The Church as Herald

In this model, the Word of God is held central. The act of proclamation, in addition to the profession, of the word to the whole world characterises the mission of the Church. (61) Francis always had high regard for the word: 'Let us hold onto the words, the life, and the teaching and the Holy Gospel of Him.' (62) in the time of great Eucharistic devotion during the Middle Ages, Francis revolutionarily reemphasised the importance of the Word. Unlike the original version of this model, which is undoubtedly very Protestant in placing the word over the sacrament, (63) Francis highlights the dual importance of both. There is a strong kerygmatic element in the Franciscan movement. Religious before his time were almost uniformly monastic, both coenobitic and eremetic; the Franciscan movement, not unlike some other Gospel movements of the time, stressed preaching. The difference was that Francis and his brothers remained in the Church.

For Francis, his heraldic ecclesiology positively complemented the institution mentality: Francis himself went to preach to the Muslims and he was open for his brothers to do likewise. (64) On preaching to the Saracens, i.e. the Muslims, Francis said, there were two ways to live among the non-believers. Besides not being engaged in arguments or disputes but acknowledging that they are Christians, 'another way is to proclaim the word of God when they see that it pleases the Lord, so that they believe in [...] God [...] and that they be baptised and become Christians.' (65) The concern for proclaiming is heraldic and the consideration for having converts baptised and becoming Christians shows signs of an institutional Church model. This is echoed in the twentieth century presentation of the herald model: the intention of the preacher is not to improve the world, but to summon it to belief in Jesus Christ and to bear witness to the reconciliation which has been accomplished through Him and His dominion. (66) Indeed, as Francis wrote, 'Blessed is that religious who takes no pleasure and joy except in the most holy words and deeds of the Lord, and with these leads people to the love of God in joy and gladness.' (67) This admonition of Francis for the individual friar can be applied on a corporate level to the entire community, the Church. Thus the word, which includes the recording of the deeds, being so central for this ecclesial community is a reflection of the heraldic ecclesiology. As shown earlier, Francis' respect for the clergy, because of their tie with the sacrament, reflects the institutional ecclesiology. A similar case for the heraldic ecclesiology is manifested in his concern for honouring and respecting 'all theologians and those who minister the most holy divine words as those minister spirit and life to us.' (68)

Yet he nevertheless recognised the profundity of the word. This was demonstrated in the following remarks:

Those religious who do not wish to follow the spirit of Sacred Scripture, but only wish to know [what] the words [are] and [how to] interpret them to others are killed by the letter. (69)

All brothers should preach by their deeds. (70)

Although this awareness originally works on an individual level of admonition, it indeed enriches the heraldic ecclesiology by pointing out that the proclamation is not an absolute end. This insight substantiates a missiological concern: following what one preaches and preaching by one's deeds are no less important than the act and content of the proclamation; the proclaimer on his own is a personified sermon.

61. Richard McBrien, quoted in Dulles, 76.

62. First Rule 22:41.

63. Dulles, 76.

64. Second Rule 12.

65. First Rule 5:6-7

66. Dulles, 94.

67. Admonition 20.

68. Teastament 13.

69. Admonition 7:3, word order changed to bring out the meaning better.

70. First Rule 17:3