{"id":51183,"date":"2022-12-05T14:51:55","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T13:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ofmconv.net\/il-carisma-missionario-di-san-francesco-alla-luce-dellattuale-insegnamento-della-chiesa-4\/"},"modified":"2022-12-05T14:58:53","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T13:58:53","slug":"il-carisma-missionario-di-san-francesco-alla-luce-dellattuale-insegnamento-della-chiesa-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/il-carisma-missionario-di-san-francesco-alla-luce-dellattuale-insegnamento-della-chiesa-4\/","title":{"rendered":"The Missionary Charism of St. Francis in the Light of the Current Teaching of the Church (4)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Martyrdom for the Faith<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every believer, wishing to be faithful to the Gospel, may be called to the \u201csupreme witness of martyrdom<\/em>\u201d (John Paul II, Veritatis splendor<\/em>, 89). A missionary is even more likely to be called to give his life for Jesus, as confirmation of what the Good News proclaims. \u201cMaryrdom…is a solemn proclamation and missionary commitment\u201d (John Paul II, Veritatis splendor<\/em>, 93). The Decree on Missionary Activity of the Second Vatican Council clearly highlights this truth: the missionary gazes at the Master and \u201cin much patience, in long-suffering, in kindness, in unaffected love (cf. 2 Cor. 6:4ff.), he [gives testimony] to his Lord, if need be to the shedding of his blood\u201d (Ad Gentes<\/em>, 24).<\/p>\n

The Greek language defines the word \u201ctestimony\u201d using the term \u201cmartyria<\/em>,\u201d and in the Book of Revelation, St. John, is writing about martyrs when he says: \u201cthe souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God\u201d (Rev 6:9). These words reveal a kind of daily reality that existed at the time of the \u201cfirst proclamation of the Gospel.\u201d Indeed, it is well known that \u201cthe Church of the first millennium was born of the blood of the martyrs: \u2018Sanguis martyrum – semen christianorum\u2019\u201d<\/em> (John Paul II, Tertio millennio adveniente<\/em>, 37). Moreover, martyrdom is also defined as something that \u201chas always accompanied and continues to accompany the life of the Church even today\u201d (John Paul II, Veritatis splendor<\/em>, 90).
\nMartyrdom was highly esteemed during the Middle Ages, especially during the Crusades. Yes, a life of daily mortification was also valued, but salvation was guaranteed to all those who gave their life for Christ through the shedding of blood.
\nThus, it becomes clear that this fascination with suffering martyrdom in the East also had a particular influence on Francis. His principal aim, and that of his Franciscan missionaries, was to die for Jesus. Thomas of Celano defines this desire as reaching \u201cthe summit of perfection\u201d (1 Cel 55 FF 417). The Earlier Rule<\/em> already showed how a friar minor should behave in a situation that could undoubtedly arise in missionary work. The many New Testament quotations contained in the Rule speak directly about courage in the face of persecution, about renunciation and about fidelity to Christ, even unto death. \u201cWherever they may be, let all my brothers remember that they have given themselves and abandoned their bodies to the Lord Jesus Christ. For love of Him, they must make themselves vulnerable to their enemies, both visible and invisible, because the Lord says: \u2018Whoever loses his life because of me will save it in eternal life\u2019\u201d (Earlier Rule<\/em> 16:10-11 FF 45).
\nWe see here that the desire for martyrdom was nothing new to St. Francis. For him, evangelizing and being a missionary, meant binding one\u2019s life to the \u201cEaster of the Lord.\u201d Furthermore, Francis looked at the missions precisely through the lens of possible martyrdom, which, moreover, seemed to him more in line with the Gospel. In this regard, however, two points should be made. First, Francis did not intend martyrdom per se<\/em>, but the possible consequences of the missionary work to convert unbelievers. Second, one should remember that this concept of martyrdom grew out of his reflection and from gazing upon Jesus on the cross, rather than an idea that came to him in the East, even though, according to his biographers, his desire to become a martyr is identified precisely with his intention to travel to the East. His way of thinking is confirmed in the Earlier Rule<\/em>: \u201cOur Lord Jesus Christ, Whose footprints we must follow, called His betrayer a friend and willingly offered Himself to His executioners. Our friends, therefore, are all those who unjustly inflict upon us distress and anguish, shame and injury, sorrow and punishment, martyrdom and death. We must love them greatly for we shall possess eternal life because of what they bring us\u201d (Earlier Rule<\/em> 22:2-4 FF 56).
\nWe read that when Francis heard about the martyrdom of his first five missionaries, he said: \u201cNow I can say with certainty that I have five lesser brothers\u201d (Passio Sanctorum Martyrum fratrum Berardi, Petri, Adiuti, Accursii, Othonis in Marochio martyrizatorum<\/em>, in Analecta Franciscana<\/em>, III, 1897, 593). How much more eloquent then was John Paul II, when he affirmed that the martyrs are \u201cindispensable to the journey of the Gospel\u201d (John Paul II, Redemptoris missio<\/em>, 45). Moreover, this \u201cexceptional gift\u201d (Lumen gentium<\/em>, 42) makes martyrs \u201cheralds and witnesses\u201d in the true sense of the word (John Paul II, Redemptoris missio<\/em>, 45).<\/p>\n

Friar Dariusz MAZUREK
\nGeneral Delegate for Missionary Animation<\/p>\n

For more information on missions, see the Facebook page:
\n<\/strong>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AnimazioneFrancescana\/<\/a><\/p>\n

See also the Instagram page for the General Secretariat for Missionary Animation:
\n<\/strong>https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sgam_ofmconv\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every believer, wishing to be faithful to the Gospel, may be called to the \u201csupreme witness of\u00a0martyrdom\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2186,148,129],"tags":[455,825],"class_list":["post-51183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vocazione-missionaria-en","category-news","category-sgam-en","tag-martyrs","tag-missionaries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ofmconv.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}