SIGNS OF THE TIMES: Opportunities and hopes

As an Order we have so many possibilities and so much potential as yet unrealized. This is a "plus" we should cherish. So we must help the brethren, the young and the not-so young, the leaders and each fraternity, to see, and become aware of the potential that is there in the life of their own Entity. Here are a few reflections on possible ways of adjusting.

  1. No one can be in any doubt that our Franciscan spirituality and vocation is attractive and has the power to liberate. We live however in a "global village" ruled by consumerism, unsatisfied desire to possess more and aimless meandering. Clearly we have an alternative life-style to offer!
    What a witness we can give by our practice of minority, poverty, freedom, joy!

  2. As Franciscans we have the ability, or rather the gift of welcoming and being welcomed. In all continents we are "popular". However this must be translated into a better dialogue with people, a dialogue matured by reflection, nourished by the Word of God and the Eucharist, and expressed by our common life which is the witness of fraternity as such.
    People place such trust in us. What must we do so that they are not to be disappointed? How are we to make ourselves more welcoming as a fraternity? What time do we give to forming ourselves for a more specialized catechesis and a richer welcome?

  3. In our houses we still have so many friars, old and not-so-old, who give a silent witness of fidelity, perseverance in their task, availability without conditions. There are perhaps simple and good friars who are not given the help and formation they need to enjoy a better and more creative apostolic effectiveness, by their manner of life and by their words: a Gospel message dressed in Franciscan spirituality, but apt for the times in which we live.

  4. We are one of the few religious families that still have vocations (625 novices in a year)! They are generous young men, drawn by Francis and his spirituality. They are young men seized by a very strong idealism. Yet it can cool if they are not given, by the entire fraternity, a personal accompaniment, keeping pace with their growth. They come from a world of chaos, seeking peace, communion, trust, real brotherhood…
    How is the fraternity of the whole Province engaged, and how deeply is it committed in this work of spiritual paternity/maternity? Are we ready to "decrease" so that they may increase?

  5. We are a "Mixed" Order composed of clerics and lay brothers. It opens opportunities for exercising a ministerial and prophetic function for today. We can form links between the institutional Church and the many lay movements that abound in vitality. What are we doing?

  6. The Structures and their potential for life.
    St Bonaventure says that man created in the image of God is "capax Dei" able to welcome God. Any structure must be measured against this capability. Above all we ourselves must be able to enter into dialogue with the Lord, let ourselves be changed by him, bend to what he wants of us for the Kingdom already in process of being formed among us. We must be able to become a "basilica", a place of meeting. We are on a journey of discovery that gives definition to our prophetic identity in the contemporary world. This alone will enable us to take full advantage of all the external structures we have received. Either we use them actively and wisely, or else we shall be used by them and left strangled and lost.
    The structures are not the Kingdom of God, but they give it expression to the extent that the one who lives in them is a passionate seeker for the will of the Lord and the signs of the times.

  7. The gift of brethen. Despite our shortcomings the world often appreciates, or at least does not shun, our convents (con-venio). What makes the greatest impact on men and women today is our reconciled life, a holiness of brotherhood. It is a matter of urgency to re-unite our fraternities that have become scattered: albeit that they are scattered with the intention of doing good. It is a false activism that fosters individualism, and leads away from the real project of the Gospel. It makes for a fragmentation deriving from worldy values of efficiency, possessiveness, love of power, superficiality.. We must quickly find again the harmony of true values.

  8. The treasures and creativity by which our Franciscan history expresses the Gospel. The brethren who have gone before us through the centuries have always shown resource in devising ways suitable to their own time for proclaiming the Gospel, and giving a clearer witness to the Gospel message of Francis burning in their own hearts.

A TIME OF SIGNS: New experiences, signs of life

While maintaining the effort to read and discern the signs of the times at all levels, in the coming years we have to insist more on the concrete signs, on the "time of signs" that have to be put before all the brethren. It is important to continue to encourage, but we must also push for some real progress. So here are a few of the areas where progress is to be sought:

  1. Evangelising and contemplative fraternities, outside traditional structures. We need to examine again the traditional structures (internal and external) and create new forms of service in which the non-clerical brethren can also feel they have value. It is a need that arises both from reduction of numbers and the situation of the young friars. Often what they encounter is something devoid of ideals and any creativity. They end up by adapting to it, so lamely repeating what has always been done, and crushing a vocation. It is not enough to trim the tasks as numbers decrease, nor to keep the brethren happy by acquiescing in what they want to do.

  2. Reciprocal collaboration with all members of the Franciscan family, with the new ecclesial movements and with the laity in general. Fraternities of inter-provincial and inter-obediential composition… Trusting works and structures to lay people, inviting their interest and giving them formation, working together without being a dictator…

  3. Wandering fraternities of temporary duration. Their purpose being to listen, both to God and man, in order to reclaim minority-poverty and a Franciscan-Gospel witness more incisive and plausible. What image should be presented, and what kind of presence should the Order have in a particular place?

  4. Some fraternity of "specific meaning" The Province needs to think in terms of a pluralism of fraternities more in keeping with Franciscan spirituality, according to the signs of the times. Certainly the pluralism needs to be watched, and tested..

  5. To reduce or abandon some structures, but only in order to create new such. One could for example give up the administration of a parish in order to collaborate with some other specific diocesan pastoral venture. Reassert the value of our identity as a Mixed institute, better able to exercise the prophetic role.

  6. To stimulate among the friars interest and involvement in dimensions of Gospel, church, our Franciscan life and social matters on a scale much wider, more open and more missionary.

The service of authority and the duty of obedience

Both for those in authority and for their subjects, the love of the Father and the following of Christ right to the end provides the ultimate aim, the objective to be kept in view and the challenge. Committing themselves to God for the good of the brethren. According to Francis the Holy Spirit is the Minister General of the fraternity. All are bound to obey Him with an obedience that is expressed concretely in fidelity to the Gospel project spelled out in the Rule and CCGG, in the documents of the Church and those of the Order. The project of the Gospel-life must be the guide for those in authority and for each individual. So an important and indispensable role in this process is entrusted to those in authority. It is a role that has to be re-thought, the Gospel reinterpreted as service – a gift from God –of a clearly spiritual mission (CCGG 45-46). When a community allows itself to be "possessed", like the prophets, by this mission it is a guarantee of authenticity. But when it places its whole trust in its own abilities, and is taken over by the quest for success, it is likely that the essentials for building a Gospel-fraternity will be lacking.

An authority that allows itself to be guided by the Spirit, listening and working with the others (Definitors, Guardians, Formators…) can open new horizons. It becomes both guide and spur towards the objective. It enables and promotes Gospel-choices in the fraternities. It is concerned with generating ideas and motivation among the friars, rather than with its own achievements or the maintenance of lifeless structures.. It knows how to create trust and a sense of belonging, both of which are essential if there is to be innovation and creativity in the fraternities.

Being authoritarian or equally being too permissive will surely paralyze and frustrate any movement there may be towards innovation and creativity.

Dialogue and spiritual growth within a Province, as also openness towards other Entities and the "Government" of the Order depend too often on the way authority is seen and exercised.

Franciscan Gospel living can never be exhaustively realized within the confines of a single Province.

It is a matter of urgency to prepare and shape a "leadership" for the future which is more Gospel oriented and Franciscan, being a fraternal service of charity.


Brother Giacomo Bini, ofm
Minister General
 

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