Teresa Baker,SFO 603-432-9135 nfccochairs@aol.com and Anne Mulqueen, SFO 410-592-1662 Anne_Mulqueen@juno.com

Let Us Recover Our Full Franciscan Tradition

By Anne Mulqueen, SFO

We, Franciscans, have been blessed with a rich tradition and an abundance of holy ancestors. Franciscan tradition and theology did not stop abruptly with the deaths of Saint Francis and Saint Clare. Saints Francis and Clare were, and continue to be, the foundation upon which Franciscan men and women build. We believe the time has come to consider and be enriched by the wisdom of all our holy ancestors. The spiritual fires set ablaze by certain saintly members of our Franciscan family tree will be the Formation focus at the All Commissions Conference.

From the beginning of time, humanity has experienced God through the works of his hands Simply put, God is seen and known by the traces of his presence in creation. Saint Francis intuitively knew this and responded to God in canticle and song. Saint Francis represents what is timeless in our tradition. Those who came after him did not obliterate the truths and values by which St. Francis lived, but built upon them. The fires St. Francis set were fanned by men and women burning with love, and who saw God at the heart of all creation.

Only one short year ago I realized how astonishingly ill-informed I was about the theological contributions of our Franciscan predecessors, other than Saints Francis and Clare. Teresa and I believe we need to recapture the spiritual vitality and religious understanding of those holy Franciscans in our family tree. We believe their insights and contributions to Franciscan spirituality are as relevant today as they where in past. But before we can use their contributions in dialogue with contemporary society, we need to learn more and that is the task set before us.

So let us use all the resources that we have in our hands to set a spiritual blaze upon the earth, which cannot be contained and that no one will ever wish to contain.

We invite you to begin with this invitation that Saint Bonaventure pens for us. Allow it to touch you deeply and enliven your hearts. Allow that flame to blaze forth upon the world in which you live.

So let us use all the resources that we have to set a spiritual blaze upon the earth, which cannot be contained and that no one will ever wish to contain!