Franciscans Charism

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• FranciscansCharism
• Presented by
• Leonel Aruajo, OFM and Joseph Koh, OFM
• Kairos 2005

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Content

• What is Charism?
• Story of Francis
• Story of Clare
• Symbols of Franciscans
• Franciscans in Oceania E.Timor
• Ministries in Modern Times
• Conclusion

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What is Charism?

• In General
• Indicates a personal gift of the Holy Spirit used
  for the good of the Church.
• To participate in the official mission of the
  Church to make Christ present in the world.

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Franciscan Charism

• Franciscans contribute their particular charism
  to the Body of Christ.
• When writing the Rule or "Way of Life" for the
  first Order, Francis wrote
•   "The Rule and Life of the Friars Minor is this,
  namely, to observe the Holy Gospel of our Lord
  Jesus Christ."

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Franciscan Charism

• The charism of Franciscans was simply to live the
  Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Franciscan Charism

• The essence of this Franciscan life remains the
  same today, despite changes in times and
  circumstances through eight centuries of history.
   

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Franciscan Charism

• The Franciscans continue  
• to share the Good News of Jesus Christ,
• in fidelity to the Church,
• living in brotherhood,
• in poverty, chastity and obedience,
• working for those in need and for justice,
• for the respect due to all people and to all
  creation,
• promoting harmony and peace

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Life of Francis
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Life of Clare

• Assisi (1194-1253)
• Noble Class
• 1212, heard Franciss preaching
• Asked to be received as a nun, following the life
  of Francis in absolute poverty

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Life of Clare

• During Middle Ages, impossible for nuns to go
  begging i.e. without property
• Francis sent her to a Benedictine monastery to
  keep her safe
• Clares sister and mother joined her

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Life of Clare

• Francis gave the nuns a Rule of Life
• Pope Innocent IV gave Clare the approved Rule at
  her death bed

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Poor Clares

• The life of all those who follow in the footsteps
  of Saint Clare are
• filled with security and peace, knowing that the
  Divine Child dwells among them in the Most
  Blessed Sacrament and He will always defend
  them. 

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Poor Clares

• "There is one thing I ask of the Lord, for this I
  long, to live in the House of the Lord all the
  days of my life, to savor the sweetness of the
  Lord, to behold His Temple" (Psalm 264).

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Brotherhood

• Francis called his followers fratres minores, or
  lesser brothers.
• Chief concern was being brothers, in a lowly and
  poor way, a minoritas
• Minoritas is subordinated to and directed towards
  the fraternitas, i.e brotherhood
• Francis called it Order of Friars Minor

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Poverty

• How did it begin?

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Poverty

• Francis
• Well-dressed
• prominent young man with bright future
• Sinful man

• The Leper
• Poorly dressed, ugly, deformed
• no social status
• God in him

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Poverty

• translate his meeting with the leper into an
  ideal or spirituality of poverty
• realised that since the Lord met him in the
  person of a leper, it was clear the Lord did not
  attach any importance to social status for its
  own sake
• learnt to regard everything as loss because of
  the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my
  Lord Phil 38.

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Poverty

• it is only in emptying ourselves as Jesus did
  that God can enter our lives, and fill the
  emptiness with his love and goodness.

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Symbols

• Tau Cross
• San Damiano Cross
• Habit

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Tau Cross

• The Tau - the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet,
  
• For Francis it's significance lay in the mention
  made in Ezekiel "Go through city of Jerusalem and
  put a mark on the forehead of everyone who is
  distressed and troubled because of all the
  disgusting things being done in the city." (94)

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Tau Cross

• Scholars speculate that Francis attended the
  Fourth Lateran Council (1215) where he heard Pope
  Innocent III use the Ezekiel reference in the
  opening liturgy.So it is basically a call to
  repentance and support for those who are
  troubled. The symbolism seems as apt today as it
  was in the time of Saint Francis and all the way
  back to Ezekiel.

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San Damiano Cross

• While gazing at the Cross, Francis saw the lips
  of Jesus move and he heard the words, "Francis,
  go repair My House which, as you see, is falling
  completely to ruin". Francis responded, "gladly
  will I do so, Lord".

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San Damiano Cross

• an icon of the paschal mystery of Messiah, a
  visual reminder of the tenets of our Faith.
• invites us to reinforce our Faith and thus help
  repair God's Church today, as Saint Francis did
  centuries ago

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Habit

• Peasants clothing in Middle Ages
• Originally coarse like in sackcloth, as a symbol
  of repentance
• Also symbolises the Cross

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Habit

• White cord with three knots, representing the
  three vows, e. Poverty, Chastity and Obedience

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Franciscans in Oceania

• 1788 Louis Le Receveur first arrived in
  Australia with the French explorer La Perouse
• 1839 Bonaventure Geoghegan, Irishman arrived in
  Australia
• 1854 Peter OFarell began minstering in Sydney

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Franciscans in Oceania

• 1879 community in Waverley began with three
  Irish friars
• 1904 first Australian entered the order
• 1939 Australia became independent province

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Franciscans in Oceania

• 1860 Italian and Irish friars arrived in
  Aotearoa
• Worked with the fledging European settlement
  around Auckland and as missionaries among the
  Maori
• 1880 withdrew from New Zealand
• 1937 returned to New Zealand

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Franciscans in Oceania

• End of WWII, strong push for friars to work as
  foreign missionaries
• 1946 first missionaries sent to Aitape region,
  northern Papua New Guinea
• 1969 assumed responsibility for the order
  presence in Singapore and Malaysia
• 2000 a community in Kuching, East Malaysia

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Franciscans in Oceania

• Friars in this province have worked as
  missionaries in various parts of the world, such
  as Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Singapore, Tanzania,
  Thailand, Uganda, Zambia

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Franciscans in East Timor

• Belonged to the province of Indonesia, which was
  founded by Dutch Franciscans
• 1982 Friars arrived in East Timor from
  Indonesia
• Currently, an independent Franciscan entity

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Franciscans Today

• 1st Order (Male Order) OFM, OFMCap, OFMConv
• 2nd Order (Female Order) Contemplative Nuns,
  OSC, PC
• 3rd Order (Male and Female religious, eg. FMM,
  FMDM, OSF, TOR) and seculars (Secular Franciscan
  Order)
• Others Anglican Franciscans

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Ministries

• Peace Justice JPIC
• Human Rights Franciscans International
• Poor, Schools, Prisons, Immigrants, Missionaries,
  etc

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Conclusion

• The variety of charisms reflects the universalism
  of the Gospel.
• Each charism serves a portion of the kingdom's
  gifts to humankind. The Body of Christ finds
  expression in a variety of groups. Together they
  build the kingdom and make the Body of Christ
  present to our world.
• The call to Franciscans is to live the Gospel of
  Jesus Christ in the manner of St Francis.  

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