Forty years of the OFS Rule

This year is the fortieth anniversary of the publication of the Rule of the OFS (Secular Franciscan Order) by Pope Blessed Paul VI with the apostolic letter Seraphicus Patriarcha on June 24, 1978. For the occasion this year, the four General Assistants to the OFS are dedicating their Koinonia bulletin to the anniversary with the general theme, “Living the Secular Franciscan charism in the world of today: forty years after Seraphicus Patriarcha.” In the first issue, already published this past April, Br. Amando Trujillo Cano, TOR writes on the topic, “Seduced by God, seekers of Christ: Secular Franciscans and their relationship with God.”

“The highest human dignity is the vocation of the human being to union with God and from birth the human person is invited to enter into dialogue with Him. The human being exists purely and simply for the love of the God who has created him and preserves him in being.” (GS 19) It is God who, in his love, seeks the human being first. It is a seeking that the prophet Jeremiah experiences as an irresistible seduction of the heart: You seduced me, LORD, and I let myself be seduced; you were too strong for me, and you prevailed.” (Jer 20:7) In his Testament, St. Francis of Assisi too reveals how his conversion began with the initiative of God. In this way Br. Armando demonstrates how the OFS Rule also follows this logic, in which the Secular Franciscans, seduced by the love of God, find in it the way to respond in the Spirit of Christ in order to becomes courageous witnesses of the Risen Christ.

Read the articles published four times a year here: http://www.ciofs.org/portal/index.php/it/assistenza-spirituale/koinonia.