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KRUSIFIKSET I SAN DAMIANO: "Where did Francis’s journey to Christ begin? It began with the gaze of the crucified Jesus. With letting Jesus look at us at the very moment that he gives his life for us and draws us to himself. Francis experienced this in a special way in the Church of San Damiano, as he prayed before the cross" (Pave Frans i dagens preken) |
I dag er det festdagen for en av Kirkens aller største helgener: Den hellige Frans av Assisi. Pave Frans samlet tusener til messe i Assisi i dag. Prekenen kan du lese her.
Selve biografien til den hellige Frans av Assisi (1182-1226) kan du lese mange steder, for eksempel her på katolsk.no.
Fransiskansk fred vs. panteistisk harmoni
I dag hadde jeg bare lyst til å dele med deg Pave Frans' preken som han holdt i Assisi i dag, på festen for Frans av Assisi. Det er ikke alle som føler de har tid til å lese en hel preken, men sørg for at du iallfall får med deg dette sitatet fra prekenen:"Franciscan peace is not something saccharine. Hardly! That is not the real Saint Francis! Nor is it a kind of pantheistic harmony with forces of the cosmos…That is not Franciscan either; it is a notion some people have invented! The peace of Saint Francis is the peace of Christ, and it is found by those who “take up” their “yoke," namely, Christ’s commandment: Love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34; 15:12.) This yoke cannot be borne with arrogance, presumption or pride, but only with meekness and humbleness of heart."(Liten ordforklaring: "Saccharine" heter sakkarin på norsk og er et kunstig søtningsstoff av samme type som aspartam, sukralose, acesulfam etc)
Selve prekenen
Og nå; hele prekenen, hentet fra Vatikanets hjemmeside.(Uthevinger i kursiv er fra originalmanuset. Uthevinger i fet skrift er mine egne.)
“I give you thanks, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to babes” (Mt 11:25).
Peace and all
good to each and every one
of you! With this
Franciscan greeting I thank
you for being here, in this
Square so full of history
and faith, to pray together.
Today, I too
have come, like countless
other pilgrims, to give
thanks to the Father for all
that he wished to reveal to
one of the “little ones”
mentioned in today’s Gospel:
Francis, the son of a
wealthy merchant of Assisi.
His encounter with Jesus
led him to strip himself of
an easy and carefree life in
order to espouse “Lady
Poverty” and to live as a
true son of our heavenly
Father. This decision of
Saint Francis was a radical
way of imitating Christ: he
clothed himself anew,
putting on Christ, who,
though he was rich, became
poor in order to make us
rich by his poverty (cf.
2 Cor 8:9). In all of
Francis’ life, love for
the poor and the imitation of Christ in his
poverty were inseparably
united, like the two sides
of the same coin.
What does Saint Francis’s witness tell us today? What does he have to say to us, not merely with words – that is easy enough – but by his life?
1. The first thing he tells
us is this: that being a
Christian means having a
living relationship with the
person of Jesus; it means
putting on Christ, being
conformed to him.
Where did
Francis’s journey to Christ
begin? It began with the
gaze of the crucified Jesus.
With letting Jesus look at
us at the very moment that
he gives his life for us and
draws us to himself.
Francis experienced this in
a special way in the Church
of San Damiano, as he prayed
before the cross which I too
will have an opportunity to
venerate. On that cross,
Jesus is depicted not as
dead, but alive! Blood is
flowing from his wounded
hands, feet and side, but
that blood speaks of life.
Jesus’ eyes are not closed
but open, wide open: he
looks at us in a way that
touches our hearts. The
cross does not speak to us
about defeat and failure;
paradoxically, it speaks to
us about a death which is
life, a death which gives
life, for it speaks to us of
love, the love of God
incarnate, a love which does
not die, but triumphs over
evil and death. When we let
the crucified Jesus gaze
upon us, we are re-created,
we become “a new creation”.
Everything else starts with
this: the experience of
transforming grace, the
experience of being loved
for no merits of our own, in
spite of our being sinners.
That is why Saint Francis
could say with Saint Paul:
“Far be it for me to glory
except in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal
6:14).
We turn to you,
Francis, and we ask you:
Teach us to remain before
the cross, to let the
crucified Christ gaze upon
us, to let ourselves be
forgiven, and recreated by
his love.
2. In today’s Gospel we
heard these words: “Come to
me, all who labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon
you and learn from me, for I
am gentle and lowly in
heart” (Mt 11:28-29).
This is the second witness
that Francis gives us: that
everyone who follows
Christ receives true peace,
the peace that Christ alone
can give, a peace which the
world cannot give. Many
people, when they think of
Saint Francis, think of
peace; very few people
however go deeper. What is
the peace which Francis
received, experienced and
lived, and which he passes
on to us? It is the peace
of Christ, which is born of
the greatest love of all,
the love of the cross. It
is the peace which the Risen
Jesus gave to his disciples
when he stood in their midst
(cf. Jn 20:19-20).
Franciscan peace is not
something saccharine.
Hardly! That is not the
real Saint Francis! Nor is
it a kind of pantheistic
harmony with forces of the
cosmos… That is not
Franciscan either! It is
not Franciscan, but a notion
that some people have
invented! The peace of
Saint Francis is the peace
of Christ, and it is found
by those who “take up” their
“yoke”, namely, Christ’s
commandment: Love one
another as I have loved you
(cf. Jn 13:34;
15:12). This yoke cannot be
borne with arrogance,
presumption or pride, but
only with meekness and
humbleness of heart.
We turn to you, Francis, and
we ask you: Teach us to be
“instruments of peace”, of
that peace which has its
source in God, the peace
which Jesus has brought us.
3. Francis began the
Canticle of the Creatures
with these words: “Praised
may you be, Most High,
All-powerful God, good Lord…
by all your creatures (FF,
1820). Love for all
creation, for its harmony.
Saint Francis of Assisi
bears witness to the need to
respect all that God has
created and as he
created it, without
manipulating and destroying
creation; rather to help it
grow, to become more
beautiful and more like what
God created it to be. And
above all, Saint Francis
witnesses to respect for
everyone, he testifies that
each of us is called to
protect our neighbour, that
the human person is at the
centre of creation, at the
place where God – our
creator – willed that we
should be. Not at the mercy
of the idols we have
created!
Harmony and
peace! Francis was a man of
harmony and peace. From this
City of Peace, I repeat with
all the strength and the
meekness of love: Let us
respect creation, let us not
be instruments of
destruction! Let us respect
each human being. May there
be an end to armed conflicts
which cover the earth with
blood; may the clash of arms
be silenced; and everywhere
may hatred yield to love,
injury to pardon, and
discord to unity. Let us
listen to the cry of all
those who are weeping, who
are suffering and who are
dying because of violence,
terrorism or war, in the
Holy Land, so dear to Saint
Francis, in Syria,
throughout the Middle East
and everywhere in the
world.
We turn to you, Francis, and
we ask you: Obtain for us
God’s gift of harmony, peace
and respect for creation!
Finally, I cannot forget the
fact that today Italy
celebrates Saint Francis as
her patron saint. I
greet all the Italian
people, represented by the
Head of Government, who is
present among us. The
traditional offering of oil
for the votive lamp, which
this year is given by the
Region of Umbria, is an
expression of this. Let us
pray for Italy, that
everyone will always work
for the common good, and
look more to what unites us,
rather than what divides us.
I make my own the prayer of
Saint Francis for Assisi,
for Italy and for the world:
“I pray to you, Lord Jesus
Christ, Father of mercies:
Do not look upon our
ingratitude, but always keep
in mind the surpassing
goodness which you have
shown to this City. Grant
that it may always be the
home of men and women who
know you in truth and who
glorify your most holy and
glorious name, now and for
all ages. Amen.” (The
Mirror of Perfection,
124: FF, 1824).
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