Ruth's Book I
What should be the life style of a Secular Franciscan?
The answer is simple; simple for
each person in accordance with his particular circumstance in life. But,
regardless of the circumstances, we are "little" people, who should wish for
nothing better than to be childlike imitators of Christ's humility, meekness,
gentleness, kindness, and tolerance. Each one of us should be determined to
serve rather than be served. We should slip quietly into the least desirable
place, leaving the best for someone else.
Childlike and humble, a Secular Franciscan should be open to God's word. He
should be obedient to His commands; all of them without exception; receptive to
His Sacraments; loyal to His Church, holding in respect all forms of life and
all created things.
In a spirit of penance, a Secular Franciscan, who is a member of the order of penitents, should be willingly cheerful to adapt to any and all kinds of circumstances. For Example: to our living quarters, the weather, and to temperature conditions beyond our control. We can accomplish it in a spirit like that of our Seraphic Father Francis who sweated and shivered with a song of joy on his lips.
In a spirit of penance there can
be joy and a freedom that allows us to relate ourselves closely to our Suffering
Servant, Jesus. The cornerstone on which we build our simple life style "is
Jesus." His sense of values should be ours.
Our life style embraces obedience; our wills united to His will; an
optimistic outlook; patience in sufferings, hurts, trials, frustrations that
cannot be avoided and which can be redemptively united to His sufferings. It is
a great way to draw closer to Him and this should be our chief purpose in life.
Are not our crosses feather-light compared to His? Touching our hand to His
could stab one's heart with a thrill of joy that could desensitize pain better
than any man-made painkiller.
These are some thoughts on which a Secular Franciscan can build his life style. There can be much more to it depending on each individual's outlook and dedication. And, it can be so deep down satisfyingly and worthwhile!
Our way is the “Gospel Way”
We Franciscans are engaged in a life style that seeks a goal of perfection through the “Gospel Way” — “The Franciscan Way of Life.” In essence, as Francis said, “Let us begin for we have done nothing up to now.” This is rather earthshaking! We should listen to that message. It doesn’t mean we’ve done nothing in the past, it means we must strive to do even better in all things to get to that goal of perfection.
Look at man’s struggles with earthly things; by the grace of God, after having struggled for some time, he was able to invent a square wheel, which bumped along on every turn; then, as time went on, he came up with a round wheel, and later on he put rubber on the wheel which helped it to be quiet and roll smoothly.
We can look back on our spiritual climb, make a chart to see how we have bumped along over the years. Have we gotten there yet — perfection? Well, keep on trying, you won’t miss if you follow the “Gospel Way.”
There is no better Gospel passage to follow than the one from St. Paul: “I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect. I keep going on to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to himself. Of course, my brothers, I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach for what is ahead. So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize which is God’s call though Christ Jesus to the life above.” (Philippians 3: 12-14).