by Br. Felice Maria Gavazzi, CFR
In observance of the Holy Gospel, conformity to our Lord Jesus in His poverty and humility is the ideal which directs our life. We are called to minority, that is, to live as lesser brothers, in lowliness, at the service of others and as St. Francis exhorts us in His Testament to be simple and subject to all. This ideal is pursued in a world where it is very common for people to seek honours, riches, the highest place, a life of ease and comfort, to be known and esteemed wiser and greater than others. Yet with his gaze always upon the cross, striving to configure himself to Christ, St. Francis desired and sought solidarity with the poor. St. Paul exhorts us to associate with the lowly. St. Francis reveals in his Testament that the Lord led him among lepers and he showed compassion to them. A spirit of minority impels us to be poor with the poor and to acquire an internal disposition and attitude of heart which esteems oneself less than all others (Admonitions). We see in the lives of many of the Capuchin lay brothers a desire to perform the lowliest tasks, and why such minority? Our Blessed Mother reveals in her Magnificat that the Lord looks with favour on his lowly servant. It is Jesus who calls us to take the last place. It is Jesus who though he was rich, made himself poor in this world and took the form of a servant. It is Jesus the King of kings who became a man despised, who “did not deem equality with God a thing to be grasped, but rather emptied himself…” And it is Jesus who continues to give us an example through His silent Presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament: the lowliness of Christ who remains hidden in the tabernacle. A lay brother desires to gain the Heart of Christ- in lowliness, in hiddenness, in a minority that moves him to seek “To become a saint without the world knowing it.” (St. Francis Mary Comporosso)
- Br. Felice Maria Gavazzi, CFR