Sessions on being Franciscan

I was asked to lead several "sessions" for those present. The first was a retreat for those being noviced and professed the next day at the Cathedral. I was also asked to lead a quiet time, address the chapter, and then preach on the final morning during the Eucharist, at which I presided. In the end everyone attended everything, and one or two first order brothers sat in as well, which was a little unnerving. In addition I preached at the Cathedral on the Sunday morning before the admission of the novices and the life profession. Given my lack of pidgin, and my love of big words this was all a bit of a strain, but I have enjoyed preparing the talked and giving them.

One of the things I learnt with all those sessions I did with Polynesia was that I need to try to keep my input to a low level, and get the participants to do as much of the work as possible. So for the retreat I did two talks - two stories really.The first was Susan Pitchford and why she follows Francis, and then why I follow Francis. My question for them to talk about was why do you follow Francis? To be honest i need to do some more work on this for myself. I have an answer. I am happy with that answer. But listening to those present helped me think more about that. My reasons begin with meeting the SSF brothers at Riverslea, but includes issues around looking for a community of Christians, Anglicans who seek to take community seriously, who seek to care, for each other, for God's world, and all God's people, who seek to walk the way of love. All of that is true. And yet there is so much more. There is my gradual learning of Francis, being inspired, challenged, appalled by him, and yet knowing deep down I fearfully long for what he longed for, to love with all the passion that Christ loves. I fear where that might or will take me. I resist that. And yet somewhere I know that is the way to life. There is also the growing realisation of first that i am called to be Franciscan, and secondly that I am Franciscan first and foremost.

Which leads to the second talk, about my time at Taize, and being introduced as a Franciscan priest. It was a life changing moment for me. Its significance for me has been huge. And when I tell that story, I notice that for others it is an eye opening moment. I then asked them to talk about what it means for them to be Franciscan first, and how they live that out everyday of their lives.

The next night I led a session around why we are to use the Community Obedience. I began by asking them that and getting them to talk about it with their neighbour. My hope in having these conversations is that even if they did not understand a word i said, they had the benefit of the conversations with others, and then listening and sharing in the report back times. basically everything I wanted to say was said in this time, I just wanted to push it a bit. I have been greatly helped in my appreciation of the community obedience by an article Ted Witham wrote and which I read on the way over. So why do I think the community obedience is important?

The Community Obedience

To begin with, the community obedience reminds me pray each day. It is not always easy to find time to pray each day. To be required to pray the community obedience reminds me of this obligation, this way of life. And it provides a not too long format on which I can build such a time of prayer.

It also teaches me to pray. When we begin praying we can often think that prayer is talking to God, giving God our list of things that concern us and that we would appreciate God's involvement. Sometimes we can get stuck here which is not very healthy. But for most as we learn to pray we discover that prayer is a conversation between us and God, and then between God and us, where God takes the initiative and we listen more and more. As we journey on this way we learn that prayer is not our initiative but God's initiative, where we are invited into the love at the heart of the Trinity and allowed to simply be in that love. Prayer slowly ceases to be the words we say, but the silence between the words, in which the heart of God speaks to our heart and shapes in in the image of God. The community obedience becomes a vehicle by which God shapes me and moulds me.

The words of our community obedience become a primary means by which God sandpapers us into Franciscans, people called by God to walk in the footsteps of Francis as he walked in the footsteps of Christ. This the point Ted has helped me understand. Too often we focus our post profession formation in terms of study we do and increasing our cognitive understanding of Francis and the Franciscan way. However Ted has reminded me that important as our cognitive learning is, it is who we are, not what we know that is of most importance. And our daily praying with the principles not only increase our understanding, but provide the vehicle or God most holy to slowly mould and shape us into people who follow Francis in the way of love.