Ambassadors for Christ
A Reflection by Fred Schaeffer, OFS

In 2nd Corinthians, 5:19-20, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (italics mine)

Being ambassadors for Christ gives us a large responsibility, a very fitting one for Secular Franciscans. In Rule 4, “Secular Franciscans should    devote themselves especially to careful reading of the gospel, going from gospel to life and life to gospel.  One could say, we are to familiarize ourselves, and be able to teach the gospel, in order to be ambassadors for Christ, sharing His teaching with all those we meet, and most of all, all those who seek our help. We are sinners, we are weak, easily swayed between good and evil. The local parish is the first sign of "Church," for most of us. When we are healthy we join to make community, the Body of Christ. When sick, we rely on our parish Church to bring Holy Communion to us and to pray for us. To reach out. We are ambassadors of Jesus Christ, showing those around us how His love has changed our lives. Spreading His love through conversation, explanation, example. "The Church is a sacramental mystery because it is a visible sign of an invisible grace -- namely, union with God. The pope and bishops (the magisterium) form the visible bond of unity, charity, and peace which links the whole Church in communion."

In Rule 14, “Secular Franciscans, together with all people of good will, are called to  build a  more fraternal and evangelical world so that the kingdom of God may be brought about more effectively...“  We can only accomplish this with a thorough understanding and practice of the Gospel. Most of this understanding comes from reading Holy Scripture daily. We get a lot of help as Christians from what is being proclaimed from the Pulpit, from the texts in Holy Mass, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) is an excellent resource to put it all together. The CCC 2nd Edition is extremely well written. I use it a lot for reference for preparing Reflections for this website, and also for increasing my understanding of the finer points of Catholic teaching. There are some great on-line versions, one I use a lot is found here: https://scborromeo2.org/catechism-of-the-catholic-church

It has a search bar on that page which takes text as well as paragraph numbers. Then there is an excellent index at: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/ccc_toc2.htm

If you are using a desktop or laptop, you can search long lists by using your “find command” (Ctrl F) and you’ll get there faster. I have tried displaying these external programs/websites on cellphone but the print is too small. Errr, I did it again, went off on a tangeant in the middle of a Reflection. Mea Culpa.

People who are not Franciscans, but who follow Jesus Christ (I write for all my readers), you aren’t off the hook: you are also Ambassadors for Christ. Franciscans just make a greater effort to get there. This need (as expressed in 2 Cor. 5: 19-20) is not something we consciously think of, we just DO it, because our formation brought this concept to us, in studying the Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order, and in Rules of other Franciscan entities in the Franciscan family (see note below).

Peace and Good,
Fred Schaeffer, OFS

Note:

• When you ask the Internet: How many Franciscans are there in the world? The answer is: “There are as many as 650,000 members of the Franciscan Order today, with around 35,000 Franciscan Friars and 60,000 cloistered Franciscan nuns. They are active in over 100 countries. They often operate missions, community centers, and religious universities. Feb 22, 2023.”

      No way to verify that statement, but there are a lot. This number also includes non-Catholic Franciscans. I assume this includes Secular Franciscans. The latest info I can find was from September 2021 where it was determined in a General Chapter that there are 173,719 Secular Franciscans worldwide. 

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