Spirituality of religious orders in Catholic tradition

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Julia_Mae said:
I have now read three biographies of Saint Francis and still don’t know why he is depicted in art so often with a skull. Br JR? Anyone?
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Francis’ favorite Gospel was John’s proclamation of the Passion.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
 
JReducation said:
Over 800 years ago, Our Holy Father Francis introduced a new concept into the liturgy of Christmas Eve. That was the Christmas Pageant. Many people think of Francis as being the mastermind behind the Christmas crèche. The truth was that the crèche already existed, but had been forgotten. The part that he introduced into the liturgy was the actual Christmas play. He did it twice. He also introduced the Passion Play and the Living Stations on Good Friday.

Francis was very aware that human beings learn through their senses. He also understood that the liturgy had multiple ends. It was to offer the sacrifice, but it didn’t stop there. It was also a celebration of Thanksgiving and a celebration of fraternity. He commissions his friars to take this message to the world, beginning with Christmas.

The non-Franciscan would ask, why Christmas? Because at Christmas, divinity breaks into human history, not as a powerful God from above, but as child who is one with the world. The power of God reveals itself through humanity. As the Prophet Isaiah said, “And a child will lead them.” Francis was very much in tune with this. God has entered into the world as child and he would lead us to the Father as a fraternity.

Francis was aware that through the incarnation and birth of Christ all men are brought into brotherhood with each other through the eternal Logos who becomes the first-born among many brothers. Christmas reminds of God’s call to all men to live in community and peace. Francis pays very special attention to the angels who proclaim, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will.” Christmas reveals the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the Christian journey, with neither being subordinate to the other, but equally necessary for salvation.

In bringing the living nativity into the Christmas Mass, he achieves two things. First, he creates a visual aid of Luke’s Gospel. Second, he draws the human element into the celebration of the mass. One has to understand how this happened. Francis sent out invitations to the local farmers and shepherds to come to Midnight Mass with their animals. He commanded his brothers to build a large stable on the sanctuary, where one of the brother-priests would celebrate the Midnight Mass. It was the first time in Christian history that the laity, religious, and animals would gather as one family, led by the priest, to worship God and offer thanks.

That mass that was celebrated at Greccio did not disappear from the Catholic horizon. At the Council of Trent, the Church would unify the Latin Rite, taking as its model the Franciscan form of the mass. Pope Pius V would later tweak it even more by adding some Benedictine elements to it, such as Gregorian chant and some Dominican elements. However, Pius V, being a Dominican Friar was very obedient to Our Holy Father Dominic who commanded the Dominicans to love, respect, protect and never find fault with the Franciscans. Therefore, Pope Pius allowed the Franciscans to keep their pageants at Christmas and Good Friday. The Franciscans took this tradition with them around the world.

People from all over the world would flock to the Franciscan friaries for Midnight Mass at Christmas. As the Church grew, the number of Catholics and distances became greater. It was not as easy to get to a Franciscan Midnight Mass. Urbanization exploded. There were more cities and less farm animals. People began to carve little images of the Holy Family, shepherds and animals and that’s how the Christmas crèche found its way into Catholic homes.

Since we’re sharing about the place of religious life in Catholic tradition, I thought I’d share this little story. This year, when you look at your crèche in your home, remember the history behind it, its purpose and the religious family that introduced it into our lives.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
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Great stuff Brother, thank you. I hope you have a blessed Christmas!

Peace,
 
JReducation said:
Over 800 years ago, Our Holy Father Francis introduced a new concept into the liturgy of Christmas Eve. That was the Christmas Pageant. Many people think of Francis as being the mastermind behind the Christmas crèche. The truth was that the crèche already existed, but had been forgotten. The part that he introduced into the liturgy was the actual Christmas play. He did it twice. He also introduced the Passion Play and the Living Stations on Good Friday.

Francis was very aware that human beings learn through their senses. He also understood that the liturgy had multiple ends. It was to offer the sacrifice, but it didn’t stop there. It was also a celebration of Thanksgiving and a celebration of fraternity. He commissions his friars to take this message to the world, beginning with Christmas.

The non-Franciscan would ask, why Christmas? Because at Christmas, divinity breaks into human history, not as a powerful God from above, but as child who is one with the world. The power of God reveals itself through humanity. As the Prophet Isaiah said, “And a child will lead them.” Francis was very much in tune with this. God has entered into the world as child and he would lead us to the Father as a fraternity.

Francis was aware that through the incarnation and birth of Christ all men are brought into brotherhood with each other through the eternal Logos who becomes the first-born among many brothers. Christmas reminds of God’s call to all men to live in community and peace. Francis pays very special attention to the angels who proclaim, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will.” Christmas reveals the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the Christian journey, with neither being subordinate to the other, but equally necessary for salvation.

In bringing the living nativity into the Christmas Mass, he achieves two things. First, he creates a visual aid of Luke’s Gospel. Second, he draws the human element into the celebration of the mass. One has to understand how this happened. Francis sent out invitations to the local farmers and shepherds to come to Midnight Mass with their animals. He commanded his brothers to build a large stable on the sanctuary, where one of the brother-priests would celebrate the Midnight Mass. It was the first time in Christian history that the laity, religious, and animals would gather as one family, led by the priest, to worship God and offer thanks.

That mass that was celebrated at Greccio did not disappear from the Catholic horizon. At the Council of Trent, the Church would unify the Latin Rite, taking as its model the Franciscan form of the mass. Pope Pius V would later tweak it even more by adding some Benedictine elements to it, such as Gregorian chant and some Dominican elements. However, Pius V, being a Dominican Friar was very obedient to Our Holy Father Dominic who commanded the Dominicans to love, respect, protect and never find fault with the Franciscans. Therefore, Pope Pius allowed the Franciscans to keep their pageants at Christmas and Good Friday. The Franciscans took this tradition with them around the world.

People from all over the world would flock to the Franciscan friaries for Midnight Mass at Christmas. As the Church grew, the number of Catholics and distances became greater. It was not as easy to get to a Franciscan Midnight Mass. Urbanization exploded. There were more cities and less farm animals. People began to carve little images of the Holy Family, shepherds and animals and that’s how the Christmas crèche found its way into Catholic homes.

Since we’re sharing about the place of religious life in Catholic tradition, I thought I’d share this little story. This year, when you look at your crèche in your home, remember the history behind it, its purpose and the religious family that introduced it into our lives.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
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Brother JR,

Thank you so much for the explanation of the history of the creche! I also now understand much better about the Passion play and the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday.

I think I have only contributed to this thread with one or two messages which enabled me to have a direct connection to read all the messages sent. This has been wonderful! Thank you for telling about the various charisms given to the various orders, confraternities, secular apostolates, etc. What great gifts the Holy Spirit gives to the Church!

We are all marching in the same parade with different uniforms and jobs to do. 🙂

Christmas Blessings,

Dorothy, T.O.C. (Third Order Carmel)
 
I found this in Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI

Yet he [Jesus] comes in ways that change the world. The ministry of the two great figures Francis and Dominic in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was one way in which Christ entered anew into history, communicating his word and his love with fresh vigor. It was on way in which he renewed his Church and drew history toward himself. We could say much the same of the saints of the sixteenth century. Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Ignayius Loyola, and Francis Xavier all opened up new ways for the Lord to enter into the confused history of their century as it was pulling away from him. His mystery, his figure enters anew – and most importantly, his power to transform men’s lives and to refashion history becomes present in a new way.

It’s a rather interesting concept. He’s talking about Christ becoming incarnate in human history through the Incarnation, the Eucharist and through religious orders. Through the latter, he continues the work that he began through his incarnation, birth and passion.

Merry Christmas!

Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
 
JReducation said:
I found this in Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI

Yet he [Jesus] comes in ways that change the world. The ministry of the two great figures Francis and Dominic in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was one way in which Christ entered anew into history, communicating his word and his love with fresh vigor. It was on way in which he renewed his Church and drew history toward himself. We could say much the same of the saints of the sixteenth century. Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Ignayius Loyola, and Francis Xavier all opened up new ways for the Lord to enter into the confused history of their century as it was pulling away from him. His mystery, his figure enters anew – and most importantly, his power to transform men’s lives and to refashion history becomes present in a new way.

It’s a rather interesting concept. He’s talking about Christ becoming incarnate in human history through the Incarnation, the Eucharist and through religious orders. Through the latter, he continues the work that he began through his incarnation, birth and passion.

Merry Christmas!

Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
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In what’s maybe a lesser sense, Christ can come into the world in all kinds of ways. He’s just behind what we can see. His “fingerprints” are everywhere.

For the person who has a vocation as a married person, it’s possible to see a glimpse of God in the love of spouse and family. For parents, there is nothing like gazing on the face of a brand-new child to bring you a glimpse of the reality and goodness of God. It’s a miracle.
 
iloveangels said:
In what’s maybe a lesser sense, Christ can come into the world in all kinds of ways. He’s just behind what we can see. His “fingerprints” are everywhere.
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What I found attractive about this quote is that the Holy Father’s book insists that he [Jesus] always comes in ways that change the world. The operative word for him is “change”. Change for the better is the sign that puts forward. At the very end of his book, he pulls in the religious orders as one of the means that Christ uses to change the world.

He is very specific about “Christ entering anew”. While he does not deny Christ’s presence through many shadows, he is very insistent that these are not shadows, but very vigorous inceptions into human history. To understand this better, one would have to read the book and read Bonaventure’s theology of history. We have to remember that Pope Benedict is very much an Augustinian-Franciscan theologian. He’s going to look at Christology using their methods. Augustine and Bonaventure make a distinction between what I would call the shadows of Christ’s presence in the world and the dynamic signs of Christ’s presence in history. The latter are acknowledged and formally approved by the Church as signs of the Lord’s presence and as a means that the Lord uses to change the course of human history, especially the history of the Church.

Have a blessed day!

Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
 
iloveangels said:
In what’s maybe a lesser sense, Christ can come into the world in all kinds of ways. He’s just behind what we can see.
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I just read that same book and I don’t think that’s what he means, I think he is speaking of Jesus’ literal Presence in the world through these folks.

When I read this, I think of Jesus saying “none are good, only God is good.” Yet, I cannot deny that even such as myself do occasional good things. But I don’t. It seems to me as if I am more a witness to something that is happening through me, I am the flashlight but never the light.

Esp in Saint Francis who explicated his spirituality so well in his writings so we know or sure why he was doing what he was doing. We see the “die to self to make room for Christ.” Then we see him doing the same healings, the same preachings, the same bringing the dead back to life. That’s Christ in the world, literally. In the end, Francis bore Jesus’ wounds.

But I don’t think this is limited to great Saints and religious orders, I just think it’s most obvious when we study them. I think Jesus is literally in the world through any of us that will submit to Him. Perhaps only briefly for most, and very occasionally, but more for others and more consistently.

If we receive the actual Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ into ourselves, why would we think he is not literally present to the world through us? Every day really can be Christmas. Crucify me, Lord, is a wonderful prayer.
 
JReducation said:
What I found attractive about this quote is that the Holy Father’s book insists that he [Jesus] always comes in ways that change the world. The operative word for him is “change”. Change for the better is the sign that puts forward. At the very end of his book, he pulls in the religious orders as one of the means that Christ uses to change the world.

He is very specific about “Christ entering anew”. While he does not deny Christ’s presence through many shadows, he is very insistent that these are not shadows, but very vigorous inceptions into human history. To understand this better, one would have to read the book and read Bonaventure’s theology of history. We have to remember that Pope Benedict is very much an Augustinian-Franciscan theologian. He’s going to look at Christology using their methods. Augustine and Bonaventure make a distinction between what I would call the shadows of Christ’s presence in the world and the dynamic signs of Christ’s presence in history. The latter are acknowledged and formally approved by the Church as signs of the Lord’s presence and as a means that the Lord uses to change the course of human history, especially the history of the Church.

Have a blessed day!

Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
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Yes, and honestly, the presence of religious orders is very faint now. Perhaps they are still administratively present in the Church, but if they are so, they are present in reduced numbers. Many Catholics almost never see a member of religious order.
 
The numbers are unfortunate. The world population has grown and the number of religious has decreased, but the powerful influence of the religious families and their founders is alive and well. Look at Pope Benedict’s Christmas homily.
**
Christmas is an epiphany – the appearing of God and of his great light in a child that is born for us. Born in a stable in Bethlehem, not in the palaces of kings. In 1223, when Saint Francis of Assisi celebrated Christmas in Greccio with an ox and an *** and a manger full of hay, a new dimension of the mystery of Christmas came to light. Saint Francis of Assisi called Christmas “the feast of feasts” – above all other feasts – and he celebrated it with “unutterable devotion” (2 Celano 199; Fonti Francescane, 787). He kissed images of the Christ-child with great devotion and he stammered tender words such as children say, so Thomas of Celano tells us (ibid.). For the early Church, the feast of feasts was Easter: in the Resurrection Christ had flung open the doors of death and in so doing had radically changed the world: he had made a place for man in God himself. Now, Francis neither changed nor intended to change this objective order of precedence among the feasts, the inner structure of the faith centred on the Paschal Mystery. And yet through him and the character of his faith, something new took place: Francis discovered Jesus’ humanity in an entirely new depth. This human existence of God became most visible to him at the moment when God’s Son, born of the Virgin Mary, was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. The Resurrection presupposes the Incarnation. For God’s Son to take the form of a child, a truly human child, made a profound impression on the heart of the Saint of Assisi, transforming faith into love. “The kindness and love of God our Saviour for mankind were revealed” – this phrase of Saint Paul now acquired an entirely new depth. In the child born in the stable at Bethlehem, we can as it were touch and caress God. And so the liturgical year acquired a second focus in a feast that is above all a feast of the heart.

This has nothing to do with sentimentality. It is right here, in this new experience of the reality of Jesus’ humanity that the great mystery of faith is revealed. Francis loved the child Jesus, because for him it was in this childish estate that God’s humility shone forth. God became poor. His Son was born in the poverty of the stable. In the child Jesus, God made himself dependent, in need of human love, he put himself in the position of asking for human love – our love. Today Christmas has become a commercial celebration, whose bright lights hide the mystery of God’s humility, which in turn calls us to humility and simplicity. Let us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light.

Francis arranged for Mass to be celebrated on the manger that stood between the ox and the *** (cf. 1 Celano 85; Fonti 469). This is awesome.

Later, an altar was built over this manger, so that where animals had once fed on hay, men could now receive the flesh of the spotless lamb Jesus Christ, for the salvation of soul and body, as Thomas of Celano tells us (cf. 1 Celano 87; Fonti 471). Francis himself, as a deacon, had sung the Christmas Gospel on the holy night in Greccio with resounding voice. Through the friars’ radiant Christmas singing, the whole celebration seemed to be a great outburst of joy (1 Celano 85.86; Fonti 469, 470). It was the encounter with God’s humility that caused this joy – his goodness creates the true feast.

Today, anyone wishing to enter the Church of Jesus’ Nativity in Bethlehem will find that the doorway five and a half metres high, through which emperors and caliphs used to enter the building, is now largely walled up. Only a low opening of one and a half metres has remained. The intention was probably to provide the church with better protection from attack, but above all to prevent people from entering God’s house on horseback. Anyone wishing to enter the place of Jesus’ birth has to bend down. It seems to me that a deeper truth is revealed here, which should touch our hearts on this holy night: if we want to find the God who appeared as a child, then we must dismount from the high horse of our “enlightened” reason. We must set aside our false certainties, our intellectual pride, which prevents us from recognizing God’s closeness. We must follow the interior path of Saint Francis – the path leading to that ultimate outward and inward simplicity which enables the heart to see. We must bend down, spiritually we must as it were go on foot, in order to pass through the portal of faith and encounter the God who is so different from our prejudices and opinions – the God who conceals himself in the humility of a newborn baby. In this spirit let us celebrate the liturgy of the holy night, let us strip away our fixation on what is material, on what can be measured and grasped. Let us allow ourselves to be made simple by the God who reveals himself to the simple of heart. And let us also pray especially at this hour for all who have to celebrate Christmas in poverty, in suffering, as migrants, that a ray of God’s kindness may shine upon them, that they – and we – may be touched by the kindness that God chose to bring into the world through the birth of his Son in a stable. Amen.**

A happy and blessed Christmas

Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
 
JReducation said:
The numbers are unfortunate. The world population has grown and the number of religious has decreased, but the powerful influence of the religious families and their founders is alive and well. Look at Pope Benedict’s Christmas homily.
**
Christmas is an epiphany – the appearing of God and of his great light in a child that is born for us. Born in a stable in Bethlehem, not in the palaces of kings. In 1223, when Saint Francis of Assisi celebrated Christmas in Greccio with an ox and an *** and a manger full of hay, a new dimension of the mystery of Christmas came to light. Saint Francis of Assisi called Christmas “the feast of feasts” – above all other feasts – and he celebrated it with “unutterable devotion” (2 Celano 199; Fonti Francescane, 787). He kissed images of the Christ-child with great devotion and he stammered tender words such as children say, so Thomas of Celano tells us (ibid.). For the early Church, the feast of feasts was Easter: in the Resurrection Christ had flung open the doors of death and in so doing had radically changed the world: he had made a place for man in God himself. Now, Francis neither changed nor intended to change this objective order of precedence among the feasts, the inner structure of the faith centred on the Paschal Mystery. And yet through him and the character of his faith, something new took place: Francis discovered Jesus’ humanity in an entirely new depth. This human existence of God became most visible to him at the moment when God’s Son, born of the Virgin Mary, was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. The Resurrection presupposes the Incarnation. For God’s Son to take the form of a child, a truly human child, made a profound impression on the heart of the Saint of Assisi, transforming faith into love. “The kindness and love of God our Saviour for mankind were revealed” – this phrase of Saint Paul now acquired an entirely new depth. In the child born in the stable at Bethlehem, we can as it were touch and caress God. And so the liturgical year acquired a second focus in a feast that is above all a feast of the heart.

This has nothing to do with sentimentality. It is right here, in this new experience of the reality of Jesus’ humanity that the great mystery of faith is revealed. Francis loved the child Jesus, because for him it was in this childish estate that God’s humility shone forth. God became poor. His Son was born in the poverty of the stable. In the child Jesus, God made himself dependent, in need of human love, he put himself in the position of asking for human love – our love. Today Christmas has become a commercial celebration, whose bright lights hide the mystery of God’s humility, which in turn calls us to humility and simplicity. Let us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light.

Francis arranged for Mass to be celebrated on the manger that stood between the ox and the ***** (cf. 1 Celano 85; Fonti 469). This is awesome.

Later, an altar was built over this manger, so that where animals had once fed on hay, men could now receive the flesh of the spotless lamb Jesus Christ, for the salvation of soul and body, as Thomas of Celano tells us (cf. 1 Celano 87; Fonti 471). Francis himself, as a deacon, had sung the Christmas Gospel on the holy night in Greccio with resounding voice. Through the friars’ radiant Christmas singing, the whole celebration seemed to be a great outburst of joy (1 Celano 85.86; Fonti 469, 470). It was the encounter with God’s humility that caused this joy – his goodness creates the true feast.

Today, anyone wishing to enter the Church of Jesus’ Nativity in Bethlehem will find that the doorway five and a half metres high, through which emperors and caliphs used to enter the building, is now largely walled up. Only a low opening of one and a half metres has remained. The intention was probably to provide the church with better protection from attack, but above all to prevent people from entering God’s house on horseback. Anyone wishing to enter the place of Jesus’ birth has to bend down. It seems to me that a deeper truth is revealed here, which should touch our hearts on this holy night: if we want to find the God who appeared as a child, then we must dismount from the high horse of our “enlightened” reason. We must set aside our false certainties, our intellectual pride, which prevents us from recognizing God’s closeness. We must follow the interior path of Saint Francis – the path leading to that ultimate outward and inward simplicity which enables the heart to see. We must bend down, spiritually we must as it were go on foot, in order to pass through the portal of faith and encounter the God who is so different from our prejudices and opinions – the God who conceals himself in the humility of a newborn baby. In this spirit let us celebrate the liturgy of the holy night, let us strip away our fixation on what is material, on what can be measured and grasped. Let us allow ourselves to be made simple by the God who reveals himself to the simple of heart. And let us also pray especially at this hour for all who have to celebrate Christmas in poverty, in suffering, as migrants, that a ray of God’s kindness may shine upon them, that they – and we – may be touched by the kindness that God chose to bring into the world through the birth of his Son in a stable. Amen.

A happy and blessed Christmas

Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
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That was a great homily by the Pope. Thank you for sharing Br. JR.
 
JReducation said:
I found this in Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI

Yet he [Jesus] comes in ways that change the world. The ministry of the two great figures Francis and Dominic in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was one way in which Christ entered anew into history, communicating his word and his love with fresh vigor. It was on way in which he renewed his Church and drew history toward himself. We could say much the same of the saints of the sixteenth century. Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Ignayius Loyola, and Francis Xavier all opened up new ways for the Lord to enter into the confused history of their century as it was pulling away from him. His mystery, his figure enters anew – and most importantly, his power to transform men’s lives and to refashion history becomes present in a new way.

It’s a rather interesting concept. He’s talking about Christ becoming incarnate in human history through the Incarnation, the Eucharist and through religious orders. Through the latter, he continues the work that he began through his incarnation, birth and passion.

Merry Christmas!

Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
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It is interesting to look at Christ entering the world in such a way. I think we are going to have to throw Blessed Mother Teresa in that list before long considering the growth the Missionaries of Charity are seeing.
 
I don’t know if the Missionaries of Charity will or will not enter this group. Let’s look at what this particular pope has done with Francis of Assisi, since he became pope. This is not his first reference to St. Francis in a very outstanding way.

He brings Francis into his first book on Jesus of Nazareth, where he states that Francis of Assisi is the living expression of the First Beatitude. This is very interesting, because Joseph Ratzinger is very precise in his use of words. He refers to Francis as “a living expression” not as one who lived the beatitude.

In this second book, he’s talking about Christ’s presence in the world, through real history. He comes at this from above, which is very Augustinian and Bonaventurian. Whereas Thomas would come at the same concept from the bottom up. He goes from reason to the heart. Augustine and Bonaventure go from the heart to reason.

Having said this, Pope Benedict points to the Franciscans, Dominicans and Carmelites as a sign of God’s active love in the world… It’s not just the individual founders. It’s the entire movement. He mentions the founders, because they are the parents of the movement. In other words, through them the movement comes into existence. The movement is from Christ and the means that Christ uses to bring change into the world.

The key is how Jesus becomes present in the world through the Franciscan, Dominican and Carmelite traditions and in doing so, irrevocably influenced the course of history. God’s action through these religious families is part of Christ’s ongoing Incarnation which began at the Annunciation, part of his ongoing proclamation of the Good News, which took place in Galilee and part of his redemptive work on the cross.

The issue is not the number of Dominicans, Franciscans or Carmelites. Their presence in the Church, even when they are not seen, affects the course of human history, because Christ makes himself dynamically present through these movements.

It’s like electricity. We don’t see it, but it’s all around us affecting our lives and when it’s gone, we’re crippled. Even our anatomy is crippled. Without electricity we would literally die, since our bodies are electronic.

Without Christ, human history ceases. All is made through him and for him. Christ continues to make himself present through the traditions of these religious families founded on the grace and inspiration given to Francis, Dominic, Teresa and John of the Cross.

In a prior writing, not included in this book, Cardinal Ratzinger made the same statement about Benedict and Augustine and their families. He pointed out how they had influenced more religious families than any other patriarchs. Most religious families use either the Rule of Benedict or the Rule of Augustine.

Whether you’re a Salesian or a Missionary of Charity, your core values come from one of these five major traditions of religious life.

It goes further than individual founders, though they cannot be ignored, because they are the people through whom Christ enters human history, again and again. But his presence in human history continues through their sons and daughters, because the charism does not die with the founder. Christ lives in the charism.

In this regard, the number of religious are not as important to the Church as they may be to the laity. Because these orders do not exist simply to perform a job. What they do can be done by anyone else and has been duplicated by other religious communities. They exist as a gift in the form of a charism through which Christ makes himself present in the Church. Christ is not limited by small numbers of friars, monks and nuns. If there were only one of each from these families, the charism would still be alive and still have the same effect on the Church and through the Church on the world. Were there not these charisms, history would look very different.

This is the essence of Theology of History. It looks at how God influences human history and how God breaks into human history at different times, using different means to shape history, without interfering with human freedom.

In the context of this thread, we’re learning that these religious families, whether we like them or not, whether we are pleased with what they do or not, regardless of their numbers and what the faithful think, they continue to be a means through which Jesus becomes present in Catholic tradition. Therefore, they are essential to Catholic tradition, not accidental.

At a time where the role of the laity and the clergy in the Church is being emphasized, often at the expense of the role of the consecrated life, this reminder by Pope Benedict is timely. It takes nothing away from the laity or the priesthood. It simply reminds us today of the essential role of the consecrated life in history, just as Vatican II reminded us of the essential role of the laity in history. There is a human tendency to emphasize one thing and forget the other. We tend to focus on the secular (layman and priest) or the consecrated (man and woman religious), when in fact, they are equally necessary for the life of the Church. The Church deems them to be essential, not accidental.

It’s almost as if we can’t live with day and night. As if we can only focus on one or the other, when in fact a day has both, light and darkness and both are good and necessary.

The goodness of religious traditions is not measured by their numbers or their visible effectiveness. Their effectiveness rests on the fact that through them Christ has entered human history at a time and in a manner that was necessary to influence history. Their continued existence continues to influence human history and points us in the direction to which the charism points, even when we are unaware. God’s grace does not depend on our awareness.

Merry Christmas

Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
 
Interesting. Thanks Brother.

One thing to consider is that Pope Benedict has the benefit of history when looking at the ripple effects that were created by the founders and since then, the orders. In 800 years, who knows what the influence of Mother Teresa and her sons and daughters might be, and how Christ might use that to spread the Gospel? Its very hard when you are trying to place a relatively contemporary figure into historical company for purposes of comparison and/or analysis.

Your points are all very good ones, but I think time will have to tell. I am of the opinion that we are just now seeing the ramifications of Blessed Teresa’s life. Whether or not she brought anything new is probably up for debate and I will leave that to others to decide. When I look at Dominic, Francis, Ignatius of Loyola, etc. there were certain things going on in the world. With Teresa, I see the same thing in the form of rampant consumerism and a secularization of society that manifests itself in the form of detachment from the suffering of others.

Peace Brother,
 
jwinch2 said:
Interesting. Thanks Brother.

One thing to consider is that Pope Benedict has the benefit of history when looking at the ripple effects that were created by the founders and since then, the orders. In 800 years, who knows what the influence of Mother Teresa and her sons and daughters might be, and how Christ might use that to spread the Gospel? Its very hard when you are trying to place a relatively contemporary figure into historical company for purposes of comparison and/or analysis.

Your points are all very good ones, but I think time will have to tell. I am of the opinion that we are just now seeing the ramifications of Blessed Teresa’s life. Whether or not she brought anything new is probably up for debate and I will leave that to others to decide. When I look at Dominic, Francis, Ignatius of Loyola, etc. there were certain things going on in the world. With Teresa, I see the same thing in the form of rampant consumerism and a secularization of society that manifests itself in the form of detachment from the suffering of others.

Peace Brother,
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I believe that you’re very right about the Missionaries of Charity. That’s why I say, I don’t know if they will or will not enter this little group. Only time will tell. When I say this little group, I’m referring to the big five. The reason that the Church has limited herself to the big five is because all of the other religious families, except for the Jesuits, are fouinded on one of those five rules, which is another sign of the ongoing impact of these spiritual fathers. Christ’s presence in the charism did not stop with the founder and the original group. Look at how many great congregations and orders live by the Rule of Augustine. It’s probably the most used rule of the five. Christ continues to use Augustine and his sons to shape the Church and bring new forms of religious life into the world and to influence human history through the same movement, even though it may be a different community.

Bl. Teresa of Calcutta falls into this tradition very neatly. I don’t know if you know, she used the Benedictine and Franciscan rules to write her constitution. She actually brought two elements together – the Benedictine rule of hospitality to the poor and the Franciscan rule of immersion among the poor.

This is in itself if fascinating. Christ entered the world through Benedict and Francis, among others and through Benedict and Francis he drives the Missionaries of Charity. What is fascinating here is that the two fathers and their charisms can be united seamlessly in one congregation, because there is only one Jesus Christ. It kind of reminds me of the 23 Churches that make up the Catholic Church. They are sui iuris, but unite seamlessly into one, because there is only one Mystical Body and one head.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
 
JReducation said:
I believe that you’re very right about the Missionaries of Charity. That’s why I say, I don’t know if they will or will not enter this little group. Only time will tell. When I say this little group, I’m referring to the big five. The reason that the Church has limited herself to the big five is because all of the other religious families, except for the Jesuits, are fouinded on one of those five rules, which is another sign of the ongoing impact of these spiritual fathers. Christ’s presence in the charism did not stop with the founder and the original group. Look at how many great congregations and orders live by the Rule of Augustine. It’s probably the most used rule of the five. Christ continues to use Augustine and his sons to shape the Church and bring new forms of religious life into the world and to influence human history through the same movement, even though it may be a different community.

Bl. Teresa of Calcutta falls into this tradition very neatly. I don’t know if you know, she used the Benedictine and Franciscan rules to write her constitution. She actually brought two elements together – the Benedictine rule of hospitality to the poor and the Franciscan rule of immersion among the poor.

This is in itself if fascinating. Christ entered the world through Benedict and Francis, among others and through Benedict and Francis he drives the Missionaries of Charity. What is fascinating here is that the two fathers and their charisms can be united seamlessly in one congregation, because there is only one Jesus Christ. It kind of reminds me of the 23 Churches that make up the Catholic Church. They are sui iuris, but unite seamlessly into one, because there is only one Mystical Body and one head.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
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I figured that there must have been a Franciscan influence but was not aware of the Benedictine one. Thanks as always!
 
jwinch2 said:
I figured that there must have been a Franciscan influence but was not aware of the Benedictine one. Thanks as always!
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Providing long-term home for the poor and the dying is a Benectine thing, not Franciscan. Living among the poor and preaching the Gospel first to the poor, is Franciscan.

She also draws strict obedience from the Benedictine. The superior is the voice of Christ, to be obeyed without question. This is Benedict’s theology. If the superior orders sin, then he is not acting in persona Christi and must not be obeyed. If he is ordering what may seem foolish to you, he must still be obeyed, for Christ seemed foolish to his disciples too. Francis borrowed this from Benedict and so does Mother Teresa.

The founder retains control over the community, even from the grave, is Franciscan. Francis never surrendered his control over his sons and daughters, nor did he hand it on. He remains the only superior to be called Father. Among the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa is the only superior to be called Mother. The question of the day is, “What would Mother do?” That’s also the Franciscans daily question. Christ is heard through the voice of the founder.

The Missionaries of Charity also retreat from work after about 4 hours per day to spend the rest of the day in prayer, silence and solitude. They rotate between the sisters or brothers and between the sisters or brothers and the lay volunteers. People who are unfamiliar with the primacy of prayer in the Benedictine tradition have been quick and harsh to criticize the Missionaries of Charity, because they do not stop prayer to take care of someone who just pooped in his bed. That person has to wait for them to finish praying. A Franciscan would stop, but not a Benedictine.

On the flip side, they are mendicants, not stable as are the Benedictines. The world is their cloister. They refuse to call their houses convents, priories or monasteries, just like the Franciscans. If they do so, then they have to adopt the structure of these paradigms. Like Francis, Mother Teresa avoided these structures.

Their liturgical life is very simple. Even before the Pauline Mass, they had already introduced some very Franciscan elements into their chapels. They had dropped Gregorian Chant from the Divine Office as early as 1946, which they take from St. Clare who prohibited Gregorian chant in honor of St. Francis.

Unlike Franciscans for whom the apostolate to the laity is subordinate to their obligations to their brothers, the Missionaries of Charity define community much like the Benedictines. It is a common life of prayer and work. For the Franciscan it is a common life of prayer and obedience.

It’s incredible how the Lord, who entered the world in a very dynamic way through Benedict and Francis, presented himself to Sister Teresa as the Jesus of Benedict and the Jesus of Francis, who is the one and the same Jesus, but who came to us in very different, yet complimentary ways.

Looking at it through the eyes of history, we see the ongoing place of the Benedictine and Franciscan schools in the Church through a great community such as the Missionaries of Charity. Even if the numbers of Benedictines and Franciscans is smaller than in the past, the Benedictine and Franciscan influence in history is alive and well as evidenced by the Missionaries of Charity.

A blessed Christmas

Br. JR, OSF :christmastree1:
 
Not adding much to the conversation here but wanted to mention that the Homily at Midnight Mass on Christmas was about how the economy has been forcing people to cut back on expensive gifts and through it, God was presenting us an opportunity to focus on the real meaning of Christmas.

Father used the example of St. Francis generously in his homily, and even that tied it to a modern Christain Rock song which I was not familiar with.

-Tim-
 
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