Artwork by Brother Mickey McGrath, OSFS.
Earlier in the week the Church observed the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. This simple friar from a little town in Italy has inspired Christians from every continent and almost every denomination for almost 800 years. Saint Francis understood his personal vocation to be a call to imitate Jesus Christ by being poor, chaste, and obedient. His desire to “observe the Gospel” led him to start a religious community that was centered on Christ, faithful to the Church, dedicated to prayer, and committed to upholding the dignity of all creation.
In the Middle Ages, there were many religious orders that were already established when Saint Francis of Assisi began his spiritual conversion. Yet his unique approach and path to following Christ led other people to urge Saint Francis to start his own community. It was these same men and women who eventually joined Saint Francis on his journey to spread the Gospel all over Italy and ultimately, the whole world.
This community created a special charism that today is known as “Franciscan Spirituality.” The Franciscan family has slight variations and ways of living the same spirituality. Having over one million Franciscan friars and sisters around the world has created an abundance of paths to live the Franciscan life. There is an old joke told in religious circles that illustrates this diversity in following the Franciscan journey: “There are three things that even God does not know – what the Jesuits are doing, what Dominicans are thinking, and just how many variations of Franciscans there are!”
Even though the Oblates have not yet reached the “million mark” as a religious community, we know that there are millions of people who follow the spirituality of the other Saint Francis, Saint Francis de Sales. Salesian Spirituality is based on the teachings, experience, and the path given to us by the gentle bishop of Geneva. Like his personal patron, Saint Francis de Sales calls us to put the Gospel into practice. De Sales doesn’t just remind us to imitate Jesus, he calls us to “live Jesus” – to be Jesus in the world today. This spiritual path has attracted Christians for over four hundred years and is needed more than ever in our world today!
Whether Franciscan, Salesian, Ignatian, or Dominican, each religious order and each spirituality lifts up and assists the entire Church. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, himself a Cistercian monk, said that all religious orders contribute to the treasures of the Church. He wrote, “I admire them all. I belong to one of them by observance but to all of them by charity. We all need one another. The spiritual good which I do not own and possess, I receive from others.”
The attitude of Saint Bernard is good advice for all of us in our own spiritual life and journey. May we learn from one another and lift one another up as we strive to follow the Gospel, to “live Jesus.”
This is our call as Franciscans, our call as Salesians, our vocation as Christians.
Rev. Jack Kolodziej, OSFS
Provincial
Wilmington-Philadelphia Province
