"TO OBSERVE THE HOLY GOSPEL..."

by Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R.

At the very beginning of his Rule of 1223, St. Francis sums up the life he and his friars were to live: "The Rule and life of the Friars Minor is this, namely to observe the Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ by living in obedience, without property, and in chastity."

To observe the Holy Gospel meant for St. Francis living in perfect imitation of Jesus, Our Lord, faithfully carrying out all He taught us in word and deed. This was surely no easy task! It meant an effort that was constantly faithful as well as heroic in degree!

Now like all of us who try to live out the Gospel example of Jesus, St. Francis had to live it in the concrete circumstances of his life. He was intent on living by the two great commandments: first, to love God with his whole mind, heart, soul and body, and secondly, to love his neighbor as himself, or even more so, to love his neighbor as Jesus loved us!

St. Francis seemed to maintain a certain balance in his life in his attempts to fulfill these two great commands of love. It is said that he spent about a third of his time with God in prayer, another third with his brother-friars in fraternal living, and the final third in many good works of the apostolate, especially in preaching and helping the poor, both spiritually and materially. As Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, we strive to observe the Holy Gospel of Our Lord by balancing these same three aspects of life between the twofold love of God and neighbor.

The foundation of a Gospel life is prayer. Prayer is the means to a living relationship with God! Without prayer, our faith - so necessary to believe in what we do not see - would grow weak, and eventually even cease to function. So, the friars spend a necessary part of their day in prayer. Some of it is in common. This is especially so with regard to liturgical prayer. Mass is the center of the friars' day, because it renews in a real yet mysterious manner the very life, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord. Liturgy extends also to the Sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, which is the Bread of Life sustaining our journey through this world, and Reconciliation, in which God's mercy is abundantly bestowed upon us. Finally, liturgical prayer includes the daily recitation of the "Liturgy of the Hours," the official prayer of the Mystical Body of Christ, in order that God be praised, loved and adored day and night.

Another aspect of communal prayer is the recitation of various devotional prayers, such as the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, novenas, and prayers of consecration together as a religious family. This is not only an aspect of our prayer life, but also of our fraternal life.

Added to our prayer in common, the friars also spend time in private prayer, such as meditation on the Sacred Scriptures, spiritual reading and mental prayer. Two times when the friars experience this each day are during a period of quiet in the morning before Mass and during a daily Eucharistic holy hour in the evening. At other times, the friars experience longer periods of prayer, such as the time for the annual community retreat and an annual "solitude retreat," as well as brief periods of solitude each month.

Fraternal life was the second essential aspect of St. Francis' life. He wrote in his Rule that the friars should think of themselves as "brothers in the spirit." Fraternal life gives many opportunities for mutual sharing, encouragement, and growth, as well as the means for acquiring the basic virtues of Christian life, such as kindness, patience, humility, mercy and charity. The friars daily experience these blessings of fraternal life in many ways: in praying together, in working together, in meals together, as well as in mutual discussions about their Franciscan life, to mention just a few examples.

The final essential aspect of St. Francis' spirituality and that of the friars is their apostolic work. Having received from God abundantly, the friars then turn to share with their brothers and sisters in need. They strive to meet the needs of both body and soul, practicing both the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. The apostolic efforts of the CFR are mainly twofold: evangelization and work with the poor. Taking their inspiration from St. Francis, who received from Our Lord Himself the mission to "rebuild His Church which had fallen into ruin," the friars carry out the ministry of evangelization, preaching reform of the Church through the personal reform of each individual. This is done through the preaching of parish missions, retreats, especially Youth 2000 retreats, days of recollection and the like.

The friars also seek to serve the poor and disadvantaged, as St. Francis had served the poor, especially the outcasts and lepers, in his day. Accordingly, the friars serve in the Padre Pio Shelter and the St. Anthony Residence in the South Bronx, giving shelter to the homeless, as well as distributing food to the needy and assisting in trying to deal with the many hardships and crises the poor are often subject to.

Every year on November 29th, we celebrate a special feast in honor of All the Saints of the Franciscan Order. This date was chosen because it is the anniversary of when Pope Honorius III approved the present form of the Franciscan Rule in 1223. It reminds us of all the men and women throughout the past 800 years, in all the branches of the Franciscan family - friars, sisters and secular Franciscans - who have achieved holiness by following the way of life God inspired St. Francis to lay out for us!

This feast reminds me personally of the profession of my vows to live the Rule which St. Francis, inspired by God, gave to his friars. Every Friday evening, at supper, we have the practice of renewing our vows. Each professed friar begins the renewal formula: "I, Father/Brother.... vow and promise to Almighty God, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to our Holy Father, St. Francis, to all the Saints and to you Father (Servant).... to observe the Rule of the Friars Minor... living in obedience, without property and in chastity." And the Servant answers: "And I, on the part of God, promise that if you shall observe all these things, God will grant you eternal life!" To me, this hope of eternal life is what it means "to observe the Holy Gospel" according to St. Francis!