Our Rule begins with:
"All who love the Lord with their whole heart with their whole soul and mind,
with all their strength." (Cf. Mk 12:30 )
When I read this, it indicates to me that we are to develop a deeper relationship (intimate relationship) with our Lord. By knowing Him, we fall in love with Him. As we fall in love with Jesus, we will feel His embrace. We then develop an insatiable desire for what can only be filled by Christ Himself. We desire to have our hearts changed, so we may see what Jesus sees and hear as He hears and speak as He would speak. If we desire to love Him with our whole heart and soul and mind, we will allow the Holy Spirit to walk into our very being and show us the Christ we so desire to experience. "And love their neighbor as themselves (cf. Mt 22:39), and hate their bodies with their vices and sins," is to see the Christ in everyone, to embrace the Christ whether that individual has offended you or not. Our Personal Motivation is to embrace the Christ in others and to embrace the Christ in ourselves, which includes our brokenness.
"And receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus..." To me, this is addressed in Fraternity. Fraternity is one place where the Word is made flesh. Fraternity is not only a special and privileged place but also a sacred place. "Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst." (Matt.18:20) Our Holy Father states in his message on November 22, 2002, that we "should be a model of organic structure and charismatic unity." A message from our General Minister, Encarnación del Pozo, tells us about Francis: "Francis' constant wish and watchful concern was to foster among his sons the bond of unity so that those drawn by the same Spirit and begotten by the same Father should be held peacefully on the lap of the same mother. He wanted to unite the greater to the lesser, to join the wise to the simple in brotherly affection, and to hold together those far from each other with the glue of love." (2Cel 191) This glue begins in our immediate family, in our fraternities, in the community and throughout the world. We need to be sharing more in our fraternities, not only our strengths, but the part that is unglued. As we share our total being, we begin to open up to our brothers and sisters and the love will flow like a river. You cannot have unity when you have a sense of one-up-man-ship, subliminal insults, putting-up with, or hidden negativity. We cannot be the light of the world when we are using flashlights to see our way. In order to sustain life in our fraternities, we must handle with care our brothers and sisters, the young, and the mature. At each gathering, embrace one another. "Greet all the brothers with a holy embrace." (1 Thess 5:26) Francis was not a theologian, not a scholar, not a writer; however, he knew and experienced Jesus, not only through his mind, but also with his heart. Francis lived his vision. Francis' life teaches us how to meet Him and serve Him. Francis' spirituality changed the world we live in through the substance called the glue of love.
"And produce worthy fruits of penance."This can be accomplished through our presence in the world today (the commissions). "You, Secular Franciscans, by vocation, live belonging to the Church and to society as inseparable realities. Therefore, you are asked, above all else, to bear personal witness before all in the environment in which you live: in your family life; in your work; in your joys and sufferings; in your associations with all men and women, brothers and sisters of the same Father; in your presence and participation in the life of society; in your fraternal relationships with all creatures." (Message of the Holy Father, The Vatican, November 22, 2002) The contents of the Apostolic Commissions are not just to enlighten our minds and make us good doers, but the commissions must move our hearts. The six points of the star of Evangelization are peace, justice, work, family, ecology, and youth. Remembering the words, we have seen the star in the east. Our talents and skills are the gold. The service we render is the frankincense. Our brokenness is myrrh. In working with all of these dimensions, we can make Jesus apparent to all of us. As a sick child once said to her mother, "I want to see Jesus with flesh on Him." If all of us bring our gold, frankincense, and myrrh to one another, we can and will see the transparent Jes(us) shine and the world will be renewed!
By examination of our personal motivation, what sustains our life and how we promote evangelization, we can create everywhere, the spirit of love and the atmosphere of brotherliness.
The church has entrusted this to you...you have accepted.