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The Secular
Franciscans of Five Franciscan Martyrs Region
wish all of you
A very Franciscan Christmas! |
Franciscans
and Christmas
The Great Almighty
God through His own poverty becomes One of us - out of LOVE. It was the
example of the Incarnation - the Word became Flesh - which caused Our Holy
Father St. Francis to embrace Lady Poverty and begin the Franciscan Way of
Life. For Our Holy Father St. Francis the Feast of Christmas was a time of
great joy. In the year 1223, the small town of Greccio was to become the new
Bethlehem and that celebration would have an impact on the life of the
brothers forever.
In his work, A STUDY OF THE RULE OF 1223: HISTORY, EXEGESIS, REFLECTION
Friar Michael. Blastic, O.F.M.Conv. offers a theory that Our Holy Father St.
Francis connects the life of the brothers, the Rule of 1223 and the Greccio
experience. "The goal of the Rule and the life of the lesser brothers, is to
make every city and place a new Greccio... we could say that Francis is
telling his brothers to 'do Greccio', to make of their body a tongue, to
create a space in this world and this Church, where Jesus Christ becomes a
real, concrete, living presence. That is the ultimate challenge and fruit of
living the Rule of the Friars Minor."
For Franciscan spirituality the Incarnation is important. It is the great
gift of the Most High Father of His Son, Jesus Christ, to become a human
being. The Feast of Christmas affected Our Holy Father Francis like no other
feast. Bethlehem spoke of love and poverty. If we cannot appreciate the real
meaning of Christmas - the poverty and the love of God, then maybe we are
not poor enough and not loving enough.
In the book, THE
LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST, Nikos Kazantakis tells a story about a line of
kings who tried to see God but only a poor beggar discovered the' Christ.
The reason is simple. When you are too poor to possess anything then you can
possess nothing but God Who takes possession of you.
May your Christmas be truly a Franciscan one - a new Bethlehem experience of
Peace and Joy! Shalom!
(Read to us
by Fr. Anthony Francis Spilka, OFM Conv., at Divine Mercy Fraternity, SFO,
meeting at St. Lucie Parish, December, 2004)
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"A Letter from St. Francis to St. Clare"
Winter 1224
My Dear
Sister Clare,
How kind of
you to ask how you can help the brothers in Assisi prepare for Christmas
while I am away preaching in the country.
I know there
is much to be done. Food must be prepared for the many brothers am sisters
who will return from their work to celebrate the feast with us. And food
must be prepared to share with the poor. The townspeople will expect us to
arrange another manger scene and Midnight Mass. We must locate animals and
torches, even a baby! We must find a priest for Mass and deacons to assist.
You know that
in my heart Christmas, the feast of love, is my favorite feast-the one I
wish would never end. It is the time when the poor should be treated
royally, and the animals are not only welcome but necessary to our worship.
But, dear
Sister Clare, do not let yourself or anyone of us get caught up in
busyness. That is false preparation for the great Christmas feast. God
would have us prepare quietly, in our hearts and in our living. We must pray
and wait for the Incarnation but be prepared for it at every moment. Look at
the faces of the lonely and befriend them. See Jesus in the hungry and feed
them. Put seeds on the roads for the birds. And stop to thank God for the
beauty of the moon on a cold dark night.
This is how
to prepare for Christmas.
Pax et Bonum!
Your little
brother, Francis
Quoted from Jeff
Smith's "The Frugal Gourmet Celebrates Christmas" William Morrow and
Company, Inc., 1991 |
May
we join our beloved brother Francis, whose rule and way of life we follow,
to wish all of you a very spiritual Christmas this year,
and a healthy 2005! |
