Epitaph

... his whole life with its undeniably grotesque touches, the same life which was spent not only in tears over the world's trespasses but in laughter and delight at the world's beauty, the life spent in conviction that the love of God was a simplicity and a necessity.

- about St. Francis of Assisi 

Somewhere

If you're not convinced, respect your doubts.

-Edith Stein

In Life

All that's not given is lost.

- Hasari Pal, City of Joy

Spirit which gives life

Nature

For a tree there is a hope, 

if it be cut down, that it will sprout again  

and that its tender shoots will not cease.

-Job 14:7

Life

Because we have been sent into the world as a "people for life," our proclamation must also become a genuine celebration of the gospel of life....For this to happen, we need first of all to foster, in ourselves and in others, a contemplative outlook. Such an outlook arises from faith in the God of life, who has created every individual as a "wonder" (cf. Ps 139:14). It is the outlook of those who see life in its deeper meaning, who grasp its utter gratuitousness, its beauty and its invitation to freedom and responsibility.It is the outlook of those who do not presume to take possession of reality but instead accept it as a gift, discovering in all things the reflection of the Creator and seeing in every person his living image (cf. Gn 1:27; Ps 8:5). This outlook does not give in to discouragement when confronted by those who are sick, suffering, outcast or at death's door. Instead, in all these situations it feels challenged to find meaning, and precisely in these circumstances it is open to perceiving in the face of every person a call to encounter, dialogue and solidarity.It is time for all of us to adopt this outlook, and with deep religious awe to rediscover the ability to revere and honor every person.

St. John Paul II, The Gospel of Life (#83)

For love's sake...

At Thessalonika the early Christians were described as the men who had "turned the world upside down". Whatever was meant by this phrase, it would certainly apply to St. Francis, for he reversed all the usual values and lived in what might almost be called a "looking-glass" world in which the things most to be desired were things like poverty and contempt, cold and hunger, suffering and death. Well might one say that Francis "turned the world and its standards upside down". But which is the right way up?

-John R. H. Moorman, Saint Francis of Assisi 

Tenderness

He spared lanterns, lamps, and candles unwilling to use his hand to put out their brightness which is a sign of the eternal light. He walks reverently over rocks, out of respect for Him who is called the Rock... 

When the brothers are cutting wood he forbids them to cut down the whole tree, so that it might have hope of sprouting again... 

Even for worms he had a warm love, since he had read this text about the Savior: I am a worm and not a man. That is why he used to pick them up from the road and put them in a safe place so that they would not be crushed by the footsteps of passerby.

... 

Whenever he found an abundance of flowers, he used to preach to them and invite them to praise the Lord, just as if they were endowed with reason.

That the bees not perish of hunger in the icy winter, he commands that honey and the finest wine be set out for them. 

He calls all animals by a fraternal name, although, among all kinds of beasts, he especially loves the meek.

- Thomas of Celano, The Life of Saint Francis. 

Tabernacles

by Graziano Marcheschi

It happened fast.

A feeble-brained innocent,

    refugee from half-way spaces, moving at the wrong time:

    the Bread raised high,

    the Cup engaged in mystery,

    and he chooses this time to change his seat

    from one church side to the other.

    For a moment his head blocks the view

    Of bread yielding to miracle.

    For a moment his face and the bread are one.

    The words spoken over broth.

    Then hands shake, extending proper peace;

    cheeks meet,

    words wish a peace the world has never tasted.

    He stares, like a dog offered too many bones at once,

    and accepts only one hand's greeting.

    Next comes procession to his first meal of the day

    as faces clearly wonder if he understands what this is all about.

    He takes the proffered piece of pita

        in this most post-Vatican assembly

    and stops.

    Momentarily thrown by this bread with pockets,

    he's oh-so-gently reassured that it's quite all right to eat.

    He takes

    and green teeth masticate the Body of Christ.

    Then he reaches for the syrupped goodness of the cup

    (Just three sips after him I debate the wisdom of changing lines.)

    His puffed-cheek mouthful nearly drains the cup.

    (I almost wish he had so I wouldn't need to tell myself I won't catch some disease.)

    And then

    (I knew it!)

    he coughs

    and sends forth a rosy mist

    that sprays Divinity onto the floor.

    A rainbow comes and goes in that unexpected spray

    as gasps are quelled in forty throats.

    He clamps his mouth with leaky hands

    looking like child

    trying to keep a pricked balloon from bursting.

    Unslackened, the line moves on

    and Divinity is trampled by shod feet

    till pure white linen,

        ----bleached and starched----

    in fervent hands that won't permit impiety,

    drinks the pink God from the floor.

    In a corner he sits alone

    in rapt humiliation.

    When someone asks, "Are you O.K.?"

    he quickly shows his palms and says,

    "I didn't wipe them on my dirty pants, I didn't.

    I rubbed them hard together, see?"

    and he demonstrates, with insect frenzy, how he used friction

    to evaporate the spilled God from his hands.

    Oh, what a cunning God who tests our faith

    by hiding in green-teethed

    tabernacles

    to see how truly we believe

    in the miracle of real presence.

Deed

...all that the Lord had revealed to him, saying to them that no one in this world ought to be despised, let him be a thief, or an actor on the stage, or one that tilled the ground and was bound to a wife, or was a merchant and served a trade: for in every condition of human life there are souls that please God and have their hidden deeds wherein he takes delight; whence is it plain that it is not so much profession or habit that is pleasing to God as the sincerity and affection of soul and honesty of deed. And when he had spoken thus about each in turn, he gave up his spirit.

- Abba Paphnutius, History of the Monks of Egypt

The Spirit brings life

We need to rediscover a contemplative spirit, so that the love of God may warm our hearts.

- Pope Francis

Confession

"I'd love to see this place at dawn," Myra said suddenly. "That is always such a forgiving time. When that first cold, bright streak comes over the water, it's as if all our sins were pardoned; as if the sky leaned over the earth and kissed it and gave it absolution."

-- Willa Cather, My Mortal Enemy