Love Is the Answer

Tags

faith, fortress, heart, love, rock, St. Clare, St. Francis of Assisi, strength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There are so many ways to say it – and so many reasons to consider it. The point to make every day really is that love is at the heart of every solution, every relationship…every success in life. It was what fueled Sts. Francis and Clare (see yesterday’s post) and today, the message in the readings couldn’t be clearer.

You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them to your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead…(DT 6:4-13)

I love you, O Lord, my strength, O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer! (PS 18:2-3)

Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. (MT 17:20)

I’ve never seen a mountain move because of a show of power. The impetus – the fuel – of such an undertaking has to be love. And it starts with the simple things, so let’s get moving! A new day – a new chance for loving has dawned.

 

 

 

 

 

Selfless Love

Tags

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.

 

 

 

 

 

St. Dominic

Tags

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!

 

 

 

 

 

“AMDG”

Tags

Ad majorem Dei gloriam, conversion, find God in all things, inner fire, intervention, jesuits, saints, Society of Jesus, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ignatius of Loyola, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, The Spiritual Exercises

As a child in Catholic school, I offered my work, as did all my classmates, to Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Especially on tests, our papers were signed at the top with a small cross and the letters JMJ. As a high school student studying Latin there often appeared a more sophisticated reminder at the top of our papers: AMDG under the cross reminded us that all our work was dedicated “for the greater glory of God.” (Ad majorem Dei gloriam) I doubt that I knew at that time the origin of that phrase as a motto although I was aware of the esteemed men’s religious community that claimed it: the Jesuits, formally named the Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola in the 16th century. Today is the feast of St. Ignatius.

Jesuits are famous for their scholarship, marked especially by the many colleges and universities in the United States and around the world. It is also interesting that the founding of this extraordinary company of dedicated men was quite similar to that of the Franciscans three centuries earlier. Both men, Francis and Ignatius, were soldiers who because of illness – Francis as a prisoner of war and Ignatius as a result of a shattered leg in battle – spent a year in convalescence during which each had a deep conversion experience. As a result, each dedicated himself totally to the work of God in differing but all-consuming ways.

The life of Ignatius and his “Company” is fascinating and it seems that much of his success – as in the life of Francis – in drawing others to his cause was his own inner fire and dedication. The basis of his teaching, his living, was finding God in all things and his legacy is seen most clearly today in his major written work, The Spiritual Exercises. Christians from every denomination and walk of life are now participating in the rigorous spiritual journey of a 30 or 40-day retreat based on the Exercises. For those unable to participate in such a concentrated time away, an adaptation called The Nineteenth Annotation of the Exercises is available. In this format, each “day” of reflection becomes a week, thus the process is spread out over 30 weeks and becomes for many a method of Scriptural reflection for a lifetime.

My interest this morning in reflection on Ignatius, however, is focused on that cannonball that so maimed his leg that he was blocked from pursuing what seemed to be a call to military greatness. Sometimes we are on a path that seems our true calling when something or someone intervenes and everything turns around. Sometimes the intervention is less stunning but still requires a response. I smile when I think of Ignatius because his conversion began in a rather ironic way. As he was lying in bed,  the story goes that there were no books (romances) to interest him in reading. All he could find or the only things that were offered to him were books concerning the life of Christ and the saints. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Whether we are shocked into our destiny or see it unfold incrementally day to day, God speaks to us and it behooves us to listen because, as Ignatius taught, we can “find God in all things.” The time to wake up is always.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Restless Wind

Tags

Earth, fileds, hearts, home, mother nature, Native Americans, natural world, oneness, relatives, rivers, Sister Wind, skies, St. Francis of Assisi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, trees, weather, wind

As light comes outside my window this morning I wake up to the fact that what sounded like a truck or a train passing by (no tracks here though…) was the wind. It’s as if the tree in my sight line is keening after a tragedy – as well she might, given the destruction yesterday in the Midwestern states where winds reached 165 mph, leaving whole towns in a shambles. When we used to say that “March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb,” we never dreamed of that kind of extreme force. It was just a way to characterize the vicissitudes of mother nature trying to birth the season of spring. It seems that by now, with all the talk about climate change and the advances in science, we would be shouldering more responsibility toward “Sister Wind,” as St. Francis used to call her.

I am not a scientist, by any stretch of the imagination, but this morning I cannot ignore what is right before my eyes. I do not understand why we in the Northeast are so lucky as to be virtually unscathed by the weather events that have been happening in different parts of our country over the past year or two. I’m sitting here watching our tree struggle as the refrain of a 1960’s song plays in my mind: The wayward wind is a restless wind, a restless wind that yearns to wander, and he was born the next-of-kin…the next-of-kin to the wayward wind.

Call me silly, but what if we were to consider all of the natural world as our relatives – as St. Francis and the Native Americans always did? Would we perhaps take better care of our trees and rivers and fields and skies? Would we heed the environmentalists a bit more seriously and be more gentle on our walk through this world? It seems to me that all of this follows from my reflections of yesterday about the necessity of recognizing that even now we can open our hearts a bit wider to the possibility of the oneness of all that exists, thereby taking a bit more responsibility for our actions toward Earth, our home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Praise for Creation

Tags

Brother Sun, Canticle of Creation, climate change, creation, Earth, heavens, nature, Peace, praise God, Sister Moon, St. Francis of Assisi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There are many reasons to celebrate St. Francis of Assisi, a man whose life took what we would probably call a 180-degree turn after a serious illness and became one of Christianity’s most beloved saints. We who live in this neighborhood of the USA cannot help thinking of Francis as we watch the splendid transformation of the trees – not unlike the life and conversion of Francis himself. From the greening of spring when they seem to be born again to the maturing in summer, reflecting the grandeur of God, to the flaming out in vivid color that seems to lead to death, they are a metaphor for his 44 years on the earth. We know that after the next few weeks of spectacular color – already manifesting in New Hampshire and Vermont – the trees will join the bears in hibernation only to return again after the long sleep of winter. Francis knew all these seasons in his life and praised God for all of it in the wonderful prayer that we know as the Canticle of Creation. As we pray it today, let us be mindful of our earth and the challenges faced by climate change, asking St. Francis (and Pope Francis!) to increase our mindfulness of the need to care more consciously for this, our home.

Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord, all praise is yours, all glory, all honour and all blessings. To You alone, Most High, do they belong, and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name. Praised be You, my Lord with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day through whom you give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor. Of You, Most High, he bears the likeness. Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars. In the heavens You have made them bright, precious and fair. Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air, and fair and stormy all weather’s moods by which You cherish all that You have made. Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, so useful, humble, precious and pure. Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom You light the night and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong. Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.

Praise be You, my Lord, through those who grant pardon for love of You and bear sickness and trial. Blessed are those who endure in peace. By You, Most High, they will be crowned. Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Death, from whom no one living can escape. Woe to those who die in sin! Blessed are they she finds doing your will. No second death can do them harm. Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks. And serve Him with great humility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mirroring Christ

Tags

Christ, least ones, neighbor, poor, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Francis of Assisi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is the feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, daughter of a king, who lived in the 13th century and died just after her 24th birthday. From childhood she was devoted to the poor and in the manner of St. Francis of Assisi, she constantly served them, feeding them both materially and spiritually. Her story is uplifting but my attention this morning was drawn to the quote that followed her biography on the americancatholic.org website which seems quite apt for this moment in our world.

Today there is an inescapable duty to make ourselves the neighbor of every individual without exception and to take positive steps to help a neighbor whom we encounter, whether that neighbor be an elderly person, abandoned by everyone, a foreign worker…a refugee…an illegitimate child…or a starving human being who awakens our consciousness by calling to mind the words of Christ: “As long as you did it for one of these least ones, you did it for me.” (The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World from The Second Vatican Council)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Praise of Creation

Tags

beauty, creation, Earth, humility, Laudato Si, nature, Sister Moon and Brother Sun, St. Francis of Assisi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unbounded love

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Around the world, Christian Churches are blessing animals at special services in honor of the man who called the birds and the animals his sisters and brothers. He praised God as well for Sister Moon and Brother Sun, for the water and the flowers as his kin. Francis is likely better known than any Christian saint for his delight in all of creation and his willingness to live totally for God, letting go of everything he owned to be free of attachment.

For most people today it is easy to see why the present Pope chose Francis as his name, the first pope in the history of Christendom to do so. He often speaks of what the Church should strive to be as “a poor Church for the poor.” His humility was clear from the moment he first appeared and was announced as Papa Francesco, when he bowed and asked for the prayers of the people. Divesting himself of all the trappings of wealth, he wears a simple silver cross and lives simply in community rather than in the papal apartments. A scientist as well as a theologian, he has recently written a monumental encyclical called Laudato Si in which he speaks of everything and everyone in creation being interdependent and having unique dignity, meaning, purpose and value. Within creation, Pope Francis writes, “Our God-given role is not to dominate the Earth, but to ’till and keep’ it: to make wise use of its resources, while preserving its health for all creatures and for future generations, since all of us share (and none of us owns) this planet.”

Today is a fine day to celebrate the marvels of creation especially here in the northeast United States, where the beauty of October is appearing in trees all around! Pope Francis has shown himself to be a carrier of the vision of St. Francis in humble, inclusive and unbounded love for all people with a special place fondness for children, the poor and the infirm. I will pray for him today and for all of us that we might wake up to the responsibility we have to care for all our neighbors, human and otherwise, so that the earth will survive and flourish in God’s sight.

In the Cloud

Tags

a cloud of witnesses, access lives of holy people, Auschwitz, Catholic Worker, Dalai Lama, Dorothy Day, Hebrews, Jesus, Maximilian Kolbe, Pope John Paul II, Rev. Michael Himes, saint, Sermon on the Mount, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Paul, the cloud, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

These days when we speak of “the cloud” many of us are aware that the reference is not to the weather. The latest technological “storage facility” is still a mystery to many but for others it is a great revelation and advance.

In today’s first reading (HEB 12:1-4) Paul urges: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us …He is speaking, of course of what the Church calls “the communion of saints.” Once I heard Rev. Michael Himes, theology professor at that time at Boston College, use that reference as one of the best reasons for the continuance of the Catholic/Christian Church (and I would expand the notion to include other faith traditions for it seems appropriate in the broader sense as well). What he was implying was our freedom and ability to access the lives of these “holy people of God” across the centuries for examples of faith, perseverance, service and love. We may, in an imaginal way (which is not to say imaginary but rather with our deeper intuition), “have conversation with” those who lived in the first century – dropping in on the listeners to the Sermon on the Mount, perhaps, or sitting with the apostles gathered on the beach for breakfast with Jesus after the Resurrection. We can follow St. Francis of Assisi as he did his best to “rebuild the Church” in the 1200’s or accompany Catherine of Siena as she courageously led the Pope back to Rome from Avignon in 1377. In our own time we might ask Dorothy Day about her fervent service to the poor at the Catholic Worker. “How did you do it?” we might ask, “giving everything …open to everyone?” Or maybe it’s Maximilian Kolbe who gave his life in exchange for a family man at Auschwitz and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1982 who puts a modern face on the willingness of Jesus for us.

This year as we celebrate the 100th birthday of Thomas Merton, I see in my mind pictures of him sitting in conversation with the Dalai Lama and know that deep sharing can bring the understanding of which Paul speaks today. We often hear folks say, “S/he was a saint,” when speaking of those newly departed from the earth. Why not look around – even as we look up or look in – to find conversation partners in that great cloud or still here in our midst.

Everybody, Sing!

Tags

God, Jesus, joyful, martyr, saints, singing before the Lord, spiritual practices, St. Cecilia, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Marianne Cope, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Several years ago I watched a DVD about Church history where theologian Rev. Michael Himes made a statement that remains with me. He said that one of the reasons that Christianity has endured is the doctrine of the communion of saints. It is remarkable, he continued, that we are able to have “conversations” with people who lived in the 1300s, the first millennium and even the first century of the Christian era – as well as from our own time. That being true, we can find out what it has been like over the period of 2,000+ years for human beings like us to journey toward the God of Jesus Christ. The stories of “the great ones” are mixed in with some who are obscure but sometimes very engaging. And occasionally there is a named saint from a place close to us whether we live in Assisi in Italy (St. Francis) or Syracuse, NY/Molokai, Hawaii (St. Marianne Cope). Whether or not we are prone toward deep devotion to saints, I believe there is a sense of continuity in reflecting on their lives.

Today is the feast of St. Cecilia who lived in the 3rd century and was martyred in Rome for her faith, as were many people in that time of persecution. The stunning thing for those of us who are well aware of St. Cecilia as the patron of musicians is that very little is known of her although she is remembered as one of the most famous of the martyrs of her time. Perhaps that is because “singing before the Lord” is one of the most joyful of all spiritual practices. There will be many music festivals today at Christian churches and much fanfare as churches celebrate the feast of Christ the King this weekend. I, for one, am always grateful for good liturgical music (and any other good music as well…) and will sing my best at any opportunity today to give thanks for all the musical “saints” in my life!