On Becoming Franciscan

The sacred art of putting 2 and 2 together. I’m just putting together the pieces.

Last night, I was professed as a Third Order Franciscan (Tertiary) in the Third Order Society of St. Francis of Assisi. Someone asked me, “So, what does that mean?” And I didn’t have my elevator speech ready. My first thought was, “I get to put ‘tssf’ after my name on formal ecclesial documents.”

Yay! More letters!

Then the collect for the day was read, and my brain screeched to a halt. It was the Feast Day of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was the anniversary of his assissination. I knew that. I knew also that it was my Profession Day. No, I had not put the two together.

Almighty God, by the hand of Moses your servant you led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last: Grant that your church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may strive to secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

And I thought, “That’s what it means.”

I’m not looking to die, mind you. But becoming Franciscan is about transforming yourself and, by example, offering transformation to the world at large. That is what I am becoming. It’s not new to me, per se, but the Way of Saint Francis offers a certain scaffolding that I understand and relate to at a deep level. It is what I have always endeavored to become. Becoming Franciscan is a way of coming home to myself.

(

Roberto Che Espinoza, PhD

writes about “becoming.” He has a theo-philosophical pastoral approach to the idea that I really appreciate. His thoughts are playing around in the background as I write this. You should check out his work.)

Today’s Franciscan Nugget:

“Day Five - The First Aim of the Order - To make our Lord known and loved everywhere. - The Order is founded on the conviction that Jesus Christ is the perfect revelation of God; that true life has been made available to us through his Incarnation and Ministry, by his Cross and Resurrection, and by the sending of his Holy Spirit. The Order believes that it is the commission of the church to make the gospel known to all, and therefore accepts the duty of bringing others to know Christ, and of praying and working for the coming of the of the Kingdom of God.

In my personal rule, I write, “I shall live into the FIRST AIM by first showing people Christ rather than telling people about Christ, by “showing [people] a light so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it” (L’Engle, Walking on Water).”

Evangelism is not a numbers game. Rather, it is about becoming…being transformed in such a way that people recognize the divine in you, themselves, and in the world. Making more Christians might happen, but it is not the aim. The aim is to be the leaven in the loaf, to exemplify and offer transformation to all. That is what MLK did. It is what Francis did. It is who Jesus was.

It ain’t easy, of course. It requires sacrifice. So, in other news, there’s this quotation. Bp. Matthew Gunter shared it on Facebook and I just couldn’t pass up sharing it here.

“Evil is very contagious. Violence by violence, suspicion by suspicion; that’s the popular way just now. . . Or can we, as the Lord’s Prayer suggestively says, Forgive those who trespass against us as we want to be forgiven? . . . But I will go further: sacrifice and failure, if you will, are seen, as we kneel before the Cross, to be abiding facts in the Being of God Incarnate. Our Lord is the Very God of Very God. One element in Omnipotence is sacrificial love. Had Christ not manifested this astounding fact, the cynic must have abandoned all faith in Deity, all hope for the human race.” – Vida Dutton Scudder (1861-1954), ‘My Quest for Reality’

The response to violence cannot be more violence. “In spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace,” stated King. If we believe in permanent transformation, then we cannot believe in violence. Instead, we must look to sacrifice…not of one another, but of ourselves.

So, here I am putting the pieces together.

This is the life I am being called to.

Y’all be excellent to each other.