Tuesday, September 27, 2022
Francis . . he set the world on fire!
It is said that at one time Rabbi Lot went to see Rabbi Joseph and said, “Rabbi, as much as I am able, I practice a small rule of life, all the little fasts, some prayer and meditation, and remain quiet, and as much as possible, I keep my thoughts clean. What else should I do?" Then the old Rabbi Joseph stood up and stretched out his hands toward heaven, and his fingers became like the torches of flame. And he said, “Why not be turned into fire?" (From the Desert Fathers and Mothers; Original Source Unknown)
He was born in the Tuscan country side of Assisi in 1181 to a wealthy cloth merchant. Francis enjoyed a very rich easy life growing up; he received little formal education and during his early years he was preoccupied with having fun. Today, we would perhaps say he is among the bold and the beautiful, the rich and famous, and the young and the restless! As a young man, he was popular, charming, enjoyed practical jokes and was usually the life of the party. He was good at business, but wanted to become a troubadour and write poetry. Everyone loved Francis. He was constantly happy, a dreamer and a born leader.
When he was twenty years old he was eager to be a knight and took part in a battle of a nearby country, yet his townspeople were defeated and he spent a year in prison. After his return to Assisi, he became seriously ill and dissatisfied with his way of life. He endured a spiritual crisis and devoted himself to solitude, prayer and service of the poor. One of the many conversion experiences of his life that is told was when he was riding one day, he came face to face with a leper who begged for money. Francis had always had disgust for lepers, and turning his face, he rode on. But immediately he had a change of heart and returned to the leper and gave him all the money he had and kissed his hand. As he rode off, he turned around for a last glance, and saw that the leper had disappeared. From that day on he dressed in rags and gave himself to the service of the lepers and the poor.
Another conversion moment is told when he was in the nearby Church of San Damiano. While he was praying, he heard Christ on the cross speak to him. “Francis, repair my church.” With this mandate and with the words of the Gospel, “The kingdom of God is at hand, cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out devils; freely have you received, freely give. Carry neither gold nor silver nor money, nor bag, nor two coats, nor sandals. . .” Francis, then at once felt that this was his vocation and proceeded to preach to the poor. In time, 12 others joined him in preaching the Gospel and working among the poor. They took literally the words of Christ when he sent his disciples out to preach. They would have no money and not property, individually or collectively.
Their task was to preach, “using words if necessary,” but declaring the love of God by their words and actions. Francis called his order the “Order of Friars Minor” or the order of lesser brothers. They were to live as brothers of all, to reveal by their love that all human beings are sisters and brothers. Francis did not live in a monastery but among the people, and in that world, he sought and found God.
His approach was an Incarnational approach – God was a loving Father/Creator and all that Francis had was gift, Christ was his Brother and the Spirit of that love lived and burned in him.
Following the Gospel literally, Francis and his companions at first frightened their listeners as these men dressed in rags talking about God’s love. But soon the people noticed that these barefoot beggars wearing sacks seemed filled with constant joy. They celebrated life.
An early biographer gives an account of Francis’ physical appearance. “In stature he was rather on the short side, his head of moderate size and round, his face long, his forehead smooth and low, his eyes of medium size, black and candid, his hair dark, his eyebrows straight, his nose even-shaped, thin and straight, his ears prominent but delicate.
In conversation he was agreeable, ardent and penetrating, his voice firm, sweet-toned and clearly audible, his lips delicate, his beard black and rather sparse, his neck slender, his shoulders straight, his arms short, his hands small, with long fingers, his feet small, his skin tender, his clothing rough, his sleep brief and his bounty most liberal.”
Francis’ brotherhood included all of God’s creation. He had a deep love for animals and a special fondness for birds. He liked to refer to animals as his brothers and sisters. In one well-known story, Francis preached to hundreds of birds about being thankful to God for their wonderful clothes, for their independence, and for God’s care. The story tells us the birds stood still as he walked among them, only flying off when he said they could leave.
Another familiar story involves the wolf of Gubbio. Out of hunger, the wolf took to attacking the people of Gubbio as they worked in their fields. The people were so frightened of the wolf they didn’t dare go out into the fields without armed protection. Francis said to them, “Let me go out to talk with the wolf.” So he went out to meet the wolf and spoke with him, who became docile at his approach and so the wolf returned with Francis to meet the people of Gubbio. Francis arranged a peace pact between the people and the wolf. The people would feed the wolf and in return the wolf would live peacefully with them.
Francis’ final years were filled with much suffering. Praying to share in Christ’s passion he had a vision and received the stigmata, the marks of the nails and the lance wounds that Christ suffered. Years of poverty and wandering had made Francis ill. In his final months of his life, being blind and enduring intense suffering, he joyfully and with cheerfulness wrote his beautiful Canticle of the Sun that expresses his brotherhood with creation in praising God. He died at the age of 45 and at which time there were now several thousand members throughout Europe to carry on his mission and call. He was canonized two years later.
So what is the good news for us today?
• Francis speaks to us to live with joy, simplicity and faithfulness to the Gospels. Let us dare to search for meaning and fulfillment in our relationship to God even when we may look a little foolish or even when it may call us to make drastic changes in our attitudes and behaviors.
• Francis speaks to us about our relationship to creation. Let us be voices that challenge as we confront the environmental issues that affect our planet today. “Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Francis
• Francis was called to “repair the church.” Let us live with integrity and courage to witness a church of inclusivity, compassion, forgiveness and hope so that the message and mission of Jesus will be revealed – and let us use words, if necessary!
• Francis speaks to us about the gift of suffering. Let us ask for the graces we need when we find life tiring and burdensome so that the gentle and loving presence of God will bless us with refreshing peace, healing and bravery.
• Francis speaks to us of poverty. Let us live with awareness that all we have is a gift, and that we are to share the resources of this world with everyone; we are guardians and stewards of creation; sisters and brothers to all.
• Francis kisses the leper and tames the wolf. Let us be aware of the things in our lives that we may fear; the things that scare us – let us ask for the graces to embrace them with courage and love.
• Let us search for the wolf who hungers in our world, our church, our governments, communities, and in our personal lives – let us name and tame the hungers so that we may live with trust, harmony, justice and peace. “While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.” Francis
• In closing, let us recall the words of the Responsorial Psalm, for they could be the prayer of Francis today:
Take care of me, God, I rely on you for safety. You are my destiny; my life is in your hands. Even in my sleep, God whispers to my heart. God is my constant companion, You will direct my steps . . .”
Remembering Theresa . . .
St. Theresa of Lisieux, October lst, Feast Day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se_of_Lisieux
Trust and trust alone should lead us to love
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Awareness . . .
For Those Whose Harvest is Poor
Creator God, for daily bread
and all who work
to bring your harvest home
we bring our thanks today.
Forgive our ingratitude
we who have so much
yet waste what you have given.
For those whose harvest is poor,
whose crops have withered,
water tainted, children starve,
help those who bring relief
and bestow on us
an unaccustomed generosity,
that all might share from your garden
and all might sing your praise.
Creator God, provider of all
we bring our thanks today.
- Author Unknown
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Autumn Months
O God of Creation, you have blessed us with the changing of the seasons.
As we welcome the autumn months,
may the earlier setting of the sun
remind us to take time to rest.
May the brilliant colors of the leaves
remind us of the wonder of your creation.
May the steam of our breath in the cool air
remind us that it is you who give us the breath of life.
May the harvest from the fields remind us of the abundance we have been given and bounty we are to share with others.
May the dying of summer's spirit remind us of your great promise that death is temporary and life is eternal.
- Author Unknown
The Melody of Fall . . .
Fall Song
Another year gone, leaving everywhere
its rich spiced residues: vines, leaves,
the uneaten fruits crumbling damply
in the shadows, unmattering back
from the particular island
of this summer, this NOW, that now is nowhere
except underfoot, moldering
in that black subterranean castle
of unobservable mysteries – - -roots and sealed seeds
and the wanderings of water. This
I try to remember when time’s measure
painfully chafes, for instance when autumn
flares out at the last, boisterous and like us longing
to stay – - – how everything lives, shifting
from one bright vision to another, forever
in these momentary pastures.
-Mary Oliver
Our Extravagant God!
Waken in Me a Sense of Joy
in this ripening, red-tinged autumn,
waken in me a sense of joy
in just being alive,
joy for nothing in general
except everything in particular;
joy in sun and rain
mating with earth to birth a harvest;
joy in soft light
through shyly disrobing trees;
joy in the acolyte moon
setting halos around processing clouds;
joy in the beating of a thousand wings
mysteriously knowing which way is warm;
joy in wagging tails and kids’ smiles
and in this spunky old city;
joy in the taste of bread and wine,
the smell of dawn,
a touch,
a song,
a presence;
joy in having what I cannot live without –
other people to hold and cry and laugh with;
joy in love,
in you;
and that all at first and last
is grace.
(From: Guerrillas of Grace)
Thursday, September 15, 2022
In Praise of Fall . . .
we sit in quiet communion. Before us,
hills and valleys yawn, spreading wide
their yellow and green, ochre and gold
harvest of hay, beans and corn.
All summer long these fields drank
daily offerings of dew and sunlight.
We listen to the hush of hills, a hawk
above us riding thermal winds,
the drying corn nearby whispering
Praise! Praise! Praise!, the grass
beneath our squeaking swing
chanting, sotto voce, Thank you, God.
Everything around us whispers shhh.
And when we do, we hear the holy
breath of God bringing forth the world.
Poem by: Sister Irene Zimmerman, SSSF
The Quiet Voice of Autumn . . .
God of autumn, the trees are saying goodbye to their
green, letting go of what has been. We, too have our moments of surrender, with
all their insecurities and risk. Help us to let go when we need to do so.
God of fallen leaves, lying in coloured patterns on the ground, our
lives have their own patterns. As we see the patterns on the ground, our lives
have their own patterns. As we see the patterns of our own growth, may we learn
from them.
God of misty days and harvest moon nights, there is always the
dimension of mystery and wonder in our lives. We always need to recognize your
power filled presence. May we gain strength from this.
Amen. (Terry Hershey/Source Unknown)
https://www.terryhershey.com/sabbath-moment/
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The Season of Letting Go!
O God of Autumn loveliness, we thank you for the many colors of our lives. We thank you for the rich hues of red, the promising hope of greens, the depth of the golds, and the well-worn browns.
We praise you for all of the life you have given us, the life we celebrate at this harvest time each year. Like the leaves of the trees, we ourselves have been blown around, toasted in the sun, and whipped by rain and storms. Yet, we stand as a testament to life well lived.
Your trees, O God, remind us of our letting go, our need to trust transformation, so that new life can come. Yet, like them, we resist the tearing, wrenching, pulling, and tugging. We cling earnestly to our color and our home!
Release us, God of the Autumn, and free us so that the wind of your Spirit can fling us to the places we most need to go. Bury us deep in places where we will find warmth. Help us to find ourselves grounded in you.
As we look around in this harvest time, we celebrate the bounty all around us and deep within us. May we be forever grateful for the plentitude! May we be forever generous with all that is ours. May we be forever willing to give of ourselves!
And as we journey towards this winter time, help us to always carry the spirit of springtime deep within us as a sign of hope! We believe, O God of Transformation, that all of life is your belief and hope in us! Ready our hearts, steady our hearts that we can respond fully in faith and love!
(Author Unknown)
Tuesday, September 13, 2022
Wednesday, September 7, 2022
A teaching of the season . . .
To
let go does not mean to stop caring,
it
means I can’t do it for someone else.
To
let go is not to cut myself off,
it’s
the realization I can’t control another.
To
let go is not to enable,
but
allow learning from natural consequences.
To
let go is to admit powerlessness, which means
the
outcome is not in my hands.
To
let go is not to try to change or blame another,
it’s
to make the most of myself.
To
let go is not to care for,
but
to care about.
To
let go is not to fix,
but
to be supportive.
To
let go is not to judge,
but
to allow another to be a human being.
To
let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes,
but
to allow others to affect their destinies.
To let
go is not to be protective,
it’s
to permit another to face reality.
To
let go is not to deny,
but
to accept.
To
let go is not to nag, scold or argue,
but
instead to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.
To
let go is not to adjust everything to my desires,
but
to take each day as it comes and cherish myself in it.
To
let go is not to criticize or regulate anybody,
but
to try to become what I dream I can be.
To
let go is not to regret the past,
but
to grow and live for the future.
To
let go is to fear less and love more
and
To
let go and to let God, is to find peace!
Remember:
The time to love is short.
“Letting
Go Takes Love”, Author unknown
Falling into Autumn . . .
I have been treading on leaves all day until I am autumn tired
Lord knows all the color and form of leaves I have trodden on and mired
Perhaps I have put forth too much strength or been too fierce from fear...
I have safely trodden underfoot the leaves of another year
All summer long they were overhead more lifted up than I
To come to their final place in earth they had to pass me by
All summer long I thought I heard them whispering under their breath
And when they came it seemed with a will to carry me with them to death
They spoke to the fugitive in my heart as if it were leaf to leaf
They tapped at my eyelids and touched my lips with an invitation to grief
But it was no reason I had to go because they had to go...
Now UP MY KNEE to keep atop another year of snow.
Monday, September 5, 2022
The Wisdom and Gift of Creation!
Oh, Great Spirit,
Whose voice I hear in the winds
and whose breath gives life to all the world.
Hear me! I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes
ever hold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand
the things you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
in every leaf and rock.
Help me remain calm and strong in the
face of all that comes towards me.
Help me find compassion without being overwhelmed.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother or my sister,
but to fight my greatest enemy: myself.
Make me always ready to come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.
Translated by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark in 1887
Prayer at a time of natural disasters . . .
IN OUR HEARTS
Compassionate Lord, we pray for those who have been devastated by recent natural disasters. We remember those who have lost their lives so suddenly. We hold in our hearts the families forever changed by grief and loss. Bring them consolation and comfort. Surround them with our prayer for strength. Bless those who have survived and heal their memories of trauma and devastation. May they have the courage to face the long road of rebuilding ahead.
We ask your blessing on all those who have lost their homes, their livelihoods, their security and their hope. Bless the work of relief agencies and those providing emergency assistance. May their work be guided by the grace and strength that comes from You alone.
Help us to respond with generosity in prayer, in assistance, in aid to the best of our abilities. Keep our hearts focused on the needs of those affected, even after the crisis is over. We ask this in Jesus' name.
Author Unknown
