We live in Hawaii, so the stanza on Brother Wind is particularly meaningful for us here. We are blessed to have the trade winds, which Hawaii is well-known for and which we experience very often in profound and beautiful ways.
“May the Lord give you peace.” We are minstrels of the Lord, singing joy into joyless hearts. We listen to the voice of the Lord; we discern His life-giving Word; we go forth to be imitations of what is coming—the reign of God’s peace with abiding justice for all.
The Holy Spirit is always attentive within us; are we listening? Relationships are built on open hearts and trust. The Spirit empowers Jesus to be continually present in the world. God’s Spirit conceives Jesus, initiates his public ministry and sustains his Spiritual life.
In my life up to that point, I had not really internalized what appeared so obvious to St. Francis. When we gaze at the night sky and marvel at the self-evident hand of an amazing God, we are more than spectators. As we work in the name of Jesus, His co-eternal Son, to bring peace and justice and human dignity to this temporal world, we take our place in the great dance.
In confessing Jesus’ identity, Peter confessed his own. The Lord wanted nothing less from Peter than perfect conformity with Himself: “Another will bind you (as they did Me) and take you where you would not go.”
For Francis, the Eucharist is the primary way in which he sees Christ’s continuing Incarnation in the world, the complete self-emptying of Christ.
When I think about these events, I remember the amazing natural wonder of the eclipse and seeing the sun’s corona, but each one of these events was a time of human togetherness and shared experience. ... I think St. Francis would approve the idea of praising the glory of God’s creation with family, friends, and anyone else in the vicinity!
The first time I was introduced to the “Canticle of the Creatures,” I was easily captivated by its seemingly all-encompassing spirit of joy and praise of our good God. Without knowing Francis’ story well nor the context of this canticle’s writing, I imagined him frolicking through a vast field of flowers on a bright summer’s day, without a care in the world. Yes, a moment when the true blessings of the Lord can be so obvious, even to the most tepid of believers. What was this setting of inspiration? What treasure could so captivate St. Francis?
“Fear and honor, praise and consecrate, thank and adore the omnipotent Lord God in the Trinity and in the Unity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, creator of all things.” (From the Earlier Rule)
St. Margaret of Cortona Region of the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS) is eagerly preparing to welcome brothers and sisters from across the country Sept. 9-13, for the upcoming National Chapter gathering.