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MINISTER PROVINCIAL
Fr. Anthony Criscitelli, T.O.R.
Church of St. Bridget
3811 Emerson Ave. N.
Minneapolis, MN 55412 |
�
Dear Friars,
Peace and Good
Things!
�
For the past
couple of months I have been preoccupied by a church renovation
project gone awry.� At the end of July a local furniture restorer
took on the task of refinishing the pews in St. Bridget�s Church�all
1300+ linear feet of them.� Within a few days, he found it necessary
to change the process he was planning to use in order to accommodate
the fact that the finish on some of the pews had been compromised
over the course of 50 years and his method was not going to work.�
Within a few days of that, it became apparent to almost everyone
else that this man had probably taken on more than he could handle.�
In the end, we asked him to pack up his equipment and his crew of
day workers and leave the church before he did anymore damage.� We
subsequently hired a reputable and more experienced firm who
assessed the damage, removed the pews, and took them to a warehouse
in Eau Claire, WI where they are being refinished even as I write
this. We have reason to hope that they will be delivered and
installed in time for our evening liturgy on the Solemnity of St.
Francis on October 4th.
Anyone who
knows me knows that I do not deal well with disarray and upheaval.�
My world, in as much as I have any control over it, is usually an
orderly one�a place for everything and everything in its place.�
However, as the delivery date of pews draws nearer and the building
that houses this community and its worship takes on a more orderly
appearance, and as we draw closer to the feast of our Holy Father, I
find myself becoming less pre-occupied and a bit more reflective.�
For obvious reasons, the image of Francis beginning his ministry by
rebuilding the small chapel of San Damiano has been at the forefront
of my thoughts.
His biographers
and even his own writings tell us that Francis ultimately came to
recognize that he was being called to do more than restore
fallen-down chapels; rather, his was the formidable call to rebuild
the Church, imbuing it with new zeal for the Gospel and greater
faithfulness to the life and example of Christ.� However, before he
could set about this task with any integrity, Francis came to
understand that he needed to begin by rebuilding himself�to engage
in the painful task of standing before the Crucified One and
allowing himself to become the image upon whom he gazed.� And when
he gazed upon the crucifix at San Damiano what Francis saw in Christ
was poverty, humility, and charity.� The poverty that Francis saw in
Christ was the poverty of being a human creature.� As Paul reminds
us in the great hymn of kenosis, although Jesus was God, he did not
cling to that status.� Rather, he allowed himself to become
powerless, dependent, helpless, and empty.� He did this to reveal
God�s love and to teach us our true identity.� This choice was also
the epitome of humility.� In essence, the Son of God became a
servant to all and lived with a generosity of spirit and heart that
allowed others to be first.� Finally, in charity�compassionate
love�Jesus� outstretched arms on the cross drew in all humanity and
welcomed every creature into the embrace of God�s tender love
through mercy, forgiveness, and acceptance of all.� In the end,
Francis did this so well that when people met him or heard him
preach, they were confronted with the very presence of the crucified
Christ and were moved to acts of penance, thanksgiving, and praise.�
He gave flesh to the words of Paul to the Galatians:� ��it is no
longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.��
Difficult as it
is, this is what each of us is called to do.� It is only through
engaging in the hard work of transforming our selves and our hearts
into the image of the Crucified One that we can hope to rebuild the
Church, society, and the communities of which we are a part.� As we
celebrate the Solemnity of our Holy Father, then, let us not be
afraid to shift our gaze from him to the Crucified One and strive to
become the image upon whom we gaze.� May we learn the poverty,
humility, and compassionate love of Christ so that we might better
reflect his love to one another and the world.
�
Happy feast day
and God bless you!
�
Fraternally in
Saint Francis,
�
� ������������������������������������ (Very Reverend) Anthony M.
Criscitelli, TOR
Minister Provincial
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