Jesus gives us new hope by his New & Creative entry into the world…He continues even now…!

Franciscan Vision of Christmas

Francis of Assisi had a deep fascination for 
creatures and hence he brought this into his meditation on the birth of Jesus. For Francis the beauty of God was present in nature and particularly in its fragility and humility. We are used to contemplating God as all Powerful, Almighty and so on. But here in the Incarnation God has chosen a new paradigm of being simple, weak, powerless and of the status of a baby. We asked our Br. José Ángel the Secretary of the Lexicon about his view on Christmas. His reply was: “He who knows to become a child, sees through the eyes of God. The Creator God leaving his omnipotence came to give us a new image of Him. An image of a little child who depends on its parents and others. It is shift from power to love, in this God wants us to change our view of him. He is merciful and passionate.”


We could open ourselves to be inspired by this eternal wisdom of a humble, loving God. It also offers us a hope that our fragility, suffering due to sincere commitments, sacrifices, challenges due to living a value, perseverance in goodness have a value. Br. André Ménard, the French theologian, used to talk about the definition of Faith by St. Bonaventure: “Faith according to St. Bonaventure is recognizing the hidden God present everywhere, especially in the creation.”

There are a number of ways in which we can manifest the hidden God. Humble service could be one of them. This is a time for receiving the ‘grace’ by doing some work in a Capuchin Franciscan Way. Br. Mauro our Minister General in his recent letter to the Order on the “The Grace of Working,” (no. 7) in the section ‘the value of work for the individual friar,’ invites us receive the grace by working. “Work does not have a value just as a means of support, but provides for a person a sense of his own life, contributing to the realization of his own humanity.” He further insists on the importance of taking up a work given by the province, even if it is not pleasing to me, in the Evangelical Counsel of obedience and in service to the fraternity. “It is necessary that we ask the Lord for the Grace to make concrete and visible what we affirm and preach with regard to obedience, sacrifice and willingness to serve even to the giving of one’s own life for the growth and advancement of others. To accept a proposal of work or a fraternal service calls upon the same dimension of our faith and requires continual learning in free self-giving.” Yes, it could be working like Mother Mary and St. Joseph. The Christmas Season and New Year surely will offer us many opportunities to serve others sometimes in a very humble insignificant way. It would be a fine way of celebrating Christmas and New Year, by identifying ourselves with the ordinary workers of the society where the Grace of Incarnate Son is hidden in a mystical way.  

This world of ours with its human elements could lead one to despair. We may have experiences and hardships beset with dichotomies and incongruities of people and our life situations.  But the incarnate Spirit of God is ever present in this world and we need to be connected to that life, bringing Spirit so that we get revitalised. This season provides us an opportunity to have that experience of reaching our brothers and sisters on the periphery to which Pope Francis leads us often.  As we begin to set a stage for the New Year along with the Christmas sharing, let us add a contemplative dimension to our initiatives. Fr. Willie Doyle (the famous Jesuit Chaplain to the armed forces who was killed in action in France, 1916) would invite us saying, Make your prayer simple, as simple as you can; reason little, love much, and you will pray well.

Best wishes in trying the New Way of Jesus & St. Francis!

There is a new image of God known only to a few ... These people say that He entered our world (God with us, Mt 1:23) as a weak, poor, powerless and fragile babe. But has a strength to give meaning to all of us. Let us log on to Him; experience his love and connect others...!
Can we remain open to invite His Grace to bless and lead us ...?
Wish you a meaningful Christmas & a Grace abounding New Year 2014 

Dear Brothers,

We are in the Advent season and the Gospel readings invite us to be ready. Let us prepare ourselves by going deep into the revelation of God and the human reality. And here we would like to remind you about St. Bonaventure’s theology of Incarnation in the light of the humility of God. According to him the humility of God is intertwined with the Incarnation. Bonaventure views the humility of God through the words of John’s Gospel “the Word was made flesh” (Jn 1:14). In Incarnation, Bonaventure tells us, God stoops/bends down to embrace us in love. We might say God’s last name is ‘world’. In this way God could be understood as love or, more specifically, God is humble love. This insight came from the inspirations of St. Francis for whom the main experience of God is his ‘humility’. And this he discovered in his encounter with Christ on the cross who was poor, humble and abandoned. This humble presence is again alive to us in the Eucharist and in the poor and the needy we meet. Thus we can understand these mystic saints who explored love as the reason for both creation and Incarnation. And it is very vivid in the humility of God. How can this be concretized in our reality? If God bends over in love for us in and through the humble Christ, then we who are little “words” must bend over in love for one another and for all creation. We take and practice the humility of God in our fragmented, complex, changing, and sometimes insensitive world (cf: Ilia Delio, The Humility of God: A Franciscan Perspective, St. Anthony Messenger Press, Ohio, 2005, 3-13). In this context we shall talk about the world of the poor and the fear we sometimes have of them. The meditation on the humility of God can remove my fear about the poor and make me a simple brother who can be reached by the poor and the needy.

The humanity of the poor and the needy:

One of the very important personal experiences for me to understand the world of the poor was during my visit to a slum when I was doing my theological studies. There was a cobbler family who used to make shoes and live on that income. The family had four daughters, two of which were mentally challenged persons. The father of the family had tuberculosis and due to his economic struggles because of poverty he used to come to our friary asking for some help. We used to give him some amount to do his business. He used to take when he lacked money and return it as soon as he had earned enough. One day we were distributing house materials for the poor and we thought of him and asked him how many coconut thatching pieces he would need to cover the ceiling of his hut because it was already very old and damaged. He said he would need only 100 pieces. The brother who was distributing it gave him 125 pieces. To our surprise he left 25 pieces separate and took only the 100 pieces that were needed. We asked him why he did that and his reply was: I need only 100 pieces and the other 25 belong to other poor; you will need them to share with the needy.” The dignity and the humanity of this poor man was great. After a while we were not seeing him for some time. Then I went in search of him and I was informed that he was very sick and was admitted in the government hospital. The doctors told me that he was very anemic because he did not eat for many days. I asked him why he did not ask for help and his reply was: “I should not trouble you too much because already you are helping me for my business and there are many who need your help.”

Poor people enable us have good experiences of life wisdom. They teach us many things which no university could teach us. “My theology becomes meaningful with my experience with the poor and simple. The Catholic Church is full of potentiality and has a good future. It is the potentiality of the Gospel. We have to be with the poor, not with our ideology but with the Word of God,” says Bishop Bruno Forte. Above all today we have our Pope Francis who always invites us to go to the periphery and find the humble God present there. He also witnesses that in and through his life. The love and the humility of God could make me sensible and simple. All those who encountered the poor with the message of Christ’s love in their hearts came out renewed and started a new life.

Love of God that propels me to reach the least loved persons.

“Blessed are the poor because theirs is the kingdom of God.” The poor people have no one except God rely on. They are dependent and simple. Let us develop interest in entering into the world of the poor. Let their concern occupy some of our time. It will bring true meaning to our living and make us effective. Mother Teresa found this wisdom. In the midst of the poor we could find the hidden God and a meaning which none other material possession could give.

Some people have fear of meeting the poor and even hate their presence. Poor people sometimes cheat and manipulate due to their need and life struggles. As God-men we are called to have a special measure of compassion in understanding them.

One friar hit a poor man so hard on his face close to his ears that poor man became deaf. It was because he came to ask money again with the same lie filled grievance that he lacked money to feed his two daughters. This cruelty could be also due to the lack of inner healing and personal growth.

But we are called to look through the compassionate eyes of Jesus at the poor and there we will unearth a wonderful world of meaning and love. Jesus had deeper union with God the Father, a clear insight about the realities of life and closeness to the poor. Our Father St. Francis discovered the meaning of life by being closer to the poor, the needy and the lepers who were at the periphery. It is our turn to try something.

If someone says that he lost vigor and meaning in life invite him to go closer to the poor and needy. It will help him to get back the lost meaning and purpose in life. Let it become a reality in our lives.

I appreciate the good work done by community of St. Egidio for the poor and their readiness to stay close to the poor. It is amazing to see their ministry among the poor and the ease with which they befriend the needy. Whenever we have taken our friars there they were touched and inspired. It is a beautiful experience to be with the poor. Have you had the experience of being with the poor and needy? Recall that and praise God. If you have not, start thinking about such an experience with God’s grace and prepare. Try this experience at least once every month. And it will surely brighten your Capuchin religious life.

Some insights from these reflections would have inspired us. With God’s Spirit that is active in us let us try. A good Capuchin will have the poor and needy in all his deliberations, plans, celebrations, in his words, expressions and in prayer. Thoughtfulness for the poor and needy could be another indication of a true Franciscan. And in that way we could encounter the humble God. Do you have the poor & needy in your friendship circles? Do they have God’s love manifested through your love, closeness and generosity? Let the joy and the blessing of being with the poor and needy fill all of us during this Advent!

Charles Alphonse & Jaime Rey