“To lead a radically evangelical life in a spirit of prayer and devotion, and in fraternal fellowship”, “to

offer a witness of penance and minority”, “to announce the Gospel throughout the whole world”
embracing all in charity and “to preach reconciliation, peace and justice by their deeds” is essential to
our life of Friars Minor (GG.CC. 1, 2). The basis of our life in fraternal communion is rooted in the
announcement of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have the mission of making Christ known, through our life,
to a world that continues to be characterized by violence, war, marginalization and the destruction of
the environment. St. Francis, our Founder, the “Saint of the Incarnation”, gave his brothers and his
contemporaries an example without equal of how to be a herald of the Gospel, in word and deed,
through commitment to justice, peace and harmony with creation. We cannot be heralds of the Gospel
if we do not live open to conversion, reconciled with ourselves, with our brothers and with the whole of
creation entrusted to our care (cf. Gen 2, 15), and if we do not do this reconciled with God in Christ, our
Brother and Lord. “To conduct themselves spiritually”, “to avoid quarrels or disputes”, “to be subject to
every human creature” and to confess that Jesus is the Christ means, in other words, to be heralds and
promoters of life, which we all have received as gift, but over which hangs various threats. The present-
day mass media, such as the press, radio and television, allow us to verify easily how people and the
entire creation live in “the shadow of death” (Lk 1, 79) and, therefore, we need the “rising Sun to visit
us” (Lk 1, 78). There is a close connection between destruction of the environment and increasing
impoverishment of many people in our world, and vice-versa. The stream of refugees, driven by the fear
of losing their lives and in search of a bountiful existence, not only does not stop but, on the contrary, is
increasing all the time. The search for immediate satisfaction of subjective needs does not respect the
yearning felt by many to leave future generations a better world. It is difficult to control the reins and
global connections of a life threatened by an activity whose guiding principle is constant and progressive
development at any cost.