“Life is a mission!” And our answer today still rises as the echo of Isaiah’s cry: “Here I am, Lord; send me.” But what does it mean, in the heartbeat of our time, to be sent as a Franciscan Hospitaller Sister?
It means to stand, both in the heart of the Church and on the world’s far edges, as the living nearness of Christ who does not merely pass by but beholds, welcomes, and serves all without drawing lines. Our calling of Hospitality becomes the bright thread that binds our heritage to the cry of today’s frail ones.
By Lowliness, we embrace frailty: following the wish of Francis that we be “Lesser Brothers,” we choose the lowest stead so that we may draw nearer to those who have fallen. Our calling becomes the hospitality of meeting, the kind that, as Francis before the leper, overcomes fear to touch the wounds of loneliness, want, and forsaking, and in this humble nearness we find the hidden warmth of God.
By Zeal, we go forth to meet others: stirred by the boldness of Father Beirão, who taught us not to wait for the needy to seek us out. Our sending becomes a going out, a stepping forth in the word “Go in my name.” We walk where human worth is most threatened, bearing the balm that soothes and the fairness that heals, trusting that each step is guided by the Lord who goes before us.
By Love, we tend the least: for our calling takes flesh in the golden rule of Blessed Maria Clara: “Treat all well.” In a world split and scattered, our hospitality becomes a foretelling deed, a simple and glad service that turns each caring act into a whisper of worldwide brotherhood, sowing in smallness the wideness of God’s own heart.
