Time: 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm BST
No. of Attendees: 12
Discussion: Building a more Fraternal World by David Couturier
Special Note: This was an online monthly meeting held jointly with OFS Fraternity Aarhus, Denmark.
Summary:
Some extracts from the Reflection:
Secular Franciscans, together with all people of goodwill, are called to build a more fraternal and evangelical world so that the kingdom of God may be brought about more effectively.
Social trust is an essential ingredient for social stability, active citizenship, and peaceful governance. Trust in our core institutions –political, social, educational, financial, scientific, medical, military and religious –is critical for the proper and effective functioning of our society.
Things that undermine trust: 1. Poor institutional performance. 2. Large global shocks. 3. Political polarization. 4. Differing interpretations of the meaning of trust/distrust. 5. Increasing economic inequality. 6. Widespread experiences of unfairness.
Pope Francis understands the critical problem of trust not only in politics and economics, but also within the church. His pastoral work has been targeted toward the development of a new understanding and conception of the world that we can live in.
In Laudato Si’, the Pope imagines a world beyond private interests and personal autonomy and asks policy makers and ordinary citizens to think beyond their immediate personal needs and begin thinking of the earth as “our common home.” Critiquing what he calls the “technocratic paradigm” that can only imagine the planet as a scarce resource that exists solely for profit, the Pope wants us to imagine a new cosmology where everything and everyone on the planet is “brother and sister” to one another, with all the respect and protection that this implies.
Pope Francis enumerates the distinct social challenges of our age: new forms of cultural colonialism, polarization and special interest economics, a “throwaway world” that marginalizes and then excludes both young people (through unemployment), the elderly and then the planet itself, insufficiently universal human rights, globalization without a shared roadmap, pandemics and the globalization of indifference, an absence of human dignity on the borders creating fear, violence, trafficking, psychological and physical abuse, as well as increasing and irrational levels of xenophobia.
The Secular Franciscan Order should strive to build a fraternal world by developing itself into a worldwide community of caring and trusting encounters in the world today. There are two models for Pope Francis’ understanding of “encounter”: The Good Samaritan and Francis of Assisi.
Pope Francis – Culture of Encounter: 1. Humility – a spirit of kenosis. 2. Generosity. 3. Realism. 4. Patience.
Our task as Franciscans is to build a fraternal world. As Franciscans there is so much we can do and must do. That fraternal world is now threatened by a new culture of mistrust. Ours is a call to become “communities of caring encounters.”
We discussed helping one another – goodness at a grassroots level – the contribution of Catholic Social Teaching recognised by non-Catholics – Pope Francis and his Franciscan World – the need for charity, outwardness, humility, kenosis, generosity, realism and patience.
Some points discussed:
We considered the meaning of and call to apostolic life. An apostle is one who is ‘sent out’. All Christian churches can be regarded as apostolic in the sense of seeking to follow the Gospel mission declared by Christ.
We are called not to the life necessarily that St. Francis led but to Gospel life, inspired by St. Francis. It is necessary to seek a balance within the natural order of priorities in our lives as secular Franciscans – our responsibilities in family life, within the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS) and within the Church at large.
Christ’s message to St. Francis was a personal mission, which might be understood as evolving, first to repair church structures physically followed by work in the spiritual foundations of the Church. At each stage, St. Francis responded to the call, in whatever way was apparent and available to him at the time. In a similar way, we are called to repair the church in whatever ways are available to us. There are many things that can be done in our parishes, acting as individuals or perhaps following OFS led missions, which by their nature might inspire others just as St. Francis inspires us.
We concluded the meeting with a closing prayer. We concluded the meeting with a closing prayer.
OFS Oxford 