ROME "But who do you say that I am?" Scripture: Mark 8:27-33 Through humiliation, suffering, and death on the cross Jesus broke the powers of sin and death and won for us our salvation. The Lord Jesus tests each of us personally with the same question: Who do you say that I am?
GENERAL SPIRITUAL ASSISTANTS of SFO
DETAILS OF GENERAL CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SFO
Approved: The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
Date: 8.12.2000
Revised: At the General Chapter of the SFO at Madrid in October 1999.
Submitted: By the President of Conference of General Ministers of the First Order and the TOR
President of the Conference of General Ministers: Giacomo Bini. OFM
Minister General of the SFO: EMANUELA DE NUNZIO
There are 3 Chapters.( 103 Articles)
1. THE SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER. Relating Within and Without
7 articles from 1--7
II. FORM OF LIFE AND APOSTOLIC ACTIVITY.
Titles: 2,
Articles: 20, from 8--27
1) The Form of Life (9 articles, from 8—16)
2) Active Presence In the Church and in the World (11 articles, from 17—27)
III. LIFE IN FRATERNITY
Titles: 8
Articles 76, from 28—103
1. General Orientations (9 articles, from 28—36)
2. Entrance into The Order and Formation (9 articles, from 37—45)
3. The Fraternity at the Various Levels (30 articles, from 46—75)
4. Election to and Termination of Offices (9 articles, from 76—84)
5. Spiritual and Pastoral Assistance of the SFO (7 articles, from 85—91)
6. The Fraternal and the Pastoral Visit (4 articles, from 92—95)
7. The Franciscan Youth (2 articles, from 96—97)
8. In Communion With the Franciscan Family and The Church (6 articles, from 98-103)
RULE OF SFO
POPE LEO XIII approves the first Rule. After it is abrogated.
APPROVED NEW RULE ON 24 JUNE, 1978, BY POPE PAUL VI
RULES are almost as old as the Church itself. There were always people who wanted the Gospel to mould and shape their lives in a well-defined manner. The Gospel was a new spirit and an entirely new way of believing and living: yet a Rule was a method of encapsulating all its profundity in the Christian life of a particular group.St.Francis of Assisi had called his Rule “the marrow of the Gospel.”(Soft fatty substance that fills the hollow parts of human and animal bones, essential part)
The Rule became a means of holiness for those who professed it and a spiritual instrument with which they reached out to all others.
Three Chapters clarify the identity of the members and their mission in the world today. 3 chapters and 26 articles.
CHAPTER I THE SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER (3 articles, from 1 to 3)
CHAPTER II THE WAY OF LIFE (16 articles, from 4 to 19)
CHAPTER III LIFE IN FRATERNITY(7 articles, from 20 to 26)
The first chapter of the new Rule emphasises their “special secular condition” as a distinguishing mark of the members among other Franciscans; yet it clearly points out the place of the Order within the Franciscan family as whole.
The second chapter, the longest of the three, out lines the pattern of secular Franciscan living.
The secular Franciscan is one who is bound closely to the Church through profession of the Rule. He is one who is dedicated to prayer and praise and the celebration of the sacraments. The Rule is a fundamental plan for living in the Secular Franciscan Order.Precripations of a more precise nature are made by what are called Constitutions (practical applications of the Rule). The importance of frequently meditating on the text and making it the subject of prayerful study is very important.. It is meant to take root in the minds and hearts of the men and women who profess it, so that it truly becomes their guide to Gospel perfection.
Secular Franciscan looks on his own existence in the world as a service of others and his constant task as the promotion of justice and peace----often perhaps as a long-term project, but sometimes in the form of immediate personal commitment to particular undertakings in public life. Work is seen as a grace; marriage and the family as powerful witnessing grounds to the best values in Christian life. Throughout all this, he carries the classical Franciscan traits of peacefulness, joy, the will to create brotherhood, and the vision that sees all creation showing forth and held together by divine love.
The Rule and the Constitutions of the SFO frequently confirm the principle of belonging to the same spiritual family. They refer to the vital--reciprocal communion and to the duty of the First Order (OFM, OFMConv, OFMCap) and Third Order Regular (TOR) to provide pastoral care and spiritual assistance. There is, in fact, a double substantial relationship between the SFO and the First Order and TOR.
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento