(This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Winter 2026  Issue #118)

By Bret Thoman, OFS

Anyone who has spent time with varied Franciscan fraternities knows that there are different ways of living the faith and putting it into action.

On the one hand, some emphasize a strong sense of liturgy and worship, morality, virtue, and doctrine. They pray with reverence, value tradition, and cherish mystery. They look to the Church’s authority to safeguard truth and resolve disputes.

On the other hand, there are those whose focus is in this world. They dedicate time and resources to social issues – peace, racism, the marginalized, and ecology. In matters of faith and morals, they emphasize the primacy of conscience. Their liturgies are often more informal, community- oriented, and marked by strong lay participation.

We might be tempted to label these groups as conservative or liberal, traditionalist or progressive. Better terms are transcendent and immanent.

Transcendence centers on the otherness of God – God who exists beyond the world, before creation, and outside the limits of human comprehension. God transcends the material universe and is holy.

Immanence looks to Christ who became incarnate, revealed Himself “down here,” in our humanity. God bends down from heaven to walk with us, suffer with us, and remain with us in the sacraments.

So which is right? Did Christ descend to lift humanity to heaven – or did He come simply to be with us where we are?

The answer is found in the Creed. We proclaim God as “almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible,” and “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.” This is transcendence: God eternal, holy, ungraspable. Yet we also profess that He “came down from heaven… and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” This is immanence: the Word made flesh, dwelling among us, present in the Eucharist.

Transcendence and immanence are not in opposition. They are united in Christ – true God and true man. We do not need to choose between correct faith and right action. In Christ, they are one.

We look to St. Francis as our model. St. Bonaventure writes:

It was a custom for the angelic man Francis never to rest from the good, rather, like the heavenly spirits on Jacob’s ladder, he either ascended into God or descended to his neighbor. For he had so prudently learned to divide the time given to him for merit, that he spent some of it working for his neighbor’s benefit and dedicated the rest to the tranquil excesses of contemplation. (L.M., XIII, 1)

May we, like Francis, learn to ascend in worship and descend in loving service – united in the God who is both above us and among us.

Discussion for Fraternities:

  1. Opening Prayer: Invite the Holy Spirit to open hearts toward unity and true fraternity.
  2. Reflection: Read the Creed together slowly pausing appropriately.
  3. Personal Reflections:
    • Do I tend toward transcendence or immanence?
    • Have I experienced tension between worship and service?
    • How might God be inviting me to grow in the area I resist?
    • What does Francis teach us about faith and action?
  4. Application: Choose one act of worship and one of service to practice this week.
  5. Closing: Pray the Franciscan Peace Prayer.