Aware of the thrust towards renewal permeating the whole Church, as children of their time and according to the sensibilities of that epoch, the first Capuchins made Saint Francis alive. They did this in conformity with their vocation. They had no fear or dread in living and proposing what Francis himself had lived. We should pay particular attention to the fact that those Capuchin friars were animated by a strong desire for reform: they wanted to make something striking and decisive of their lives. They had a clear objective and chose the means of reaching it, wishing to live in conformity with the ideal Saint Francis had lived and bequeathed.
There is so much in this paragraph that speaks to what hooked me into this vocation. To react against those who look at radical choices with "fear or dread." To desire to make something "striking or decisive" out of life, for the sake of the reformation of the world.
Perhaps a lot of these desires were worldly or vain for me at the beginning, but grace builds on nature, thank God.
Good post Friar,
ReplyDeleteI happened to hear William J. Barry, SJ speaking at our parish tonight. He spoke a bit about the danger he and his brother Jesuits needed to be aware of in thinking that they were something quite special, and he pointed out:
"St. Ignatius Loyola cautioned that the Society was not founded by human means nor carried on by human means, but by the grace of God. Nevertheless, Ignatian Spirituality is world affirming, and the Project of God depends upon us saying Yes".