Christmas Letter 2002
Prot. N. 93-2002
Tertius Ordo Regularis Sancti
Francisci
Letter of the Minister General & TOR General
Council
to all the Franciscan Brothers and Sisters of the
Third Order Regular
for the Solemnity of Holy Christmas 2002
CHRISTMAS 2002
"He emptied Himself for our
sake..."
TOR Rule article 21
Introduction
Article 2 of the Rule and Life of the Brothers and Sisters of the
Third Order Regular states that the members of the Order wish to live
"evangelical conversion of life in a spirit of prayer, of poverty and humility."
These four values (conversion, poverty, prayer and humility) have been identified as
essential elements of our Franciscan way of life and challenge all of us to an ever more
profound embrace of the Gospel. As we celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Rule
during this year we would like to examine these values in light of how they were embraced
by Francis, how they are presented in our Rule, and then raise some questions as to
how they apply to the present reality of our Order. In light of the fact that Jesus
"emptied Himself for our sake" when he became human, an event that Francis
refers to as God becoming poor, it seems appropriate that the reflection begins with the
Franciscan understanding of poverty.
Saint Francis and Poverty
Poverty for Francis was not an ascetical exercise meant to increase
one’s self awareness before God or a way to grow in the spiritual life. It was not a
way to protest against the riches of the Church or a he means used to deal with heretical
groups - as it was for St. Dominic, the great preacher. He did not embrace poverty for any
social reasons, not even to be with and comfort the poor. The poverty embraced by Francis
was a consequence of his profound love of the poor Christ. He states this very clearly in
the Later Rule when he writes that the friars must "serve the Lord in poverty
and humility in this world" and must not be ashamed of their poverty "because
the Lord made himself poor for us" (LR VI: 2-6).
It is interesting that Francis never defined what he meant by poverty.
If one were to ask him what poverty entailed he would most likely respond, "It is the
poverty of our Lord Jesus Christ" (ER IX: 1). Rather than defining the term he
preferred to demonstrate his understanding by the way he lived his life and through the
many exhortations he left his followers.
Francis saw the life of Christ through the prism of the Divine
self-emptying and humility that is so central to the Incarnation. The greatest
"poverty" of Jesus, according to the Poverello, was when He, the Son of God,
stripped himself totally and took on our human condition. This Divine poverty was not
simply a material or external giving up of things or power, it was rather an interior
letting go of one way of being to embrace another and a profound expression of love. No
one has described it better than St. Paul:
Though he was in the form of God Jesus did not deem equality with God
something to be grasped at. Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of a slave, being
born in the likeness of men (Phil 2:6-7).
For Francis, the mystery and wonder that Jesus let go of his divinity
in order to offer himself for the salvation of the world can be best seen in the
Incarnation and the Eucharist:
Behold, each day He humbles Himself as when he came from the royal
throne into the Virgin’s womb; each day He Himself comes to us, appearing humbly,
each day He comes down from the bosom of the Father upon the altar in the hands of a
priest (Adm I: 16-18).
The Incarnation, the central mystery of God’s interaction with the
world, takes place every time the Eucharist is celebrated. This emptying, this poverty of
Christ, was the poverty that Francis wished to emulate. It is a poverty which has
practical exterior expression, but one which was much more an interior way of being in the
world - a loving self emptying for others.
As a result of this understanding Francis taught that the friars should
never appropriate anything to themselves. Material objects like houses, money, education,
one’s own self will, positions in the order and in the Church, the judgement of
others are all "things" that one should not try to possess or defend. After all,
since everything comes from God there is no way that we can or should try to claim
anything for ourselves (cf. ER XVII, XXIII).
Poverty in the Rule
Throughout last eight hundred years Franciscans have been discussing,
at times even violently, the way poverty should be understood and lived. As they have
tried to hold on to poverty as a central defining charism of their identity, our brothers
of the First Order have experienced this struggle in a particularly intense way in the
various reform movements in the last eight hundred years. It is important to keep in mind
that the understanding of poverty in the Third Order is and has been much different. A
guiding admonition of Francis for his first followers came from the Gospel imperative that
they have and own nothing, thus, as itinerant preachers, they would be ready to go out to
the whole world and spread the good news. On the other hand, members of the Third Order
were deeply involved in works of mercy in their own town and communes. Some early
expressions of these outreaches included work in hospitals and hospices throughout Europe.
Indeed, it can be argued that one cause for the rise of "regular" communities in
the Third Order was as a result of a desire to be able to better serve the disadvantaged
and needy. As a result of this apostolic outreach the Order has always understood poverty
as allowing, even necessitating, the ownership of possessions in service to the mission.
Chapter VI of the Rule, entitled "The Life of
Poverty," is a wonderful summary of Francis’ understanding of poverty and
provides us with some practical direction as we try to embrace this important value in our
own lives. Article 21 states very clearly that the focus of poverty is the example of
Christ who "emptied Himself for our sake," that we should be content with
"those goods of the world which, as the Apostle says, ‘Provide enough food and
sufficient clothing,’" Therefore, the members of this Order should "be
happy to live among the outcast and despised, among the poor, the weak, the sick, the
unwanted, the oppressed, and the destitute." Article 22 continues by pointing out
that we should "neither appropriate or defend anything" as our own and that
poverty "makes us heirs and rulers of the kingdom of heaven" and rich in virtue.
The focus of poverty in our lives as members of the Third Order Regular is a movement away
from self reliance to total reliance on God. This in turn should motivate us to become
more involved in the lives of others.
The imperative to have an inner disposition of attachment and reliance
on God as central to our understanding of poverty must be demonstrated in a real way by
the way we live our lives. The Constitutions of the Order is very clear on this
point:
Besides individual efforts to live the life of the poor and humble, the
friars shall strive to give a corporate witness to poverty by the choice of apostolates,
by avoiding excessive accumulation of goods and by renouncing the external appearances of
wealth. They likewise eagerly live the spirit of charity both in searching to discover and
in generously placing at their disposition personal talents and communal resources (art.
99).
Without this exterior and material dimension the poverty we profess
loses its force as a witness of our total reliance on the Lord.
The Present Reality
Poverty seems to be a topic that is hard to talk about or take
seriously in the modern world of global opportunities and the ready availability of goods
and services. Nevertheless, it is a fundamental value of the Franciscan evangelical life
and can not be abandoned without weakening the fabric of our religious life. It is
important for us to reflect on this dimension of our lives and to perhaps redefine it
realistically for the world of the 21st century.
As we have mentioned in previous letters, the Order is not immune to
the forces at work in the world. For the most part, our friars are well educated, have
good health care and are well provided for. The things that we carry with us from one
assignment to another is a clear testimony that we have not taken Christ’s injunction
that we "take nothing for the journey" as an integral part of Franciscan
understanding. And yet, all of us are called to be poor, to rely only on God, and to
freely give of our times and talents for the up-building of the kingdom of God in service
to the most needy in the world. The challenge is to be faithful to our vocation as
professed religious while at the same time knowing how to use the goods of this world in
service to the people of God.
The questions that faces us are very real: Have we really applied what
the Rule and Constitutions teach us about poverty to our lives? Do we really
give a corporate and personal witness that we have vowed to live a life of poverty? Are we
really "happy to live among the outcast and despised, among the poor, the weak, the
sick, the unwanted, the oppressed, and the destitute?" Do we find our sufficiency in
the Lord, or are we more concerned about the accumulation of goods? What things,
attitudes, or positions do we hold onto and refuse to give over even to the Lord?
Perhaps there are no easy answers to these questions. As with anything
else in the spiritual life the challenge shifts as we get older and even the questions
change and need to be articulated ever anew. However, as we celebrate the feast of the One
who has "emptied Himself for us" we need to allow ourselves to be challenged by
his example of love, self-emptying and poverty.
We wish you all a most blessed Christmas and Happy New Year!
Given in Rome
on the Solemnity of Immaculate Conception,
December 8, 2002
Fr. Ilija
Zivkovic, TOR
Ministro Generale
Fr. Michael Higgins, TOR
Vicar General
Fr. Corpus Izquierdo Barrero, TOR
1� General Councilor and General Secretary
Fr. Matthew Puthenparambil, TOR
General Councilor
Fr. Fernando Scocca, TOR
General Councilor
Fr. Mark Fernando, TOR
General Councilor |
