Franciscan Evangelization

A Tentative Reflection of Franciscan Evangelization

by Fr. Russell Becker, OFM

I have been to international meetings, provincial committees on the theme of Franciscan Evangelization and read a lot of things that speak of Franciscan Evangelization and there are few actual focused reflections on Franciscan Evangelization. The Order has promised such a paper but has as yet, after six years of claiming evangelization as the priority, failed to produce such a document. So I sat down and did this reflection only to encourage others to join is creating a working description of Franciscan evangelization as we all make choices about the future. One day I will add some notes and quotes, but for now, this is enough to start.

To reflect on what Franciscan evangelization is or how Franciscans evangelize, we have to begin with Francis. It is he who is the inspiration of those who follow after him and continue in his footsteps. It is his way of following the Gospel that colors the way Franciscans profess and live the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hopefully we can recognize ways that Franciscans still carry on that mission.

Why is the whole world following you? Tradition tells us that Brother Leo asked Francis this question. There is a pattern in Francis’ life after his conversion that may help to answer this question. Francis treated everyone as a brother or sister, a person loved by God. Even in this day people feel robbed of their personhood and treated as objects. The response of people to being recognized and respected as persons is remarkable. There are so many incidences in Francis’ life that show this.
The story of Francis and the leper is not a good story. It is the story of a “twenty-something” who was thinking of himself and afraid of catching something who hid when he heard the sound of one coming. BUT, when Francis embraced the person who was sick with leprosy, he began his evangelization. Francis’ embrace allowed the man to discover again that he was truly a person, a child of God, and that he had at least one brother. Objectified to nothing but a walking disease, Francis restored something that rules and fearful people had taken away. Women were terribly objectified in the time of Francis. They were opportunities for family advancement and had few rights. Remember the frustration of St. Clare trying to embrace the Gospel. In her, Francis saw a sister, a true person, a child of God, and treated her with a different kind of respect and love that set her free.
The wolf of Gubbio (some think this was a bandit who preyed on the area) was a menace to the area; Francis was able to pacify the wolf because he did not see a menace, he saw again a brother, a creature of God and brought him to the way of peace.
Appearing before the sultan, Francis did not see an enemy or a heathen, he recognized a brother. The sultan encountered a gentleness and respect that he may never have had before. Even though he did not convert the Sultan to Christianity, Francis is still remembered in the area as a man of peace, who came in peace and human communion.
Francis had his share of difficulties with the friars, yet even in the midst of divisions about how to live the Gospel, he did not see adversaries or betrayers, he saw brothers. His respect for them and fraternal love made the difference and perhaps gave the friars the future that we have inherited.

To treat people as persons, rather than objects, to recognize them as brothers and sisters, to respect another and to believe that relationships will forge deep bonds and enable differences to be resolved has a remarkable effect on people. It changes not only the way they look at the world, but how they look at themselves. This attitude of Francis is one that seems to continue in the friars to this very day, who do not go through the world so much as pilgrims and strangers, but as brothers who have been given a kind of vision that allows them to see the goodness of those they encounter and to help them feel their personhood again.

And the Lord gave me brothers. Francis saw his followers as a gift to him and they forged remarkable bonds in embracing the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Fraternity in mission, evangelizing fraternities, however the relationship is defined, a special leaven came into the society of Francis’ time. As important as the “quiet” life was, the fraternity always was open to the outside. The needs of the world and the people in it were needs that the friars sought to meet. When people met Francis and the early friars, they felt as if they were in some way a part of them, such was the Gospel welcome and hospitality that was lived by the friars.
To this very day there is something about the way the friars live that speaks to the people they meet. Meet one friar and you meet a fraternity. There is just a way that people feel welcome in our fraternities, a welcome that they do not feel in many other places. People do not perceive barriers that separate, instead they experience relationships that are healing, welcoming and empowering.

To live the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The embrace of the evangelical counsels by Francis incarnated the Gospel in manifold ways. Truly Francis and his friars went through the world announcing the good news as God’s mistrals or troubadours. Francis and his followers lived a life that was poor, but it was a life filled with joy. Their poverty did not annihilate them, it gave them a freedom of movement that enabled them to meet the challenges of their day creatively and peacefully even in turbulent times.
The obedience they professed kept Francis and his friars connected to the Church and sensitive to hearing God’s voice in the cries of the poor and outcast. They responded quickly and faithfully. It also enabled them to gently challenge the institution when it seemed too harsh or inflexible.
Embracing the way of chastity helped them to love with the love of God,
faithful, strong and constant. People could count on Francis and the early friars having a remarkable solidarity with them both in good times and bad.
In these times, the evangelical counsels often mean more when they are the foundation of the friars’ life. Besides living simply, there is a certain world view that comes with the poor friars that is rooted in joy and happiness. When Pope John XXIII (who made a pilgrimage to Assisi as a preparation for Vatican II) opened the council, he spoke of those who were doomsayers. The friars bring doom and gloom neither in proclamation nor in witness. People often feel uplifted and more capable of embracing the Gospel. The friars give them hope.
The obedient friars are sensitive to the voice of God, not only in the Church, but in all different circumstances. The friars are often prophetic in their speaking for those who are voiceless and moving quickly to respond to God’s call no matter where it comes. At the same time they represent the Church, and invite people to take part in the Church. Because they witness to the love and forgiveness of Christ, people are not afraid and have the courage to turn to the Gospel.
Besides being people of great love for all of God’s creation, the chaste friars also identify in solidarity with those who are suffering. History shows us example after example of friars staying where others have fled. (Just think of the Balkans and China). This solidarity goes a long way to help people come to know that God is there and that God cares.

He took on our weak human nature. Francis’ love for the newborn Lord brought him to the Christmas at Greccio. There he set the model for the spirit of those who came after him. His whole life was one of making people know how accessible God is: God is with us, Emmanuel, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In a world that had grown so cold, so dark, the warmth and light of the first Christmas dawned through Francis and his followers.
The friars in their fraternities and in their outreach help people to realize the same warmth and light of that first Christmas. The Gospel comes alive. Emmanuel still feeds and heals, teaches and saves, loves and forgives. Every friary, every fraternity and every friar tells the story and brings Christmas to bear on the present day.

Christ will be glorified in my body. On Mount Alverna, Francis was branded with the sacred stigmata. It was an affirmation of his identification with the Crucified Lord. The Cross was a central part of Francis’s life, but it was the life-giving Cross that always led the way to Easter. Perhaps so taken with the Word-Made-Flesh, he knew all of the implications of the paschal mystery: dying-to-self means rising to new life in the Lord. This may be what enabled Francis to endure terrible pain and sickness without losing peace. His confidence in the Father’s love radiated to those who met him. He knew the gift of salvation and proclaimed it to all people.
So we today still preach Christ, Christ Crucified who rose on that first Easter morn. This is the hope that we bear; the gift that is still being given. Franciscans seem to be have this sense of the gift of God’s love, God’s salvation. Like Francis, it is a gift that has to be shared. The friars live with gratitude for this gift and help others to appreciate the gift and also join them in living the “thank you.”

Some final observations: There is a wonderful quote from Francis that is truly a challenge to us all: Who are God’s servants but his minstrels who inspire the hearts of people and stir then to spiritual joy. As the Friars evangelize, so they are continuing to be re-evangelized. Some times our efforts are tentative and our fraternities do not completely embrace the Gospel or evangelize well. Yet, as we live in mission, we have the opportunity to deepen our embrace and embodiment of the Gospel and the spirit of Francis.
Over the centuries the friars have been remarkably creative in finding new ways to answer the call to evangelize. That creative edge needs to be fostered and nurtured. It will mean that the friars have to have the courage to take chances. When the Lord calls us all to “go out into the deep”, the friars should have the courage and grace to be first responders and to witness to the safety of being in the “deep” with the Lord, rather than alone on the shore. We are fortunate that people see more in us than we often see in ourselves. There is a proverb that says: “if there was only one loaf of bread left in the world, the Franciscans would have half of it.” Surely there are a lot of ways to interpret this, but one is that the reason the rest of the world would allow us to have half of the last loaf is because they believe we would make sure a lot of people were fed with that half loaf.
We will always have to be careful not lose the Gospel edge in our fraternities: this is what gives many people hope, reminds people that you can live in peace, do not have to succeed by control, can pray and share things in common, and have joy beyond all telling.
People look to us to be their brothers and expect us to minister to them fraternally with an attitude best typified by the questions: what can we do for you? How can we help you?, as opposed to a paternalistic attitude toward ministry best explained by the statement: look what we are doing for you.

So it may be hard to say exactly what Franciscan Evangelization is or define how Franciscans evangelize. We are not known as an order of teachers, pastoral workers, health care workers, social workers, justice and peace workers, preachers, evangelizers, environmental workers, or missionaries. We are all this and more. In the end, we are known for what we are and constantly becoming: Franciscans, the fraternity in mission.