Prayer

Tertiaries seek to live in an atmosphere of praise and prayer. We aim to be constantly aware of God’s presence, so that we may indeed pray without ceasing. Our ever deepening devotion to the indwelling Christ is a source of strength and joy. It is Christ’s love that inspires us to service, and strengthens us for sacrifice.

Study

As well as the devotional study of Scripture, we all recognize our Christian responsibility to pursue other branches of study, both sacred and secular. In particular, some of us accept the duty of contributing, through research and writing, to a better understanding of the church’s mission in the world: the application of Christian principles to the use and distribution of wealth; questions concerning justice and peace; and of all other questions concerning the life of faith.

Work

Tertiaries endeavor to serve others in active work. We try to find expression for each of the three aims of the Order in our lives, and whenever possible actively help others who are engaged in similar work. The chief form of service which we have to offer is to reflect the love of Christ, who, in his beauty and power, is the inspiration and joy of our lives.

Now I’m a great one for To-do lists and I would go as far as saying I find it very difficult to function without one to keep me on track, so this morning I decided that I would reorganise my list under the above heading.  Oh dear, it seems as if WORK has taken over!

Further reflection lead me to conclude that things were not as bad as I first thought, I did pray and I did study, and although the balance would still be in favour of work if I included these things on my list, the fact that they were not there and not prioritised with the rest of the stuff seems to be saying I am not giving them their due. It seems that prayer and study have been relegated to those things I fit in when the rest of the list is neatly ticked off.

So time to overhaul the list and put in and prioritise those things that should be there.

I suspect I am not alone.

Robin Hood Tax Website

Patrick is a priest in the Church of Ireland (Anglican), Director of Spiritual Formation at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, and a Canon of Christ Church Cathedral Dublin.

If you are interested in things Franciscan it is well worth a read.

PATRICK’S BLOG

The details may from the U.S. but we in the U.K. are no different when it comes to Advent and Christmas.

From my Franciscan perspective it ticks all the right boxes.

Advent Conspiracy Website

Tau Cross

A few people have asked me for more information about Anglican Franciscans.

I can do no better that direct people to this site below which shows our presence throughout the world and contains links to other more local sites

Anglican Franciscans throughout the World

The Society of St Francis is a worldwide religious community in the Anglican Communion.

Although this is from our First Order most still applies to our Third Order here in the UK and Worldwide.

Enjoy

1. Living for God Alone
2. Being who you are
3. Patient Ripening
4. Space for Solitude

I’m asking myself the question: How do I measure up?

Living for God Alone

Something over which I have strived for more years than I care to mention. I think I have always viewed this in a rather negative way. By that I mean I have seen living for God in terms of having to give up things in order to concentrate on Him. Whilst there are undoubtedly things that prevent me from having the full communion I desire there are undoubtedly other things which although not directly God focused, could be transformed into the means of honouring Him.

Being who you are

If there is anything in this list over which I struggle the most it is this. I find it interesting that many on this course feel that I am an extrovert when in fact every psychological test I have ever done places me firmly as an introvert. This begs the question am I subconsciously trying to be something I am not in order to ‘fit in’ with those around?

Patient Ripening

If I look back on my life I can see that God has been very patient with me. There is no doubt that I have grown and matured in the Christian faith since I first said ‘yes’ to him some forty-two years ago. But I still want everything now. I look at this list of five things and think it would be so nice if I had them all sorted before leaving tomorrow!  Perhaps I am guilty of praying the prayer, “Lord give me patience, and give it me now.”

Space for solitude

I must admit that I think I am getting better on this one although there is no doubt that I could do better. Perhaps I should refer back to 4

1. Rules of Life
2. Finding a rhythm: not being driven
3. Values of  ‘the universal monk’ in us.

I am very hopeful that there will be something there not only for my own walk as a Franciscan but for my novices or those that come to me for spiritual direction.

However, it is a question from yesterday that has been playing on my mind: What is needed for a dispersed communities to be bonded and sustained? I believe this question touches the on the present state of my own Third Order as we continue to discuss how we create a sense of community amongst a wide spread and diverse group of people.

Perhaps the answer lies in two of the answers given to that question.

1. Being accountable to each other
2. Having a common task
   

There is no doubt in denying that we tertiaries do not see ourselves very accountable as the system stands. We fill in one side of A4 paper once a year answering a few basic questions: hardly accountability. Nor does the Order have a common task. We have our Principles which we are supposed to read every day, small groups are involved in peace, justice and social issues, but as a whole we are a confederation of individuals doing individual things.

I doubt that,as things stand, the Third Order as a whole will ever be a part of the New Monastic Movement. What I think will happen is that individuals will take their experience as they join with some of the new groups. I can already see this happening and, indeed, I am in contact with one or two who have done just that. Hopefully, those individual will feed back to the Order new ideas and ways of working.

It is important that Old Monasticism does not see the new as a threat; we are both different and I believe we have something to offer to each other.

The course is tied in with both the Emerging Church movement and ‘Fresh Expressions’, both of which have held my attention for some time. However, I have a gut feeling that what will be said will challenge my own Franciscan vocation.  The next three days will tell.

Picture of St Clare

Clare’s father was a count, her mother the countess Blessed Orsolana. Her father died when the girl was very young. After hearing Saint Francis of Assisi preach in the streets, Clare confided to him her desire to live for God, and the two became close friends. On Palm Sunday in 1212, her bishop presented Clare with a palm, which she apparently took as a sign. With her cousin Pacifica, Clare ran away from her mother’s palace during the night to enter religious life. She eventually took the veil from Saint Francis at the Church of Our Lady of the Angels in Assisi, Italy.

Clare founded the Order of Poor Ladies (Poor Clares) at San Damiano, and led it for 40 years. Everywhere the Franciscans established themselves throughout Europe, there also went the Poor Clares, depending solely on alms, forced to have complete faith on God to provide through people; this lack of land-based revenues was a new idea at the time. Clare’s mother and sisters later joined the order, and there are still thousands of members living lives of silence and prayer.

What many of the Catholic commentaries on Clare forget to mention is that she had to fight to allow her Order to live in the poverty she and her sisters so desired. It simply was not the done thing to allow women to live by faith alone, they had to be supported in some way by the (male) dominated Church. This was the biggest battle Clare had to face, but one she finally won when the permission she so desired was granted whilst she was on he death bed.

I admire Clare, she was a woman who knew what she wanted and was willing to give herself wholeheartedly to bring it about. She fought to enter the monastic way of life and then she fought  to make sure that way of life of her sisters followed the Franciscan ideal of poverty.

Some excellent pictures of St Damiamo, Clare’s Monestary