Praised be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.
We're continuing our series on Franciscan spirituality today and its doctrinal foundations.
Last time we spoke about how Christ is for God, so it's only fair that we speak a little bit about how we, and the whole universe for that matter, are for Christ.
Please keep in mind that all of our reflections here are following the logic of love.
Love, which we have said before, is the soul of Franciscan spirituality.
We've talked about how love is perfectly realized in the Blessed Trinity, we've also talked about the logic of love in the mystery of the Incarnation, but it doesn't stop there.
The greatest creature, the masterpiece of God, which is the God-Man, wants to give of himself as well, since giving of oneself really is the hallmark of love.
He must be able to pour out the superabundance of his perfections, the riches of his nature, and of his grace on other created beings, which therefore depend on him in a real sense, his.
So Our Lady, the greatest among pure creatures, and then angels and men and women, all of them, all of us, came from God, but by means of Christ and for Christ, and we all return to God, but always through Jesus Christ.
The universe finds in Christ its reason for being, and its end, its goal, its purpose, because everything, as St. Paul says, was created through him and for him, Colossians 1:16.
Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of everything.
We read that in Revelation 1:8.
The whole creation, therefore, is essentially “ad orientum,” the whole creation is oriented toward Christ.
Inanimate materials like rocks and minerals and irrational beings like animals and fish; they all orient themselves to Christ unconsciously or without awareness.
They obey the laws of nature and so respond with necessity to the finality for which they were created.
The mineral world was created for the vegetable world, the vegetable world exists for the animal world, the animal world exists for men and women.
All rational beings, so meaning angels and human beings, they must orient themselves to Christ consciously and willingly, with their intellect and with their free will.
So all creatures must recognize the sovereign rights of Christ, since they were all created for him.
Christ, in his body and in his soul and in his divinity, he recapitulates, or he summarizes in himself all of creation and brings it all back to God, and that was one of the hallmarks of the theology of the saint that we celebrate today, Saint Irenaeus, the theme of recapitulation of everything in Christ.
As Saint Bonaventure writes, he says, Christ is the cornerstone, everything gravitates around him, and it's in him that everything must reunite, just like the lines that, parting from a circumference, reunite in the indivisible unity of the central point, says Saint Bonaventure.
And in his writings, Bonaventure places Christ at the center of the sensible world, also at the center of the supernatural world, too.
He puts him at the center of the mystical life, as well, the center of Christian metaphysics, and at the center of all orders of being and all orders of thought.
If all of God's creatures are a theophany, which means a manifestation of God, and they are, then Christ himself is the greatest theophany, because he's the consubstantial image of the Lord God.
He's the measure of all creatures.
Yes, we can say that man is the measure of all things, as the ancient philosopher Protagoras said, if by man you mean the God-man, if you mean Jesus Christ, and in that case, yes, would be considered right.
Father Matthias Schaben, who we've quoted before in previous reflections, writes this.
He says, Christ stands in the middle of creatures like the sun in the middle of the planets.
He stands there as the heart of all creation, communicating life, light, and motion to all things.
And he acts as their center of gravity, because in him and for him they rest in the bosom of God.
Since the science has shown that it's not the earth which attracts the sun, but it's the sun that attracts the earth, similarly in theology, Father Matthias Schaben writes, in order to comprehend the importance of Christ, theology must arrive at considering him as the center of gravity of the whole universe, and in this way intend the full sense of his words when Jesus says, I will draw all men to myself.
Jesus says that in John 12:32.
He says, when I'm lifted from the earth, I will draw all men to myself.
He draws all of us to himself, because he truly is the center of creation.
And the Franciscans, following the example of their Seraphic father, have always strongly felt this attraction, that Christ really is the center and the reason for everything, and we are for him even more so than he's for us.
We are for him more so than he is for us.
It's quite amazing when you think about it.
Let's ask our lady for the grace to draw closer to her and to her Son, so that our lives will be more ordered in the way God intends them to be.
Praised be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.

If you would like to grow in love and knowledge of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, consider a subscription to the Missio Immacalatae magazine.
The Missio is a bi-monthly magazine published by the Franciscans of the Immaculate for over 15 years.
Every issue of the Missio features articles about Our Lady's privileges and her mission in the Church and world for the sanctification and conversion of souls.
The Missio takes to heart the ancient saying of the Church, De Maria Numquam Satis, of Mary, you can never say enough.
You can subscribe online at missiomagazine.com, that's m-i-s-s-i-o-magazine.com, or go to the homepage of airmaria.com.
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The Missio is a practical way to behold your mother and take her into your home.
Ave Maria.