What distinguishes the Third Order Regular of
St. Francis from other religious orders and traditions? It's our emphases
on poverty, chastity, obedience, prayer fraternity, ministry and
commitment -- the seven charisms of the Third Order Regular. Through these
charisms, we try to be faithful to the vision of our founder St. Francis
of Assisi and the call to on-going conversion.
Poverty
Poverty for Francis, and for us, comes from
the humility of Jesus who emptied himself to become human and suffered for
the sake of undeserving humanity. (Philippians
2:5-11; TOR Rule, No.21)
 Poverty is not a question of ownership, but
of consecrating whatever we have, whether material, intellectual, or
spiritual, to God. We are also content to live among and to serve the poor
of this world: the materially, emotionally, and spiritually poor. (TOR
Rule, No.21)
In our parishes, high schools, colleges,
chaplaincies, and foreign missions, we try to serve the needs of the poor
whom God brings to us. Sometimes these needs are material, as with the
rural poor of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, or the street people who come
to the doors of our Pittsburgh parish for food. Some needs are spiritual,
as with the people of our foreign missions in the Amazon territory of
Brazil who, because of distances and jungle isolation, may see a priest
only four times a year.
Whatever and wherever the needs, we serve
the Church and follow the Holy Spirit as strangers and pilgrims among
God's people. Chastity
The vow of chastity is a positive vow of
love -- to love God fully and completely without reservation or
distraction. This does not exclude human love and companionship; rather,
chastity frees us to love all God's people. This vow affirms the goodness
of creation and the special, eternal dignity of each person.
The vowed religious does not have a higher
or better calling than the married person, only a different calling.
Chastity allows greater freedom in ministry as the religious is available
for ministry in a way that is too consuming for married persons. As vowed
religious, we are not tied to a specific family, but to the entire family
of God. Our calling carries unique responsibilities as well as the
challenge of faithfulness. Chastity frees the religious to share himself
fully with his brothers and to receive support from the community for a
life of fidelity and ministry. Obedience
For Francis, obedience was not a matter of
power, but of humility. Those in leadership were servants of the community
and responsible to their brothers. (TOR Rule, No.27) At the same
time, the brothers were responsible to those in authority. (TOR Rule,
No.26) So it is with us today. Decisions are not made arbitrarily but
are reached after listening carefully to all concerned. At the same time,
good order requires a final decision to be made in love.
As men of the Church and men of the Third
Order Regular of St. Francis, we go where we are sent. Admittedly, it can
be difficult to leave well-established ministries and enter new,
unfamiliar settings. But since we do not take a vow of stability as do
monastic orders, our life is characterized by mobility and flexibility.
This means that we are often uprooted from familiar situations; it means
there are many opportunities for personal and communal growth.
This is the greatest benefit - and the
greatest struggle - of obedience. Prayer
 Our prayer life is at once active and
contemplative. We are called to serve God's people actively in the world,
but also to remain in a spirit of prayer. (TOR Rule, No.9) Both
individually and communally, prayer is the center of our life.
In all our houses, common prayer is
celebrated according to the Liturgy of the Hours. This normally consists
of morning and evening prayer in common. The Eucharist is also celebrated
daily.
In our colleges, high schools, and
parishes, the friars celebrate Eucharist together, and often recite
morning and evening prayer with students or parishioners. It is also
common to celebrate communally the major feasts of the liturgical year as
well as special events in the life of a school or parish.
Individual prayer can take many forms. Our
spirituality is open to anything that leads us to God through Jesus
Christ. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is also important to us as one who was
humble and obedient to God, and who shows us the way to God through her
Son. Fraternity
Every local house of friars is different.
Some are small and loosely organized, such as those connected with
parishes; others are large and include organized responsibilities,
committee meetings, and bulletin-board notices.
In these large settings, especially in our
high schools and colleges, various ministries and schedules make it more
difficult to gather the entire community. But through communal prayer,
lively conversations over meals, and leisure activities, the spirit of
fraternity binds us as brothers and friends.
This same spirit of fraternity can be felt
whenever friars come together as a group or visit one another. The order
is small enough that it doesn't take long to meet almost everyone and to
get to know many friars well. Although our houses are different, the
common rhythm of life eases the transition to a new location. What unites
us is more essential than any differences we may have. Ministry
 Traditionally, our ministry in the United
States has been primarily in education. We serve in two colleges -- Franciscan
University of Steubenville in Ohio, and St.
Francis College in Loretto, Pennsylvania -- and in three high schools
-- Conwell-Egan Catholic High School in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania;
Serra Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Bishop
Guilfoyle High School in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
We also embrace a long tradition of foreign
mission work, which began in India in the 1930s and in Brazil in the
1960s. Today, we continue this important ministry in Brazil's Amazon
Basin. Other areas of service in the US, such as our mission to Native
Americans in South Dakota, include parish and pastoral work as well as
retreat ministry and parish missions.
Whatever we do, whether as cooks,
groundskeepers, or university presidents, we seek to serve God and God's
people in humility and thanksgiving. (TOR Rule, No.31) The center
of our life is not what we do, but who we are before God. All our ministry
flows from this. Commitment
As Franciscans, we commit ourselves to the
religious life through vows. Those who are called to priesthood also
commit themselves to priestly ministry through ordination. By committing
ourselves to religious life, as brothers or as priests, we promise to
serve the Church wherever we are called, and we commit ourselves to serve
one another.
Our service to the people of God may take
us to the ends of the earth as a missionary, or as close as the front door
of one of our friaries. Our service to each other may be expressed in very
small ways, such as finding a book in the library for a friar, or in
significant and strenuous ways, such as caring for an elderly friar in his
dying days.
Service is not always easy and does not
always seem rewarding at the time. Our call and commitment, however, does
not promise earthly rewards, but the satisfaction of doing God's will and
of touching the lives of others with His grace. |
