Making Room for One Another
What does it mean to embrace poverty in the Franciscan tradition? Perhaps it begins with recognizing that none of us has everything all the time, knows everything there is to know, or makes our way through life entirely on our own.
St. Francis embraced “Lady Poverty” as a way of following the Christ within more closely, letting go of anything that could cause a sense of separation – from himself, others and Life itself. For Francis, poverty was a way of making room for a different understanding of what makes a life rich.
Everything we have is gift. Our abilities, experiences, resources, and opportunities are not ours alone; they become meaningful through the ways they connect us with others. Yet recognizing gift also means recognizing our own need. Each of us has limitations, vulnerabilities, unanswered questions, and places where we depend on the generosity, wisdom, and care of others. This is a much broader and more meaningful understanding of poverty.
And embracing our own poverty changes the way we encounter one another.
Every time we acknowledge that we have something to learn, something to receive, and something we cannot do alone, we begin to meet others differently. We are less inclined to measure their worth by what they possess or what they lack. We become more open to the gifts they bring, the experiences that have shaped them, and the possibilities that emerge when we share our lives.
This is where poverty finds its deepest expression in love. In 1 Corinthians 13, we are reminded that even extraordinary gifts, generosity, sacrifice, and faith have little value without love. Love changes the meaning of what we offer and how we receive. It invites us beyond acts of giving toward relationships rooted in mutual respect, dignity, and belonging. We are called not simply to give to others in need, but to stand with them; not to judge by lack, but to recognize every being’s dignity and gifts. This stances helps us to stop assuming that we know another’s needs so that we can remain open to what they might share with us.
The Secular Franciscan Rule, Article 11, connects Franciscan poverty with sharing spiritual and material resources, promoting a more just distribution of wealth, and resisting consumerism. These commitments are not simply about personal simplicity. They point toward a way of living in which that which we have relates to the needs and well-being of others. The Franciscan Action Network likewise calls us to identify how our personal vulnerabilities can create resonance with those who are marginalized so that we naturally stand together for dignity and justice.
This understanding does not romanticize material poverty or overlook the realities of deprivation and inequality. Rather, it challenges the ways we define ourselves and one another by possessions, status, independence, or power. It reminds us that economic justice and human dignity matter, and that solidarity begins when we recognize one another as beings whose lives are interconnected.
Perhaps the richness of Franciscan poverty is found in this mutuality and reciprocity: the freedom to offer what we have without assuming superiority, and the humility to receive what others have to offer without embarrassment. Sometimes we are the ones who help; sometimes we are the ones who need help. In fact, mostly, we are both.
Each encounter holds the possibility of discovery, connection, and a deeper appreciation of the gifts present in one another.
To embrace poverty in the Franciscan way is to make room for one another. It is to loosen our attachment to the things that keep us separate and to discover the richness of a life shaped by relationship. Simplicity, humility, generosity, and justice take on new meaning when they grow from this recognition that we belong to one another.
What might this look like in our everyday lives?
- Making room: What changes when we allow ourselves to be helped, taught, or surprised by someone whose experiences differ from our own?
- Receiving as well as giving: When have we discovered that someone we thought we were helping had something important to offer us?
- Seeing beyond appearances: How might our relationships change when we look beyond what people have, what they lack, or what they can do for us?
- Honoring one another’s gifts: What wisdom, creativity, or perspective might we overlook when we assume we already know what someone else needs?
- Standing together: How can recognizing our shared humanity deepen our commitment to dignity, justice, and care for those who are vulnerable?
A final question for reflection:
What might become possible in our relationships if we embraced our own poverty—not as something to hide or overcome, but as an invitation to make room for one another?
RELATIONSHIPS – Accompanying One Another to Christ
Micaela Mendez Vazquez
Every Day we live in a steady and continuous connection that is linked in the decisions we intentionally make and in how we are called to live. The shared and common experiences that we encounter in our service that each of us carries out as Franciscans unite us; because where there is one, there is all. Our contribution, our investment with the ‘pueblo’ (people) defines and shapes the entirety. As part of our accompaniment, the scope of relations includes but is not limited to pastoral activities, assisting in the identification and formation of permanent deacons and their wives, developing the leadership among the parish women, engaging youth, and establishing family ministries.
The leadership development process prepares them to identify the needs of others, organizing the Church’s response to those needs, and addressing the injustices or inequities that lead to them. Through this work, we find a richness of culture, language, traditions, and customs which bonds us into becoming one with the ‘pueblo’ we are serving. Our service is not simply “to do” but “to be and connect” and it would not be possible to carry out our ministry without living and sharing in what is their essence of life. What we have to offer is a total commitment of heart and soul; we do not just share our knowledge; we share our living experiences in social harmony. Thus, we share our life as we build the relationship with our ‘pueblo’ and communities.
Since entering these sacred lands, we experience the abundance of God’s love every day. The Indigenous people have been carrying out and passing down from generation to generation their traditions and methods of praying by means of rituals; in the caves, in the springs, and in the gratitude of the yearly harvest – a blessing that they have obtained. In this way, we experience the lived Gospel experience though which Jesus invites us, to build the “Kingdom of God.” Building it with its own faces from the place where we find ourselves, serving others and accompanying one another to Christ.
For Consideration:
Who accompanies me as I move through life?
Whom do I accompany? In what ways do I serve?
How do I experience abundance and celebrate with gratitude?