The story goes that Saint Francis met a young man who wanted to imitate him. He was completely taken with the lifestyle of Francis.

Well, the boy was admitted. He got a new name: Jan. (Dutch for "John"). Short and concise.

St. Francis hoped he would become a new Johannus. But it wasn't so easy. Jan was good, had a tendency to pray and meditate, and practiced the virtue of humility beyond measure.

Still, St. Francis felt something was wrong. Jan was not his own. He wanted to follow Francis literally. When Francis coughed, then Jan coughed too. If Francis blew his nose, then Jan blew his nose also. When Francis skipped the morning oblation, then Jan didn't eat either. This irritated Francis immensely. How can someone's life be shaped, if all he does is imitate!

Francis called him and said: You're on your own, to shape your life, in poverty, obedience and chastity. With your abilities and circumstances, try that yourself and you'll become a worthy brother and a good follower of mine. Jan took this to heart. He deployed all his talents. He had his own place among his lesser brothers and acquired a great holiness.

He died in January and was an example to any brother minor who entered.This story goes around the Capuchin community. I feel an attraction to this story and will try to hold on to it. The simple truth is, we cannot all do the exact same things Francis imposes on us. We have to live with our limitations. We have to rely on our own talents, with God's blessing.

In our Capuchin Order this is well liked. There is no one single model capuchin.
And it looks and smells to an outsider that we are a Capuchin order.
That's great, right?

You see therefore beyond the traditional forms of our Franciscan religious,
various movements grow that make this possible.
There is something new, you see it yet?
This optimism we live,
We have room for new people and give them the opportunity to reach an
ideal, where we, in our time and in our way, pledge our hearts.

Translated by Fred Schaeffer, SFO, from the writing of Br. Rogier 't Hoen
Franciscan Capuchin (Netherlands) 2003

N.B. In the same way, there is no Secular Franciscan who is identical to the next person. And that is true in life, in general, too. We follow the Rule of St. Francis, and we stick to several core principles, but we are not an exact copy of our sister or brother. And that's all right!

 

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