Franciscan Quote of the Day

I realize that no one will believe me, but I have no hesitation about affirming that a serious beginning is made in the spiritual life the moment a man makes a genuine act of humility. So often for most men the early stages of faith, or, in the case of others its development, is blocked, poisoned, distorted, or relegated to an everlasting tomorrow by our inability to become like a little child and to cast ourselves, in the spirit of a child, into the enfolding arms of God’s mystery. We try to show God how clever we are, when no class of men is so abhorrent to the Gospel; we want to lay down conditions to the Eternal and Infinite One, but the Infinite does not respond, and the Eternal allows time to destroy us.

–Carlo Carretto, In Search of the Beyond, via SHIRT OF FLAME

As a result, his life became a continuous process of allowing the words of the Gospel to enter profoundly into every fiber of his being: their sound, articulation, imagery, and meaning.

~Regis Armstrong, The Franciscan Tradition (Spirituality in History)

It was my first introduction to the application of the Gospel to something besides myself. The first understanding that as a collective group, we’re complicit in people’s sufferings because of the decisions that our government’s making with our approval, our blessing almost, even if we don’t know it. We really sort of have to be more responsible to know what the government’s doing in our name.

~Dennis Apel in an interview with Heather King posted on her blog Shirt of Flame

Therefore, from the moment of profession onwards,  it is the gospel which inwardly specifies the life of the Secular Franciscan and commits him/her to the observance of the gospel: profession implies  “the will to live the gospel”.

~Fr. Felice Cangelosi OFM Cap, Profession in the SFO: Gift and Commitment

A Franciscan’s life, therefore, is to be marked by continual contemplation, reflection, and emulation of the Gospel. The way of life is not about particular tasks, responsibilities, duties or rules (although they certainly exist and rightly so), but about the style of living in whatever context one finds him or herself.

~Francis of Assisi and the Future of Faith by Daniel Horan OFM

The invitation to follow Christ which Francis heard during Mass became for him a life-long commitment which would be translated into concrete gestures, like that of leaving behind him all things which would hinder him from being an itinerant disciple of the Lord. It was a question of seeing the celebration of Mass not only as a moment of  prayer or mystical union with the Lord, but also as an invitation to act, which is born out of the Word proclaimed and believed during the celebration of Mass. Here we find the novitas, the newness, of Saint Francis, who inaugurates a new way of religious life in the Church, namely that of the apostolica vivendi forma. It was a new way which was born during the celebration of Mass in a wayside chapel, and after listening to the explanation of the Gospel from the mouth of an impoverished priest of this world.

~Noel Muscat O.F.M., Look at the Humility of God: The Eucharist in the Writings and the Life of Saint Francis of Assisi via website of the Five Franciscan Martyrs Region

We can affirm that the Gospel calling which Francis felt to the apostolic life was born exactly within the context of the celebration of Mass. He was not a deaf hearer of the Gospel, and therefore he opened his heart, and in the living presence of Christ who speaks in His Word, Francis felt his inner calling, strengthened by the context in which he was finding himself at that moment, namely the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice.

~Noel Muscat O.F.M., Look at the Humility of God: The Eucharist in the Writings and the Life of Saint Francis of Assisi via website of the Five Franciscan Martyrs Region

The Church is not just a collection of individuals gathered around a sacred text. She’s a community – a community rooted both in God’s Word and in sacrament.

No matter how many other things bear good fruit for the Gospel in our day, there is no ongoing presence of Jesus Christ in the world without the Church; there is no Church without the Eucharist; and there is no Eucharist without the priest.

As a result, in every generation, we always need good priests: well-formed men of hope and courage; men who love Jesus Christ, love the Church and are eager to serve God’s people. And – equally important – we need a community of believers that will encourage these men, and support them as a family in their sacrifices.

~Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M.Cap., “Restoring the heart of Catholic life” via Catholic Philly.

Too many people who claim to be Christian simply don’t know Jesus Christ. They don’t really believe in the Gospel. They feel embarrassed by their religion and vaguely out of step with the times. They may keep their religion for comfort value. Or they may adjust it to fit their doubts. But it doesn’t reshape their lives because it isn’t real. And because it isn’t real, it has no transforming effect on their personal behavior, no social force, and few public consequences.

~Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, A Heart on Fire: Catholic Witness and the Next America

Secular Franciscans should devote themselves especially to careful reading of the gospel, going from gospel to life and life to gospel.

~Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order

I know this isn’t a quote, but if you want to keep up with what’s going on at the Q, they have set up a website (http://www.quinquennial.org/).

More than 500 Franciscans converge on Chicago July 3-8 for the U.S. Secular Franciscan Order’s Quinquennial Congress. Held every five years to bring Secular Franciscans, friars and sisters together as a family from across the U.S., the Quinquennial this year focuses on gaining insight into the call by St. Francis of Assisi to live the Gospel in one’s everyday life.

A church that doesn’t provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed – what gospel is that? Very nice, pious considerations that don’t bother anyone, that’s the way many would like preaching to be. Those preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed, so as not to have conflicts and difficulties, do not light up the world they live in.

~Archbishop Oscar Romero, via Pax Christi USA

As a Franciscan my home is everywhere, but also nowhere in this world. It’s a gospel challenge, but it’s also a gospel freedom.

~Brother Charles, “First Spanish Mass“.

He would tell his sons that she was the way of perfection, the pledge and earnest of eternal riches. No one was so greedy of gold as he of poverty; no one more careful in guarding a treasure than he in guarding this pearl of the Gospel.

~Thomas of Celano, The Second Life of St. Francis of Assisi

In Jesus Christ, God has given away everything it means to be God, and has lavishly bestowed upon us every blessing of the divine life. And we are called to imitate God by wasting the best of ourselves on each other, to give of ourselves for the life and happiness of the other. That’s what it means to give up your life for the life of the world, just like Jesus does on the Cross.

Brother Charles, in his blog post: “The Gospel of Prosperity“