“At the time Ruth wrote this article the Secular Franciscan Order was using the Constitutions of the Secular Franciscan Order of 1959. The editor has selected, here, some aspects of the Rule that Ruth felt very important.
The reader may get a updated version of the current Rule by referring to the new Constitutions approved by Rome in December 2000 and which came effective in the United States in March of 2001.”
Our Rule is to follow Christ as Francis did
Our Franciscan Rule is an updated version of the original Rule of St. Francis of Assisi. It is an expression of the ideals of St. Francis and his personal charisma. It is set forth in a practical manner for members of the Secular Franciscan Order who are living in today’s world. It is not a set of legal prescriptions and a set of “do this,” and “do that” and “don’t do that” and “don’t do this.” It is a way of life, full of ideals, virtues, and self-imposed disciplines, that follow the leadership of Francis of Assisi. It is the way of love of Christ as shown to us in the pages of the Gospels.
The Rule is a guide that opens up to the vastness of the Gospel message. It is a stepping-stone to the Gospels and Gospel ideals, and thence to closer union with Christ.
The Prologue to the Rule is a very concise version of St. Francis’ “Letter to all the Faithful.” This letter has been called the most beautiful of all of St. Francis’ writings.
The Prologue, like that letter to all the faithful, is divided into two parts: an exhortation and a warning for those who do penance and those who do not do penance; or those who have a change of heart, and those who do not have a change of heart.
Those who do penance are those who turn their hearts to Christ as a flower turns to the sunlight. They embrace the principles of Christ. The result is that,
Those who do penance are those who turn their hearts to Christ as a flower turns to the sunlight. They embrace the principles of Christ. The result is that
it reaps happiness in mind and heart and they become intimately involved in the divine life of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is a drastic contrast with those who do not do penance and are caught up in our modern day permissive society.”
I am sure that we Franciscans are striving valiantly to cultivate this change of heart. We are trying to do what St. Francis taught us — to give kind reception to these fragrant words of our Lord Jesus Christ from the Scriptures, which St. Francis interspersed richly and lavishly throughout his life.
This Rule is following of the way, the truth, the life, and the love of Christ.
The Rule is not an abstract, detached work of art, sitting out in front of us on a pedestal to be admired and gawked at. We are the Rule — it is written on our hearts. To read it thoroughly, we need to look deep inside and say yes once again to living the gospel of Jesus in the spirit of St. Francis according to the needs of the times.
The text shines through our everyday actions. Our commitment has to be made anew in Jesus Christ, to new ways of doing things. Our commitment here is to study the Rule in depth.
Our Rule is to Know Jesus Intimately
It states very definitely that we, as followers of St. Francis, must zero in on the Christ of the Gospels. We must pluck Jesus bodily out of the pages of the Gospels and set Him in motion, alive and dynamic, right where we are at any given moment. We must encounter Him in our work, in our churches, in our homes and in the marketplaces — everywhere.
We must come to know Him as intimately as we know each member of our own family. We must anticipate what His reaction would be in any particular situation we find ourselves. We should ask ourselves, “what would He say?” The answer is: we should let Him influence us in what we say and do.
We must try to be like St. Francis and be occupied with Jesus and like Francis, Jesus must be in every member of our body. Let’s pause here and reflect on that.
If Jesus was to suddenly stride through that door nearest you, what would He look like to you? BRING HIM TO LIFE.
To follow Jesus is the Secular Franciscan’s “way of Life?” What do we mean by the words, “way of life?”
A “way of life” is something that is with us all the time, this minute, and every minute of every hour of every day, week, month, year and all through the rest of our living days on earth.
every minute of every hour of every day, week, month, year and all through the rest of our living days on earth.
Our Franciscan “way of life” is as much a part of ourselves as our skin. We don’t zipper it on once a month for our regular meeting. It goes with us wherever we go.
It is exactly what we study in our Rule. Our Rule points the way very clearly and in full detail. We can’t say too often that “our way” is the way of the Gospels.
Gospel reading is a MUST for Secular Franciscans. As we have said before we must read, read, read and ponder deeply what is read. Put it into action in the center of your life. Eat with it, sleep with it and walk with it. If you engross yourselves in this Gospel way it will be so much a part of you that you will react automatically when you are with others.
In particular, our brothers and sisters of the Catholic faith who have, as we have, received the sacred Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, must see in themselves the holy tabernacle in whom Christ dwells. In difficult situations we need to call this to mind and again and again ask ourselves, “How would Christ react to the Christ in this person? This question should be with us, too, in our encounters, pleasant or otherwise, with everyone.
This briefly, is what is meant by “going from Gospel to life, and from life to the Gospel.”
Our Rule is to be a Gospel People
As we delve into the rich storehouse of the Scriptures, we become aware of the vastness of the Gospel message. Why? Because, it is the way of Jesus. As we progress in the understanding of the Gospels, we find we have an ever growing knowledge of Jesus.
Knowledge leads to intimacy, and intimacy brings an awareness of His LIVING PRESENCE. Filled with His living presence, we go back to the Gospels and read them more intelligently; because, now we know this Man, Jesus, and by knowing Him, we are coming to love Him more all the time.
Full of this growing love for Jesus we should now be ready to move away from our inner selves to share Him and His mission through our life in the Church.
We must never forget that first and foremost we are Catholics. Look at it this way; having fallen head over heels in love with Jesus, we SEEK His presence — we long to keep Him near us — we want to know His likes and dislikes, and we want to imitate Him. This feeling begins to show, or should show, in our actions when we come in contact with our brothers and sisters, because now we are acting for Him, in carrying out His mission in the world. We now should bring Christ of the Gospels to life so much so that He can be seen in us by all those we meet.
There is a parallel between our baptism through which we died to original sin, and were reborn in the grace of God and our profession as lay Franciscans. We die to the world and our own egos and are reborn in the humble, loving Christ; in His way, His truth and His life.
As Secular Franciscans we are committed to be Christ’s hands, mouth, feet, HIMSELF, in the world. We are to be His heralds and workers, using our talents, opportunities, words, and actions to communicate His message, so that He walks and talks and comes to life through us, for all people.
This we do as members of our parish communities; thus, in a sense, we are rebuilding the Church as Francis was instructed to do by the Christ of San Damiano (see page 89).
As members of the Church (we are the body and life of the Church) we must be loyal and obedient to her proclamations, directives, teachings, doctrines and to our Holy Father, the Pope, our bishops, and our pastors.
We Secular Franciscans are Gospel people not for ourselves alone but for drawing others to our Gospel way, which is a closer union with Christ.
Our Rule is to strive for an Inner Conversion (Metanoia)
The basic thing to acknowledge in metanoia is that it is a sincere, dedicated and an ongoing attempt on the part of each of us individually to face up honestly to our own human weaknesses. Humility is all important. We all have our own opinions and we air them freely, but unfortunately we are loath to have them subjected to contradiction.
Some of our opinions are right, we know that, but some are not, and we are not always aware of that. And so, when someone is in disagreement with our opinion, we should courteously and respectfully listen to the ideas or way of the other person, though contrary to ours, and give it a fair-minded consideration. Never should we brush it aside as stupid.
Two of the most important aspects of metanoia are to be HUMBLE, and LISTEN.
“He who has ears let him hear,” Jesus said.
Hear what?
Hear what the Gospel says about our relationship with people in the world.
In the First Book of Kings we have this beautiful passage:
“Then the Lord said to Elijah ‘Go outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the Lord will be passing by.’ A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this Elijah hid his face in his cloak.”
And of course the reason Elijah hid his face was that the whispering sound was God communicating with him.
Unless we are willing to listen we cannot possibly strive for the radical inner conversion, metanoia, that is an indispensable part of Franciscan formation.
Sometimes we need to be silent and listen to the other person’s point of view — people have been known to learn something when they do. When we listen with our heart we find ourselves, and when we find ourselves we find Christ, and through Christ we find our brothers and sisters. By listening to our brothers and sisters we may just come full circle to where Christ is in everlasting life.
Our Rule is to have a Prayerful Life
Prayer is the motivating force, the electric current that turns on the light of Christ and starts our Grace-motors humming. The Grace is already there, but we need prayer to start its wheels turning.
This can begin, first thing in the morning, with a morning offering. By starting with this we will be taking God right into our day. St. Francis got to the point where he saw God in everything — a pebble, a worm, an animal, a tree, a flower, the sky, stars, sun, moon, clouds, a beggar, a king — you name it. Read his Canticle to Brother Sun, there’s not much that he misses in that. Because of his association with all things that God created, everything became a prayer in his life.
Being in the Gospel way, we pluck a thought from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians “Whether you eat or drink, or do anything else, do everything for God’s glory.” Putting this into practice makes all of our ACTIONS prayers. Many beautiful words to God are great, but they are as hollow and evanescent as soap bubbles blown by a child if God is not in our actions. We have Jesus’ own words to bear this out. “Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father.”
Most importantly, we have the Mass, the supreme prayer; then we have our daily Office — the Liturgy of the Hours is preferable or the 12 Our Fathers, 12 Hail Mary’s, and 12 Glorias. Then you should have in your daily pattern, a period of meditation — a meeting of your mind, will and heart with your God — alone with Him. He is that kind of God. You can do this with Him confidently. He wants it! He wants each one of us to talk to Him. Oh, how blessedly lucky can we get?
Prayer is a MUST, without it in depth in our lives we are not only not forming ourselves as Franciscans, we are spiritually moribund.
With a prayer on his lips a derelict on skid row is greater in the eyes of God than a king on his throne without prayer. A king without prayer is like a soap bubble — resplendent outside, but hollow within.
Enough said! You take it from there. Work out your own prayer pattern or schedule for each day — you are adults. Do it the way that suits you best. This is what Article VIII is all about.
Our Rule says Follow the Way of Mary
Mary is the model of all the virtues, Faith, Hope, Love, Humility, Poverty, Chastity, Obedience, Gentleness, Kindness, Patience — you name them. Is there any virtue Mary did not radiate?
Is it any wonder St. Francis was her devoted son; that he put his “family” under her care.
Mary was a perfect example of Faith-In-Action in the unenlightened world were she lived. She had to grope her way through countless mysteries that were a part of her life.
1. After her first gasp of fear and astonishment at the appearance of the Angel Gabriel, she uttered her sublime “Fiat.”
2. In trust and love she accepted Gabriel’s words that her cousin Elizabeth, although of great age, was pregnant with John, and without questioning it she hastened to Elizabeth’s house to help her in her time of need.
3. Although her time of delivery was imminent, Mary went with Joseph to Bethlehem for the census, trusting in her heavenly Father to take care of the Virgin birth of His Son.
4. Always ready to comply with the law and custom, she took the infant Jesus to the Temple for presentation to the Lord; and herself for purification — she, who was so pure.
5. Without flinching she received the prophecy of Simeon that a sword would pierce her heart.
6. In sorrow and joy, she sought and found her missing twelve-year-old Son in the Temple.
Our Rule is Simple Living
Again we touch on simple living, this time under the virtue of poverty.
Franciscan poverty alarms some people, but it needn’t. What we’re talking about is frugality and moderation, and reduced buying beyond our needs and increased sharing with others. It means a recognition of the fact that everything we have is not our own but on loan to us by God, for our use and to share with others. These gifts must be used for a GOOD purpose, in balance with all creation. When we find ourselves overstepping this balance, it is our responsibility to extricate ourselves in order to reach our poverty goal.
Possessions are not just material things but include our talents, our mind, affections, emotions and free will.
Freed from too much of anything, we are wide open to God, and to the needs of our disadvantaged brothers and sisters. It helps us to follow the advice of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, “Live simply that others might simply live.”
Certainly, living in the spirit of poverty, we will shun inordinate pride and greed. We are stewards, not owners. God forbid that He should have to tell us, because of our misuse of His gifts, “give an account of your stewardship
for you can be stewards no longer.”
Poverty is accepting what we have when we are unable to have more, and being thankful for what we have. It also means being glad when we are able to serve rather than be served.
It means we do not seek position, certainly not for self-interest; but when asked to fill a position we should accept it if we feel we are capable and have the necessary time to handle it. We then should apply ourselves to the very best of our ability, for the good of those we serve.
The more we give of ourselves to the acquisition of and preservation of property, the less there is to give to God and people, and the more we are possessed by things.
Gospel poverty is a detachment from material goods — a “we can take them or leave them” attitude.
Poverty of spirit makes us face up squarely to our metanoia — our stripping ourselves of worldliness, leaving us free to choose, in our “Franciscan way of life,” a COMMON SENSE attitude of simple living.
Our Rule is Chastity and Purity of Heart
Chastity is purity of heart and holiness as Jesus is holy.
Jesus said: Blessed are the clean of heart. Blessed are those whose actions attest to purity of heart in whatever field of endeavor, or whatever company. Blessed are the clean of mind.
Chastity is present where there is poverty of spirit and obedience to the Gospel way of Jesus.
Out of purity of heart comes not only chastity in physical living, but Christ-centered love, which in its cleanness does not admit carelessness or neglect of the dignity of the human person.
The purity of Christ in our hearts, if it is true and deep-seated, does not allow us to view with complacency poverty in the world, nor disobedience. These virtues are inseparable in a Franciscan’s simple way of life. The point of simple living is to put aside everything that can come between us and God.
Chastity is the purity of love that comes from the heart of Jesus. It reflects the two great Commandments: “You shall love your God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself ...” It is not concerned alone with the sixth and ninth Commandments, but embraces all the Commandments. It is a purity that has no flaw, as the Blessed Virgin Mary is flawless.
Here are a few examples on what we should reflect on:
How do we feel about indecent jokes, TV programs, books and movies?
How do I express myself through the way I dress and what I eat and drink?
What does my house and the way I keep my room say about me?
How do I spend my money?
We have to confront ourselves by asking questions like these and give ourselves serious answers. If we do not like our answers we have an indication that change may be needed.
Our Rule is to live in Community
In this Gospel way there are responsibilities. Our first is to people — the responsibility to be friendly, to serve, to lead others towards Christ. Then we must be fair, unbiased and unprejudiced and accept humbly what we have.
Franciscan community living is not just mingling at the meetings. It involves much give and take.
All people are our brothers and sisters, each is a unique child of our heavenly Father. With all people, a Franciscan should be gentle, peaceful, unassuming, courteous, basically humble and respectful to all.
Each person is equal in this sense. For example, one of low intellect who uses this intellect the best he can in order to bring it to its highest potential, will probably never achieve great things; nevertheless, in attaining one hundred percent of his potential, he is on a level of achievement with the genius who likewise develops his capabilities to one hundred percent.
It is important, where we can, to help less advantaged persons learn to stand on their own feet. This gives them a sense of their own dignity and self-worth. A sense of dignity is everyone’s God-given right.
All this is a part of a Franciscan’s responsibility, to be heralds of the great King, and take a hand in making God’s Kingdom come on earth.
The opportunities to serve are right where we live. At all times we should be alert and ready to serve in the arena of our own individual capabilities and talents.
We must not envy what someone else is able to do. It takes many different talents, small, mediocre and great to build up the body of Christ. A fingernail is not nearly as big or noticeable as a strong arm, but it is just as necessary a part of the whole body.
Anyone who follows Christ, the perfect man, is bound to become a more perfect man or woman.
Our Rule is to be a People of Justice
Are our judgments just? Do we often jump to conclusions? Do we misjudge something said or done? Do we resent something that does not agree with what we think? Is that just?
Do we listen with respect to other people’s opinions; weigh them pro and con; accept or reject courteously?
Are we just in our attitude towards priests. Do we show marked favoritism or only see faults in one we don’t particularly like? Do we ever look for the good in him?
Does the testimony of our lives indicate we are in the forefront in promoting justice as this Article advocates? Do we look down on some people? Do we refuse to forgive?
Do we participate in elections? How? Do we study the candidates from all angles? Or do we latch onto one single thing we like, or don’t like? Do we always vote for one party because that is what we have always done? Do we vote as we think God would want us to vote on certain issues? Do we try to decide honestly from all angles which candidate, in God’s eyes, would be best for all the people and for the country?
Perhaps in our examination of conscience we could look back over the events of the day, especially the difficult ones and ask ourselves, how did I react in that situation? Did I react with justice? Did I think of my own desires only, or did I think of the other person’s needs?
There is a marvelous illustration of justice and how it works in the story of the “wolf of Gubbio.”
The wolf was hungry. He had a God-given right to food. Since no one gave it to him, he went after it wherever he could find it, even when he violated others rights. He was feared and hated. St. Francis, ever the peacemaker, took a hand in the situation and approached the wolf with courtesy, respect and compassion, and won from him the promise of a surcease of his predatory ways if the townsfolk would supply him with the food he needed. They agreed. Thereafter he roamed from door to door with wagging tail instead of snarling fangs and accepted happily and peacefully the food given to him. When he died the townsfolk felt they had lost a friend. They mourned him. Thus was justice and brotherly love served between the townsfolk and brother wolf.
May we implore God, the Just Judge, to impart to us the wisdom to be Christ-like in our judgments, actions, and speech.
Our Rule is to Foster Dignity in all People
“Let them esteem work both as a gift and as a sharing in the creation, redemption, and service of the human community.”
Psalm 128 says, in part, “O blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways. By the labor of your hands you shall eat. You will be happy and prosper.” Thus, people from ancient times have regarded the putting of bread on their own tables by their own hands as highly desirable and praiseworthy; giving them a sense of dignity and worth. The work of one person can be of tremendous good to many people.
Here is one example: an employee doing his job on a trash collection truck is certainly doing God’s work, because he is doing an important job of renewing the face of the earth. His work, as all good work, is a sharing in the creation of the Father, a sharing in the ongoing apostolate of the Son who left it to us to carry on after He ascended into Heaven. It is not just for our own welfare, but, because the end result helps many other people in so many ways.
A cheerful, conscientious worker has the love of the Holy Spirit in what he is doing.
To use one’s talents and develop them for our own good and the good of our neighbor is to bring glory to God.
In anything right we undertake to do, we should do to the very best of our ability. We should take pride in a job well done and be grateful to God for it, because it is doing His work.
A Franciscan should always be aiming at perfection, always ready to go the extra mile — that’s the Gospel way.
It is in our environment, whether we are working or retired; in the home, neighborhood, parish or wherever, that we move on our way towards salvation. This is our world where we live; how well we perform in this world will determine the progress we are making towards salvation.
We should ask ourselves and meditate on how did the life of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the Apostles and St. Francis show us the way to Live?
Now, I will conclued with these little anecdotes: Which is more important: sweeping a floor, or singing a hymn; a priest preparing his homily, or a little boy studying his homework; a senator working on the laws of the land, or a mother baking bread?
We have reached the end of my dissertation on the Rule for now. I hope you have gained some insight of our Rule.