5. Secular Franciscans, therefore, should seek to
encounter the living and active person of Christ in their brothers and sisters,
in Sacred Scripture, in the Church, and in liturgical activity. The faith of St. Francis, who often said, "I see
nothing bodily of the Most High Son of God in this world except His most holy
body and blood," should be the
inspiration and pattern of their Eucharistic life.
As those who endeavor to follow in the footsteps
of St. Francis, we, like him, actively look for an encounter with the “living
and active person of Christ.” We are
familiar with the story of Francis’ first encounter with a poor beggar. Through this incident we understand that
Francis saw Christ in that poor person and that encounter changed his entire
outlook about others.
Much later, when he wrote the Canticle of the Creatures he understood
in his heart how we see the Christ in everything – how, when we really humble
ourselves and truly love God more than anything and our neighbor more than
ourselves, we do find Christ. That is
truly our challenge as we live out our days stepping into those footsteps of
St. Francis – how do we see Christ in others.
That paradigm shift in our thinking makes us treat others – all others
no matter who they are – even the beggars and lepers in our lives – the same
way we would if they were Christ Himself.
We are reminded by St. Paul what Christ did for us when he became one of
us:
Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also your in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the
form of God,
did not regard equality
with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied
himself,
taking the form of a
slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in
appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to
death, even death on a cross.
Because of this, God
greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the
name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on
earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess
that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the
Father.
Philippians 2: 5-11
The Great and Glorious Creator God became one of
us poor, humble human beings. As
Francis would say, “we are the vilest of creatures because of our sin.” But Christ didn’t have sin, nor did he
sin. But by becoming one of us, he
showed us that he is a part of everyone – an internal resident in our psyche –
a blessing of God to each and every one of us created beings - in all of us no
matter who we are or where we are from.
When we see Christ in everyone we meet and recognize how he humbled
himself to be one of us, how can we not treat others in a much different way –
with love:
Love is patient,
love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does
not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over
injury. it does not rejoice over
wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love
never fails.
Corinthians 12: 4-8
Our entire
lives become one of looking for ways to serve others and always putting our own
needs in a secondary position. Now, that
doesn’t mean that we neglect our lives, or stop eating correctly, or stop doing
those healthful habits that we need to do to maintain good health and physical
condition. On the contrary, we do those
things as well and offer ourselves to others in complete service and devotion
as though they were Christ Himself.
… in Sacred
Scripture, in the Church, and in liturgical activity.
The Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian
faithful... to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent
reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of
Christ. (The Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC] 133)
The Church reminds us that we find Jesus in
Sacred Scriptures. Through our frequent
reading of the Scriptures, especially the Gospels, we find Jesus – his heart,
his life, his example, his guidance – that will help us follow the journey on
which St. Francis leads us. The
Scriptures tell us about the life and mission of Jesus and the Church, through
its 2000-year Tradition, interprets for us how to find the “living, active
person of Christ.” Indeed, we see throughout the centuries, many fine examples
in all the Saints of the Church, people who have read the Scripture, listened
to the Church, and lived a life recommended by Christ. Our own St. Francis, even to the point of
receiving the Stigmata, is an excellent example of this fact. That’s why we endeavor to follow Francis in
his journey to follow Christ.
"Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is
at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us," is present in
many ways to his Church: in his word, in his Church's prayer,
"where two or three are gathered in my name,” in the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned, in the sacraments of which he is the author, in the sacrifice of the
Mass, and in the person of the minister. But "he is present . . . most
especially in the Eucharistic species." (CCC 1373)
We recognize that throughout all the Church’s
liturgical activity, we find the “living, active person of Christ.” (NOTE: review CCC 1088.)
Because we believe in the real presence
in the Eucharistic, we know that He is present in our church building every
time we enter – we see the light burning brightly in the Sanctuary. Because of Francis’ example, we keep the
light burning brightly in our hearts as well, so that we, too, can claim, "I see nothing bodily of the Most High
Son of God in this world except His most holy body and blood.” But as we accept this belief and continue
our journey with Francis, we recognize that our living out this reality changes
the way we approach others and makes us more caring, loving, and serving
Franciscans – so that our Eucharistic life is not confined to the activities of
the Mass, but goes with us into the world as we take the Gospel to Life and
return Life to the Gospel.
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