Following Jesus: a universal & ecumenical way of St. Francis – Episode 32

Join Brother Jeff Brown, Lutheran Franciscan friar and pastor, as he shares his story, explores the universality of Saint Francis, and highlights the presence of ecumenical communities in the United States. 

 

From Brother Jeff’s interview:

“I discerned and came to realize that God was still at work somehow, some way in my life, despite facing some intense difficulty and sadness, that the invitation God had for me now was that my life would look cross shaped. … The invitation to a cross shaped life sounds very Franciscan to me, it has helped me continue to put one foot in front of the other and to lay down the rest of my life. That's the way I think of, of life profession to use our term. I'm professing my life away. August 1st, 2018, the day before the Franciscan family celebrates the Feast of the Portiuncula, the little portion, I said to God in this community, I'm going to lay down my little portion, my little life in service to God and neighbor.”

 

“What I've seen is that people generally and genuinely are searching. They're searching for something. There's been some discussion and cultural conversations about the rise of the Nones, N O N E S, maybe described as spiritual, but not religious. But I wonder as walking with people searching and I've been through my own searching, if there's sometimes a temptation to divorce spirituality and religion as if they're, as the opposites, or as if the world isn't spiritual. I think it's more spiritual than it's ever been. It may not be as religious, but there is an inner search going on in the world, and this rise of articulating some sense of spiritual, but not religious, to me it's not discouraging at all, even though I can see spirituality and religion as two sides of the same coin.”

 

“I think we are ripe for a spiritual renewal on a cultural and global scale. I find that really exciting how God works through God's children in whatever circumstance. I would say that's true of the blue collar auto mechanics my dad worked with in Montana, to professors I've been taught and had conversations with, to people at the eye doctor office, to people in the pews, to people in homeless shelters, to those in long-term care facilities.”

 

“As I've read Francis and gone deeper in my own spiritual journey, I've seen this gospel centeredness, Francis, discovering the heart of the gospel. Later Franciscans would call this the heart of it. That is the incarnation, God becoming one of us, Christmas that wasn't brought on as a response to sin, but it was always God's plan a God wanting to be with us. The artist wanting to become the art, the musician wanting to be the music. I also wonder if it gets even better than that, that if this is true, if God is here with us, it's not just a one-time thing. It's all-encompassing all the time. God is still incarnating with us.”

 

“We have within the same community women and men lay and ordained, both those with families and those who are single. Everyone's welcome, and we're dispersed, we're not living in one location in a monastery or a convent.  Hopefully in the spirit of Francis being sent out a two by two and little communities or priorities here and there. So not strictly a one way, but hopefully a new way of being community.  … We may not be united institutionally, but we can claim some level of catholicity, universal common witness and common life found in Jesus Christ in the, in the way of St. Francis and St. Clare, and the others who've gone before us.”

 

For a full transcript, please include episode number and email: [e-mail].

 

References:

The ecumenical lay Franciscan family has diverse expressions, referenced in the Franciscan Action website (https://www.franciscanaction.org):
-Order of Lutheran Franciscans (OLF): https://www.lutheranfranciscans.org/ - more on their four Franciscan values: https://www.lutheranfranciscans.org/mission

-Catholic – Secular Franciscan Order, USA: https://secularfranciscansusa.org/  
-Episcopal – Third Order Society of St. Francis: http://tssf.org   
-Order of Ecumenical Franciscans: https://oeffranciscans.org

 

Eager to Love, by Richard Rohr: to learn more, see https://store.cac.org/products/eager-to-love-the-alternative-way-of-francis-of-assisi-1

 

“This is what I want. This is what I seek. This is what I long to do”: This was St. Francis’ response to hearing the Gospel. Read the account in the earliest biography of St. Francis; see: 1 Celano 22; https://www.franciscantradition.org/francis-of-assisi-early-documents/the-saint/the-life-of-saint-francis-by-thomas-of-celano/642-fa-ed-1-page-201 - the text is on pp. 201-202

 

Story of St. Francis and the leper: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit-blo g/st-francis-meets-the-leper . See also the earliest biography of Saint Francis by Thomas of Celano (1 C17)  https://www.franciscantradition.org/francis-of-assisi-early-documents/the-saint/the-life-of-saint-francis-by-thomas-of-celano/636-fa-ed-1-page-195

 

Feast of the Portiuncula, the Little Portion, on August 2nd: https://www.alleganyfranciscans.org/post/feast-of-our-lady-of-the-angels-the-portiuncula

 

Nones, the spiritual but not religious: a scan of the complexity of what Nones mean https://crcc.usc.edu/whats-in-a-name-religious-nones-and-the-american-religious-landscape/ - an exploration of intergenerational bridging is between Nuns and Nones: https://www.nunsandnones.org/

 

Made for such a time as this: “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

 

Canticle of the Creatures, by Francis: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit-blog/st-francis-and-his-canticle ; the full text is at: https://www.franciscantradition.org/clare-of-assisi-early-documents/related-documents/franciscan-documents/the-canticle-of-brother-sun-1225/569-ca-ed-1-page-392

 

Liturgy of the Hours: To learn about this is, see https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgy-of-the-hours