Nevertheless we urge you, brothers and sisters, to progress even more, and to aspire to live a tranquil life, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.
Saint Paul encouraged his Thessalonian friends "to aspire to live a tranquil life...."
It may surprise some people that ours is a life of aspiration; we're never quite content with the way things are, with the way things might turn out, or with ourselves. We aspire to great things.
It may surprise some people that ours is a life of aspiration; we're never quite content with the way things are, with the way things might turn out, or with ourselves. We aspire to great things.
Toward the end of his life, Saint Francis wrote,
O most beloved Friars and Sons forever blessed, hear me; hear the voice of your father. Great things we have promised; Greater have been promised us. Let us observe the former: Let us aspire to the latter. Pleasure is slight; glory, infinite. Many are called; few are chosen; retribution for all. Brothers, while we have time, let us do good.
The Saint was a merchant's son; he had been trained from childhood to aspire to great things. Twice he set out to be a knight and was dissuaded only by a voice from heaven. When he finally settled on a goal, he threw himself into the plan with all the ardor of an avenging warrior or a greedy merchant.
His wanted to know "Jesus and him crucified." (I Corinthians 2:2). To his and everyone's astonishment the fastest, easiest, most economical and efficient way to know Jesus was in poverty. He would be poor as Jesus was poor.
At first, before he had many followers, this way was certainly tranquil. The little group found odd jobs that farmers and landowners would pay them to do, with food rather than money. (At that time, a lot of business was transacted by barter.) Young men, they walked from village to village, telling people about the Lord, finding sheltered places to sleep and enough food to keep body and soul together.
But the Order grew at an alarming rate and the hierarchy of the Church realized, perhaps even before Francis saw it, that the friars needed a more solid foundation than could be found on the open road. If they were going to speak to millions of people they needed better education in Christian doctrine; if they were to oppose heretical ideas -- and they are always rife -- itinerant preachers had to be disciplined and well informed. They needed schools and books (i.e. libraries) and credentials.
They would meet opposition and their enemies would not practice or encourage tranquility. So Francis urged his disciples, men and women, to cultivate peace in their hearts. In the second paragraph of the Rule, he wrote:
His wanted to know "Jesus and him crucified." (I Corinthians 2:2). To his and everyone's astonishment the fastest, easiest, most economical and efficient way to know Jesus was in poverty. He would be poor as Jesus was poor.
At first, before he had many followers, this way was certainly tranquil. The little group found odd jobs that farmers and landowners would pay them to do, with food rather than money. (At that time, a lot of business was transacted by barter.) Young men, they walked from village to village, telling people about the Lord, finding sheltered places to sleep and enough food to keep body and soul together.
But the Order grew at an alarming rate and the hierarchy of the Church realized, perhaps even before Francis saw it, that the friars needed a more solid foundation than could be found on the open road. If they were going to speak to millions of people they needed better education in Christian doctrine; if they were to oppose heretical ideas -- and they are always rife -- itinerant preachers had to be disciplined and well informed. They needed schools and books (i.e. libraries) and credentials.
They would meet opposition and their enemies would not practice or encourage tranquility. So Francis urged his disciples, men and women, to cultivate peace in their hearts. In the second paragraph of the Rule, he wrote:
I counsel, warn, and exhort my brothers in the Lord Jesus Christ that when they go out into the world they shall not be quarrelsome or contentious, nor judge others. But they shall be gentle, peaceable, and kind, mild and humble, and virtuous in speech, as is becoming to all.In our time, as we experience tumultuous changes -- especially the resurgence of racist nationalism -- the Christian still aspires to live tranquilly amid the turmoil.
May the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.