Feast of St. Francis

Brother Joe Kotula, OFM, and Paul Kline offer their thoughts about the Feast of St. Francis. You're invited to share your thoughts and reflections.

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READINGS

Sirach 50:1, 3-4, 6-7
The greatest among his brethren, the glory of his people, was SIMON the priest, son of Jochanan, in whose time the house of God was renovated, in whose days the temple was reinforced. In his time the reservoir was dug, the pool with a vastness like the sea's. He protected his people against brigands and strengthened his city against the enemy. Like a star shining among the clouds, like the full moon at the holyday season; Like the sun shining upon the temple, like the rainbow appearing in the cloudy sky.

Galatians 6:14-18
But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither does circumcision mean anything, nor does uncircumcision, but only a new creation. Peace and mercy be to all who follow this rule and to the Israel of God. From now on, let no one make troubles for me; for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

Matthew 11:25-30
At that time Jesus said in reply, "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

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REFLECTIONS

By Brother Joe Kotula, OFM
St. Francis was a man who kept his eyes on the cross of Jesus Christ. The holy Bible was his road map and he had a strong desire to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and his life reflects that desire. When Francis was approaching his last days he said to his brothers: “I have done what was mine to do; may Christ teach you what you are to do.”

I feel confident that God teaches each of us what we are to do. However, we need to listen deeply to hear God’s call. St. Paul writes to the Galatians: “ All that matters is that one is created anew.” The Mountain mission statement is, “To join with Jesus Christ in making all things new!” How do you and I experience these bold statements? Are we created anew as we live and experience the Mountain culture? St. Francis was created anew as he journeyed through life focused on the cross of Jesus. I would suggest that being created anew is coming to understand that all of life is in God. When we recognize that, we, like Francis, will relate to everything as brothers and sister.

Imagine that!

The first reading beckons us to imagine the pool with the vastness of the sea, a star shining among the clouds, a full moon on a holyday season, the sun shining upon the temple, and a rainbow in the cloudy sky. St. Francis could imagine God’s total presence and so he knew that everything had the same creator as himself. Scripture call us to imagine the wonders of a loving creator.

Finally, Matthew's Gospel tells us “no one knows the Son, but the Father and no one knows the Father but the Son- and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” I would suggest that St. Francis knew the Father through Jesus and we, too, know God through Jesus.

Imagine that!

Can you accept that? Praise God! Seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened. Francis is a model who showed us how loving Jesus reveals God and affects our daily walk. So, as we celebrate the feast of St. Francis may we, too, hear his words ring in our hearts: “I have done what was mine to do; may Christ teach you what you are to do.”

Trust and be not afraid for God has promised so much and God keeps his/her promises.

By Paul Kline
My favorite experiences at the Mountain are morning and evening prayer in Holy Peace Chapel. The serenity of praying with others while, at the same time, being drawn deeper into my own, interior conversation with God helps me to lower my guard and open my heart. During our Franciscan Sojourner weekends, in that most peaceful place, Gospel stories, stories connected with the Franciscan tradition, and stories from our own travels have come alive offering new discoveries about who God is calling us to become as His sons and daughters and how, as a community travelling together, can best serve others.

The feast of Francis provides an opportunity to wonder how we might learn from the remarkable story of his spiritual journey. For me, it is a journey that brought Francis deeper and deeper into radical humility. His journey reveals the freedom and grace that await us when we let go of our attachments to familiar ways of thinking and patterns of living that fail to bring us closer to God’s heart.

Ilia Delio writes that Bonaventure understood humility to be "a self-knowledge grounded in truth, patience with others, simplicity of life, attentive listening to others, courage to overcome temptations, and a compassionate heart." Through humility, we celebrate the holiness of all creation and open ourselves to be shaped by the wisdom and grace present in the insignificant moments of our day. Through humility, the least among us become our greatest teachers.

Humility, I think, helps us to re-focus our eyes and attune our ears to quiet sources of grace where wisdom speaks in a gentle whisper. Francis’ encounters with others and with the world around him powerfully reveal to me a passionate wish, even longing, to meet Jesus in every twist and turn in the road he travelled. He enjoyed, I think, an authentic zeal for experiencing the specialness of each living creature. Falling in love with every unique expression of God’s creation – people, animals, and nature - was also a way of falling in love with God, over and over and over again.

As each new day dawns, we, too, are invited, again and again, to enter into this love story.

(To share your thoughts, post a comment below on the Mountain's blog or on the Mountain's Facebook Page.)

(Mt. Irenaeus Web Site)

Feast of St. Francis

Fr. Dan Riley, OFM, and Mike Fenn offer their thoughts about the Feast of St. Francis. Please share your thoughts and reflections.

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Matthew 11: 25-30

At that time Jesus said in reply, "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.

Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light”

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By Dan Riley, OFM

Reflecting with Mike Fenn I think of how so many of us might consider ourselves clever and well educated. Francis did not see himself that way, but he certainly understood himself as a “child of God.”

Occasionally we might hear someone speak of hoping for or espousing “a new world order,” “a new consciousness.” We roll our eyes, don’t we sometimes not in wonderment, but I would suggest in judgment. Ironically … tragically, the judgment is actually on ourselves.

Jesus, the Christ, is the new consciousness and he has ushered in a whole new world order … truly a wonderment to behold. It is only as a child, “child like,” that we are able to see that we wonder more than worry and behold rather than shut down or close out this most amazing “new.” With all that is going on and the pain within our families and our country, this promise is at our door, invites us to open up the eyes of our hearts.

As Jesus says, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father.” He also instructs us to say, “OUR FATHER!” All of us are children and we have a new life for us to live as we choose not to roll our eyes, but open our eyes to this new order, this new reign, this Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Even as we might be gripped by a sense of powerlessness or with tragedy in the midst of ourselves, a new hope wants to blossom, a hope only a child could see, a hope we are invited to see as children of the same God. A whole new order wants to break out on the place and the feeling of powerlessness. It is the power of God’s reign which only comes to children, to the child like. I dare say that it is the “plenty” that we only sense when we feel empty. It is the hopelessness that carves at our hearts at times that opens us space for the light to break in.

The reflection of Mike recalls for us now, as brothers and sisters, the risk of believing that there is One who calls us from our labor and our burdens to find rest, the arms of a loving God and in a family of faith. Especially when we feel we carry the burden of the world, Christ asks us “to take my yoke upon you and learn from me.” The One who is “meek and humble” is also the One who empowers us in the conversion of our hearts and the change in our world.

Let us risk, then, seeing as children on this Feast of our little brother Francis and work for it as grown-ups, brother and sisters, who share this re-newed consciousness. Let us step up and step out risking, as a child, to believe that Jesus means each of us when he says, “Come to me … my yoke is easy … my burden light.”

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By Mike Fenn

As I reflected over this reading and what is going on in the world today, I thought about the uncertainty our country faces, and the anxiety that coincides with this. Seemingly the past two national elections couldn’t have been more divisive, yet once again we face polarizing alternatives, with partisans on either side perceiving doom and gloom if their choice doesn’t get elected. In the personal finance sector, there’s been a jolt to the fundamental structure of our economy that my generation has never experienced before. In times like these, I find it impossible not to think about the worst case scenarios, and how I will support my family if those circumstances arise.

It is easy to withdraw and want to insulate ourselves from the risk of the world, taking care of only those we care for the most, while we try to make sense of all this from “the wise and the learned” on Fox News, or CNBC.

Opportunities such as these shared reflections help me break away from this cocooning instinct, and to ask how Francis would behave in such times. We know the world Francis lived in was a time of turmoil as well. The middle class was slowly forming, with the world predominantly made up from the wealthy and the poor.

Yet while Francis chose to turn away from a life of riches, he did not focus on two classes of haves and have-nots, or party affiliations of Democrats and Republicans. Francis followed the words of Christ that taught we all called to be brothers and sisters with one another and nothing more.

If our political and business leaders behaved in this manner, I wonder how much worse off we would be?

In these times of volatility and confusion I find great joy from a God Who implores me that revelation comes from behaving like a child, and great solace from my troubles when Jesus reminds me that “All who labor or are burdened, I will give you rest.”

(Post a comment below to share your thoughts.)

(Mt. Irenaeus Web Site)