What is a Secular Franciscan?
St. Francis established three different Orders. The first one is for the friars; the second is for nuns, such as the Poor Clares; and the third is for laypeople. When Francis was establishing his Order, there were people who wanted to follow him but said, “We can’t join your First Order, we have a different calling from God. We can’t join the Second Order, we don’t have that calling. How can we follow the Gospel as secular people?”
Francis then gave them a Rule of their own to live by. Some people think that much of what Francis was calling people in his day to do is contained in the First Letter to All the Faithful, in which he invites the people to simply live the Gospel life. This means especially heeding the call of Christ to follow him and live the Beatitudes as best they can in their own particular way of life.
You might not know this, but Francis was not a priest himself; he really was a secular person. Although he did become a deacon, he was never a priest. The largest part of his life was spent as a secular person. One of Francis’s most important callings was that we go from Gospel to life and life to Gospel; that’s what the Secular Franciscans are all about and what they try to incorporate and live throughout their life.
By sharing in spiritual companionship through the larger fraternity groups of the Third Order, Secular Franciscans try to understand the Gospel as Francis did and then live it in their daily lives.
Secular Franciscans do not live the same way that people did in Francis’s time, when the Order was established—nor do Franciscan friars or sisters, for that matter. But the focus of all Franciscan Orders is still the same as it was over eight hundred years ago in the time of Francis: to live the Gospel life in all that we do. Below is testimony from two Secular Franciscans.
Barbara Mulligan, ‘Learn the Way of Francis’
March of 1982 was a time of pain and sadness in my life. Yet it was also a time when the most exciting experience I’ve ever known happened to me: I met the Lord. I felt the overpowering love and presence of Jesus, and from that moment on, my life was changed. The pain and sadness were gone, replaced by a joy and strength I’d never known before.
I had read Scripture prior to this time, but after this experience with Jesus it was as though I’d never read a word of it before. It took on a whole new meaning.
I knew that strength and perseverance come from the Lord, and nothing in the world could take that away. I intended to keep my eyes on Jesus. As time passed, my hunger for Scripture increased. Since that time, my day is never complete if I don’t read at least one passage from Scripture. Often times it will be more than that.
Shortly after my encounter with Jesus, God, in his infinite goodness, sent me a friend, my sister in Christ, Pauline. Our greatest common denominator was our desire to grow in our relationship with Jesus. We joined a Bible study class, started a prayer group of five people, and worked in parish ministry. But somehow that wasn’t enough; something was missing.
One day, I was helping out with a class at the parish, and they showed a video of the life of St. Francis. I’ve been familiar with Francis all my life; he’s the little man with a bird on his shoulder. There was only enough time to show half of St. Francis’s life that day, and I was really disappointed; I couldn’t wait to see the rest. Just as I’d seen Jesus so differently than ever before, I found the same thing was happening with Francis.
After Mass the next Sunday, a book in the parish book rack caught my eye: Murray Bodo’s Francis: The Journey and the Dream. I bought it, and as I read it, I found what I had been searching for. Francis brought the Gospel to life. He carried out the commands of
Jesus, literally. I was awed. I would never read the Good News again without thinking “Francis did that, Francis prayed that way, Francis told his brothers this or that.” As all of this was unfolding, I thanked God and prayed that the Spirit would lead me in the next step. As I was reading the Gospel of Luke one day, I felt that the Lord spoke to me through it. The passage is Luke 6:46–47: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them.” I began to think about times when
I might not have followed Christ in my daily life, and I found selfishness, prejudice, pride, many things I’d never seen before. This brought me to the sacrament of reconciliation, which I celebrated with a priest who understood and gave me guidance. I began to understand what the sacrament was all about.
After finishing Francis: The Journey and the Dream, I read three or four more books about the life of St. Francis and was more intrigued with the man than ever. Pauline was at the same point in her own spiritual journey, and we began talking about the Secular Franciscans. After prayer and discernment, we decided to look into the process of becoming one. I have never been sorry.
In the years since becoming a Secular Franciscan, I continue to learn the way of Francis. I shed much of the excess baggage I had carried through the earlier years of my life and simplified things immeasurably. I began to realize my needs were few, and I had far too much; possessions were no longer important. Internally, I continue to look into myself and my reaction to the people around me, and realize that I don’t always react as Jesus would have. As I strived to lead the Gospel life, it is not easy, but I know that by following in the footsteps of Francis, I am tracing a path straight to God.
Pauline Williams, ‘Leper in All of Us’
My initial conversion experience came at a time when I was in a very desperate situation. It came very simply. I was reading a book that had brief scriptural messages in it as daily guidance. I had read this book every day for two years before it had an impact on me. But one day, sitting alone in my dining room, the Lord touched me. I heard in my heart what this book was saying to me, instead of in my mind. That was the beginning of my search to become closer to Jesus.
In the months following that experience, I participated in a women’s retreat, and saw Jesus so plainly in my sisters who attended that. That led me to my spiritual sharing and spiritual pal Barbara; I found Francis with her.
Throughout this time it was invaluable to attend meetings with other people, where we could all share stories about the difficulties in our life and how our faith was helping us to deal with these difficulties. These meetings helped me, as they did the others there, not to get discouraged in our pursuit of a closer relationship with Jesus.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about why Jesus talks so much about lepers. When Francis first began his spiritual journey, he embraced a leper. This suggests that there is leper in all of us; we all have an opportunity to embrace the leper.
One final thing I’d like to mention. It has taken me many years to be able to see Jesus when I look in the mirror; being able to do this has brought me joy. I have learned that by letting Jesus into my heart and then out again, I can begin to see him in myself.
Learn more about the Secular Franciscan Order here.
