Montecasale; Ah, Contemplazione!

Peace and Good!

I was sitting on the top of the mountain above the friary at Montecasale, admiring the beautiful view and the Creator of it all. I had been pretty much alone the entire afternoon, but as I sat on a log I saw a man approaching, with a hiking staff. With my little Italian and his little English, our conversation was short. We admired the view and the beauty, but when he saw I was a friar he said to me, respectfully, “Ah, contemplazione!” and smiling turned to leave me to my prayers.
What a great gift, to have someone understand the need for quiet prayer on the mountaintop, and to respect it. Sometimes it seems that what people want to do in this world is save themselves and others from silence. There are times when we can and should use our voices in the great gift of communication God has given us. At times a kind word or interested conversation is a gift to another. But, there are also times when we need to encourage one another in entering into the silence. The Church has always stressed that even in its communal prayer periods of silence are not only recommended, but a necessary part of the rhythm of prayer.
I think that is why Francis sought out such places and encouraged his friars to spend time in hermitages. To learn the gift of silence, and, as importantly, to share the gift of silence among themselves and with others. It isn’t easy to be quiet, to learn to listen to God, to open one’s life to contemplation. It isn’t easy, but it is worth it.
Ah, contemplazione!

God bless you all.

Montecasale: Up (and Down) the Mountain

Peace and Good!

St. Francis learned to climb! I don’t know if he ever loved climbing, but he certainly didn’t shy away from it. Of course, part of that came from his own youth, growing up in Assisi, a city clinging to the mountainside. You can hardly go anywhere in town without either walking up or down a street, usually a steep one. Still, to reach some of the hermitages he frequented, like Montecasale, required the legs of an athlete and the agility of a mountain goat! St. Bonaventure said of him:
“It was a custom of the angelic man Francis never to rest from the good, rather, like the heavenly spirits on Jacob’s ladder, he either ascended into God or descended to his neighbor…he spent some of his time working for his neighbor’s benefit and dedicated the rest to the tranquil excesses of contemplation.” (Legenda Maior XIII.1)
As I climbed the mountain above the friary, I realized that it is good for us to not only ‘ascend’ to God with our minds, but to feel such an ascent in our bodies too. Climbing up the mountain was hard work, but worth it when the climb ends at the top, where there is beauty and tranquility. However, though I was tempted, like Peter, to pitch a tent up there, I couldn’t stay up on that mountain; I had to go back to be with the friars, to pray and eat and wash the dishes with them. Coming down the mountain physically was also an important experience, and a hint at what it meant when “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” We say that Jesus came down from heaven, for our sake. Francis experienced that in his soul and his body, and I think it helped teach him compassion and patience.

Montecasale: A Living Place of Prayer

Peace and Good! One of the blessings of making a retreat at Montecasale was being a part of the community of friars who live there. This place was kept as a Franciscan hermitage for many years after the death of Francis, then was left behind by the friars until the Capuchins came back in the 1500s. It is now a house of the Tuscan Province. There are four friars stationed there. The guardian, Fra Pio, has been there many years. While I was on retreat there, a friar from Nigeria, Fra Clemente, was helping for the summer.
It was a joy to rise each day and go to the small choir to pray the Divine Office with the friars, then to celebrate the Eucharist with them and the people who would come. The chapel is not very large, but is quite old and lovely. Keeping in the Franciscan tradition of simplicity, it is most wood and stone. There is an ancient statue of the Blessed Virgin and Child, reportedly brought to the friary by St. Francis himself.
What was wonderful was to live in such a place and know that it is still serving the same purpose it did in 1212, when Francis came there. It is still a place of quiet prayer and contemplation, and also of welcome. Pilgrims who come are invited to spend time in prayer in the chapel, in the woods, or sitting out on the terrace enjoying the spectacular view of the valley below. The spirit of prayer is still alive in the world, and the need for it is still calling people.
Montecasale reminds me that we have to look at our past not as in a museum, but as a living part of who we are. Also, that those who have gone before us have shared with us wisdom from God about the meaning of human life and activity.
God bless!

A Retreat at Montecasale

Peace and Good!

It was a great blessing to be able to make a retreat at the hermitage of Montecasale before the recent pilgrimage.

This is a place of prayer cared for by the Capuchin Franciscan friars since the 16th century. It was one of Saint Francis’s favorite places to stay and spend time in prayer. Like most of the places he chose for this, it is high up on a mountainside, outside the ancient town of (Borgo) Sansepolcro. Also like most of the places we associate with him, this was a place of prayer before Francis of Assisi ever arrived. It had served as a hermitage and hospice and was given by the Camaldolese monks to Francis and his followers as early as 1212 or 1213. It is associated with several stories about St. Francis, including his conversion of the three thieves and the incident of planting cabbages upside down. I will reflect on these later.
Montecasale is a relatively small hermitage. Unlike some of the other places where Francis stayed, such as the La Verna or Le Celle, a large complex never grew up here. The friary is bigger than it was when he was here, but it is still small and simple. While it is visited by pilgrims, it is less crowded usually than La Verna or such sacred spots. This makes it still a wonderful place to make a retreat. It is set up on a mountainside, amid a lovely forest. It is said that not only St. Francis, but also St. Anthony and St. Bonaventure spent time here in prayer and reflection. It was an honor and blessing to be able to do the same.

I hope to reflect on Montecasale and Francis for the next few entries, then move on to other sites from the pilgrimage.

God bless and keep you!

A Few More Photos

Pace e Bene!





The basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome, and the town of Bagnoregio, where St. Bonaventure was born.
God bless you!

The Clay God Uses: St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Peace and Good!
While on pilgrimage in Italy, I reflected on how at times Francis felt a longing to stay up in the mountains as a contemplative, and how hard it was for him to guide his order as it grew so quickly. Yet, he couldn't escape the fact that God called him to interact with others, to use his amazing talents for good. The same thing was true of St. Bernard. He complains at times about how all he wants to be is a simple monk, and yet how often he ends up caught up in the needs of the Church of his day. He and Francis both had to differentiate between what they wanted and what was the true desire of their heart. That true desire is what God planted in them and called them to.
And that is what we all have to seek: to live our true heart's desire. We have to remember, too, that following it will not always be easy or even, ironically, feel 'desirable.' The rich young man in the gospel felt a great desire, but when Jesus told him how he could pursue it, he went away sad.
May God give us courage not to go away sad, but to follow in the footprints of Jesus, with the help of Mary, Francis, and Bernard.

(Here are a few photos from Assisi)



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Profession

Pace e Bene! Still adjusting to the change of time, and still amazed at the blessings of the pilgrimage. Today three brothers will be making their solemn vows as Capuchin Franciscans. Each one is a great gift from God. God bless and keep you all!

Back from Italy

Peace and Good! We've returned from the pilgrimage. It was a most amazing and blessed time. I hope to begin reflections in a few days. Meanwhile, here's a photo of Assisi I took on this trip. God bless!

The Clay God Uses: Joachim and Ann

Pace e Bene! We are at the ancient Capuchin Franciscan friary at Camerino. This is a wonderful feast day, to thank God for all who made up the family of Jesus. Mary's parents must have been special, to raise so special a daughter. May God bless and keep you always!

In Italy

Pace e Bene! Here in the far mountains of the Marches of Ancona, in Camerino at one of the earliest Capuchin friaries. Rome was great, thought hot and sticky. I am praying for everyone. Pray for me. God bless!

Pilgrimage

Peace and Good! I am currently helping with a pilgrimage in Italy. A group of friars will visit Assisi and other Franciscan sites. I look forward to sharing more musings on my return (after Aug. 15). Pray for us. God bless.

The Clay God Uses: Benedict

Peace and Good! As he would have liked, most people know about St. Benedict through his Rule and the many monasteries who still follow it. Benedict never wanted to point to himself, but to Christ. Ironically, his humility ensured him a place in history. The same for St. Francis. I read somewhere: "There is no limit to the good you can do, if you don't care who gets the credit for it." Benedict and Francis would agree.
God bless you!

Independence and Freedom

Peace and Good!
Today in the United States what we celebrate officially is our independence from England. However, we also use this day to mark our values, especially freedom, liberty, justice for all. It’s good to reflect on these things in our relationship with God as well as with others.
In regard to God, we can never be independent. Our very existence depends on God, so being independent would mean not existing, certainly not a desirable end. Scripture tells us, too, that we may never be independent of God’s love: God is love, John says. So the Lord does not give us the gift of independence. However, He does give us the gift of freedom. We can choose freely to be what we are made to be. We can choose freely to accept joyfully the love of God. Our faith tells us that such freedom is at the basis of human life, and of human dignity.
This dignity is why, in regard to other people, we speak of independence and dependence. Here, too, there is no such thing as absolute independence from others. In life in so many ways we depend on others, they depend on us. That’s part of how God made us.
However, we do need a certain amount of independence from others, if we are to be open to choose to be what God has made us to be. Others can help us discern God’s will, but no human being can tell us absolutely who we are. To listen to God we have to have a certain independence from others.
St. Elizabeth of Portugal, a saint celebrated today, is a good example of this. She was a queen, and accepted that role. However, she interpreted that role independently, in freedom. Following the example of her great-aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, she thought that a queen ought to reach out and help the poor, even to the point of serving them at table and washing their feet. People at court told her this was no way for a queen to act and that she should stop, but she was independent of their opinion, in her desire to be free to do what God called her to do.
We find this in the life of St. Francis. He was very obedient, open to listening to God’s will through the Church and his brothers. On the other hand, he was independent in seeking to live his vocation within the Church, rejecting the calls of others who told him he should abandon his project and simply fit into the established system of religious life. His genius was to balance dependence and independence. He was able to do this, I think, because he was open to learning true freedom, freedom to be loved by God and become that love in the world.
Happy Independence Day! God bless America, and every nation and people in the world!

Doubter?

Peace! I've read a few blogs today on St. Thomas. Yes, he doubted. Yes, he needed Jesus to booster his faith. But why is that the only thing we remember about him? Earlier in the Gospel of John (11:16), when the other disciples try to keep Jesus from returning to Judea because of the hostility, John tells us:

"Then Thomas (the name means 'Twin') said to his fellow disciples: "Let us go along, to die with him.'"

Brave Thomas, complete with his doubt.

Conversion is, to remember a very old song, to 'accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and forget about ol' mister in between.' Thomas, with God's help, overcame his skepticism and accepted bravely his mission to preach the Gospel and even suffer death because of it. Thank you, St. Thomas.

God bless and keep you!

God and the Unlikely: Peter and Paul, Francis and Clare

Peace! This is the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. I often reflect on how God brings together unlikely pairings. Simon the Fisherman from Galilee (Peter) and Saul the Pharisee from Tarsus, Roman citizen (Paul) had little in common and would probably not have never met or put up with each other: except for what--or better, who--they had in common: Jesus Christ. What wonders God does with the glue of love and faith! It's the same with Francis and Clare: the rambunctious son of a merchant would never have had much of a chance to talk with, let alone be friends with a noble daughter like Clare (despite what some movies want you to believe). She had no reason to trust him (after all, he and his faction had driven her family out of Assisi when she was very young) and he had no reason to expect anything much from her (as an aristocrat representative of the old order). Yet, they met: in Jesus Christ, in faith and charity. And look what God did for both of them and for the world through them.

So, as we walk, let us look for God in the most unexpected places, and especially in the most unexpected persons.

Peter and Paul, Francis and Clare, pray for us!

God Uses Clay: St. Irenaeus

Peace and Good!

Many of the early heresies in the Church rejected the Old Testament. They considered it too messy, both in the actions of the people involved and the images of God they found there. Yet, the Church held onto the Old Testament as a vital part of the scriptures, both fulfilled in the Gospels and illuminating them.


St. Irenaeus had to fight against an understanding of faith that was too cerebral: the Gnostics, who proposed that salvation involved 'knowing (gnosis)' and escape from the flesh. Yet, the Word becoming flesh is central to the Gospel message. Irenaeus knew that, and fought to articulate a theology which did not ignore sin, but more importantly did not try to explain away the Incarnation nor the redemption of the body.


Christian conversion is a balancing act, recognizing the reality of sin but in the context of the goodness of all creation, including the body. Weak was we are, balancing these two things is not always easy. Francis himself struggled with it. How to be austere so as to grow in grace, not become some disembodied ghost. Part of his secret was to begin always with praise of God and the goodness of creation. All creation: the sun and the moon, as well as the rocks and the worms and even that part of creation we flee: death. Sister Death.


I conclude with a beautiful quote from St. Irenaeus' Against Heresies:

Since you are the work of God, wait patiently for the hand of your Artist, who does all things at the right time. Present to him a supple and docile heart, and keep the form that this Artist gave you, having in yourself the water that comes from him and without which you would become hard and would reject the imprint of his fingers.By letting yourself be formed by him, you will rise to perfection, for through this art of God, the clay that is in you will be hidden; his hand created your substance… But if you become hard and push away his art and show that you are discontent with the fact that he made you a human being, by your ingratitude towards God you will have rejected not only his art but life itself; for it is the very nature of God’s goodness to form, and to be formed is the very nature of being human. Thus, if you give yourself to him by giving him your faith in him and your submission, you will receive the benefit of his art and you will be God’s perfect work. If on the contrary, you resist him and if you flee from his hands, the cause of your incompleteness will be in yourself who did not obey, and not in him. (Against the Heresies IV, Pr 4; 39,2)

God bless you!

Birth of John the Baptist

Peace!

This is an ancient feast in the Church. (Note that the celebration of John's birth, sixth months before Jesus', falls on June 24, because in the old way of reckoning, each feast is six days before the beginning of the next month.)

This day is important for all the Church in remembering John, and more importantly, God's work through John. The readings all speak of God knowing and acting from his birth, and even from before his birth, when he was in the womb. Actually, from the moment of his conception. God works in all of us from that moment, for life is a continual gift.

It is interesting that in the debate over the use of embrionic stem cells, the Church's opposition is considered part of being 'anti-science.' But it's just the opposite: the oppostion comes because of what science tells us: that even the single cell produced by the union of a sperm and an egg contains all the DNA information for a complete and unique individual person! In earlier times they did not know that, and discussed when an embryo or a fetus was 'quickened,' i.e., when it received its soul. Yet now, we know that the 'human-ness' of each person goes all the way back to conception. Science tells us that, yet some choose to ignore it.

The feast of the Birth of John the Baptist is also significant for Franciscans, because that is Francis's baptismal name: Giovanni Battista. His father later made everyone call him Francesco, "Frenchy." This was probably because a cloth merchant didn't think it appropriate for his son to be named after a man who wore camel's hair! Francis didn't seem to live up to his patron saint at first, but his life showed that he was more like the Baptist than anyone would have guessed.

May John the Baptist help us to witness to Christ, to follow him, and to live our vocation to love as God loves, a vocation given to every one of us from the moment of our conception.

God bless!

The Clay God Uses: Anthony of Padua

Peace and Good!
At the Basilica of Anthony of Lisbon (he was Portuguese, though he died and was buried in Italy) in Padua, one of the major relics on display is Anthony’s tongue, a reminder of his great ministry of preaching. Anthony would probably think this very appropriate because, while the tongue is used in speech, in itself it is just a muscle, with no power to make a sound or communicate anything. The tongue needs the breath from the lungs and the vibrations from the vocal chords.

So the preacher does not give his own message, but has to open himself to the action of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Word of God. Yet, just as the tongue is important in forming words, so the preacher is called to use his gifts to share the Word of God with the men and women.
St. Anthony used the science and culture of the thirteenth century to communicate to others the Gospel message, but always grounded himself in prayerful contemplation of that message first. In this he followed the example of St. Francis while also showing a different aspect of Franciscan ministry.
May he help us today, to live and proclaim the Gospel, to be the tongue giving voice to the Word of the Lord in the Spirit.
God bless!

The Clay God Uses: Barnabas

Peace and Good! A wonderful trait of St. Barnabas seems to have been his ability to see potential in people. It was he, the Acts of the Apostles tells us (12:25-26), who went to Tarsus to seek Saul to help with the wonderful work of the Spirit in Antioch. The other Christians had sent Saul, the former persecutor, away to Tarsus and seemingly forgot about him, perhaps even still suspicious of his conversion. But Barnabas saw his potential, which he wonderfully encouraged. (His name, after all, means 'son of encouragement.' Acts 4:36)

It is interesting that later in Acts he and Saul (now Paul) have an argument about his young cousin John Mark, who had abandoned them earlier Acts 15:36-39). Barnabas saw the potential in the young man and argued strongly that he deserved another chance. Paul disagreed, and in the end they parted. In this matter Barnabas was wiser, for John Mark is usually identified with the author of the Gospel of Mark. So Barnabas' encouragement was wise.

I think of Francis encouraging others to the gospel life. Some of them, perhaps, would not have seemed to be very good material. His prejudices would have warned him that Clare and Rufino were nobles and too used to an easy life. But he saw in them great potential, and encouraged it.

I pray that St. Barnabas will both encourage us in our own lives and vocations, and help us to discern the good in others and the possibilities in them for God's grace to work.

(The painting is of Paul and Barnabas is Lystra Acts. 14)

God bless!

The Patience of Tobit?

Peace and Good!
Yesterday's reading from the book of Tobit included a scene where the blind Tobit was told by his wife that a goat he heard was a gift: Yet I would not believe her, and told her to give it back to its owners. I became very angry with her over this. So she retorted: “Where are your charitable deeds now?Where are your virtuous acts? See! Your true character is finally showing itself!” (Tobit 2:14)

This reminded me of a saying of St. Francis: "Blessed are the peacemakers, since they shall be called sons of God" (Mt 5:9). The servant of God cannot know how much patience and humility he has in himself, while he is satisfied. However when the time has come, that those who ought to satisfy him, do the contrary to him, as much patience and humility as is there then, that much he has and not more. (Admonition 13)

Times of trial, problems and difficulties can bring out the worst in us. But this, too, is a blessing from God, because the faults revealed have been there all along. Once we see and recognize them, however, we can ask God's help to be converted from them and grow in grace and wisdom. The temptation is always to ask, "Why is this happening to me, Lord?" But it would be better to ask: "What are you teaching me through this, Lord? How can I grow in Your love and learn to glorify You in my littleness."

That is what Francis learned to do. It does not make our pain go away, but it helps us to know that Jesus Christ walks with us through our pain and wants to lead us through it on the way to salvation. A hard lesson at times, but another grace of the Gracious One.

God bless!