Day 20. Admonition 17 v1

Of the humble servants of God   Blessed are those servants (Mt.24:46) who do not ‘magnify’ themselves because of the good God says and does through them, any more than because of the good God says and works through others.     They sin when they wish to receive more from their neighbours than they, themselves, are willing to give to the Lord God. (Blair)   17. Of The Humble Servant Of God.   Blessed is that servant who is not more puffed up because of the good the Lord says and works through him than because of that which He says and works through others. A man sins who wishes to receive more from his neighbor than he is himself willing to give to the Lord God. (Robinson)            Day 20. Of the Humble Servant of God.   Blessed is that servant who is not more puffed up because of the good the Lord says and does through them, than because of that which God says and works through others. A person sins when they want to receive more from their neighbour, than they are themselves willing to give to the Lord God. (Koller)

When we put together the Office 1 of the EFO we did so with regard to any copyright of the various translations of the Admonitions. We used those of Paschal Robinson 2 because they are in the public domain. Our Brother Shepherd modernised the English and made them gender neutral.   For my purpose:   - today I have retranslated Admonition 17 from the original Latin of Codex A. 3 using the word Magnify instead of the words ‘puffed up’.4   If I remember correctly, the first time I came across the word ‘magnify’ was when I began to learn the Magnificat as an Initiate of the Roman Catholic Church.   Mary, sings “My soul knows how glorious my Lord is”, her very breath acknowledges the splendour of her Lord. God is Mary’s Superstar -and there are numerous similes expressing this, yet there are no words that capture this reality.   Within the context of religious life Francis teaches that we are blessed when we are not more impressed with ourselves when God uses us to say and do something marvellous, something praiseworthy; than we are when God works in the same way through others.   We sin when we are impressed with ourselves because God uses us, it is as if we have done it all by ourselves.   This is more than just a prideful thought but something we attribute to our very soul.       “How great am I, I have done it!”               Me! Me!   We sin when we ‘magnify’ ourselves – from our throne sitting at the heart of us, we are egoists and exhale conceit like carbon dioxide yet do not know it.     We are “legends”, Superstars, in our own minds.   When we are in this state, completely consumed by our own greatness we are unlikely to give much praise to our fellows and even less likely to praise God.

i.    1. Br Luke Koller E.F.O. (Ed.), 2007,” EFO Rule of Life”,   2nd edition Version 1, Winmalee, Community Press.   1.    2.The Writings of Saint Francis of Assisi, newly translated into English with an Introduction and Notes by Father Paschal Robinson of the Order of Friars minor (Philadelphia: The Dolphin Press, 1906). And Online Library of Liberty   2.    3.Directorio Franciscano Escritos  de San Francisco de Asis en Latin, Admonitiones [Adm]forma [A]