Reflections on the Rule - Chapter 1 - Article 3

Chapter One:

The Secular Franciscan Order

3.The present Rule, succeeding "Memoriale Propositi" (1221) and the Rules approved by the Supreme Pontiffs Nicholas IV and Leo XIII, adapts the Secular Franciscan Order to the needs and expectations of the Holy Church in the conditions of changing times. Its interpretation belongs to the Holy See and its application will be made by the General Constitutions and particular statutes.

This Rule is necessary for a couple of reasons: 1) to demonstrate that the Secular Franciscan order has continued from the very beginning by a request from St. Francis in 1221 and has continued over the years with several updates; 2) that this “new” Rule replaces all of the previous Rules and is now the guiding Rule for all Secular Franciscans.

The Rules replaced by this Rule are the original written in 1221, the Rules approved by Pope Nicholas IV in 1289 and by Pope Leo XIII in 1883.  The present Rule was approved by Pope Paul VI on June 24, 1978.

The original rule “Memoriale Propositi” was written in 1221 by Cardinal Hugolino dei Conti di Segni(Pope Gregory IX) at the request of St. Francis of Assisi.  In those times, we were called the Brothers & Sisters of Penance – later the Third Order of St. Francis.  Chapter headings are Daily Life, Abstinence, Fasting, Prayer, The Sacraments--Other Matters, Special Mass and Meeting Each Month, Visiting the Sick and Burying the Dead, and Correction, Dispensation, Officers.  This Rule followed St. Francis’ Exhortation to the Brothers and Sisters in Penance from 1210 – 1215 that we know as the Prologue to our Rule of today.  This Rule was promoted by Cardinal Hugolino and verbally approved by Pope Honorious III.

The second rule, the one from 1289, was approved by Nicholas IV, the first Franciscan Pope.  This Rule established some items that had been in question up until that time:  the monthly meeting needed a visitator who was from the Order of Friars Minor; the somewhat “independent” Penitentials were corralled under the supervision of the OFM; affirmed that the group is Franciscan having been formulated by St. Francis; designated the habit as gray; gave the order a more religious nature; and, allowed both the original “home church” and community life to develop.

Following a decline in Third Order participation in the 18^th and 19th Centuries, the Rule approved by Pope Leo in 1883 was shorter and less rigorous that the Rule of Nicholas.  Pope Leo was a “convinced, enthusiastic and tenacious supporter” of the Third Order.  He promoted participation in the Third Order.  The entire idea was to make this Rule appealing enough to involve many Catholics.  He even “…involved the entire episcopate in the propagation of the Franciscan Third Order.”  Over the years, the Third Order moved toward a more devotional approach in its mission.

Following Vatican II, an extensive multi-year project began with several iterations of the Rule being proposed, reviewed, critiqued, revised, and re-proposed.  This process even included the input of lay people (folks who would be living it). This Assisi Congress of 1969 developed 17 essential points of Franciscan spirituality.  The project being completed in 1978, was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on June 24.  The current Rule transitions the Order “from a ‘less devotional’ to a ‘more apostolic’ Order.”

So, today we have a Rule of Life that began as a simple project by St. Francis to help folks live a more Franciscan way.  Under this Rule, we are all more involved in apostolic activities.  May we spend time each day studying our Rule and finding new ways to go from Gospel to Life and Life to Gospel.

(ED NOTE: The information presented in this article is take from William Wicks, OFS excellent work “A Brief History of the Secular Franciscan Order and Its Rules.”  This can be found on the internet by browsing for the title.)

Reflections on the Rule - Chapter 1 - Article 2

Chapter One:

The Secular Franciscan Order

2. The Secular Franciscan Order holds a special place in this family circle. It is an organic union of all Catholic fraternities scattered throughout the world and open to every group of the faithful. In these fraternities the brothers and sisters, led by the Spirit, strive for perfect charity in their own secular state. By their profession they pledge themselves to live the gospel in the manner of Saint Francis by means of this rule approved by the Church.

Our General Constitutions remind us

From the beginning, the Secular Franciscan Order has had its own proper place in the Franciscan Family.  It is formed by the organic union of all the Catholic fraternities whose members, moved by the Holy Spirit, commit themselves through profession to live the Gospel in the manner of St. Francis, in their secular state, following the Rule approved by the Church.  (Article 2.3.)

What all of this tells us is that we, the Secular Franciscan Order, are a unitive part of the Franciscan order.  We belong together in a family with all of the Friars, Brothers, and Sisters.  Our branch is a world-wide organization dedicated to living "...the gospel in the manner of Saint Francis..."  To do this we have a Rule that is approved by the Church. 

Although this article of our Rule seems to be just an organizational statement, there is much more behind it than that.  For example, in our General Constitutions are cited two paragraphs from the Code of Canon Law that are relevant to this article.

Can. 303 Associations whose members share in the spirit of some religious institute while in secular life, lead an apostolic life, and strive for Christian perfection under the higher direction of the same institute are called third orders or some other appropriate name.

Can. 602 The life of brothers or sisters proper to each institute, by which all the members are united together as a special family in Christ, is to be defined in such a way that it becomes a mutual support for all in fulfilling the vocation of each. Moreover, by their communion as brothers or sisters rooted and founded in charity, members are to be an example of universal reconciliation in Christ.

Even our own General Constitutions 2000 discuss our secular status as we form together in association with each other.

Their secularity, with respect to vocation and to apostolic life, expresses itself according to the respective state, that is:

 — for the laity, contributing to building up the Kingdom of God by their presence in their life-situations and in their temporal activities;

— for the secular clergy, by offering to the people of God the service which is properly theirs, in communion with the bishop and the presbytery.

Both are inspired by the gospel options of Saint Francis of Assisi, committing themselves to continue his mission with the other components of the Franciscan Family.

So, you see that our second article is much more than just a statement of existence--it goes to the very heart of who we are as Secular Franciscans.  This kind of statement in the business world is called an executive summary.  Contained therein is the essence of what the entire document is all about.  So we see that Chapter Two covers the details of "[living] the Gospel in the manner of St. Francis" and Chapter Three covers a broad view of what fraternity is all about.

Let's take a brief look at the important points of these passages:

·         "...a special place in this family circle":  The Secular Franciscan Order originally was begun as the Brothers & Sisters of Penance in 1221 by St. Francis; over the years, and especially, since this "new" Rule was promulgated in 1978 by Pope Paul VI, the Secular Franciscan Order has become a unified association of secular people (not religious priests, friars, brothers, or sisters) who meet together as fraternities to learn how to live in the manner of St. Francis;  as one of the "orders" begun by St. Francis, the Secular Franciscan Order is a full partner with the religious orders in the Franciscan family; our "special place" is due to our witness in the everyday world of work and society;

·         "...organic union of all Catholic fraternities":  The Secular Franciscan Order is a world-wide association of mostly lay Catholics who subscribe to this Rule and meet together as fraternities in around 66 countries totaling 400,000 members;  according to CIOFS from a couple of years ago, we also have around 26 emerging national fraternities and four additional nations exploring forming a national fraternity;

·         "...led by the Spirit, strive for perfect charity, in their own secular state":  Individually, we are led by the Spirit to a moment of conversion that, through our special personal relationship with Jesus, we determine that we should follow in St. Francis footsteps to be able to follow Jesus more closely; through our understanding and following this Rule we continually strive to live a life of perfect charity - a life that fully respects all others as a child of God, our brother or sister, even Jesus Himself; and, we do all of this while living our regular day to day lives in our families, at work, at play, at church, at school, and with everyone we meet;

·         "By their profession...": We pledge on our honor to live by the tenets of this Rule; this is a perpetual profession, which means it's forever - every day of our lives while we are on this earth;

·          "...pledge themselves to live the Gospel...": Our profession takes on the special character of adding the Gospel message to our lives in a particular way so that through our living we demonstrate what the Gospel message is all about.  We become faithful witnesses to Jesus' simple message of loving God and loving others;

·         "...in the manner of St. Francis...":  As we live this Rule, our promise to live this Gospel life, endeavors to follow St. Francis of Assisi and his particular charism of simplicity, love of all creatures, care for the poor, and obedience to the Church;

·         "...rule approved by the Church.":  This Rule of Life is sanctioned by the Church having been promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1978; this tells us that the Church supports and approves our efforts to follow this Rule of St. Francis for the Secular Franciscan Order because it conforms to the theology and characteristics of what we have been taught in the Magisterium, the Code of Canon Law and the Catechism.  The earlier quotations from the Code of Canon Law give support to this concept.  Consequently, the statements of the Pope and his Bishops are an important part of our order.

So, you can readily see that this simple paragraph at the beginning of our Rule is just chocked full of important information about who we are and what we do.  One could surmise that this paragraph by itself would be enough to live by, but we know that the details that we will discuss in future months will really help clarify our standard of Franciscan life.

Reflections on the Rule - Chapter 1 - Article 1

Chapter One:

The Secular Franciscan Order

1.      The Franciscan family, as one among many spiritual families raised up by the Holy Spirit in the Church, unites all members of the people of God -- laity, religious, and priests - who recognize that they are called to follow Christ in the footsteps of Saint Francis of Assisi.

In various ways and forms but in life-giving union with each other, they intend to make present the charism of their common Seraphic Father in the life and mission of the Church.

The Code of Canon Law says, "All the Christian faithful must make an effort, in accord with their own condition, to live a holy life and to promote the growth of the Church and its continual sanctification." ⁽²¹⁰⁾ "The Christian faithful have the right to worship God according to the prescriptions of their own rite approved by the legitimate pastors of the Church, and to follow their own form of spiritual life consonant with the teaching of the Church." ⁽²¹⁴⁾ 

Lumen Gentium teaches us, "It is therefore quite clear that all Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of love, and by this holiness a more human manner of life is fostered also in earthly society." ⁽⁴⁰⁾

Our own General Constitutions explain, "All the faithful are called to holiness and have a right to follow their own spiritual way in communion with the Church. ⁽¹⁾  "There are many spiritual families in the Church with different charisms.  Among these families, the Franciscan Family, which in its various branches recognizes St. Francis of Assisi as its father, inspiration, and mode., must be included." ⁽²⁾

From the outset, we see clearly that the Church asks all of its members to seek holiness.    We see that each Christian is called to follow their own "form of spiritual life" to reach this goal.  We see that those who do follow the prescript of love will convert all of human society.  We see that our order, the Franciscan Family, is rightfully a legitimate part of the Church.  Then, our Rule further illuminates these concepts with more detail:

·         We are "raised up by the Holy Spirit".  This is not just some human idea for a party.  No, this order, this Family, is created by the Holy Spirit for the purpose reaching toward this goal of holiness and leading others to do the same.

·         We are joined together as a family with all the folks who have chosen St. Francis of Assisi - laity, religious, and priests - as their model.  We are equally working together to bring Francis' charism into the world.

·         We are a spiritual family.  We are joined together by the Holy Spirit in a common purpose.  We are no less family than the one we were born into, but we rise above that human familial relationship to one of higher and greater purpose.

·         We all come from different backgrounds and associate with each other in different ways:  Friars, Poor Clares, Third Order Religious, and Seculars; but nonetheless, we join together as a unified Institute of the Church that seeks to provide the life-giving charisms exemplified by St. Francis.

·         As we join together we intend to permeate the life and the mission of the Church with St. Francis' charism.

·         All of this together is our way of following more closely our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  This is the most important part of our reason for being!

So, as we look at the first paragraph of our Rule, we find a lot to consider as we try to walk this path of "becoming Franciscan."  We see that this road is a definite journey that will lead to a very satisfying ending, but the challenges will be great, because we are following Francis to better follow Jesus.  By following Francis we recognize that we are sinners and have a long way to go.  But we know that the trip will be worth it.

Reflections on the Rule - Prologue, part 2

Prologue:           Exhortation of St. Francis to the Brothers

                           and Sisters of Penance (circa 1210-1215)

 Concerning Those Who Do Not Do Penance

But all those men and women who are not doing penance and do not receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and live in vices and sin and yield to evil concupiscence and to the wicked desires of the flesh, and do not observe what they have promised to the Lord, and are slaves to the world, in their bodies, by carnal desires and the anxieties and cares of this life.

These are blind, because they do not see the true light, our Lord Jesus Christ; they do not have spiritual wisdom because they do not have the Son of God who is the true wisdom of the Father. Concerning them, it is said, "Their skill was swallowed up" and "cursed are those who turn away from your commands". They see and acknowledge, they know and do bad things and knowingly destroy their own souls.

See, you who are blind, deceived by your enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil, for it is pleasant to the body to commit sin and it is bitter to make it serve God because all vices and sins come out and "proceed from the heart of man" as the Lord says in the Gospel. And you have nothing in this world and in the next, and you thought you would possess the vanities of this world for a long time.

But you have been deceived, for the day and the hour will come to which you give no thought and which you do not know and of which you are ignorant. The body grows infirm, death approaches, and so it dies a bitter death, and no matter where or when or how man dies, in the guilt of sin, without penance or satisfaction, though he can make satisfaction but does not do it.

The devil snatches the soul from his body with such anguish and tribulation that no one can know it except he who endures it, and all the talents and power and "knowledge and wisdom" which they thought they had will be taken away from them, and they leave their goods to relatives and friends who take and divide them and say afterwards, "Cursed be his soul because he could have given us more, he could have acquired more than he did." The worms eat up the body and so they have lost body and soul during this short earthly life and will go into the inferno where they will suffer torture without end.

All those into whose hands this letter shall have come we ask in the charity that is God to accept kindly and with divine love the fragrant words of our Lord Jesus Christ quoted above. And let those who do not know how to read have them read to them.

And may they keep them in their mind and carry them out, in a holy manner to the end, because they are "spirit and life".

And those who will not do this will have to render "an account on the day of judgment" before the tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, St. Francis really lowers the boom in this second half of the Prologue to our modern Rule.  The first section, Concerning Those Who Do Penance,"  explained a really pleasant, wonderful existence for those who followed Jesus words as Francis has prescribed.  But the contrast in this second half is really stark, a kind of a Twelfth Century "fire and brimstone" elocution.

For Francis it is not just avoiding penance nor receiving Holy Communion that is the problem, but it is falling into a secular lifestyle that basically says, "Whatever feels good, do it."   Francis is fairly explicit about his definitions of this profligate life as well:  

"...and live in vices and sin and yield to evil concupiscence and to the wicked desires of the flesh, and do not observe what they have promised to the Lord, and are slaves to the world, in their bodies, by carnal desires and the anxieties and cares of this life."

This description pretty clearly outlines a dissolute life, one that is far from the Gospel message of self giving sacrifice for others.  But, it's not just these fleshly desires that are the heart of the problem.  Francis excoriates them for being slaves to the "anxieties and cares of this life" as well.  You see, Francis clearly supports the view that we must give over everything to God and trust Him completely as we go through our lives.  Recall the passages in Matthew about the lilies of the fields and the birds of the air.  Francis expects those who "do Penance" to fully and completely trust God in everything they do, to hold nothing back in reserve, and to give themselves over to service of God.  In today's society, that is just the antithesis of everything that we see happening. 

Placing God first over everything else is so uncommon today that it seems counter-cultural.   Well, it is!  And that is the point that Francis is making here.  We must turn against the world and rely on God for everything.  We must witness the total goodness, grace, and mercy of the Creator through our own self sacrifice and gift to others.

Those who are completely wrapped up in themselves and their own gratification are "blind" according to Francis.  They do not, even cannot, see the true light which is Jesus Christ.  Because of this blindness, they are not able to receive the true wisdom that only Jesus brings.  They have only the wisdom of the world, and, as we see from Francis' point of view, that's not the best way to go.  But it is even worse than that, because these people "see and acknowledge" but go ahead and make the decision to live the dissolute lifestyle anyway.  These unfortunate souls effectively know what to do, but choose to do otherwise.  These choices effectively "destroy their souls" and bring them ultimately to a sad ending.

Francis lists the causes of this deceptive thinking: your enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil.  So, instead of listening to the Word, they adhere to all of these others sources of input and are led on the wide path instead of the narrow.  As we have already seen, they make these choices themselves and create the conditions for their own demise. 

But, Francis shows that there is a better way when he explains the purging effect of properly making the body serve God.  It can be a hard and bitter way to live, but ultimately, it is much better that sending your soul to hell.  He even reminds us that to not follow the way of Penance is much like the farmer who had the bumper harvest and thought that he would live a long life and get to enjoy it all.  Francis' admonition reminds us that upon death all of that worldly accumulation stays behind and one's soul goes to the reward of its making; and, because one spends their entire life accumulating things and wonderful feelings, they have nothing in the next world either.  So, the life of Penance that helps us focus on the Good of God and helps us purge the attractions of this world doesn't really look so bad after all.

Despite this wonderful accumulation of goods, experiences, and good feelings, the eventual time comes when God calls us home.  No one escapes this final event of earthly life. It is then that the deception of the world comes home to roost.  The person who has not practiced Penance has missed the many opportunities to rectify their situation, in fact they have deliberately chosen to not take advantage of this important sacrament.  Then, comes the "brimstone" part:  "The devil snatches the soul from [their] body with such anguish and tribulation" and they end up without anything at all, no goods and no soul, and get to enjoy the "fires of hell."

The stark contrast between the two sections of this Rule of Penance from 1215 is enough to scare you to death.  Well, maybe not that, but Francis clearly explains the dramatic difference between living a life of Penance and choosing to live the way of the world.  We may not think in this way much anymore, but Francis point should still be well taken.  The Gospel of Life is just that: Good News that leads to eternal Life.  If we choose "... to accept kindly and with divine love the fragrant words of our Lord Jesus Christ ...," we can expect an eternal reward commensurate with the kind of life that we have lived.  So, with this in mind, we can examine the precepts of our 1978 Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order with a view of learning how to live the life that St. Francis recommends and to avoid the consequences of making really bad choices.  God give us the grace and wisdom to choose wisely!

Peaceful coexistence

I can't help but wonder a little about how violent our language has become since the Presidential election.  It surely seems that everyone is mad about something.  As a society, we don't even seem to want to get along.  No one trust anyone.  Everyone is suspicious about the other's motives.  What can't we just set aside our prejudicial feelings and sit down with the other and have a real conversation, sharing our views, testing our theories, and then coming together for the common good.      It seems. As though each side has its own agenda and nothing in the world will prevent them from pursuing it.  

We need a good health care solution!  Can't we talk about what has worked and when're the issues are and then develop a real solution that meets everyone's needs?  Looks like the GOP is doing what they blamed the DEMs for be when the ADA was written into law.  

Does no one learn?  Why is everyone so dead set on proving their ideas are right?  Don't we understand that everyone has some wisdom and that when we work together we can actually develop some really fantastic solutions to our common problems. AND those solutions will be for the common good, bot just succumbing to someone's idea of what's right.  AND ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS ARE GOOD FOR JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING OUR LAWMAKERS ARE TRYING TO DO AT BOTH THE STATE AND NATIONAL LEVELS!!!!!  

In our state, it appears that the people have no say at all.  It appears that our political leaders are acting on the whims of certain big business cats.  

1984 - Rollerball - it all seems to be falling into place.  What was once a great experiment in collective freedom and government is quickly evolving into the same old structures that ruled in the Middle Ages.  Most of us are now the peasants who must do what the Lord of the Manor says.  I certainly hope that everyone will soon wake up and reject the course of events brewing in our capitals and stop it before it's too late!  Otherwise,  we will be burying ourselves.  

Reflections on the Rule - Prologue, Part 1

Prologue:  Exhortation of St. Francis to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance (circa 1210-1215)

 Concerning Those Who Do Penance

All who love the Lord with their whole heart, with their whole soul and mind, with all their strength, and love their neighbors as themselves and hate their bodies with their vices and sins, and receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and produce worthy fruits of penance.

Oh, how happy and blessed are these men and women when they do these things and persevere in doing them, because "the spirit of the Lord will rest upon them" and he will make "his home and dwelling among them", and they are the sons of the heavenly Father, whose works they do, and they are the spouses, brothers, and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are spouses, when by the Holy Spirit the faithful soul is united with our Lord Jesus Christ, we are brothers to him when we fulfill "the will of the Father who is in heaven".

We are mothers, when we carry him in our heart and body through divine love and a pure and sincere conscience; we give birth to him through a holy life which must give light to others by example.

Oh, how glorious it is to have a great and holy Father in heaven! Oh how glorious it is to have such a beautiful and admirable Spouse, the Holy Paraclete.

Oh, how glorious it is to have such a Brother and such a Son, loved, beloved, humble, peaceful, sweet, lovable, and desirable above all: Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave up his life for his sheep and prayed to the Father saying:

"Oh holy Father, protect them with your name whom you gave me out of the world. I entrusted to them the message you entrusted to me and they received it. They have known that in truth I came from you, they have believed that it was you who sent me. For these I pray, not for the world. Bless and consecrate them, and I consecrate myself for their sakes. I do not pray for them alone; I pray also for those who will believe in me through their word that they may be holy by being one as we are. And I desire, Father, to have them in my company where I am to see this glory of mine in your kingdom."

As we all know, these words are from the first statement that St. Francis wrote for our part of his order, the Brothers & Sisters of Penance, what we now call the Secular Franciscan Order.  Here Francis outlines the basics for belonging to this group, this fraternity of brothers & sisters:

· Love the Lord God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Jesus gave his life so that you might have a full life and to free you from your sins--all because of His great love for you.  So the first requirement, as in the Ten Commandments, is to love God without reservation and to put your whole, entire self into the mix.  Don't hold back your love from God.  As John says in his first letter, "⁷Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. ⁸Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.  ¹⁰In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another."

· Love your neighbor as yourself.  This assumes that you, in fact, love yourself.  How can you not--you are a creation of the Great, Glorious God--. . ."and he looked around and saw that everything was very good."  Care for the other person, no matter who they are.  Watch after them. Tend to their needs, before your own.  Give yourself totally to the service of the other person.  Re-read I Corinthians 13.

· Hate their bodies with their vices and sins.  How enmeshed are you in today's materialistic and consumer society?  Francis challenges us to put all of that behind us and look to the things of heaven, to the glorious friendship we have with Jesus.  That doesn't mean that we abuse Sister Body, but we must remember that this world doesn't really "get" what's going on.  Aim your sight on the heavenly rewards.

· Receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Clear your soul of tarnish through reconciliation.  Faithfully participate in Mass. Honor the Real Presence in the Host and Wine.  Reverently accept the Lord from the Priest.  Reform your life.

· Produce worthy fruits of penance.  Daily conversion is the key to success in living the Franciscan charism.  Review your day.  Pray about your failures.  Rejoice in your successes. Ask for God's help to improve your life tomorrow.  Resolve, not only to do better, but make it really happen.  Increase your love for the others in your life.

After the introductory paragraph, Francis reviews the results of this life--a happiness and blessedness that comes from a persistence in living this way:

·         "The spirit of the Lord will rest upon them";

·         He will make "his dwelling and home among them";

·         They are sons of the heavenly Father;

·         They are spouses, brothers, and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Important to this section is the concept of perseverance.  It's not OK just to say that we are going to live the life outlined in the first section, we have to persevere each day in remaking our lives in that mold.  That's where the idea of daily conversion comes from.  At the end of each day we review what we did and make amends and promises, and yes, even plans, to improve upon our performance for the next day.  We try to do it better.  In the business world we called this idea "continuous improvement"--we were always looking for a way to do the task better.  That's what we are called to do when we persevere in the Franciscan life.  And, according to St. Francis, the rewards look to be pretty great!

Francis outlines those rewards through the relationship that we have with our Lord Jesus Christ when we live this way:

·         We are spouses, when by the Holy Spirit the faithful soul is united with our Lord Jesus Christ

·         we are brothers to him when we fulfill "the will of the Father who is in heaven".

·          We are mothers, when we carry him in our heart and body through divine love and a pure and sincere conscience;

·         we give birth to him through a holy life which must give light to others by example.

Francis is telling us that one of the results of this way of living is to become closely attached to the Lord, like we do in our own families.  We achieve these closely bonded relationships with our Lord by having a faithful soul (see perseverance above), when we act upon God's will in our lives, (love others), we carry him in our heart and body (first Commandment and purity of mind, body, and soul), give light to others by example (actually live the life we profess).

St. Francis concludes the initial section of the Prologue with sort of a hymn that praises the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  In this praise, St. Francis reminds us that we are the creation of the Great and Glorious God who loves us so very much that he sent His Son to us to show us how to live and ultimately "gave up his life for his sheep". 

St. Francis closes this section with that most wonderful prayer from the Gospel of John in which Jesus asks God for the protection and consecration of, not only the apostles, but all of us who have followed them as a result of our believing what they have told us; and, that we "... may be holy by being one as we are".  Through this important prayers, St. Francis reminds us that unity of spirit in fraternity is critical to our achievement of the life he has admonished us to pursue.

Advent 2016

Over the last month, I've been thinking a lot about our society and where we are headed.  From the "position papers" that are frequently printed in the Letter to the Editor column, it appears that we have a whole bunch of evil folks running around telling us just how bad the other side is and why they are so much better and can bring our state and country back to what it used to be.  But over the last several years, these same folks have really accomplished very little to improve our overall situation.  Our roads are crumbling; our schools are losing their edge; our water quality is deteriorating; our small towns are looking more like ghost towns, and everybody who doesn't think like me is the enemy.  Greed abounds while solutions are non-existent.

One group seems intent on eliminating the future generation and providing "equal" rights to just about everyone who comes along, no matter what their mental state, and the other group seems intent on eliminating the basis of funding for our collective enterprise and rewarding those who already are so well off that some of them could actually pay for the entire budgets of all of the departments of federal government except the Pentagon's war machine.  The old adage from Mr. Einstein is a simple definition:  "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  I surely seems to me that we have plenty of insanity going around right now!

I've lived in Iowa most of my life and I believed that those tried and true Iowa values that I was raised with really would serve us all very well if we just continued to live by them.  You know what I mean:  helping our neighbor, protecting our children, working hard, and just being generous with and caring for others.  It seems that these life giving qualities have been left behind in the rush to "prove that I'm right and you are wrong and therefore evil." 

I have been wondering just how much we could do together, no matter what our political philosophy, if we would think about those who are in the most need before launching our next crusade to prove that the other person is evil and therefore is a "non-;person" and not worthy of consideration.   It seems that if we could set aside our particular agenda and listen with empathy to what the people are saying and then, without any (and I do mean any) preconceived notions about what to do, actually have a collaborative dialogue about how to resolve the problems, we could propose and implement real solutions to these issues.  It surely would be worth trying, because the other method hasn't been working very well.  Surely, we are smart enough to involve ourselves in this sort of process without some big national opinion poll or group of demagogues telling us how to think.

The impetus for these thoughts have been the themes of the last four Sundays during the season some of us call Advent, you know the time before Christmas when we consider how to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christmas.  Anyway those simple four words could remind us of our Iowa values and, perhaps, lead us to a more civil, thoughtful, and productive civil society:  Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. 

·         Hope - not the "all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" kind - but rather, the enduring look at the future, knowing that we are better than this and, when we think of others first, we can actually find ways to resolve our issues and make all of our lives better - both now and for the future. 

·         Peace - not the 'absence of conflict" kind - but rather, the peace that brings a quietude to your soul knowing that everyone is benefiting from a just society that cares for all of its people, no matter what their condition or situation. 

·         Joy - not the "golly isn't this great" type - but rather the kind that emanates from the proper kind of Hope and Peace - an internal knowledge that with our focus on the other person instead of our own selfish needs, we really understand the kind of life that we were asked to live by "that guy" 2,000 years ago.  

·         Love - not the "selfish, feel good, just for me" kind - but rather the kind that says,  "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

I don't know, but it seems that we haven't really been trying to live this way, especially from the results of our political campaigns and how our state and country are moving forward (Are we really moving forward?)  I just thought that it would be really interesting to try to live this way - to actually remember that the "Spirit of the Season," as some call it, actually has its basis on the true life we are called to live by Jesus - a life of service to others, care for others, justice for others - especially the most needy in our society.  It seems to me that we haven't' really tried this for a long time.  Perhaps we should give it a go.  The other way isn't working and I don't think that we are really insane,  so why not try something a little different:   it isn't about who's right, it's about what's right.  Maybe if we all tried this way of living, the true Spirit of Christmas would actually shine through and we would really see a difference in our own lives as well.  If we raise the other person, won't we raise as well?  Might be worth a try.