Eight hundred years ago, in 1205, Francis of Assisi received the call from the Lord to “Rebuild the Church”. Francis responded to this call throughout his life. He began by rebuilding physical churches – San Damiano, Portiuncula (St Mary of the Angels), and San Pietro della Spina.
As Francis rebuilt these churches, he rebuilt his life. From the desire to seek worldly glory, he slowly transformed his life until all he desired was to seek God and God alone.
Francis’ love for the Gospel grew over the years after his conversion. The selfish love that he had for himself was transformed into self-denial and love of God. This transformation might not have come about if he had not gone through defeat, imprisonment, rejection, doubt, sickness, and other suffering. It was through the experience of God’s mercy that he moved towards the freedom to be who he was meant to be as a human. The mercy of God set him free, free to love God, to love himself, and to love others. The mercy of God allowed him to see goodness in everyone and everything. We are God’s creation, and thus, it is only right that we love and care for everyone and everything God created.
Towards the end of his life, Francis understood that the call to rebuild the church was to rebuild the inner life of the Church, to journey towards full conformity with Christ himself.
Eight hundred years later, the Franciscan Friars continue Francis’ work of rebuilding in their mission and evangelisation. Following the Gospel faithfully remains at the heart of our mission and evangelisation, and the Franciscan Friars have identified specific areas of pastoral care – education, parishes, sanctuaries, and ecumenical and interreligious dialogue – for renewed attention globally this decade.
In response, the Custody’s Office of Mission and Evangelisation embarked on the journey of renewal in 2023 with formation sessions in the parishes cared for by the Franciscan Friars in Singapore and Malaysia, and through the formation of aspirants to the Order in the two countries.
The focus of these formation sessions was to introduce the life and mission of St Francis and what this means in the context of our time.
Our world is very different from what it was during Francis’ time, but some issues remain and new ones have arisen through our own actions. Francis served lepers, and we have another kind of leprosy today. Francis dealt with different classes within society, and class and discrimination remain very real issues in society today. Today, we talk too about mental health issues: the causes, the prevalence and how these can be addressed. We are concerned now about issues that have arisen from the prevalence and widespread use of social media. We need to recognise our context today, and find new ways to renew and rebuild the way we live our faith as well as the way we share the Good News.
Pope Francis has invited us, as a Church, to renew ourselves. In Evangelii Gaudium (EG), he wrote: “Small yet strong in the love of God, like Saint Francis of Assisi, all of us, as Christians, are called to watch over and protect the fragile world in which we live, and all its peoples. (EG 216)
The Holy Father expanded on his vision in the encyclical letter Laudato Si (On Care for Our Common Home) in 2015. Care for the environment is urgent, and what we do is a reflection of our moral and spiritual responsibility as stewards and carers of God’s creation.
In 2019, Pope Francis signed a document on Human Fraternity (For World Peace and Living Together) with Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El Tayeb, and in 2020, the pope published another encyclical, Fratelli Tutti (On Fraternity and Social Friendship) in which he states how urgent and important it is for us to watch over and protect human fraternity. The pope calls the world to live in solidarity and social love. He calls for everyone to have a change of heart.
Learning from St Francis’ experience, we invited the ministry leaders in the formation sessions within the parishes to reflect on two questions: (1) How can the people of God experience mercy today? (2) What kind of renewal and rebuilding is needed in each individual and as a community of believers?
In 2024, the Custody’s Office of Mission and Evangelisation will hold more formation sessions in order to reach out to more audiences in Singapore and Malaysia. We want to share the common vision, and foster deeper understanding of the need for renewal in the way we care for and serve one another, within the Church and beyond. With God’s blessing, this work will help Franciscan parishes to renew and rebuild.
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