The apostolate of simple presence is what works today (cf. EN 69). In our generally secularized world, many people know little or nothing about the gospel, the kingdom of God, the faith. However, they do understand and value qualities like love and neighborliness. They understand a readiness to go among and help the poor, to see to reconciliation, justice, and peace. All of these are Franciscan values. They belong to the essence of God’s kingdom. Where love is, there is God, God rules there, there is God’s kingdom, faith is there alive. Where people live that way, the kingdom of God occurs. These values also express and manifest the deep needs and fitful longings of today’s secularized people.
Today’s secularized world differs in basic ways from the world of Francis of Assisi. Even so, Francis did live in ways which take on exceptional importance in today’s world. These are the ways which the brothers and sisters of the Franciscan movement must concretize in their lives: joy and freedom; trust in every individual; a feeling of family with all peoples and all creatures; a sensitivity to the God who encompasses all in love; the ability to see the face of Christ in the poor; a feeling of responsibility for a mission to the whole world—to name but a few of the ways. The secularized world offers us the opportunity to unpack and display the whole gamut of Franciscan behaviors.
CCFMC, Lesson Unit 14, C 5.1
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