FS #63: Man in Franciscan Spirituality, Part 9 – Feb 05 – Homily – Fr Terrance

 

Fr Terrance gives the homily at Bloomington, IN, on Feb 05, 2024, and again focuses on the Franciscan view of the nature of a person, exploring the intrinsic connection between the Blessed Trinity's love exchange and our call to self-donation, emphasizing our creation in God's image as a foundation for a life of giving and receiving in love. This continues his series and the subsection, "Man in Franciscan Spirituality," humanity's role in God's plan.

In Franciscan spirituality, there is a profound connection between the Blessed Trinity's eternal exchange of love and the human person's creation in God's image, and this highlights our continuous dependence on God for subsistence. Father emphasizes that being created in God's image entails a dynamic of receiving and giving, rooted in the autonomy of our existence, but also its relational nature. This theological perspective is grounded in the belief that human beings, while complete in themselves, are inherently related to God, who sustains them. Father underscores the human spirit as the locus of divine interaction, facilitating our engagement with both the material and spiritual realms, aiming for dominion over the former and communion with the latter.

The core of human activity, as elucidated, is modeled on the self-giving love of Jesus Christ, who manifests the ultimate gift of self through His life, teachings, miracles, sacrificial death, and most supremely, in the Eucharist. This exemplifies the essential Christian call to self-donation, mirroring Christ's love by giving of ourselves to God and others, which is the essence of charity. Father Ciccarelli's insights reveal an innate human longing for self-transcendence through a gift of self to the divine, highlighting the dual nature of this gift as both a personal offering to God and a social commitment to our fellow beings.

00:00 – Introduction to Franciscan Spirituality
00:25 – Understanding the Human Person in Franciscan Thought
00:54 – Divine Image and Participated Subsistence in Humans
01:33 – Man's Dual Communication with the Material and Spiritual
02:26 – The Role of Spiritual Subsistence in Human Existence
03:05 – Dynamics of Receiving and Giving in Spiritual Life
03:45 – Christ's Example of Self-Gift and Its Implications for Humanity
05:03 – The Essence of Self-Giving and Responding to God's Call

This is a continuation of his series of homilies on Franciscan Spirituality - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNN151zTIO4&list=PLejh_e0-LN4xgMllKrzSasL2Hljd5BHom
and the subsection "Man in Franciscan Spirituality."

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 of this book exist at the time of this recording.

Ave Maria!

Mass: St. Agatha - Mem - http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=14
Readings: Monday 5th Week of Ordinary Time - http://usccb.org/bible/readings/020524.cfm
1st: 1ki 8:1-7, 9-13
Resp: psa 132:6-10
Gsp: mar 6:53-56

More on the Readings: https://airmaria.com/r?m=1030&r=1589

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