St. Anthony of Padua Fraternity Bulletin
Vol. 12 No. 8   September 2007

Franciscan column
by Tom

XIII — Patience

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God (Matt. 5:9). The servant of God cannot know how much patience and humility he has within himself as long as everything goes well with him. But when the time comes in which those who should do him justice do quite the opposite to him, he has only as much patience and humility as he has on that occasion and no more.

XV — Peace

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God (Matt. 5:9). The true peacemakers are those who preserve peace of mind and body for love of our Lord Jesus Christ, despite what they suffer in this world.

Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order — Article 19

Mindful that they are bearers of peace which must be built up unceasingly, they should seek out ways of unity and fraternal harmony through dialogue, trusting in the presence of the divine seed in everyone and in the transforming power of love and pardon. Messengers of perfect joy in every circumstance, they should strive to bring joy and hope to others. Since they are immersed in the resurrection of Christ, which gives true meaning to Sister Death, let them serenely tend toward the ultimate encounter with the Father.

From a treatise on the Lord’s Prayer by Saint Cyprian, bishop and martyr

God bids us to be peace-loving, harmonious and of one mind in his house; he wants us to live with the new life he gave us at our second birth. As sons of God, we are to abide in peace; as we have one Spirit, we should be one in mind and heart. Thus God does not receive the sacrifice of one who lives in conflict; and he orders us to turn back from the altar and be first reconciled with our brother, that God too may be appeased by the prayers of the one who is at peace. The greatest offering we can make to God is our peace, harmony among fellow Christians, a people united with the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Fr. Bill DeBias, OFM, from Philadelphia preached the Secular Franciscan Retreat this year. He suggested that St. Francis’ admonitions are Franciscan beatitudes. He also suggested that fraternities could use the study of the admonitions and the beatitudes for ongoing formation. Our council has decided to give this a try. Likely we will take up this series three or four times over the next year. As I brought it to the council, I was chosen to start with our September formation.

I chose to start with the two admonitions above that include the "Blessed are the peacemakers..." beatitude. Some of the admonitions include a direct quote of one of the beatitudes; some do not. I thought the ones that link themselves with a beatitude might be easier for starting. I chose these that talk of peacemakers due, at least in part, to discussions of war and peace and what course of action the U.S. should take in Iraq that have been on the Queen of Peace Region’s email discussion list over the last couple months.

As I pondered these two admonitions and our rule I was struck that they all approach peace as something brought about by a change in me. Then I came upon the reading from St. Cyprian from the Liturgy of the Hours, and it took up this theme and called me to be in harmony with others. This call is also made in our rule, where we are called to build fraternal harmony.

This leads me to the following questions for our consideration:

1. What is peace?
2.  What place does my being at peace have in promoting peace in the world?
3.  What role do I play in the world’s great events and how can I best be a peacemaker?