On September 11-12, the student friars from the Order of the Friar Minor held a recollection (11-12/09/21) with the theme “The Persecuted Fraternity”. At this occasion, the student friars were refreshed with the recollection material brought by Fr. Herpin Hormat, OFM.
Fr. Herpin defines the word “persecuted” as “rejection”. We often encounter this refusal in our mission as a friar minor, and this rejection is getting stronger amidst the currents of pluralism, subjectivism, and consumerism today. Man is tossed in the ocean of time and subjective truths. It is difficult to move in the tone of objective truth, actual truth, and general truth. Everyone makes himself as the truth itself. It is in the subjectivity of truth that we encounter the danger of rejection, especially of rejection of the evangelical way of life. However, in those difficult situations we are asked to be faithful. As stated in Fr. Herpin, St. Francis is a good example in interpreting the importance of loyalty. Rejection in proclamation is not the end of everything, but rather a trigger to be more persistent in proclaiming the gospel.
Fr. Herpin added, the fidelity that we want to live, as has been exemplified by St. Francis of Assisi, based on love that animates Jesus’ faithfulness in carrying out His mission. The incident of the cross became the culmination of rejection that Jesus experienced was also evidence of Jesus’ faithfulness in carrying out His mission. Faced with the threats that Jesus received in His preaching, Jesus did not give up, but He remained faithful to the end.
By Fr. Bonakasius Jebarus, OFM
Trans. Fr. Felisian Novendro Ambal, OFM
