FS #26: Soul of Franciscan Spirituality, Part 6 – May 11 – Homily – Fr Terrance
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Fr Terrance gives the homily at Bloomington, IN on May 11, 2023, where he continues his series on Franciscan Spirituality, focusing today on how love, the soul of this spirituality, and particularly how love is perfection. We get to this perfection through Jesus with love as a seed that we have to put our heart and soul into, all the other things like prayers, works, and knowledge are good but not essential. Love of God is the first commandment, and love of neighbor is the second. Loving our God is the essence. The extent to which we do this establishes our place in heaven.
The soul of Franciscan spirituality emphasizes our innate desire to reach God, the ultimate goal, and infinite perfection. To achieve this goal, we need to know the way, which is through Jesus Christ (John 14: 6 - Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/14?6). St. Bonaventure states that the one thing necessary for perfection is to adhere to God, meaning to love Him. Jesus emphasizes this in the Gospel (John 15: 9 - Remain in my love - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/15?9).
The greatest commandments are to love God and our neighbor (Luke 10: 27 - Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/10?27; Matthew 22: 39 - Love your neighbor as yourself - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/22?39). The Apostle Paul emphasizes the importance of love (1 Corinthians 13: 1-3 - Without love, we are nothing - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/13?1-3; Colossians 3: 14 - Love is the bond of perfection - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/colossians/3?14).
Franciscan saints also emphasize love as the essence of perfection. The charity within us is what makes us supernaturally perfect (1 Corinthians 15: 10 - By the grace of God, I am what I am - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/15?10). St. Francis exhorts the brothers to love God with all their hearts, souls, minds, strength, power, understanding, and every effort.
Let's ask Our Lady for the grace to make love our aim in our spiritual journey.
00:00 - Introduction
00:09 - The Soul of Franciscan Spirituality
00:37 - Our Life's Goal: Union with God
01:16 - The Way to God: Jesus Christ
01:49 - The Seed of Perfection is Love
02:30 - Means to Reach Perfection
03:18 - The One Thing Necessary for Perfection: Love God
05:09 - Examples of Franciscan Teaching on Love
07:04 - The Importance of Love in Our Spiritual Journey
Ave Maria!
This is a continuation of his series of homilies on Franciscan Spirituality - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNN151zTIO4&list=PLejh_e0-LN4xgMllKrzSasL2Hljd5BHom
The material for this series comes primarily from Ciccarelli, Marciano M., "I capisaldi della spiritualità francescana" in Italian, which translates as "The Cornerstones of Franciscan Spirituality". No English translations exist at the time of this recording.
Mass: St. Ignatius of Laconi - Opt Mem
Readings: Thursday 5th Week of Easter - http://usccb.org/bible/readings/051123.cfm
1st: act 15:7-21
Resp: psa 96:1-3, 10
Gsp: joh 15:9-11
More on the Readings: https://airmaria.com/r?m=643&r=1717
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