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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!
�Remember that you are dust and to
dust you shall return.�� With these sobering words the Church
inaugurates its annual retreat. They remind us that while Lent
ultimately leads to new life and resurrection, it also invites us to
reflect on our own mortality.� Just as there is no Easter
without Good Friday, so there is no new life without the daily dying
to sin and self to which baptism and our Franciscan life call us.
This dual theme of dying and rising
has been much on my mind lately; not only as the Church prepares to
enter into Lent, but also as I participate in and read about the
proceedings of the regional gatherings that have been taking place
throughout the Province. One focus of these meetings has been to
consider proposals and recommendations that have potential for
breathing new life and vitality into the Province.� We are
being called to imagine ways by which we might invite others to
partner with us in ministry; to consider ways in which we might give
ourselves in a more direct way to service to the poor in our midst;
and to re-awaken in ourselves and the Province a new zeal for the
mission life of the Church and the evangelization that is an
integral component of it.� These are all forward-looking
possibilities that have the capacity to renew us in the living of
our Franciscan life and that will respond to real needs in the
Church and in the larger society of which the Church is a part.
A second focus of these regional
gatherings has been to complete �The Five Wishes�, a document that
allows us to determine what kind of care we want�and do not want�as
we face death and the possibility of a prolonged or debilitating
illness.� This forces us to face our own mortality and makes us more
keenly aware of our aging and dwindling numbers.� As is often the
case, this latter reality has the capacity to rob us of hope and
prevent us from conceiving of any future, much less a future filled
with possibilities and new life.� And to become stuck in that place is like being
suspended in a Lent that never ends; to be invited to reflect on our
mortality with no hope of resurrection and the fullness of life it
promises.
In an interview on the occasion of
the150th anniversary of the establishment of their Monastery, Sr.
Nancy Bauer, OSB, Prioress of the Sisters of St. Benedict of Saint
Joseph, MN, remarked that two of the questions she often faces both
from sisters and people outside the Monastery have to do with
planning for the future and with dwindling numbers.� The following,
in part, is her response:
����
�I don�t worry about numbers.� Who�s to say that when we were a
community of seven�or 300�or 1300�or 298 that any one of those times
or people in that community were any more vital in preaching the
Good News than now?� It�s not about numbers; it�s about fidelity.�
It�s not about how many bodies you have; it�s about how many
committed people you have.� I think the challenges have not changed
that much over the years.� It�s always the challenge of staying
committed to those values of sharing our resources, of living
together.� Living together is still a challenge, even for religious
people. . . . Faithfulness and fidelity to the life itself is a
challenge in every generation.�
�As
I read these words, I thought that Sr. Nancy could be speaking about
our own community or any number of religious communities, for that
matter.� Regardless of the initials we sign after our names, the
reality and the challenges are the same.� The reality is dwindling
numbers, an aging population, the inability to maintain commitments
to ministries, and lack of hope for a vital future.� The challenge
is to recognize that, in some way, we have always dealt with
limitations and that a vital, hope-filled future rests in our
faithfulness to a way of life that we professed 60 or 40 or five
years ago; a way of life that entails constant conversion, dying to
selfishness, and aligning our priorities with those of the gospel.�
We cannot allow the reality to immobilize us or rob us of hope.
�
�Turn away from sin and be faithful
to the gospel.�� This is our other option as we are marked with
ashes.� Turn away from the sin of hopelessness, the temptation to
boredom, the preoccupation of wringing our hands wondering what will
become of us, and live our Franciscan life in a vibrant way�faithful
to the gospel and the journey it entails.
Fraternally in
St. Francis
�
� ������������������������������������ (Very Reverend) Anthony M.
Criscitelli, TOR
Minister Provincial
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