Letter of the Minister General and General Council to all the
Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis for
the Solemnity of Easter 2005
BREAKING OF THE BREAD - The Eucharist: Source and Summit of Our
Fraternity
Dearest Brothers and Sisters: We are writing this brief Easter
message to you while dealing with the strong emotions caused by the
catastrophe of the "tsumani" in Southeast Asia.
Some of us personally witnessed the devastation wrought by this
calamity during our fraternal visits
to our friars in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Let us help each other to see these events through the eyes of faith
- as expressions of the precarious existence of our earthly life and
as a challenge given to us by our Lord to conversion. The Kingdom of
God is truly near (cf. Mt. 4:17). If we do not embrace a life of
conversion the events of this world can only leave us in anxiety and
fear.
The Eucharist, the great sacrament that the Holy Father has called
us to contemplate with renewed appreciation and awareness during
this year, is unequalled in providing aid and a "medicine of
immortality" (St. Ignatius) to this world and helps us understand
the reality of death. It also gives us the strength to undertake the
Easter journey from death to life.
The wonderful miracle of international solidarity has also appeared
among the many visions of suffering that we have witnessed. All the
regions of the world have done - and continue to do - their best to
alleviate the consequences of the disaster. In the world's
willingness to reach out with assistance we can clearly perceive the
mysterious presence of a "breaking of the bread." This is also the
way the Eucharist was identified in the Acts of the Apostles (cf.
Acts 2:42).
Moving from a consideration of the life of the world to the
experience of our TOR fraternity, we can say that the "breaking of
the bread" also constitutes a concrete program of life for us.
I. The Biblical Spirituality of Compassion
The action of the Lord Jesus Christ as He breaks the bread at the
last supper is a gesture taken from the history of the ancient
people of God.
The vocation of Moses to liberate the people from slavery is a clear
example of this divine action. The actions of the great prophet were
an acceptance and welcome of the merciful compassion of God. Moses,
a friend of the pharaoh and the
royal house, would have been able to stay in comfort and honor.
Instead he preferred to offer his very life and place himself in
service of the liberation of his brothers and sisters in order for
them to truly become the people of God.
The Passover lamb that was shared and eaten, the blood that
marked the houses of the faithful of God,
the life of the prophets, and the innocent people persecuted by
violence are all signs that anticipate the broken body and spilled
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ - the reality that is still present
in our midst in the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the
wine.
II. The Breaking of the Bread and the Need for Sharing for the
Revival of Life
The action of Jesus, who "took bread, said the blessing, and broke
it" (Mt. 26:26) established the Eucharist as the breaking of the
bread in the primitive Christian community. After the resurrection
and ascension the Lord continued to be present to the community
through the "breaking" of the Word
and the Bread (cf. Lk 24: 13-35). This liturgical action has the
clear intent of internally unifying the community and is a clear
revelation of Divine action to the world through mutual unity and
love. The sharing of faith in the presence of the Lord also
encouraged the early Christians to willingly share their material
goods (cf. Acts 4:32).
The more we have faith in the real presence of the Lord in our own
lives - and in our own communities - the more we will be able to
experience the power that frees us from transitory things.
The solidarity of the Western world in these months following the
earthquake and tsunami is a sign that, despite the eroding of
Christian values in society, the ethics of mutuality that is
indelibly stamped in the history of the West by the spirit of
Eucharist is still vibrant. It is certain that the more we renew
this spirit the more our "global village" will feel its benefits.
III. Franciscan Spirituality of Mercy, Ex-appropriation, and
Restitution - Rooted in the "Breaking of the Bread"
Following the model of the apostolic community we, as a Franciscan
fraternity, are called to break our individual lives in order to
construct a spiritual family.
The scriptural imagery used during the patristic period of the
Church is very clear in this regard: grain,
collected from many places and ground together, makes up the one
bread - and seed, sown in the field, gives life to new ears of
grain.
This spirit is also present in the conversion of Saint Francis and
his encounter with the lepers. He states that the Lord led him among
them and he showed "mercy to them" (Test 2).
Franciscan spirituality is characterized by an "ex-appropriation"
(or a letting go) of one's self as one recognizes the marvelous
truth that everything and every one comes from God (cf. LM 7:1).
This is beautifully portrayed in the anxiety that the friars
experienced when they tried to provide restitution to the poor men
as a response to what they themselves had received from the gracious
Giver of all good things (cf. 2C 54:87). This kind of awareness also
impels us to break the bread of our own spiritual and material
goods.
The same mysterious impulse of the Holy Spirit to create fraternity
- and to create Church - comes through the actions of Jesus who
broke the bread of His life. It is also present in Saint Francis who
experienced the death of the Lord in his own death (cf. 2C 163:217).
This power, this challenge, is given to us as well.
IV. Our Presence in a "Global Village"
In the Plenary Council of the Order, celebrated in July of 2004
during the centennial year of the TOR presence in Brazil, we once
again considered the importance of manifesting the true identity of
the Order both within the fraternity itself and in our presence in
the world. We believe that these discussions have helped us clarify
that we must embrace a future highlighted by a "breaking of the
bread" between our provinces and vice-provinces on an international
level.
Our Order has also has experienced its own solidarity during this
time of pain and suffering caused by the tsunami in Southeast Asia.
This feeling should not be reserved exclusively for extraordinary
occasions, but should become a normal expression of fraternal unity
both through official and unofficial channels.
We all have a ways to go before this kind of attitude is a reality -
especially considering the weakness of our central institutions in
respect to the individual provinces and vice-provinces.
Conclusions
In this Easter greeting we, the governing body of the Order,
would like to leave the following observations for
your consideration:
1.) As we have already recommended on other occasions, let us, with
the help of the Lord, adopt a desire to strengthen our fraternities
through an ongoing conversion from the solitude caused by
individualism (death) to the joy of being together as a spiritual
family (life).
2.) We observe with sympathy and wish to strongly encourage those
fraternities that wish to renew themselves. Their plan is to put the
spiritual life as the center of the fraternity and to search for
ways to serve the new poor. This attempt is worthy of respect on our
part. Perhaps this is one way through which our Order is already
experiencing the power of the resurrection of the Lord.
May you all experience a grace-filled Easter! To the praise of
Christ. Amen.
Given in Rome at the Friary of Sts. Cosmas and Damian for the
Solemnity of Easter 2005
