The Feast of our Father Saint Francis is approaching\u2014a day that marks the 800th anniversary of his death. On this important occasion, I would like to share a few words with you, along with my regards and my best wishes.<\/p>\n
The last few years have been exceptional, marked by the celebration of various Franciscan anniversaries, beginning in Greccio, continuing through La Verna, and culminating in the death of Our Seraphic Father at the Portiuncula. The entire Franciscan Family has been actively involved, year after year, in seeking to honor these occasions and to vigorously reaffirm the great truths upon which Francis\u2019s life was built, values that are crucial today for making each of our lives more authentic, free, and evangelically beautiful.<\/p>\n
More important than the general activities\u2014and probably even more effective\u2014was the launch of initiatives that arose at the level of conferences, circumscriptions, and local communities: there were countless and incredibly diverse initiatives, too many to recall, a sign of truly meaningful involvement and participation. The fruit\u2014within each of us, in the life of our fraternities, and in the lives of the people with whom we share our life\u2019s journey\u2014will remain largely a mystery, just as the action of God and His Spirit among us is a mystery, but we believe they are no less real.<\/p>\n
The journey we have taken leads us to reaffirm some simple, fundamental truths that will determine the quality of the path that lies ahead. On his deathbed, Francis composed the \u201cCanticle,\u201d which we all know well and which has been extensively studied and explored over the course of the year that is now coming to a close.<\/p>\n
Why is it, Francis, that as the culmination of his life, he expresses himself with those magnificent words of praise, which he seems unable to hold back in any way? I like to think that Francis is now able to see clearly and lucidly just how much the Lord God has been by his side, step by step, on his unique and at times arduous life\u2019s journey; how everything has been freely given to him from on high; how divinely generous the Lord God is toward His creatures; and how one can savor the sweetness of His friendly, encouraging, caring, consoling presence\u2014a presence that brings life and salvation. His praise could not help but burst forth!<\/p>\n
In the future that lies ahead, why not begin anew by recognizing the countless blessings the Lord has in store for each of us? It seems absolutely crucial to learn to see how we are both the object and the recipient of God\u2019s completely gratuitous goodness! The more we learn to recognize its greatness, the more substance our lives will gain, and the better we will be able to face challenges, hardships, disappointments, and failures. Our resolve to respond to the Lord with renewed generosity will also grow, in the certainty that, in God\u2019s plan for each of us and for our institutions, everything is providential grace, and the future opens up to courageous determination for the good and to certain hope.<\/p>\n
Francis knows God\u2019s blessings so well that he learns to see even that terrifying and final moment of death as a sister. Recognizing God\u2019s inexhaustible providence powerfully directs us toward the dimension that lies beyond death, opening us to transcendence. We, too, while we commit ourselves wholeheartedly to living well here on earth, have a genuine need to orient ourselves more toward the eternal dimension that has been promised to us. And today\u2019s people, especially the sad and disheartened people of the Western world, have an extreme need for this.<\/p>\n
There are still other important events that we will be experiencing in the near future; I would like to highlight some of the most significant ones: the Order\u2019s Plenary Council on mission, the Pan-American and Pan-African meetings, and the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the approval of our Reform. These are not, and cannot, remain merely moments of reflection, study, or gathering. They must become further opportunities for us to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Lord for the good He continues to bestow upon humanity, upon all people, upon each one of us, and upon our Order. They must become opportunities\u2014to use the now-familiar expression\u2014to fan the flame of our charism, a flame that will continue to shine in our lives and in our fraternities if we learn to live in gratitude for God\u2019s gifts, while at the same time lifting our gaze toward the life that awaits us, opportunities for inner peace and inexhaustible strength to walk according to His most holy will.<\/p>\n
So, my warmest regards and best wishes to all of you: through the intercession of Saint Francis, may each of you be firmly strengthened in your understanding of divine benevolence and, as you fervently await what the Lord has in store for us today and in the future, may you remain rooted in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that you may enjoy a life that is always filled with hope and happiness.<\/p>\n
Fr. Roberto Genuin<\/p>\n
Ministro Generale OFMCap<\/p>\n
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