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To begin Part 5, please, first read
the following paragraph, quoted from: "Franciscan
Spirituality, what is it?" Tr. by Fr. Nicholas M. Weiss, O. F. M. Conv..
Source: "Litterae de Spiritualitate Franciscali"
Fr. Bede M. Hess, O. F. M. Conv., which follows below:
"CONTEMPLATION AND ACTIVITY
As we continue our discussion of Franciscan prayer, the question arises:
"Exactly what effect does prayer have
on the Franciscan life?" The answer is simple. As we have already seen, Saint
Francis desired that his sons
should practice continuous prayer, with the result that the Franciscan life is
eminently contemplative. But the
love of our brethren in Christ, Who desires the perfection and completion of His
Mystical Body, makes our life
also an active form of religious life. This activity finds its outlet in the
exercise of the Apostolate.
The life of the Franciscan, therefore, is not first of all active and then
contemplative; but rather, our activity is
the result of the abundance of our contemplation.
For, contemplation is the
source of love, and love inflames
souls with zeal for the Apostolate. Thus contemplation and prayer occupy the
first place in Franciscan
spirituality. This is so because our way of life is entirely supernatural and
we must look to God for all things,
trusting neither in our own strength, nor in mere human means. Moreover, there
is a mutual reciprocity between
the Franciscan contemplative life and apostolic works. For, just as the former
leads to the active ministry, so also
does the Apostolate lead to contemplation; which should bring the Franciscan
into a closer union with God. We
say this because all of the Franciscan's work and all his love will be directed
to Almighty God, since he sees
Christ Himself in his brethren. Hence his apostolate draws him deeper into the
contemplative life, and he daily
grows closer and closer to the one goal of all souls- union with God by love.
It is well to note that when the contemplative life becomes rather difficult
in the midst of external activity, it is
best and often necessary, to observe days of recollection, in order to foster a
greater union with God. It is also
beneficial to establish retreat houses where the friars, over a protracted
period of time, may be able to replenish
the spiritual energy which they have expended in the Apostolate. Bypassing such
periods in recollection, we are
following the example of our Seraphic Father, who often retired to Mt. Alvernia
or other suitable places for this
same purpose. There, after the arduous task of preaching to the laity, he found
a safe refuge where he could
speak, undisturbed, with his God. "
I've highlighted a
sentence, which I would like to speak about now.
The Secular
Franciscan, often does not have the opportunity to read many
spiritual books. He or she does not have access to a Franciscan
library as friars and sisters do, and also does not have strong
access to a general religious library. Here in Florida, there are
few religious libraries. So we, who wish to pursue a strong
spiritual life resort to taking direction from our Franciscan
Spiritual Assistant, and sisters, brothers in our Fraternities,
and/or we have obtained such works as St. John of the Cross, St.
Terese of Avila, and many other books. I particularly recommend
books authored by Fr. Thomas Dubay, SM, who is an excellent teacher
of spirituality, especially contemplative spirituality. His book
"Fire Within" is one I highly recommend (Ignatius Press, 1989).
I strongly believe
that Fr. Bede M. Hess, in the above-quoted text, particularly the
last sentence of the highlighted portion, also meant to include the
Secular Franciscan in this thought. (But note, at the time Fr. Bede
wrote this, the SFO was still a part of the friar provinces). In
other words, we could say that our apostolate which is the result of
our promise to follow the Rule of Saint Francis for life, will only
be fruitful when it is based on a strong source of love,
contemplation and prayer. At the same time, contemplation is such a
subtle gift, that most of us aren't aware that we have this
relationship with God, until He makes it known to us. So prayer and
meditation is the way to start as a Inquirer and Candidate in the
SFO. Contemplation, if we receive this gift at all, comes later as
the person matures in his life as a Franciscan. One may pray to ask
for this gift, but it is not something we can learn from books only.
I spent 7 years
total in religious life, the last four and a half as a monk (but had
to leave for reasons of bad health in 2002). It was during those
years that Our Lord gave me His gift, and it places me in the
position to be able to speak about it to you. I have done so in this
series of articles and in a few other articles listed in
this menu.
I am a strong believer in the necessity to have a life of
prayer as a basis for any Apostolate or Ministry to the Church we
might get ourselves into, and always the Holy Spirit guides us to
these activities directly or via another person.
We must discern
however, the balance between prayer and works. We read in the
Epistle of James 2:14-17, about the relationship between works and
prayer, that they go together. If our apostolate or other works take
the upper hand over our prayer life, we become an empty shell. We
have to take time to pray. To sit down with Jesus in a quiet place.
I've seen friars and monks amid a crowd of people, blissfully at
prayer, because they have this interior discipline to shut out what
goes on around them when it is time for prayer. As a lay person,
this is very difficult to achieve in a world that is so visually
oriented and full of loud noise. Walls of religious houses and
churches shut out some of this worldly noise, both graphic and sound
- but those who do not have these protecting walls, will have to
find a different place. In our homes, perhaps a large walk-in closet
(if we have family around) or the kitchen table on a quiet night, or
in Florida by the pool (not all of us have private pools). Better
yet, an adoration chapel. In many towns there is at least one
Catholic Church that has a specially designated adoration chapel
where it is silent and where Jesus is exposed in the Blessed
Sacrament. There are wonderful Apostolates built around the
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, but they aren't all silent.
They pray many prayers out loud as a group. There is nothing wrong
with that. In fact, it's wonderful that they do this, but for
someone who is used to quiet prayer, this can be very distracting.
We cannot consider ourselves "quiet prayers" if we constantly fidget
at the thought of spending quiet time with Jesus. Some people simply
do not have the patience and personality to sit quietly for 15-30
minutes or longer. If you're waiting for a quiet moment with Jesus
it might not come. If you feel this is the case, don't worry - He
may have a different relationship in store for you and it'll all
work out if you leave the decision to Him. Just pray that He will
guide you in this area.
In previous
articles, I've also talked about reducing the occasion of sin. It is
a given that if we do not love Jesus, we will probably continue to
sin. If we want to have a strong prayer relationship with Him, then
we really must love Him dearly. It is, however, very easy to say - I
love God, and at the same time, always give in to sin. People make
the feeble excuse that "God understands." What God understands is
that we say we love him, but it is only lip service - we are not
following up with action. Remember, God knows everything. We might
be able to fool ourselves but we cannot fool Him. I wouldn't want to
be in that person's shoes when Judgment Day rolls around. Jesus will
make our faults and failings known to us. Many of us know what is
wrong now, but we're not doing anything about it. We all die and no
one knows when it will come. We could be in full bloom today and
gone tomorrow. So repent. [Mark 1:14-15] "... Jesus came to Galilee
proclaiming the gospel of God: 'This is the time of fulfillment. The
kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.'"
Repent now, for tomorrow might be too late.
It IS possible to
stop sinning. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It is a matter of
the WILL. God has given us a free will. And that's an important
gift. For we can determine if we intend to love God or not. That is
a choice we have. But God wants to be our friend, and in order to
have Him as our friend, we have to please Him more. We do that by
making the firm commitment in the confessional, as you repent for
your sins, to sin no more. (Remember the words, "firm purpose of
amendment", in the old formula.) Yes, we will fall again, but
we try our level best to sin no more WITH HIS HELP, with the help of
the Holy Spirit, with the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
and of St. Francis and all the Franciscan Saints who have made this
trip before us and have succeeded to love God more!
It is very easy to
acquiesce in favor of doing wrong. As Franciscans, we have made the
decision to obey the Rule of Saint Francis, a guideline covering
every part of our existence. Nothing has been left to chance. Why?
Because St. Francis was guided by the Holy Spirit while he composed
the Rule. It is my hope, too, that my writing is guided by the Holy
Spirit. I'm just a regular guy, a Roman Catholic committed to Our
Lord Jesus Christ, taking the Faith very seriously, but similar to
everyone else, I fall from time to time, seriously. But I know that
our Lord is loving and forgiving, so then I receive the Sacrament of
Reconciliation and I go on, I pick up where I was at, and thank God
that He has helped me through another debacle that can potentially
set us apart. God never leaves anyone. It is us, people like you and
me, who leave God every time we do wrong. Be strong. Join me in
getting back to Him, reciprocating His love with ours. Stamp out
serious sin in your life. Once you get beyond that, begin by
lessening sins that are not as major, and eventually venial sins. We
can do it! Use the "power of positive thinking" - we are in charge
of ourselves. We have a free will. Exercise it and you will end up
with a life of immense glory and love after you pass away from this
earth that is unimaginable.
Nowadays, people
wonder what life after death is all about. Most of us have no
conception of what it will be. And, in truth, neither do I, but
having read the lives of certain saints, and studied theology here
and there (mostly in bits and pieces), and through prayer, I am
convinced what it is, but I have no words to describe it to you.
It is a place of extreme peace. We will lack nothing and have no
pain. We will never be bored. We will be so involved with God that
everything else is totally unimportant. I will leave my thoughts at
that. It would be very human (I do it too) to compare what is to
come, if we have any idea at all, with what we have now. Teenagers
are apt to wonder if they will be playing ball in heaven? Who knows,
I do not know the answer to that. But the specifics aren't important
right now. What is important is that we get there. That, by how we
lived this life, we may merit what comes after. That is important.
Jesus gives us a wonderful gift. Contemplation! It is a way to come
very close to Him on earth - It often becomes the beginning of
heaven on earth.
May His blessing be
with you now, and forever!
Fred Schaeffer, SFO
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