Selfless Love

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Assisi, Christ, Church of San Damiano, compassionate love, God, holiness, imitation, intention, love, motivation, prayer, simple life, St. Clare, St. Francis of Assisi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vessels

Some years ago I had the privilege of visiting the town of Assisi in Italy. The visit was brief and the focus was, as one might think, the holy places associated with St. Francis. It was an extraordinary six hours, and I often long to return for a longer visit. One of my most vivid memories, however, was not of the places and stories of Francis alone – although those remain as well – but of walking down the path to the Church of San Damiano. Somehow, the olive trees that lined the path seemed to shimmer in the sunlight as if they were saying to me, “Pay attention, for this place you are approaching is extraordinarily holy.” San Damiano became the home of St. Clare and her followers in 1212 and she never left but died there on August 11, 1253. The intense holiness of the saint and her Sisters, who lived a poor and very simple life of prayer, can be felt in the walls of the refectory, in the oratory where they prayed and the dormitory where a cross marks the spot of Clare’s death. What, one wonders, creates such a living vibration in a place where life was so “daily?” Intention and motivation, I suspect. A famous quote of St. Clare gives a hint of an answer.

We become what we love, she says, and what we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ, rather it means becoming the image of the beloved, an image disclosed through transformation. This means we are to become vessels of God’s compassionate love for others.

 

 

 

 

 

Peace Work

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Assisi, ecumenical, interfaith, peace action, peacemaking, Pope Francis, pray for peace, prayer, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, violence, war

When I’m overwhelmed by the violence and war in the world my first reaction is probably that of many people, which is to ask, “What can one person do?” My answer, also a likely universal one, is “Pray for peace.” I do that and encourage others to do the same. This morning, however, I am reminded of all the efforts for peace – in addition to personal prayer – that are going on in the world. I just read an announcement from the Vatican that “Pope Francis will join dozens of religious leaders…and hundreds of their faithful in Assisi September 20th to pray for peace. This meeting, entitled ‘Thirst for Peace: Faiths and Cultures in Dialogue,’ marks the 30th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s Assisi interfaith peace gathering in 1986. In addition to Eastern Orthodox patriarchs and other Christian denominational leaders, Pope Francis will welcome leaders of Muslim, Jewish and Tendai Buddhist communities…Members of different religions will go to different locations around Assisi to offer prayers for peace in their own traditions. Pope Francis will participate in the Christian ecumenical service at the burial place of St. Francis. At the conclusion of the prayer services all the leaders will meet in the square outside the basilica to listen to testimony of a victim of war, to share their thoughts about peacemaking and to sign a common appeal.” (source: http://www.americancatholic.org)

After reading this announcement I was wishing I could be in Assisi to participate in such a meaningful event. That momentary flight of fancy was quickly followed, however, by remembrance of an e-mail I got on Thursday (and receive every month) of the many local efforts toward peace and justice that happen in my own local community – yes, “small town America” – Binghamton, New York, coordinated by a tireless, amazing woman (which she would dispute) named Amy Fleming. Amy has worked for Catholic Charities for as long as I can remember but her reach is into the lives of what has become an incredibly diverse population over the last 20 to 30 years. Efforts of the many committees and projects led by committed volunteers working against violence and war are partnered with programs seeking justice for every group or individual underserved in our locality, our state and our country. My prayer is often in gratitude for these people, some of whom I know and many of whom I have yet to meet – real flesh and blood people in my neighborhood – who are as committed as Pope Francis to the peace and justice agenda.

I am certain today that Binghamton is not the only city thus gifted. If you are a person whose main effort toward peace is prayer (a noble practice) I would encourage you to thank those doing “peace action” work on your behalf. Together, in lifting up both the active and contemplative arms of the Body of Christ, I cherish the hope that peace will be achieved in our world.