only if we put the teachings into practice.

God Is with Us.
Sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters in Christ, our beloved Trinity wants to help us win the battle.  In every situation using prayer, entreaty, with supplication and thanksgiving we can call on God to help.  Then God’s own peace, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4.6-7).
God has given us the Holy Spirit.  He has given us the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of his only Son in the Eucharist.  We have also received the patrimony of our Rule from Francis.  With these tremendous provisions let us overcome the lies, false beliefs and negativity that plague us.  Ridding our minds of these things is not an easy task, yet our victory over these things will be immensely pleasing to God.

Some Scripture Resources That Can Help Re-program Negative Thinking.
As a brief final word before supplying you with the scripture resources, the ‘negativity’; I’m talking about is not the normal everyday thing that can affect all of us, but this too is self-serving.  I’m talking about the kind of negativity that can describe our personality when others talk about us: “so & so never has anything good to say,” or “here comes the whinger.”

God Loves Me: Romans 8.38-39; 1 John 4.10.  God Has a Perfect Plan for Me: Jeremiah 29.11; Psalm 139.3, 16.  Christ in the Sacrament of Reconciliation Forgives All Sin: Mark 10.45; 1 John 2.1-2.  I Am a New Creation in Christ: Romans 6.4; 2 Corinthians 5.17.  Jesus Has Defeated Satan and Death: John 12.31-32; Colossians 1.13-14.  The Holy Spirit Lives In Me: Luke 11.13; Romans 8.15-16.  I Can Overcome Evil With Good: Matthew 5.14-16; Ephesians 5.8-11.

Wishing you peace and all that is good.

Friar David M. Huebner OFM Conv
National Assistant SFO – Oceania.

HUMILITY: THE STRENGTH TO SURRENDER

In continuity with last month’s spiritual letter concerning our ‘ongoing personal Franciscan/Christian formation’ as gift, invitation and response; I’d like to talk about the virtue of humility as the strength to surrender.

Technology has changed everything in a short span of years. At our fingertips we have credit cards, fast food restaurants, speedy means of communication, multiple choices as far as personal entertainment is concerned. Yet despite all these conveniences we feel as if we have less time on our hands. As we pursue our busy schedules, it can be quite easy for our hearts to grow lukewarm in our love for God. At times we need to stop and ponder Micah 6.8 "What does the Lord require of you?"

Depending on God? Or, Relying on Self?

Humanity has indeed achieved vast knowledge on a huge variety of topics, but we seem to know precious little about humility. We usually tend to admire those people around us who seem to be aggressive and confident, the ones we see as self-motivating go-getters. By contrast, we consider the humble to be weak-willed and indecisive. But God’s gift of humility differs greatly from such perceptions.

The self-reliant Franciscan may believe in God, but his or her faith does not transform her or his life. Humility involves daily acts of trust and neediness before God and learning to depend on God in every situation. The dependant Christian is deeply repentant and maintains a humble, submissive attitude before God Most High.

Francis in Admonition XXIII states that blessed is that person who is just as humble (unassuming) among his subjects as he or she would be among her or his superiors. Blessed the religious (that is you and I) who is always willing to be corrected. A person is a faithful and prudent servant when she or he is quick to atone for all his or her offenses, interiorly by contrition and exteriorly by confessing them and making reparation.

Part of humility and ongoing conversion for us who are religious is our obligation to observe certain kinds of behaviour. In particular there is the need for correction, most especially at times when our behaviour and words testify to the fact that we rely on self, and don’t depend on God.

Spiritual Poverty is the Strength of the Humble

Francis stresses poverty as an essential aspect of Christian life, the centre from which every other aspect of Franciscan spirituality derives its power and conviction. I view Franciscan poverty precisely as the power and ability to live humbly in the eyes of God and one another.

Admonition XIV states: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. There are many people (maybe you or I) who spend all their time at prayers and other religious exercises and mortify themselves by long fasts and so on. But if anyone says so much as a word that implies a reflection on their self-esteem (that is: their high opinion of themselves) or takes something from them, they are immediately up in arms and annoyed. These people are not really poor in spirit. …"

Humility born of the Spirit produces in us a confidence in God, not in ourselves. Part of this confidence is the ability to withstand suffering, misunderstanding, and persecution that surpasses our natural resources. Humility, that true poverty of spirit, allows a God-directed person to demonstrate a stability of character and a compassionate heart that takes even the most self-confident person by surprise.

Sometimes we need to go through a desert experience (that is a hard time or even a disaster) before we become desperate or dependant enough on God to make him truly number one in our lives. Only when we make him source and origin of whom and what we are does humility truly reside in us.

Suffering as Necessary Source of Sanctification.

Many of us shrink from suffering; we see it as an evil to be avoided. This bears testimony to our self-reliance. Francis as part of Admonition XIII says: "We can never tell how patient or humble a person is when everything is going well with him (or her). But when those who should co-operate with him do the exact opposite, then we can tell. A man has as much patience and humility as he has then and no more."

Brothers and sisters of penance, suffering proves our humility and patience. Suffering has the unique ability to prove to us whether we serve God or ourselves. No Christian can avoid suffering altogether. It’s part of God’s plan to produce in us a heart of humility and compassion. So when you do experience suffering in your life, please don’t feel as if God is far away. Take it as a sure sign that something great is happening: God is forming you into the image and likeness of Christ that he intends you to be (1 Peter 4.12-13).

Of course all of the above means nothing to someone who hasn’t the strength of humility in order to surrender to God Most High.

Daily Conversion

In the SFO formation book Pick More Daisies, chapter eight states: "united by their vocation as brothers and sisters of penance, and motivated by the dynamic power of the Gospel, let them conform their thoughts and deeds to those of Christ by means of that radical interior change which the Gospel itself calls conversion. Human frailty makes it necessary that this conversion be carried out daily. The path of humility is the gospel way."

Some Ways to Grow in Humility (or die to self)

Do not be anxious about your life. Lay your cares at the feet of Jesus every day (Mt 6.25).

Be careful of the words that come from your mouth. Let them be pleasing to God: clear, honest, and simple Mt 5.37).

Do not judge others. Let the Holy Spirit be the one to reveal other people’s sins. Show mercy and compassion instead (Mt. 7.1-2).

Every day, ask God to help you in your needs. Knock on his door in proper prayer, and he will answer you (Mt 7.7-8).

Rejoice when people speak ill of you. You will receive a great reward in heaven (Mt 5.11). Love your enemies and pray for those who seem to be trying to persecute you (Mt 5.44).

May the business of life and diversity of choices open to you, not keep you from the one thing necessary: Christ; and the need to daily conform our lives unto him. Until we meet may the Lord grant you peace!

Friar David M. Huebner O.F.M. Conv.

National Assistant SFO - Oceania

RESPOND TO THE PARACLETE

May 2006

My brothers and sisters in Francis and Clare, as we journey through the Easter season towards the Feast of Pentecost let us focus in on the Holy Spirit, the one whom Francis invoked as the Minister General of our Order

At this time one question that we can ask ourselves is, “Have I prepared adequately to receive a new outpouring or renewal of the Holy Spirit within me?”  “Am I ready to experience my Paraclete, my Helper, my Comforter in a deeper and more profound union this Pentecost?”

Whether we receive the interior outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a new way, or not, depends very much on our openness and response to his guidance.  You may have heard all of this before, so we need to put this fresh outpouring concept into perspective.  I’m not talking about a mental acceptance about facts or proposals that have been stated.  What I am on about is a practical response.

One way we measure the reality of our ongoing Christian, Franciscan, practical response to God, or our ongoing conversion, is by examining our life to see if our relationship with Christ Jesus our Lord has actually deepened since this time last year.  And a good guide to help us answer this question is to read again the Major Life of St Francis by St Bonaventure.

Bonaventure sees the Holy Spirit at work throughout Francis’s life in an ongoing way from his initial major conversion right up to his Transitus.  Therefore the need for us Franciscans to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit is paramount if we are to deepen our fraternal bond with one another, deepen our relationship with the Lord, and prepare ourselves to enter eternity.  We can see Francis taking this journey, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the Major Life.

What Bonaventure presents to us is a love story between Francis and his beloved Trinity.  It is a journey of ever deepening intimacy.  God is love, indeed love is the fullness of the Law.  If you or I love, it is because we choose to.  Therefore love has to do with the will.  Additionally, if we love someone our natural tendency is to give to that person.

The Holy Spirit is the love of the Father for the Son and the love of the Son for the Father fully expressed.  The Holy Spirit is the gift of the divine self given to us (at Baptism and strengthened at Confirmation), and the One in whom all other spiritual gifts are given to us in order to grow in the spiritual life.  One only need read the index of the Catechism of the Catholic Church under Holy Spirit, to see how primary and fundamental the Paraclete’s role is for our lifestyle.  But in order for us to allow ourselves to be led to heaven by our true Minister General, with the fraternal aid of our brothers and sisters in Francis; we need to be self-aware in order for this to take place.

Some guides to the self-awareness needed to grow spiritually for ongoing conversion in the ways of love:-

Firstly, we need to be aware that every sin in some way deforms the human personality.  Deforms our personality and blocks our ability to love.  Sin twists our mind so that we cannot think clearly about spiritual or moral matters.  Sin twists our emotions so that our feelings become more and more self-centered, and it weakens our will to love in an ordered way.

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit make our power for doing good stronger.  For example the gift of piety helps us to overcome our envy of other people.

The seven gifts help us to suffer with the same patience that Jesus or Francis had.

The Holy Spirit and his gifts help us to act more effectively by turning us away from wrong choices and thoughts, towards carrying out God’s will.

Finally, the Holy Spirit and his gifts help us to contemplate.  And for Franciscans the primary focus of our contemplation necessarily need be the Crucifix and the Eucharist.

Conversion via self-awareness, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit impels us forward from a life focused on the things of this world to a feeling for the things of God.  Do we take the time to do this?

Francis during his own conversion understood the need to come out of the noise of worldly affairs in order to make it easier for the Holy Spirit to work in his life.  I urge you to read again the Major Life, but this time put yourself into the story.  See what Francis did and ask yourself the question “Have I done that?” or “Will I do that?”

Ultimately, the Holy Spirit led Francis to have the seal of likeness to the Crucified imprinted on his body.  Like his Lord and Brother Jesus, Francis was able and willing to suffer for our Father and for others.  What about us?  Are we truly committed to a life of ongoing conversion?  Are we truly committed to a life that leads to eternal life?

Let our answer be yes!  But let our answer also be a practical one, not an empty do-nothing one.  Let us become more self-aware of our sins and take time away from the noise of the world to pray, as Francis did, to the Holy Spirit, our Paraclete, and allow him to guide us away from a world passing away in any case, to the glory of the resurrection.  Let us prove our love for God true, by again giving him all of ourselves and holding nothing back.  Amen.

Friar David M. Huebner O.F.M. Conv.

National Assistant SFO - Oceania

DIVINE OFFICE

Christian choral prayer for over a thousand years has taken the form of the Divine Office, or the Liturgy of the Hours. This prayer is closely tied in with the Eucharist. It often expands the meaning of the day's celebration, and it presupposes that the community offers the Eucharist together daily or at least sometimes.

Choral prayer is not just a personal prayer, or merely the prayer of your particular fraternity. It is the Church's prayer, the prayer of Jesus Christ, head and members. This conviction comes from faith when it is solidly based on the Scriptures. It makes all the difference to our appreciation of the Liturgy of the Hours when we realise whose prayer we are praying.

St Augustine, commenting on Psalm 141, expresses the Church's understanding of choral prayer: "Let Jesus Christ stand out, this one chanter; let this man sing from the heart of each of us and let each one of us be in this man. When each of you sings a verse, it is still this one man who sings, since you are all one in Christ ... primarily, this one man is speaking who reaches to the ends of the earth."

Vatican II's Constitution on the Liturgy, n.83, shares the same insight: "Christ Jesus ... taking human nature, introduced into this earthly exile that hymn which is sung throughout all ages in the halls of heaven. He joins the entire community of mankind to himself, associating it with his own singing of this canticle of divine praise."

It is worth all the effort and even discomfort when we appreciate that our fraternity's Divine Office is the prayer of Jesus Christ who prays in us, or rather, we pray in him and he pleads for the needs of the entire world. We praise God with him and on behalf of all creation.

Creation commits to us the interpretation of its silent worship. Creation’s adoration is like the breathing of a great organ which can become vocal only through our human voice.

We Franciscans, both religious and secular, may often feel burdened by our obligation to share in the prayer of the Church. If we are preoccupied with the obligation, we need to change our mentality. We should comply with the obligation, not to avoid feeling guilty, but in order to satisfy our inner spiritual needs. The Prayer of the Church is meant for all the faithful, but it is especially entrusted to priests and to us who belong to an Order, whether religious or secular.

Prayerfulness during choral prayer is determined by our personal efforts to recall the presence of God when we come to pray. We have to leave our preoccupations in good time for Divine Office; leave them physically and mentally.

It is worthwhile to pause and reflect before we begin communal prayer. Let’s get there a minute or two early. We can recollect ourselves with the help of a favourite prayer, e.g., "We adore you, most holy Lord Jesus Christ ."

It also helps recollection if we all prepare our bookmarks before we begin. Chasing pages during the prayer can be very distracting. The leader can announce the page at changes of place in the breviary. He or she also chooses the text when alternatives are offered.

Inevitably, there will be elements of torture in our choral prayer. It is a severe discipline of individualism. Perseverance with our fraternity members requires patience and tolerance, and we are not outstanding these days in our practice of either virtue. Maybe, this is why we talk so much about fraternity building. We never needed it so much as now.

Since the Divine Office is a choral prayer, we need to listen to the others, to keep in time and in harmony of voice. Perhaps, we have never been corrected and are unaware of our peculiarities in choir.

We need to take time over our fraternity prayer. No use cramming an hour of the Divine Office into some corner of spare time in a busy day, for example, in the last five minutes before a meal. Hurrying destroys the spirit of prayer.

The Divine Office is meant to be not merely an official community prayer but also the inspiration for our mental prayer and activity. So, silent pauses should be interspersed throughout. Kierkegaard remarked wryly that, "Silences are the only scrap of Christianity we have left."

The General Instruction of 1970 on the Liturgy of the Hours points out: "According as it is opportune and prudent, to echo the voice of the Holy Spirit in one's heart and to join one's personal prayer more intimately to the Word of God and the public prayer of the Church, it is in order to observe a period of silence either after each psalm and antiphon, or after the... readings, or after the responsory" (nn. 202, 203).

The greater part of the divine office is taken up with the psalms. We may pray them to express our own sentiments before God at the moment, or else to express the needs of other members of the Church. In either case, we share intimately in the sentiments and dispositions of Jesus Christ, who prayed the psalms in his own earthly life and who continues to pray them in us and in all his members.

St Augustine, commenting on Psalm 85, writes: "We pray to him in the form of God; he prays in the form of a slave, that is, ourselves. There he is the Creator; here he is in the creature. He does not change, but takes the creature and transforms it into himself, making us one man, head and body, with himself . we recite this prayer of the psalms in him and he recites it in us" (PL, 37, 1081).

Carl Schafer OFM

National Assistant SFO - Oceania