Clare of Assisi

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humility, love of God, poverty, rule of life, simplicity, St. Clare, St. Francis of Assisi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I’ve been sitting for quite a while now, trying to find words that will bring alive the saint whose feast we celebrate today. It it Clare of Assisi, who entered into the religious life as a teenager and who, once installed in the Church of San Damiano in Assisi, never left the convent walls. Her teacher and spiritual father was Francis and her life was a following of his in simplicity, poverty and total dedication to the love of God, lived out in love of all creatures, especially her Sisters in community.

I marvel at how easy it is to be dedicated to the memory of someone who lived over 800 years ago, especially because one could read the stories of Clare’s life and, while noting a few extraordinary events, be aware of the dailiness of most of her time. I can only conclude that it is her all-consuming desire for God that captivates us and draws us in to her story. Here is what I know from http://www.franciscanmedia.com this morning.

Saint Clare referred to herself as a little plant. In many ways, she was a strong oak. The first woman to write a Rule of Life for her sisters, she insisted on the privilege of poverty until her dying breath, getting papal approval for her Rule just days before she died. A model of humility, Clare cared for her sisters even through her own years of illness. Her devotion to Jesus was extraordinary.

What I know from my heart is what can never be taught but only caught: God loves us more than we can ever ask or imagine, and the fire of that love is, if we allow it to be, all consuming. It was so for Clare.

Friends of God

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awareness, child, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, content, faith, friend, friendship, gratitude, humble, knowledge, light, poverty, praise, prayer plant, presence, simplicity, spirit, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

Sometimes when life feels very complicated I like to find some simplicity somewhere. This morning, since light had already arrived at this task before I did, I looked up and saw that my prayer plant had found a way to untangle herself from the tight configuration her leaves had been living in since I transplanted her a few weeks ago. She seemed happy to spread her arms in praise. That moment was enough to call me to do the same.

The feeling was deepened when I opened to the words of Thomas Merton who offered me the following message from his book, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander:

You ask of me nothing else than to be content that I am your Child and your Friend, simply to accept your friendship because it is your friendship. This friendship is Spirit. You have called me to be repeatedly born in the Spirit, repeatedly born in light, in knowledge, in unknowing, in faith, in awareness, in gratitude, in poverty, in presence, and in praise.

Such a wide-ranging invitation offered to all who consent simply to accept humble friendship with God!

 

 

 

 

 

St. Dominic

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ascetism, charism, charismatic, Dominicans, Gospel, missionary, Order of Preachers, poverty, preach, simplicity, st. dominic, St. Francis of Assisi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is the feast of St. Dominic, another of the great founders of religious communities. Dominic’s religious order is called the Dominicans but the formal title is “Order of Preachers,” thus the sometimes puzzling designation “O.P.” after their names. Dominic was a contemporary of St. Francis of Assisi and much like Francis in his asceticism and his desire to spread the Gospel. Reminiscent of the love Francis had for the poor, Dominic sold all of his books to help his neighbors who had survived a great famine. Like Francis, Dominic saw the need for a new type of religious organization, one whose members did not stay behind the cloistered walls of the monastery but rather traveled among the people, in the way of the first apostles, to spread the good news.

I am always in awe, living in the 21st century, to think of these men and others whose mission was to travel far and wide in their day to preach and to battle the great heresies of their times. Dominic was born in 1170 and died in 1221, five years before Francis. Travel was primitive and slow but their vision was vast and both of their communities garnered large numbers of members in the first century of existence.

Thinking of these two charismatic men, my thoughts float back to the sense of charism. Each had a different gift and focus – Francis, “the little poor man of Assisi,” preaching poverty and simplicity in his personal life, shining always with the love of God, and Dominic, powerful preacher of the Word of God in Scripture. Such great complementarity! What gifts to the world that still have an effect today!

In our daily activities and in all our words spoken today, let us mirror God’s action in the world for the good of all!

 

 

 

 

 

Charism

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Catholic Church, charism, common folk, generosity, gift, Jansenism, kindness, life, pastoral, poor, Redemptorists, religious orders, retreats, service, simplicity, St. Alphonsus Ligouri, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, theology

Today we note an interesting juxtaposition of feast days in the Roman Catholic Church. While yesterday we celebrated St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order of priests (the Society of Jesus), today we note the founder of the Redemptorists (The Congregation of the Holy Redeemer), St. Alphonsus Ligouri. Taken together, these two religious orders have influenced the Church for over 5 and 3 centuries respectively in similar if not matching ways. The Jesuits are known, as we saw yesterday, for their leadership in education and the study of Scripture as the basis for theological research and deepening in the spiritual life. Today we hear of Alphonsus, himself a brilliant scholar who received a doctorate in both canon and civil law by acclamation at the age of 16 (!) who gave up the practice of law for apostolic activity. He was ordained a priest and concentrated his pastoral efforts on popular parish missions, hearing confessions, and forming Christian groups. (http://www.franciscanmedia.org)

Alphonsus lived from 1696 to 1787 (in itself an extraordinary achievement in his day!) and spent himself in the fight against the moral rigidity of Jansenism. Fr. Don Miller (Franciscan Media) begins the biographical sketch of this holy man’s life in a telling paragraph, saying: Moral theology, Vatican II said, should be more thoroughly nourished by Scripture, and show the nobility of the Christian vocation of the faithful and their obligation to bring forth fruit in charity for the life of the world. Alphonsus, declared patron of moral theologians by Pius XII in 1950, would rejoice in that statement.

The Redemptorists have always been dedicated to mission, working often in rural villages with the poor, preaching to them – by word and their lives – the imitation of Christ. Pastoral reforms were and are in the pulpit and the confessional, “replacing the pompous oratory of the time with simplicity, and the rigorism of Jansenism with kindness.”

That last statement leads me to a consideration of the word charism (charismata in the plural form of the Latin word) meaning gift. Each religious community is known for some special gift or gifts to the Church and the world. Yesterday we saw that the Jesuits did everything for “the greater glory of God.” How this charism is expressed is many-faceted but can be seen in the world by their efforts toward the imparting of the knowledge and love of God to others, especially in the ministry of education. The Redemptorists, on the other hand, are known for preaching retreats in parishes, speaking to “the common folk,” and for their kindness in hearing confessions of the faithful. I can attest to the efficacy of the Redemptorist charism from my personal experience of my uncle Walter Cavanaugh, CSsR, who served as a missionary to Brazil and started a parish with six congregants in the South of the USA in mid-20th century where there was little Catholic presence. Uncle Walter was best known, however, as were some of his “brothers,” for his kindness in the confessional where he provided solace to people for hours at a time.

That these two great religious communities, among others, to be sure, have endured for hundreds of years, is testament to the gifts of God to the collective but also to each of the members who have been called for a specific mission. Might we reflect today on the influence of God’s gifts in our own lives and consider that we, too, have a certain “charism” – a gift to share with the world?Is yours a personality that draws people to your faith? your joy? your hospitality? Are you noted for your generosity? your service? a certain skill? My mother used to show her love for all our extended family by making our birthday cakes – often unique and always delicious. Now my cousin Mary Jane is noted for spectacular creations for every special event.

What is it that makes your life a gift to the world – for the greater glory of God? (The only unacceptable answer here is “Nothing.”)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bless the Children

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blessing, children, different, extraordinary, Jesuit, joy, simplicity, spiritual opening, spontaneity, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, summer, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wonder

My thoughts this morning are of children – simple thoughts really, for a number of reasons. We have finally (some would say swiftly) arrived at the calendar designation of the beginning of summer and I have been aware that this is the last week of school for the youth of New York State. Freed for the summer from the constraints of study, some are likely jubilant while others quickly become bored. I suggest prayer for young people in general that this season will afford them some new, safe adventures and good friends to companion them.

Today is the feast of St. Aloysius Gonzaga who lived in the 16th century and died at the age of 23. An extraordinarily spiritual youth, he had a “spiritual opening” at the age of 7 years and was teaching catechism by the age of eleven! After a 4 year struggle with his father who was determined that his son join the military, Aloysius entered the Jesuit order. Soon after, in caring for those brothers sickened by plague, he contracted the disease and died. As I read about his early life, I thought of the children I have known as “different” or extraordinary – often the intellectually brilliant ones – who are not well accepted by their peers. Conformity is a much safer path to walk, especially in our younger years. I pray for those children and teens who wish for a simpler life but know a different calling, that they may accept themselves and others and come to celebrate their uniqueness as God’s gift.

Finally, I see pictures of the beautifully alive faces of the youngest members of my own extended family and pray for children everywhere that they may be granted loving parents or guardians like those I know their parents, my younger cousins, to be. May we learn from the young the lessons of spontaneity and wonder, of simplicity and joy and may they be a blessing to us in this season.

 

 

 

 

 

In the End Is the Beginning

Tags

infinite love, silence, simplicity, spiritual lives, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton, visionary seeing, Wisdom School

As we prepare to end the extraordinary experience that has been our Visionary Seeing Wisdom School at noon today, I am grateful for the level of participation and the quality of the silence that has guided us through these days. The sharing has been deep and meaningful, allowing us to go beneath our words and actions in ways that give new insight and enthusiasm for our spiritual lives. What it feels like to me seems akin to what Thomas Merton offered me this morning when I read the following:

My only desire is to give myself completely to the action of this infinite love Who is God, Who demands to transform me into Himself secretly, darkly, in simplicity, in a way that has no drama about it and is infinitely beyond everything spectacular and astonishing, so is its significance and its power. (Entering the Silence, p. 48)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Great Men

Tags

Christian life, clergy, down-to-earth, love of God, missionaries, pastoral, perseverance, Redemptorists, simplicity, St. Alphonsus Liguori, the faithful, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Word of God

Today is the feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, a man who lived a long life (1696-1787, amazing even today!) and is known in our Church as the patron saint of moral theologians. A comment in his biographical sketch (http://www.americancatholic.org) could have been written of someone living in our day rather than four hundred years ago. It spoke of Alphonsus as a “practical man who dealt in the concrete rather than the abstract” and said this: His life was indeed a “practical” model for the everyday Christian who has difficulty recognizing the dignity of Christian life amid the swirl of problems, pain, misunderstanding and failure. During his life Alphonsus suffered all these things but was able to maintain an intimate sense of the presence of the suffering Christ through it all.

Alphonsus was the founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, commonly called the Redemptorists and known especially as missionaries and preachers of the Word of God, primarily by conducting parish missions. The stated purpose of these missions is to invite people to a deeper love for God and a fuller practice of the Christian life. In accordance with the instructions of St. Alphonsus, preaching is to be down-to-earth and understandable to all who are listening. Stated another way, his biography observes that his great pastoral reforms were in the pulpit and the confessional – replacing the pompous oratory of the time with simplicity and the rigorism of Jansenism with kindness.

My fondness for the Redemptorists goes beyond the need I see for clergy to speak directly to the experience of people in their congregations and to be especially willing to listen to those coming to them seeking an intermediary of God’s great love and forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation. My uncle was a Redemptorist priest, well-known in Boston and beyond as an embodiment of those qualities. As a child I recall his rare but exciting visits when he returned with stories from missionary work in Brazil. Later we were happy for more frequent opportunities to see him during the years he was stationed close to home. His passion was for people and their faith and his motivation was his own great love for God. Unlike the founder of his religious order, Uncle Walter died early at age 53 in 1970 during another tumultuous time in the Church, five years after the end of the Second Vatican Council. Some struggles still endure in the wake of the Council reforms but much that has come to be has given “the faithful” opportunities for what St. Alphonsus saw as essential: the deepening of love for God and the practice of the Christian life.

Today I will pray for clergy and all those who lead congregations in any religious tradition, that their purpose and vision will always be to foster love of God in their people and their example be that of kindness and humility. I will be most aware of those leaders who suffer in difficult circumstances because of the struggles in pastoral situations or ecclesiastical politics and will pray that perseverance will be the gift God gives as reward for their labors.