October 2, 2004

Dear Friends,

In a series of writings known as “The Admonitions”, Saint Francis writes this to the friars:

“Those who are put in charge of others should be no prouder of their office than if they had been appointed to wash the feet of their brothers. They should be no more upset at the loss of their authority than they would be if they were deprived of the task of washing feet. The more they are upset, the greater the risk they incur to their souls.”

I suspect Saint Francis wrote this due to a friar who was reluctant or perhaps even adamant about letting go of his position of authority in the brotherhood. The Saint’s well-aimed admonition certainly must have hit home and loosened the grip of a friar who was holding on to the helm just a bit too tight.

It is of interest to note that Saint Francis named his fraternity “The Friars Minor” or “The Lesser Brothers”. Humility and fraternal charity were to be the hallmarks of this religious family. Therefore he desired that those friars assigned or elected to office not be called superiors, but rather “minister”, a Latin word which means “servant”.

In another Admonition he wrote, “…the ministers should receive them (the friars) charitably and kindly, and show such familiarity that these same friars may speak with them and treat them as masters with their servants, for so it ought to be that the Ministers should be the servant of the friars.”

I thank God that for the past six years I have had the privilege of serving the friars as the Community Servant. Oftentimes people ask me if the responsibility of being “the superior” is difficult. I tell them: “When I think and act like “a superior”, my position is a burden, yet when I remember that I’m a servant, it becomes a blessing!”

In the Gospels, Our Lord teaches us that a true disciple is a person who follows Him in both word and deed. Therefore if Christ came down from heaven and bowed down to wash the feet of His disciples, shouldn’t His disciples do the same? To have any authority over others means we must be sensitive to the needs of those entrusted to us and humbly bend low to serve, indeed even to wash their feet. What a world this would be if we did this for one another! Life and labor would cease being a burden and begin becoming what God intended it to be – a blessing!

Fr. Glenn Sudano, CFR
Community servant, residing at St. Felix Friary in Yonkers
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