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Last night I went to St. Bonaventure's writings to see if this great saint had anything to say to what I was feeling. St. Bonaventure did not disappoint. Here is a passage from his, "The Tree of Life"
You also accompany him faithfully; and once regenerated in him,
explore his secrets so that on the banks of the Jordan you may discern the Father in the voice, the Son in the flesh and the Holy Spirit in the dove, and when the heaven of the Trinity is opened to you,
you will be taken up into God.
Through all the business and anxiety of the Season I know Jesus accompanied me. Feeling his presence has regenerated me, and through quiet meditation and prayer I do hear the Father's voice: "You are my beloved son and I am pleased with you."
May you know and feel Christ's presence as well; and may you hear the Father singing His love song to you...
for you are all loved by God and He is very pleased with you.
First and foremost, Happy New Year to all!
Another year of our Lord has gone by and the craziness of the"holidays" behind us. So, what now? Forget about making resolutions you will not keep.( funny, we make "resolutions" only to ironically be discouraged when we do not for fill them.) How about digging deeper?
In Henri J.M. Nouwen's book, " The Way to the Heart", Nouwen writes, " prayer is standing in the presence of God with the mind in the heart; that is, at that point of our being where there is no division or distinction and we are totally one." A very profound thought. We most often pray with our minds. Whether its the rosary or just simple prayer chatter, our hearts take a back seat to the din of our mind.
Francis, was a great example of praying from the heart. He emerged himself in living the gospel that he prayed with his heart. He was a living prayer! That is why he needed to remove himself from the world, to be one with God. How can we achieve this? How can we separate ourselves from our busy schedules and take time to be in the presence of God " with the mind in the heart?" it is not an easy task but it is certainly attainable.
If we can time to watch our favorite tv show, go to the movies or smoke a "a much needed" cigarette, etc., surely we can take the time for true prayer. If we resolve to stop looking out and instead look with in and persevere to pray with our hearts instead of our minds, then truly, like Francis we can walk in the footsteps of Christ and become a living prayer.
Peace
Frances
Obviously we cannot see Christ in someone's rage, selfishness, laziness, cruelty,stubbornness, etc. And since most of us have at least a smidgeon of all of these, is not this ideal of seeing Christ in others just that - an ideal, and a rather distant one at that?
We are sure that it is not an impossible ideal, but it remains the difficult virtue of the Christian life since it involves faith, forgiveness and a refusal to judge others.True love is not divisible. Genuine love of God implies love of neighbor and self; genuine love of neighbor and self can come only out of a love of a God. What we can see in our vindictive, inconsiderate, domineering neighbor (and in our own non-spotless selves) is a live image of God. We see a total person whom God loves as he is because that person, beneath the sin and ugliness, mirrors at least some of the attributes of God: He is free, intelligent, capable of the highest love. Even if that freedom has been enslaved or that intelligence is clouded by physical, emotional or moral obstacles, that person is at least like the song that waits to be released from the throat of a sleeping singer. We must never get the notion that God patronizes us, treats us as if we were worth loving when everyone knows that we are not. God does not pretend to do things half heartedly or officially. He takes every one of us seriously.
HUMAN AND DIVINE
We can say that Christ added new dignity to human nature by the union of the divine and the human. In the one person of Christ, human nature is inseparably and forever united to God. But perhaps it is equally important to say that Christ did not add anything to human nature; He made visible the love that had never changed. The first human beings were already loved with this love, and the theology of Duns Scotus holds that from eternity Christ was destined to be the head and center of the human race. And there is only one reason for this: because God is love. Every human being, therefore, is an it n measurably valuable friend of God, clothed in the love of God and marked with the most perfect visible sign of God's love -- a human nature like that of the Head of the human race. We are the unfinished children of God. He is working hard on us. He of course, has no difficulty in seeing the end-product He has in mind -- unique human beings, each as individual as their fingerprints -- and each bearing his or her family likeness to the first-born Son. We are not playing games when we speak of seeing Christ in others. In fact, it is only when we are playing games that seeing Christ in others can be meaningless pretense.
THE EXAMPLE OF FRANCIS
Some of the most charming stories about St. Francis spring out of his very real vision of Christ in others. He seems always to be giving away his cloak with a very vivid sense of giving it to Christ. Once, for instance, he heard of a poor woman who could not pay the medical expenses of medical treatment for her eyes. He called one of the brothers who was his Superior and said, "Brother Guardian, we have to pay back a loan." "What is the loan, Brother?" Francis answered, "This cape which we have borrowed from the poor sick woman. We must give it back to her." Wondering at St. Francis' faith the Superior said,"Brother, do as you think best." Then Francis, most pleased, called one of his friends and said: "Take this cloak and a dozen loaves of bread. Go to that poor woman and say to her, 'The poor man to whom you loaned this cloak thanks you for the loan. Take what is yours.'" The woman was at first suspicious, then surprise, then overjoyed. But she was careful to leave in the dead of night, lest this peculiar man change his mind. (Jorgensen)
GOD'S INTENTION
It is God's intention that every person we meet be with us in heaven, purified and glorious with intelligence balanced and brilliant, with love made Christ-like, and with a body radiant and perfect.
JUSTICE AND CHARITY
We can make two serious errors about justice and charity. First, we can think: that justice concerns what we must do for others, and charity is what we may do for them -- a sort of bonus virtue. Second, we can put justice in the category of things -- pay the money you owe -- and charity in the area of persons -- love your neighbor. This unfortunate divorce has led to monstrous consequences. It enabled us to be very honest -we could not think of stealing a dime -- and yet quite concerned about the fact that many of our brothers and sisters live in a state of perpetual deprivation of the most basic rights. Justice is impossible without love. Love is absolute and irreplaceable; all other virtues and practices must be expressions of it. If justice is to be a Christian value, it must be a justice of love, or it is no justice at all. It is important -- as just love or loving justice -- to pay debts and fulfill contracts. But there is an urgent need to be concerned about justice on a more basic level, particularly with a concern for the poor, the homeless, the unemployed, the illiterate, the handicapped, and those caught in the crossfire of domestic violence. The greatest injustice is perpetuated by institutions, the complex systems that have been devised. Injustice can be built into the very culture and social customs of a nation. Discriminative housing patterns are supported by people who want only what is best for their children and who want to maintain quality education. Deceit in government is approved by all who realize that "you have to cut a few corners to get someplace. " Trade agreements keep developing countries in a state of poverty because we must keep our economy healthy.
THE EXAMPLE OF FRANCIS
Most people would not immediately think of St. Francis as a social reformer, yet the Secular Franciscan Order itself was a great instrument of reform. No Secular Franciscan was allowed to bear arms to be used against any person. This was a deadly blow against a system of enforced military service whereby petty feudal lords could force their subjects into fighting their wars of conquest and revenge. At Faenza, for instance, many of the citizens had joined the Penitential
Brothers, as the Secular Franciscan Order was then called. When the mayor wished them to take the usual oath of obedience whereby they would oblige themselves to take up arms when "the authorities ordered it, they refused to swear (like our conscientious objectors) under the claim that to swear such an oath involved taking up arms, and that was against their Rule. The mayor tried to force the Brotherhood to take the oath, and apparently they turned in their need to Francis' friend, Cardinal Hugolin. The Pope then ordered the bishop to take the Penitential Brothers under
his protection. This dispute soon spread all over Italy. As a sort of punishment the cities subjected the Penitential Brothers to special taxes and forbade them to give their property to the poor. In a circular letter to all Italian bishops, the Pope ordered all the clergy to take the side of the Brothers against the public authorities. And so the Secular Franciscan Order brought about at least a partial disarming of the quarrelsome Italian republics. (Jorgensen, p. 203)
TODAY'S PROBLEMS
Secular Franciscans today may not have such a clear-cut choice as taking or rejecting military oath. But the fact that our problems are complex and emotional is no excuse for avoiding them. One of the biggest problems we have today is the drug problem. It is a moral problem because drug use breeds sin and crime. Usage is brought about by lack of self love. In dealing with family and friends there is something we can do by letting the love of Jesus shine through us. By letting others know how much they are loved. By teaching them to love themselves. Another problem that has never left Americans is racial prejudice. Christians should always work to combat this.
• THE GOSPEL
Justice is a matter of taking charity seriously. If we are with the Church as Francis was, then we will be challenged by the clear call to action given by Pope Paul and the bishops at the 1971 Synod: "Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel." In other words, action for justice is one of the elements that constitutes the proclamation of the Good News. If it is missing, the Gospel is crippled. Read more...
