I love what Father Jim Ferry said one time while visiting a very wealthy Franciscan Convent, “If this is the way they practice Poverty, I would hate to see how they practice Celebacy!”
St. Francis found himself thrown out of the leadership of his own Franciscan Movement because his followers could not stomach his stark form of poverty, so we can only imagine how many are true practitioners of it today…especially with all these traveling Franciscan Musicians who charge an arm and a leg for their performances so that small struggling parishes can’t afford them…sad, truly sad…
That being said, there are some who have remained true to the Rule of 1221, abeit very few.
I can’t defend how many Franciscan communities in the USA have relaxed on the whole issue of communal poverty. I know that the argument always is that what is poverty in the USA is wealth in another country, etc. We are not going to change some people’s minds, so we may as well just begin with new communities and hope tha Franciscan movement in the USA.
The Capuchins alone have given birth to several very strong and austere communities. Though the Capuchins tend to be austere themselves. But we have the Franciscans of the Renewal, the Franciscans of the Primitive Observance and they provided Fr. Angelus Shaughnessy to be the formation director for the new congregation, Franciscans of the Eternal Word. My own community, Franciscan Brothers of Life, which is still in its infancy state, was inspired by Cardinal O’Malley. We also have the Little Brothers of St. Francis and the Franciscan Brothers of Peace. Let’s not forget the Franciscans of the Immaculate inspired by St. Maximilian Kolbe and the Franciscan Brothers and Sisters of the Eucharist. So there is a lot of good coming from the Franciscan family. The wonderful thing is that the four obediences: OFM, OFM Conv, OFM Cap, and TOR are very supportive of these newer branches of the family, unlike the past where there were conflicts that required papal interventions.
I can only speak abuot my own community. We do sleep where ever we can find shelter. The way that we function is that one person holds a job that pays a salary and the other brothers work full-time for Respect Life. That person who works pays the bills. If you have depenedents, such as elderly parents or as in my case, I’m a widower and have a son, any money that you bring in goes to your dependent, not to the community. The community recognizes that your dependents are also part of the fraternity.
Right now we are in the process of discernment with the bishop, through a spiritual assistant that he has assigned to us. This is part of the stage of being erected as a Diocesan Congregation, independent of the larger Franciscan Order. But in the meantime, we remain under the canonical jurisdiction of the spiritual assistant of the Third Order. One spiritual assistant makes sure that we are in line with the rule of St. Francis and the other helps us discern whether God is truly calling us to serve Respect Life in total poverty, silence, penance, prayer, brotherhood, and on the streets. We do allow ourselves some luxuries (if you can call it that). These are for the sole purpose of spreading the word about St. Francis and about the dignity of life. There are two things that we are allowed to have: a computer, which I’m using and a cell phone, which we share.
We have turned some people away and some have left us, because they find that our poverty is very difficult for them. The idea of being totally dependent on one brother to bring home the bacon and what he can’t, we depend on charity to eat, frightens some people. But as penitents, we believe that we cannot promote the Gospel of Life without penance. It is not enough to speak about it or pray in front of an abortion clinic. All of these acts have to be accompanied by intense penance, prayer, and brotherhood. As Jeus said, “This kind of demon can onlly be cast out by fasting.” We also give our lives to promote every person’s right to live freely in order to worship God and find God. This too is a principle of the Gospel of life.
For a Brother of Life the driving statement by our holy Father Francis is not only the rule, but equally important to us is the Canticle of the Creatures. It reveals a theological depth that few understand. Francis reveals to us the presence of the Incarnate Christ in everything and sustaining everything. He reminds us that even if you could quiet heaven and the Church, all of Creation would shout out and proclaim God as creator by reminding us of him. Therefore, every created being, especially man, proclaims the power and the workd of God to save. Like our holy Father Francis, we protect and we venerate what comes from the hand of the Father. But we cannot do it without more Brothers of Life. Like the marines, we’re looking for a few good men.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
