Hi friends it’s Deana Willison with our blooming Catholic life and I am aware today’s video is a little bit late giant rabbit hole here someone had asked us to come back to pause our study on morality just for a second to go back into that Franciscan General sorry secular Franciscan General chapter 2024
Instrumentum laboris you are love rebuilding the church fraternity and the world through love and I will pause here for a second and tell you that they have called for us there are instructions on one of the last pages it says if you have read and discussed the instrumentum
Laboris we ask the national fraternity and other members of the order so I know a lot of you are orphans out there without a fraternity you are still able to submit your comments send it to them so they can reflect on them and you will answer the questions below you can
Submit your responses to the International Group the CFS at C o.org by March 20th so uh we have 5 days left friends we’re running out of time they want 5 days um I think I was given like two weeks um so it’s not not a crazy amount of time but
It says these Reflections and responses coming from the national fraternities will be colle collated and summarized by the presidency who will develop a proposal for action plan based on the recommendations will be presented at the general chapter where the international counselors from around the world and the presidency will come together to form
The international Council they will review it establish guidelines and directions for the order in the presidency for the next three years so we need to get on this what are the questions I want you to I’m we’re going to go in here and I I’m like surrounded
By resources friends but here are the questions I am going to try and put this I’ve heard that some people have not been able to find this document or their fraternity has not given it out which is weird but whatever so I’m going to try
And put this in a Google Drive for you but here are the questions how can we as an order rebuild the church fraternity and world through love how do we convey our message of Love Today what can we offer the world and the church two without a strong relationship with Jesus
We cannot truly manifest love for our neighbors considering the love that St Francis had for Jesus how can we learn from The Franciscan centenaries and grow in the love of God and neighbor within our families communities three how can we manifest our love and how we work with the other
Levels of the order in formation programs in our communication in our legislation which means the statutes and how we address legal and moral questions with our brothers and sisters provide examples of how through love we can show mercy and Justice towards our Franciscan Brothers and Sisters four what are the
Challenges associated with the administrative and financial issues we must address as an order and still maintain our love for each other as brothers and sisters five as an illustration of the love of God neighbor how can we strengthen our sense of belonging to the international secular Franciscan order uh six how can we
Journey together in one single charism between the offs and eupa as an expression of fraternal love Mutual care and attention seven is there anything else you would like to raise which is not mentioned here and eight based on your response to the questions above what priorities should our International FR secular Franciscan
Consider for the next 3 years and we’d only gotten so far as like the quiet reflection and the background and that’s most of what I’m going to do today I am going to try I said um put this in a Google Drive and put the link in the description
Below so they said here um there starts out with a quote um from the major legend major legend 13 by St Bon Adventure the True Love Of Christ had transformed the lover into the image of the Beloved and he carried within himself the Effigy Of The crucified
That’s referring to St Francis the quiet reflection was as we begin our work on the instrumentum laboris it is important to take some time for personal reflection how do I love God how do I love myself how do I love my neighbor these three questions like a tripod give
Us a profound base to an entire spiritual life both in our personal life and fraternity May these be our guides along our work um then there’s a general note referring you to the questions at the end as secular franciscans it says we are often asked what do you do the
Answers vividly explain our commitment to the poor the church to peace Justice and evangelization but the real question should be who are you as a secular Franciscan who are we as an order but we must answer the question of who we are as franciscans because all that we do is
Based on our existence and our identity who we are determines what we do and there’s a question mark there like they’re not sure the definitive answer to this question is brief but extremely revealing it says we are love we are the love of God manifested in the world we
Are his hands his wishes and desires for us as his children I don’t know where they came up with that definitive answer um it would say the original rules don’t don’t say that that we are love is that what it says here in this rule let me look does
It say we are love we have the whole prologue of St Francis which is what I would refer to um it does say here ooh The Franciscan family as one among many spiritual families raised up by the holy spirit in the church unites all members of the people of God lady
Religious and Priests who recognize that they are called to follow Christ in the footsteps of St Francis of aisi in various ways and forms but in life-giving Union with each other they intend to make present the charism of their common sfic father in the life and mission of the church the secular
Franciscan order holds a special place in this family Circle it is an organic Union of all the Catholic fraternities scattered throughout the world and open to every group of the faithful in these fraternities the brothers and sisters led by the spirit strive for perfect charity in their own secular state by
The profession they pledge themselves to live the gospel in the manner of St Francis by means of this rule approved by the church the present rule um memoral sorry succeeding memoral prop and the rules approved by the Supreme pronti Nicholas IV and Leo the 13th adapts the secular Franciscan order to
The needs and expectations of the holy church in the conditions of Changing Times its interpretation belongs to the holy sea and its application will be made by the general constitutions and particular statutes chapter 2 is the way of life the rule in life of secular franciscans is observe the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ by following the example of St Francis of aisi who made Christ the inspiration and center of his life with God and the people Christ The Gift of the Father’s Love is the way to him the truth into which the Holy Spirit leads us and the life with which he has
Come to give abundantly secular franciscans should devote themselves especially to careful reading the gospel going from gospel to life life to the gospel secular franciscans therefore should seek to encounter the living and acting person of Christ and their brothers and sisters in sacred scripture in the church and in
Lurgical activity the faith of St Francis who often said I see nothing bodily the most high Son of God in this world except his holy body and blood should be the inspiration and pattern of their Eucharistic life they’ve been made living members of the church by being buried and raised
With Christ in baptism they’ve been United more intimately with the church by profession therefore they should go forth as Witnesses and instruments of her Mission among all the people proclaiming Christ by their life and words called like St Francis to rebuild the church inspired by his example let them devote themselves energetically to
Living in full communion with the Pope bishops priests fostering open and trusting dialogue of apostolic Effectiveness and creativity United by their vocation as brothers and sisters of penance and motivated by the dynamic power of the Gospel let them conform their thoughts and deeds to those of Christ by means of that radical interior
Change which the gospel itself calls conversion human makes it necessary that this conversion be carried out daily on this road to the renewal of the sacrament of reconciliation is the privilege sign of the father’s mercy and the source of Grace as Jesus was the true worshipper of the father so let
Prayer and contemplation be the soul of all they are and do let them participate in the sacramental life of the church above all the Eucharist let them join in lurgical prayer and one of the forms proposed by the church reliving the mysteries of the Life of Christ the
Virgin Mary humble servant of the Lord was open to his every word and call she embraced by was embraced by Francis with the Indescribable love and declared the protectus and advocate of his family the secular Franciscan should Express their Ardent love for her by imitating her complete self-giving and by praying
Earnestly and confidently uniting themselves to the Redemptive Obedience of Jesus who placed his will into the father’s hands let them Faithfully fulfill the duties proper to the various circumstances of life let them also follow the poor and crucified Christ witness to him even in difficulty and persecutions trusting in the father
Christ chose for himself and his mother a poor and humble life even though he valued creative things attentively and lovingly let the secular franciscans seek a proper Spirit of Detachment from temporal Goods by simplifying their own material needs let them be mindful that according to the gospel they are
Stewards of the goods received for the benefit of God’s children thus in the spirit of the Beatitudes and as pilgrims and strangers on their way to the home of the father they should strive to purify their hearts from every tendency and yearning for possession and power
Witnessing to the good yet to come and obliged to acquire purity of heart because of the vocation they’ve embraced they should set themselves free to love God and their brothers and sisters as the father sees in every person the features of his son the firstborn of many brothers and sisters so the secular
Franciscans with a gentle and courteous Spirit accept all people as a gift of the Lord and an image of Christ a sense of community will make them joyful and ready to place themselves on an equal basis with all people especially with the lowly for for whom they shall strive
To create conditions of Life worthy of people Redeemed by Christ secular franciscans together with all people of Goodwill are called to build a more fraternal and Evangelical world so that the kingdom of God may be brought about more effectively mindful that anyone who follows Christ the perfect man becomes
More of a man himself let them exercise their responsibilities competently in the Christian Spirit of service let them individually and collectively be in the Forefront of promoting Justice by the testimony of their human lives and their courageous initiatives especially in the field of public life they should make
Def definite choices in harmony with their faith let them esteem work is both a gift and a sharing in cre creation Redemption and service of the human community and their family they should cultivate the francisan P of Peace Fidelity and respect for Life striving to make it a sign of the word world
Already renewed in Christ by living the grace of matrimony husbands and wives in particular should bear witness in the world to the love of Christ for his church they should join F accompany their children on their human and spiritual journey by providing a simple and open Christian education being
Attentive to the vocation of each child moreover they should respect all creatures animate and inanimate which bear the imprint of the most high and they should strive to move from the temptation of exploiting creation to The Franciscan concept of universal kinship mindful that they are bearers of Peace
Which must be built up unceasingly they should seek out ways of unity and fraternal Harmony through dialogue trusting in the presence of the Divine seed in everyone and in the transforming power of love and pardon messengers of perfect joy in every circumstance they should strive to bring joy and hope to
Others okay Messengers are perfect joy we all know what Francis means by Perfect Joy so I’m not sure that everybody is looking forward to that sorry a little bit there since they are immersed in the resurrection of Christ which gives true meaning to Sister death let them serenely tend towards the
Ultimate encounter with the father and then it goes on to life in fraternity um okay chapter 3 is life and fraternity so where does all this lead us it doesn’t say that we are literally love but that’s the instrumentum laboris so let’s go in a little bit more see what it means
Um yeah let’s jump in here simply seated it says God is love and anyone who lives in love lives in God and God lives in him 1 John 4:16 he made us in his own image and likeness Genesis 1:26 there for We Must Be Love To Be Love then we must
Unconditionally present to the other as God is for us as love personified God cannot and will not give less than the fullness of himself and neither should we I want to pause there image in likeness of God Made In His Image and likeness right there is where I got
Stuck man made in the image of God this is in section one of the catechism of sorry part three life in Christ section one man’s vocation life in the spirit chapter 1 talks about the Dignity of the human person the Dignity of the human person sorry if you’re not quite
Following along I’m at catechism Number 1700 so 170 0 Dignity of the human person is rooted in his Creation in the image and likeness of God it is fulfilled in his vocation to the Divine beatitude is essential to a human being freely to direct himself to this fulfillment by liberate actions the
Human person does or does not conform to the good promised by God and attested by moral conscience human beings make their own contribution to their interior growth they make their whole sentient and spiritual lives into means of this growth with the help of Grace they grow
In virtue avoid sin and if they sin they entrust themselves as the prodigal son to the mercy of Our Father in heaven in this way they can attain to the Perfection of Charity Christ in the very revelation of the mystery of the father and of his
Love makes man fully manifest to him and brings to light his exalted vocation it is in Christ the image and of the invisible God that man has been created in the image and likeness of the Creator it is in Christ Redeemer and savior that the Divine image disfigured in Man by
The first sin has been restored to its original Beauty and ennobled by the grace of God the Divine image is present in every man it shines forth in the communion of persons in the likeness of the unity of the Divine persons among themselves endowed with a spiritual and
Immortal Soul the human person is the only creature on Earth that God has willed for its own sake from his conception he is destined for Eternal beatitude the human person participates in the light and power of the Divine Spirit by his reason he is capable of understanding the order of things
Established by the Creator by free will he is capable of directing himself towards his true good he finds his perfection in seeking and loving what is true and good by virtue of his soul and his spiritual powers of intellect and will man is endowed with freedom an outstanding manifestation of the Divine
Image what freedom is the which comes from our intellect and will is the outstanding manifestation of the Divine image that’s Freedom by his reason man recognizes the voice of God which urges him to do what is good and avoid evil everyone is obliged to follow this law which makes itself heard in conscience
Is fulfilled in the love of God and of neighbor living a moral life Bears a witness to the Dignity of the person may enticed by the evil one abused his freedom at the very beginning of History he succumbed to Temptation and did what was evil he still desires the good but
His nature bears the wound of original sin he is now inclined to evil and subject to error man is divided in himself as a result the whole life of men both individual and social shows itself to be a struggle and a dramatic one between good and evil between light
And darkness by his passion Christ delivered us from Satan and from sin he merited for us new life in the Holy Spirit his grace restores what sin has damaged us he who believes in Christ becomes a Son of God this filial adoption transforms him by giving him the ability to follow
The example of Christ it makes him capable of acting rightly and doing good in Union with his savior the disciple attains the Perfection of Charity which is Holiness having matured in Grace the moral life blossoms into eternal life in the glory of heaven so I love this
Because it brings us back to what the rule was telling us again and again to go back to the gospels to pattern ourselves after Christ which was what St Francis was doing and we’re following in those footsteps so the catechism does affirm that but it doesn’t say the image and
Likeness of Christ is just in love it’s it’s in responding to love from our freedom not being forced to it or it’s more than that sorry um but since we brought up Grace I’ll jump in here a little bit to Father Thomas Becket maladies Grace explained this is a
Wonderful book really at an easy level if you got lost in that catechism you are going to be able to understand this so easily father Mady really breaks things down I want to read to you from his first chapter I don’t think I’ve ever done a book review on this I’m just
Going to tell you right now read it but here we start out with a quote from second Peter 1 3:4 his divine power has granted to us all things that pertained to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who has called us to his own glory and Excellence by which
He has granted to us his precious and very great promises that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion and become partakers of the divine nature to become partakers of the divine nature see the theme of this book is Grace
Because it is by grace that we become partakers of the divine nature this means god dwelling in our souls so that we can have a life of intimacy with the Holy Trinity a relationship that brings us to the very level of God himself to understand this beautiful truth we will
Have to explore what human nature is how our nature is called to relationship with God and what that relationship with God looks like we will also look at how Revelation and Faith fit into that call and finally how Grace fits in and what causes Grace who is the author of Grace
What Grace is what it means to be justified by grace and how by Grace we can Merit the rewards of heaven but we’re going to begin by examining the modern errors that make understanding all this very difficult in the last century the idea has become dominant
That man is the captain of his fate and the master of his soul such that it makes him in some way less human to rely on any power higher than himself including Grace let’s start with something we all recognize in the 60s it was very popular to hang felt banners in
Churches I know it still is in some places and one of the most popular sayings people used to written those banners was the glory of God is Man fully of life this is a real quotation and it comes from a great father of the church St irus but the people who made
These banners didn’t write the second half of the quotation and that second half makes all the difference in the world here is the full statement of St araneus the glory of God is Man Fully Alive and the life of man is the vision of God this shows us that man Fully
Alive in an Earthly sense is not what God is primarily interested in rather for a man to be fully alive he has to surrender himself to and have a relationship with a being who is higher and deeper than himself something he cannot do by his own power further this
Means that the fullness of human life is never fully experienced here so many people today that think that we can establish Utopia here on Earth as though we had the most perfect government we would be in heaven rather what St erus emphasizes is that this life is only a pilgrimage it’s
A preparation for our final resting place which is to know and love God as he is in himself something not possible by our own weak human Power Man left to himself is a man imperfect and frustrated only when we are elevated to God only when we are raised to his
Interior life is it possible for us to finally be at peace to experience a final and full reconciliation with ourselves with the world and with God in other words loving intimacy with God is what the human life is made for death isn’t the final end and so here on Earth
We must take every step not just from our own human point of view towards the world but from God’s point of view again Gospel Life Life to gospel one of my favorite images of what human life should be like is the painting of Christ of St John by the sorry is the painting
Of Christ of St John of the Cross by Salvador di this point of view from the painting is from above a huge crucified Christ looking down with him from the cross at our tiny little world we can only really understand and appreciate the reality of human life when we adopt
The supernatural point of view looking down on all of time and space and it is Grace that gives us the ability to do this in the modern world however we find the idea of a supernatural view of life one that is distant but also through Grace intimate impossible to comprehend
This comes first from a collapsing of the distinction between humanity and the of creation where we see creation itself as containing God or as our path to maintaining intimacy with him in the past 400 years especially we have suffered from a very peculiar philosophy of creation’s relationship to God and
Since human beings are a part of creation this can’t but affect the way that we look at our own fulfillment Sir Isaac Newton looked upon the world with it as an ideal set of physical laws that sprang from the mind of the creator with no further need on the part of the
Creator to help them become more perfect now we know today of course following Albert Einstein that Newton’s physics is imperfect but his way of viewing things has stuck in the modern Consciousness we think that everything should conform to certain ideal mathematical laws of motion as if the Creator God perfectly
Kicked a perfect football into the void then went on his way according to this view any attempt to raise the football creation beyond itself would mean the kicker was somehow imperfect thus any attempt to interfere with the laws of nature somehow made God less God and creation less creation All Humans could
Try to do is to find perfection that the the creator has placed in nature in this view of creation there’s no room for a power that raises us beyond what we already are by creation that is there’s no room for Grace human reason becomes
The only sign of God we can find in the world and so man in a sense becomes God to say that there’s some Supernatural truth to which I have to conform myself a trinity for example or to say that religion demands that I lose myself in order to find myself these ideas are
Thought to do a kind of Injustice to the primordial Perfection of God’s creation the second modern error is in a sense the opposite but also very much like it because extremes and the thought often touch each other like the ends of a horseshoe converging if the first era was characteristic of the rationalists
Of the 17th and 18th centuries the second was a reaction to this cold and detached way of looking at God in this era God is made identical with the world the philosopher Benedict de Spinosa is the person who most characteristically expressed this way of looking at things
For him God was the same as his emotion and human desire for Perfection we see something similar in the New Age movement which asks us to find God within ourselves others said that theology was anthropology I.E that the study of God was the study of man and his powers that culminated in Frederick
Niche who said that if God was just a production of ourselves that keeps us from reaching our full potential why not dispense with him entirely that is in order to find out what it means to be truly human we have to dispense with the idea that there is something higher than man Catholicism
Affirms neither of these extremes we read at the very beginning of scripture in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth the Earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters Genesis 1
1-2 who is the beginning the foundation stone and underscores and underlies every part of creation this beginning is the same wisdom that underlies all of time from which time came forth into which time is ordered in the beginning of the world and the word sorry in the
Beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God he was in the beginning with God and all things were made through him and without him there was not anything that was made John 1 1-3 we can almost say that the foundation of all time from which comes
Forth and to which is returning is intimacy with God and not just God himself the relationship of the Blessed Trinity is the basis and Foundation of everything that is and yet he is not the same as everything that is that is God is intrinsic to the world and intimate
To the world but not identical with the world and at the same time he is outside of the world but not extramic or disinterested in the world that is he has transcended from this changeable realm but since he created it to con his intrinsic presence in each thing and
Being is necessary for it to continue acting according to its nature so God is intimate to everything but as its cause not part of its being God by his power supports everything that exists and especially supports it in bringing it back to himself as it comes forth from him and
Desires to return to him in order to really understand the relationship with God and creation we also need to reconsider the Trinity sorry to consider the Trinity our understanding of the Trinity today is very weak on Trinity Sunday too often priest just tell people the Trinity is just an unintelligible
Mystery has nothing to do with daily life and essics but we are baptized in the name of the Trinity confirmed in the name of the Trinity married in the name of the Trinity and anointed in the name of the Trinity Jesus spoke in the name
Of the Trinity and still we feel like we can’t say anything at all about our trium god this is a terrible shame because we see the Perfection of the intimacy to which we are called to with God within God Among the father and the Son and the Holy Spirit when we say that
It is irrelevant to everyday life we lose the very Foundation of our faith our nature and our dignity let’s look at the Dignity of man as proclaimed in Genesis after the creation of the world and the intimacy of the Trinity a creation that is supported in an ongoing
Way by his love and power let us make man in our image after our likeness so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them Genesis 1:26-27 then in Genesis 2 we read that God conformed man of the dust from the
Ground and breathe into his nostrils the Breath of Life 2:7 this Breath of Life was God himself which grants us a trinitarian likeness to God this means that we have the mind will and spirit to arrive at intimacy with God in a way that no other part of
Creation does how do we do this we certainly can’t arrive at it by our own power the scriptures tell us that God man made God man made God made man right and Jesus tells us what it means to be made right after his coming Holy Father keep
Them in thy name which thou Hast given me that they may be one even as we are one John 17:11 Jesus wants us to share in the very Unity of the trinity in this Christus calls us back to the original Perfection of Adam before his original
Sin when he was able to know and love God not just as his creator but as his friend he was able to participate in God’s peace God created man with a special Aid to his being a special interior change by which man walked and talked in intimacy with God in the
Garden and by which he knew God’s ways as his own the classical theologians say that Adam experienced The Continuous state of infused contemplation by grace and in this sense he was also prepar able to prepare himself for heaven we’ll explore throughout this book how Grace Works in our life to return to that
Perfection without the direct personal access to God that Adam had St Paul wrote to the Colossians if then you have been raised with Christ seek the things that are above where Christ is see at the right hand of God this experience the striving to seek God with his help
Is not near anation of our nature but fulfillment intimacy with God Is Man’s highest calling which we can achieve by relying upon God’s sanctifying grace which makes us holy this is how we discover what it means to be truly human because the glory of God is Man fully
Alive but the life of man is the vision of God and we want all of our brothers and sisters to get to that happy beatitude that is what the whole prologue is about the earlier exhortation of St Francis to the brothers and sisters a Penance all those
Who love the Lord with their whole heart with their whole mind and with their whole strength and love their neighbors as themselves who hate their bodies with their vices and sins and receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and produce fruit fruits worthy sorry
Worthy fruits of penance oh happy and blessed are these men and women while they do such things and persevere in doing them because the spirit of the Lord will rest upon them and make its home and Dwelling Place among them and they are children of the heavenly father
Whose work they do they are The spouse’s brothers and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ and it tells us how we are those we are the brothers to him when we do the will of the father who is in heaven we’re the mothers when we carry
Him in our heart and body through our Divine love and a pure and sincere conscience and give birth to him through a holy activity which must shine as an example before others and so I suppose it’s what it’s talking about giving birth to Christ through a holy activity
Which is shining as an example before others I think that’s what’s bothering you about this it talks about where love but it doesn’t talk about any specific theology it doesn’t talk about the Eucharist it doesn’t talk about Mary I think that’s what’s bothering me it does just quote a good bit of
Scripture but I think that’s it here on on the second page it says it’s secular franciscans and we must acknowledge and embrace fully the love that we are and manifest it in all that we do love is not words it is not a feeling it is a
Commitment an action a gift that we give to God and to One Another Love is who we are and it says here in the rule of 1978 our way of life begins with these same words in the prologue is a reminder to us that we are fully love and our hearts
Are Soul or mind our strength we must not only live that love in all we do but reject anything that distracts us from that mission I just read the prologue does it say that says all those who love the Lord with the whole heart their whole mind their whole strength and love their
Neighbors as themselves and hate their bodies I don’t I don’t you know that it specifically say that we are l Hold on does talk about how he wants us to be in communion yeah see to me that’s it this is this is a little bit more abstract at the same abstract in
Theology there’s not not enough Jesus in here that sounds crazy um there are different things here it talks about different types of Love which of course it was going to it says love the term offers a whole spectrum of meanings I’m on page three here from I love my classes to I love
Helping people the generic level of Love needs greater context before we can exclaim with and joy in fulfillment that we are love Aeros it says is romantic love as secular some of us are married or expect to be married with such a level of love we open ourselves to
Romantic love with a special intimacy between two people as the couple grows in love and age the depth of love may bring them closer and closer to a love where they give fully to the other sacrificing putting in the other first we often comment on such a caring love
But even with such self-sacrifice is not a Godly love until the couple brings Christ to their Center and sees Christ in other and then on here it has there’s a chart you can see it has here the different types of love I will say this is not complete though Aros is not just
Romantic love you think of the great Mystics they had that Union with God that is a part of that Union so arrow is accomp can be accomplished by everyone even those who are single in our order does it look different I’m not talking that they’re going to have a sexual
Union with God but they can have that complete self-giving love it is possible to be completely United with Christ as St Francis was um think of like St Katherine of Sienna St TZ of Avala there were a number of Mystics there men and women who had that type of Love With God
So there’s a little bit odd odd there brotherly love filia the love of a parent or child or brother or our neighbor takes us into a different sphere of caring a relationship with the other is still one of love self- saac sacrifice and caring but the Romantic
Component does not exist again it only becomes a Godly love when the person sees Christ in the other see how was talking about the the Romantic um I can try and look that up I hadn’t looked that up I did get into a bit um if you want to look if you have
Your Theology of the Body explained by Christopher West the commentary um there is a good bit of description on page starting on page 108 there’s a lot of here is talking um refers you back to the catechism 371- 72 to learn about original Solitude and original Unity
Um and it talks here we find ourselves at the threshold of a dramatic and long needed development of Catholic thought in regard to how we image God the function of the image is mirroring the one who is the model reproducing its own prototype the model is of course the Trinity hence traditional formulations
Posited man’s Imaging of God and various trinitarian breakdowns of the individual soul memory understanding and will the Divine model however is not just one person divided into three the Prototype of the image is as John Paul describes it in inscrutable Divine communion of persons and that’s from to 993 a lot of this
Comes from to 993 so you’re going to want to look that up um just because I don’t have that immediately in front me let’s talk a little bit more about the image and likeness of God and I’m thinking part of why this may be the way it is is we
Maybe we all don’t know this yet the secular Franciscan order when they wrote the rule um it was a little bit more vague when they wrote this rule than some of the past ones and why because different nations in order to unite all of the Nations the national secular
Franciscans there had to be concessions made and and we could have that argument all day and night about whether that should have been a goal needed to be a goal is a worthy goal cuz there are many great points for an existed but part of what’s happening is okay secular
Franciscans USA we had our big quen quinal recently the Q and our guest speaker there was at ILO Delia who talks a lot about Cosmic Christ and some other things and at the end of their talk you can look her up I’m not an expert on her
Theology nor do I really want to be um you can look her up she has her own website very popular among secular franciscans USA and the closing speech these are all available for you on the secular Franciscan USA YouTube channel the closing speech said this Probably sounds new age to you but
You need to take it home to your fraternities whoa right that is what led me to looking at the other speeches when I heard that there were some other things that were a little bit much for me but they were absolutely calling for a Reformation
Of the order using that format oh fine I I may have something looked up about her here do I have anything on here here nope I think I crash it down I’ll look it up I’ll give you just um smidge of her she is a Franciscan nun she runs the center for Christo
Genesis and she’s the founder she says that religion is not kept pace with insights from modern science and the rapid rise of Technology the human person is evolving at an accelerated rate but there is no myth or story to guide these rapid developments in human consciousness and complexity to
Meet the religious needs of a world in evolution our mission is to deepen the integration of Science and religion by understanding the contribution of each discipline to the whole field of knowing and loving reflect on the human person as an integral member of the cosmic whole and to advance development towards
Integrated Consciousness and Kindle an awareness of Love is the core energy of the universe the impulse of evolution then she asks are you inclusive of all religious Traditions yeah I’m going to stop there and I know that there are National secular Franciscan fraternities who are very much deeply involved with Liberation theology which
Popes has spoken against in the past but is currently popular um in some theological Catholic things as well so we have a lot of really differing ideas so perhaps focusing on love here thought is a common ground how do we find a common ground where we can
All move forward I would say it’s Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus go to the gospels but this is what they’re looking at is love um where am I here oh the nature of human Freedom this oh I’ve jumped into a new book the source of Christian ethics
Another solid book this is by I don’t know how to say this C Pinker o p is translated from the Third Edition by Sister Mary Thomas Noble op is published by the Catholic University of America press I also have not reviewed this book but I’m on page 381 human Freedom
According to St Thomas the nature of human Freedom Pro Freedom proceeds from will intelligence in will Peter Lombard’s classical definition of Free Will R in usus Free Will is a faculty of reason and will whereby the good is chosen with the help of Grace or evil rejected with the same help liberum
Arbitrarium oh there’s a Latin quote here from the time of his commentary on the sentences St Thomas took a clear stand on this contrary to the opinion of some who asserted that Free Will was a special faculty having the power of judgment over all the other faculties in
Anticipation of aam’s Position St Thomas placed Freedom after the intellect and will the latter having as its Chief object the good scene as end Freedom was placed at the conjunction of this intellect which judged and the will which willed loved and desired from them it received the light and strength that
Were United within Choice Lombard’s definition meant therefore that freedom was a power deriving from reason and will that it combined them in its action St Thomas further clarified in opposition to certain opinions that Free Will was not a faculty distinct from reason will it was the prolongation of
Each it United and clarified them in order to produce a concrete action just as conclus iions derive from principles this rudiness of freedom in the mind and will determined the actual plan of studying the faculties in St Thomas’s Works especially in the Suma theologica as we have seen above thus Freedom was
The outcome of man of the mind’s inclination to truth and the Will’s inclination to goodness free choice is an act of the will informed by the intellect and I suppose that’s part of where I’m going just as father Mady have telling us we had such bad formation it honestly since the
1950s horrendously bad formation and now there is pockets of good formation now absolutely but so much damage has been done perhaps we need to pause and to correct some things perhaps people need to learn this this is a little bit tougher book that’s why I gave you father Thomas mady’s book
First and the catechism you may want to start there but I would challenge alleng us as secular franciscans to go more deeply into studying theology you know originally St Francis wanted people to spend more time in prayer he was worried that too much time would be spent in studying than in
Prayer and so he made that whole agreement yes okay you know with with St Anthony yes you need to teach the friar but prayer should remain the heart of what they do and again here it does still call us brothers and sisters Penance and I especially in this time of
Eucharistic renewal I would have thought they would call us to prayer and the Eucharist and promoting perhaps after this time of promoting um the Eucharist perhaps we could have a great time of promoting reconciliation um and so that there’s a great opportunity for um kesis
There that’s just me you know back in I stumbled upon a manual an old secular Franciscan manual and it talked about studying the virtues one every month that you would get assigned to study and um we have that book we found by the confraternity of penitence that does just
That I’m just saying when I joined the secary Franciscan order I really thought it was like an oasis where I would go to be refreshed and refilled up full of Theology and the beauty and Love Of Christ a time of catechesis a time of prayer a time of deepening my union with
God so that I could go back out into the world um and yes be the hands and feet and the mouth and whatever of whatever you know God is calling me to in the world and so yes that but I think that we need to do that it goes on to how do
We as secular franciscans manifest who we are as love on the basis of our history and it talks about the rule the centenaries and it gives a little sentence for each Centenary the rule it says um that one was to restore meaning and significance to our way of living the
Rule a rule which guides us on this journey of love to rethink Lifestyles activate new forms of service and proximity to the poorest that’s not what I get out the rule but okay Christmas at greto to love and serve every human being promoting his or her dignity as a
Person created by God and made in His image and likeness to develop a more comprehensive view of mankind view that is free of Divisions and dichotomies God so loved the world that his son humbled himself and came to this world as a vulnerable child in this beautiful
Gesture of love he has given us the opportunity to demonstrate that love also through our Attention our sacrifice our constant care and gentleness the Incarnation is so much to me but that’s that’s the reflection that they got the gift of the Stigmata that’s this year to dedicate Our Lives as
Members of the church witnessing to the merciful love that flows from the crucified one to allow ourselves to be touched and challenged by the many instances of pain and suffering we see in the places where we live and work how can we through our love embrace the
Suffering of others and help them to find the hope of Salvation I know as brothers and sisters of penance I I want to be able to better offer my suffering to make up that which is lacking in Christ by which we mean the body of Christ that’s us that’s us
How are we suffering what penances are we giving I thought the gift of the Stigmata would be a beautiful time to talk about Penance celebrating the Canticle of the creatures that’s upcoming in 2025 the theme there is to become more aware of our ecclesial responsibility to Foster healing in
Relationship between Creator and his creatures and to restore its original Harmony okay to me the cicle of the creatures where all of creation is called to give praise and glory to God and yet no mention of that here unless you say when it says restore original Harmony how does creation does
It still give glory to God is it witnessing to God I don’t know I’m going to take some time to develop that thought myself as well right now I’m on the year of the Stigmata really looking at Penance but then in 20126 we’re going to celebrating the Easter of St Francis
Of ace to celebrate the gift of the charism of St Francis and the church which they’re saying is to support evangelization as an opportunity to generously return the gifts we have received I don’t know is that is that what you think the Easter of St Francis of aisi
Is and that says it’s giving us opportunities for us to reflect on how we can continue to follow his steps living in today’s realities then four is how do we as secular franciscans manifest who we are as love on the basis of our Rule and constitutions they say
Their guidelines which are going to help us become love says chapter 2 articles 4 through 19 provide a road map to us to follow and I I read you all of those it establishes key cornerstones on which we base our way of life and service to God
To family to church and to the world each article adds one more element upon which we manifest and live our love 24 hours a day 365 days a year for us secular franciscans the spiritual and practical dimensions of Love Are closely connected because according to the rule
Article 4 We’re called to move from gospel to life and Life to gospel we should never remain at the theoretical level without putting love into practice because God has always been expressing his love through what he did does and will do for us so we too have to express
Love and concrete ways towards Gods ourselves and neighbors the starting point is with Christ as our Center Christ The Gift of the Father’s Love is the way to him and the truth to which the Holy Spirit leads us often the spiritual aspects of Love lead to their practical applications which can be
Rally readily recognized and so that’s all of the spiritual aspect right there um I think it’s really just that little little quote there um here where Christ is is God’s love I’m sorry I think we’re called to more than that especially in this time of crisis in the church yes we are
Called to love where’s the call for worship and Penance I I think that that is an aspect of Christian love this seems very man Earthly temporal focused and that’s what’s freaking me out um and then tells us articles 4 to 19 says we should focus on our brothers and sisters to rebuild
The church in life of communion with its pastors that’s it our commitment to daily conversion and prayer to imitate self-giving of our Blessed Mother to fulfill our responsibilities based on our individual circumstances to seek a spirit of attachment be a good stewards of the earth led the spirit of the
Beatitude to put ourselves in situations where we are free to love God and our brothers and sisters to create conditions of Life worthy for the people of God it does go on it does tell us um that we should be following Christ conversion to live the spirit of the Beatitudes but it’s just
Bulleting out the rule here it’s not developing these at all but it says and reflecting on them focusing on one article at time we will ReDiscover the love that God has placed in our heart and our minds and souls with prayer as our foundation we’ll find the courage to live that love together
As family well let’s move on now we talked enough about prayer what are the challenges in evangelization what is saying that uh social media leaves no time no time for the soul so we have to say do we really share Christ’s love with the world what what do we really have time
To worship God worship God we need to have that first it’s talking about evangelis evangelizing and then do our forun formation programs emphasize the importance of love and it does say right there it it does have love God first right but then all of this is about loving man again where where is
God next is love in our social life like I can’t even it even says here we must seek at the end it does say we must seek God in our own hearts in the world around us in nature itself and in our history personal prayer should be our foundation
A prayer that transforms us ultimately become prayer itself in all that we do it is through prayer that we see the heart and love of God it is through prayer that our love and our lives go beyond superficially gain the wisdom and courage to act within God’s plan and to
Reach the depths of agape love and then hey what is our commitment to youth specifically eupa how do we show them that we are love I say that we show people love by by telling them about God by developing our relationship with God and letting it spill out into our life I
Just how do we show our love and will to rebuild the Catholic church this is number nine have we been protagonists of the sonal path I’m going to let you read that yourself challenges and challenges I did like 10 I’ll show you because I have a big
Yes next to it our world has ordered the true meaning of love even some secular franciscans have gotten lost in the confusion false versions of Love were defined by worldly standards based on needs desires feelings expectations satisfaction all centered on us I would say it’s also centered on temporal
Things sorry I got scared myself there true love is always centered on the other centered on Christ ah is is mentioned we must face the fact that we are weak and we can be misdirected that is why article 7 of our rule reminds us that we must conform our way of thinking
Acting to that of Christ through a radical inner change which the gospel itself calls conversion because of human fraility this needs to be put into effect every single day it says what are some of the challenges we face in a world that may not understand or undermines love in fraternal settings our
Fraternities I know there I have heard of so many fraternities that are beautiful and wonderful and so many fraternities that fight and again this issue has partly um been the secrecy that goes on we are not a secret society that’s why I’m feel free to talk about this instrumentum
Laboris we are not a secret society we do not have secrets and yet our councils kind of act independent they’re like well you elected us why do you need to know why we’re doing what we’re doing we’ll just tell you once we’ve done it um we know that that has been a huge
Problem at least here in the USA is huge and to ignore that I think is foolish and yet it’s still going on why can’t we have transparency why after the council meets they propose things right somebody brings up they have a wonderful idea that is their job why isn’t that brought
Then to the main Gathering hey these are some things that we’re considering what are your thoughts on this and then they vote on it after they’ve asked us it’s talking here about what are we doing to support the senal path we are not supporting s salal whatever we’re not
Supporting that within our own fraternities why do we think that would work in the main church it’s the same thing you’re only seeking the opinions of those who whose opinions you want and so shockingly a lot of what you hear is confirmation I I mean we need to discuss
That yes we do elect our councils but we all know of fraternities where it’s become a a system of popularity an interview bring people I have sadly heard of fraternities who do not PE move people over into the excuse door they keep them where they can vote
And then they go pick these elderly sick members up on the day of an election and have them vote in a particular way now these are people who have not been involved in fraternity life throughout the entire term between elections and yet they are given the vote and Oly they
Vote exactly the same way it’s it’s crazy and it happens we are fallen and so all of like I want to be love I want to be love in the world I want to rebuild the church but we have to admit here that our order has huge issues we
Can go about going look we have a new translation and so we need to update the rule using the new translation why are we wasting our time with committees in that when our fraternities are struggling when our membership is declining why are we doing this nonsense
Why aren’t we not just saying oh oh my goodness friends we need to focus back our fraternities are struggling so let’s go back to the basics let’s go back I’m not saying we have to go necessarily back to the original rules but let’s go back to the writings of St Francis this
Should all be like writings of St Francis um which is mostly the gospel if you know St Francis um we should really be going back how did he see it why did we even go to where did we come from let’s let’s go back to Our Roots especially with all these
Centenaries May which I mean celebrations of 800 years um let us go back before it’s the thousandth anniversary let’s go back and look why did people why were they originally drawn to the friers what was their relationship with the friers we barely have a relationship with the Friars now
It feels like there are so many fraternities that never have contact with a frier their spiritual advisers are lay people who are trained um we have so little contact with friers fraternities really need to have a more intimate contact with friers and there’s so few Friars now that that is difficult
Well let’s suck it up folks and start praying for vocations let’s start advocating vocations to the friar let’s work with them there’s fewer of them say here we are Friars what can we do to help why aren’t we doing this here we are sisters there’s so many third orders
So many of us and yet we aren’t properly supporting I believe the first orders yeah we love to make new third order groups it’s what we do it’s what the franciscans do we make new new third order groups don’t like this group go ahead make a new one and while we keep
Fracturing and fracturing like Protestants the first orders are languishing let’s knock it off let’s call together uh humanism fun friends it’s fun let’s meet with Lutheran franciscans let’s meet with Baptist franciscans are there Hindu franciscans let’s meet with them stop stop it put that on a pause we keep
Fracturing just within the secular franciscans we we’re not even putting Band-Aids on it we’re turning a blind eye as Group after group leaves whole fraternities are leaving why why are we doing this let’s stop let us go to other third orders let’s talk to the confraternity of
Penitence and open a dialogue let’s talk to the third order franciscans there are so many groups and it’s not just here in America I’ve heard from people around the world that this is a universal problem within the franciscans there are all we have the to Sisters The Sisters
Of St Francis of this The Sisters of St Francis of that all of us third orders should have a giant like pause this chapter let’s have a giant third order what are there like a hundred of us let’s have a giant third order thing we
May have to be on Zoom let’s start like pause all this other stuff let’s get our house in order right are we all showing up to help rebuild the church well we’re all showing up with hammers nobody has the nails nobody has the wood nobody has the
Saws we’re recreating the wheel over and and over again and what we end up doing is we’re just spinning wheels friends I want to go out and love the world I I want to be a brother and sister of penance I want to love God and my
Neighbor I want to do that I want to do all that this prologue calls us to all that the original rule wanted for us all that St Francis wanted for us let’s go back and read that let’s go back and read that ending he said says here here we are on
Page 14 of this newest edition of the world let’s read this to all of the third orders out there I say to you oh how glorious it is to have a holy and great father in Heaven oh how holy consoling to have such a beautiful and wonderful spouse oh how holy and how
Loving gratifying humbling peaceg giving sweet worthy of love and above all things desirable to have such a brother and such a son as our Lord Jesus Christ who laid down his life for his sheep and prayed to the father saying Holy Father in your name save those whom you have
Given me in the world they were yours and you gave them to me the words that you gave to me I have given to them and they have accepted them and have believed in truth that I have come from you and they have known that you have
Sent me I pray for them and not for the world bless and sanctify them I sanctify myself for them I pray not only for them but those who will believe in me through their word that they may be Sanctified and being one as we are I wish father
That where I am they also may be with me that they may see my glory in your kingdom amen and skipping to the end of the section of those who do not do Penance what happens if we do not do Penance and every Talent ability knowledge and wisdom that they think
They have will be taken away from them and they will leave their wealth to their relatives and friends who take and divide it and afterward say may his soul be cursed because he could have given us more and acquired more than what he distributed to us worms will eat his
Body and so Body and Soul perish in this brief world and they will go to hell where they will be tortured forever in the love which is God we beg All Those whom these words reach to receive those fragment fragrant words of our Lord Jesus Christ written above with Divine
Love and kindness let whoever does not know how to read them have them read to them fre frequently because they are Spirit in life they should preserve them together with a holy activity Until the End whoever is not done these things will be held accountable for before the tribunal
Of our Lord Jesus Christ on the day of judgment friends would you like to know the gospels and the writings there so every Talent ability knowledge and wisdom second uh Corinthians 1:12 that they think they have will be taken away from them Luke 88:18 Mark 4:25 is the love which is God again
Here’s our John our first John 4:16 is in the prologue but in context it is in the love which is God we beg All Those whom these words reach to receive those fragrant words of our Lord Jesus Christ written above with divine love and kindness let whoever does not know how
To read have them read to them frequently because they are spirit and Life John 6 63 they should preserve them together with a holy activity until the end and whoever has not done these things will be held accountable before the tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ on the day of
Judgments Roman 14:10 and Matthew 12:36 that’s where I am friends I’d also grabbed for you the catechism question three what is man man is a creature composed of body and soul made to the image and likeness of God four is this likeness in the body or in
The soul this likeness is chiefly in the soul five how is the soul like God the soul is like God because it is a spirit that will never die and has understanding and Free Will six why did God make you God made me to know him to
Love him and to serve him in this world and to be happy with him forever in the next seven of which which me take of which must we take more care our soul or body we must take more care of our soul than of our
Body eight why must we take more care of our soul than our body we must take more care of our soul than our body because in losing our soul we lose God and everlasting happiness what must we do to save our souls to save our souls who
Must worship God by faith hope and charity that must is we must believe in him have hope in him and love him with all our heart how shall we know the things which we are to believe we shall know the things which we are to believe from the Catholic Church through which
God speaks to us where shall we find the chief truth which the church teaches us we shall find the chief truths which the church teaches us in the Apostles Creed say the Apostles Creed I believe in God the Father Almighty creator of Heaven and Earth and in Jesus Christ his only
Son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary suffered under pous pilate was crucified died and was buried he descended into hell the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into heaven and sth at the right hand of God the Father
Almighty from then he shall come to judge the living and the dead I believe in the Holy Ghost the Holy Catholic Church the communion of saints the Forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life Everlasting amen friends may God bless you and keep
You may make his face to shine upon you be gracious unto you may the good Lord bless you a spiritan amen what
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