St Francis and ''Babe of Bethlehem"

St Francis at Greccio

Pope Benedict gave over much of his homily at Christmas Midnight Mass to a beautiful reflection on the St Francis' "first crib" at Greccio.

"Christmas is an epiphany – the appearing of God and of his great light in a child that is born for us. Born in a stable in Bethlehem, not in the palaces of kings. In 1223, when Saint Francis of Assisi celebrated Christmas in Greccio with an ox and an ass and a manger full of hay, a new dimension of the mystery of Christmas came to light. Saint Francis of Assisi called Christmas “the feast of feasts” – above all other feasts – and he celebrated it with “unutterable devotion” (2 Celano 199). He kissed images of the Christ-child with great devotion and he stammered tender words such as children say, so Friar Thomas of Celano tells us. 

Francis discovered Jesus’ humanity in an entirely new depth. This human existence of God became most visible to him at the moment when God’s Son, born of the Virgin Mary, was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. For God’s Son to take the form of a child, a truly human child, made a profound impression on the heart of the Saint of Assisi, transforming faith into love. 'The kindness and love of God our Saviour for mankind were revealed' – this phrase of Saint Paul now acquired an entirely new depth. In the child born in the stable at Bethlehem, we can as it were touch and caress God.

This has nothing to do with sentimentality. It is right here, in this new experience of the reality of Jesus’ humanity that the great mystery of faith is revealed. Francis loved the child Jesus, because for him it was in this childish estate that God’s humility shone forth. God became poor. His Son was born in the poverty of the stable. In the child Jesus, God made himself dependent, in need of human love, he put himself in the position of asking for human love – our love. Today Christmas has become a commercial celebration, whose bright lights hide the mystery of God’s humility, which in turn calls us to humility and simplicity. Let us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light."

Earthenware Vessels

Our Christian life is such a paradox.

On the one hand, at times so painfully aware of our failures and sin. On the other hand, already, in our union with the Lord, sharers in his fullness.

Paul expresses this fundamental paradox in an enduring image: “We are only earthenware jars that hold this treasure.”  We seem so ordinary, made of the dust of the earth, and our bodies will return one day to that dust. And yet, and yet, this human vessel is breathed into by God, filled with his life. We have been bestowed with a divine wealth and beauty we have not even begun to understand.

St Francis understood that holding in delicate balance the full truth of who we are is the way to live Spirit-filled, Spirit-guided lives. This means acknowledging I am an earthenware vessel with nothing to boast of, but also rejoicing that I carry a precious treasure, everything has already been given to me in Christ.

In my experience many don’t get that balance right. The most common fault is to be so aware of failings, sins, and mistakes - just how cracked, chipped, and broken the vessel is - that there is no recognition of, no delight in the splendour that is ours by the gift of God.

Franciscans With No Nostalgia!

One of the risks in trying to live the Christian life as a Franciscan friar is indulging in a form of Romanticism about St Francis and the ''Franciscan Spring". This can lead to a certain nostalgia about the past, and a failure to see how God is working just as definitely in our own day.

Eight hundred years is a long time. Franciscans can look back with thanksgiving for the grace of God manifested in our story. But the story goes on and we are invited to continue that open-ended story. What was once, cannot be relived.

We are faced with our own choices and decisions. We cannot afford a rose-tinted nostalgia for the past. Our time is as much a time of the Holy Spirit as any previous age. So to copy slavishly the ways and methods of the past is to fail the people and Church of our day.

We want to go into the future with fire not with ashes. We are not caretakers of a Franciscan museum. Francis himself gives us this freedom. At the end of his life he told his brothers: “I have done what was mine to do – may Christ teach you yours.”

Pause as Autumn Begins

The schools have reopened, full work schedules have begun, and the leaves are displaying their glory before sinking to earth.

St Francis constantly said: "Let us begin again!"

The beginning of Autumn can be a moment to pause, review our lives with a gentle gaze and recognise what choices, what possibilities lie before us. 

Sarah Ban Breathnach writes in Simple Abundance:

 "It seems to me that January resolutions are about will; September resolutions are about authentic wants.... The beauty of autumnal resolutions is that no one else knows we're making them. Autumnal resolutions don't require singing, confetti and champagne. September resolutions ask only that we open to positive change."

As the year moves on, the days slip by, what positive change can I make?

Remembering September 11th - Francis shows us the Way

Friar Mychal Judge, Fire Department Chaplain, dies at the Twin Towers

As the world marks the tenth anniversary of September 11th, I share with you a reflection from American friar, Frank Jasper.

9/11/2001: Twenty friars gathered around Friar Gene Mayer’s six-inch television at Cenacle Retreat House in Chicago. We were trying to comprehend the tragedy that was playing out before our eyes. We were shocked and stunned, as was everyone in our country. That night Chicago was eerily quiet as I viewed the skyscrapers that I was so familiar with from my time there. I prayed for the victims, tried to imagine the extent of the devastation and wondered what would happen next.

St. Francis calls us to be peacemakers. But how can we take that stance in the face of such hatred, death and destruction? How can we hate the senseless tragedy without letting our reactions spill over to all Muslims? Francis showed us the way by crossing the enemy lines and meeting face-to-face with Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil. He forged a respectful relationship to avoid the violence of the Fifth Crusade. They parted with reverence for each other.

We are called to cross what some consider “enemy lines” to forge relationships with our brothers and sisters of the Islamic faith who acknowledge Abraham and Jesus as great prophets and Mary as a very special woman. We can avoid the stereotyping of Muslims as terrorists when we see they have the same dreams and desires as we have. We avoid violence by focusing on relationships, understanding and diplomacy.

As we observe the 10th anniversary of the tragedies of 9/11 in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, we pray along with St. Francis, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.”

The Right Questions are Keys

Asking the right questions is a basic element of the spiritual journey. Questions can be keys that open doors to our deepest truths and desires.

Though-provoking questions help me look honestly at the unknown and unresolved dimensions of my life now.

Jesus asked questions: What are you looking for?  Who do you say I am? Will you also go away?

In different ways St Francis constantly encouraged his followers to ask themselves what fills, guides, and governs my heart now?

Here are some of the questions that have helped me live life at a deeper level:

Given that spiritual growth is intentional, requiring energy and choice - am I will to pay the price for this growth?

What do I need to surrender in trust to God at this time?

What is keeping me from falling in love with my life now?

At this stage in my life what is it too late for, too soon for, just the right time for?

The right questions are keys that allow the secret doors to swing open leading to a deeper self-knowlege, to clearer insight into what n0w is hindering or helping me on the path of discipleship.

Drawing by Attraction

Last night I read an interview given by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, in the Guardian Weekend. Since taking on the role some nine years ago I have been impressed with him as a thoughtful man of faith.

He was asked about the current trend among militant atheists led by Richard Dawkins to attack vehemently the very notion of religion, the Christian faith in particular.  

In responding to this situation the archbishop does not set much store by confrontation. "Arguments have the role of damage limitation. The numbers of people who acquire faith by argument is actually rather small. But if people are saying stupid things about the Christian faith, then it helps to say, come on, that won't work.'

He has a fondness for quoting St Ambrose: 'It does not suit God to save his people by arguments.'  This echoes the guidance that Francis gives his friars in the Franciscan Rule. 

Francis wrote: 'I counsel, admonish and beg my brothers that, when they travel about the world, they should not be quarrelsome, dispute with words, or criticize others, but rather should be gentle, peaceful and unassuming, courteous and humble, speaking respectfully to all as is fitting.'

Francis gave this exhortation when the community of faith was struggling with various popular teachings that went counter to the Gospel. Good Catholics were expected to join in the fight!  But Francis had little trust in the power of argument to win hearts. Rather he called on people to live our faith in Christ with generous love.

In the end we must draw by attraction.

Gathering for Chapter

On Sunday 3 July over 90 Irish Franciscan friars will gather in Gormanston College, Co Meath, for our Provincial Chapter. This week-long gathering takes place every three years.  On Monday we elect the person who will lead us as Minister Provincial. Then we choose a Vicar Provincial and  Definitors, men who will assist the Provincial in his role.

During our time together we will reflect on the past three years, discuss the reality of the Church and society in Ireland today and, in light of that reality, plan for the future. It will be a full week. I am hoping the rain stays away so that we can get some fresh air between sessions walking the wonderful grounds.

The most positive part of the week  for me, I expect, will come from just being together. When we gather in such numbers there is a real sense of brotherhood - in the common prayer beautifully celebrated, and in the good craic,  lots of chat and banter.

We simply enjoy being together. Francis would be happy about that. He said the friars should love each other more than a mother loves her child since our bond is formed by our unity in the Spirit - we are brothers in the Lord. Looking back on his life the saint wrote: 'The Lord gave me brothers.'

So when the friars start gathering tomorrow from all over the country I know in faith these men are the brothers God's providence has chosen for me. It is God's call on our lives that unites us.

May the Spirit of the Lord be our light and encouragement during the coming days.

Trinity Sunday

The spirituality of  St Francis is deeply Trinitarian. His writings reveal a profound awareness of even now being immersed, sharing in the Communion that is God.

The grace of his baptism had come alive in Francis in his experience.  The same awakening of the gift  is offered to each of us.

So tomorrow's feast of the Holy Trinity is not meant as a theology lesson. It stirs up in us not only a spirit of awe and adoration before the Most High, but also confidence, assurance and joy in the God who has lifted us up into his own intimate fellowship.

The Spirit of God penetrates our most intimate personal depths. From there we can cry out in love and trust: 'Abba, dear Father.'  The Spirit places us within the very rhythm of the divine life, allowing us participate personally in the love that exist between the Father and the Son.

That is why love and prayer are going on in us, at the deepest level where our spirit has been touched and enlivened by the Holy Spirit. Our prayer can seem to us such a poor thing,  so distracted, so ‘unsuccessful’. But we do not see the reality. Our prayer is one with the communion of love between Jesus and the Father, this communion which is the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit becomes the soul of our soul, the most secret part of our being, from which rises unceasingly to God a movement of prayer.

I can see why Francis and the other saints keep reminding us: be careful that your understanding of the gift is not too small, your vision too limited, your hope too paltry.

The deepest things we need are not elsewhere. We  are in God; we live in God; we journey to God in God.