All Saints

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/239615,pope-celebrates-all-saints-day.html

One of the sanest, surest and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others. —John Rutledge

The Treasures of Poverty

Today is the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Even if you are not Catholic, or if you have lost touch with your Catholic roots, it is highly unlikely that you have not come across this holy saint whose life of poverty has touched the imaginations and hearts of countless souls.

He was idealistic. 

He was radical.

He was a rebel.

Yet he was also humble, obedient and faithful.

What is it about this little poverello that crosses religious divides and inspires people of all faiths?

For me, it has always been his love of poverty. Francesco Bernardone came from a well-to-do merchant family. His father was intent on accumulating money, and instilled these ideals in Francesco from an early age. As the future saint grew into adulthood, he was charming and lovable, yet reckless in his pursuits of pleasure. In other words, he liked to party.

But through a succession of experiences, he experienced a conversion so strong that he renounced his former way of life and began to live as a poor beggar.

Of course, he was mocked as though he had become a madman, but in time his sanctity and great joy began to attract followers. By the end of his life he had countless thousands of friars who were attempting to place their footsteps in his own gigantic ones.

Francis’ love of poverty was a radical acceptance of the biblical call to poverty. He understood such verses as the one found in Matthew 6:20; But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Both Christ and Francis recognized that when a person seeks solely to gain for him or herself, that person is not truly gaining. It may appear that they are on the outside, but within the secret recesses of their hearts and minds, they are loosing.

In Matthew 16:25, Christ said, ”For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever desires to lose his life for My sake shall find it.” 

The parallel that Christ was drawing seems to be the contrast between selfish gain and selfless giving. In any area of our lives where we seek only for ourselves, intent on self-preservation of our “life”, physical or spiritual, we are bound to ultimately loose. We are not acting as givers, but takers, and as a result our souls become closed and focused only on ourselves. We dwindle into selfishness and eventually an interior death. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

Today our economy is faltering. Are we on the verge of loosing everything? Many are afraid, some are perhaps panicked. And yet, if you speak to any homeless person, or any human being who is truly poor spiritually, will you find concern? Probably not. Those people, with or without possessions, know that they have nothing which can be lost by an economic landslide. Their treasure is not of this earth, but is within. 

Perhaps on this day of October 4, as Catholics around the world celebrate the feast of the lover of the poor, St Francis, and the stock market dangles on the edge of catastrophe, it would do us well to consider our own attitude to poverty in our spiritual lives. 

Are we seeking only treasures on earth, which could be lost in a flash, or are we gathering spiritual treasures for heaven? Are we self-seeking or selfless? Do we seek to take or do we seek to give?

And let us contemplate the words of Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” For those who give all may appear to have nothing left, but in their spiritual poverty they gain a kingdom!

 

Prayer of St Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.”

If you have not seen the movie, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, I highly recommend it. Although it can be a bit sentimental and has a few cringe moments, it is a wonderfully inspirational movie and one of my favorites. Here is a link to a brief clip from the film:

 

New Beginnings

A new site is born.

Yet its existence had been growing within my mind long before this. Although I have had other blogs, they lacked direction. Purpose.

This blog has a direction, as well as a purpose.

I believe that over the past few years I have been learning a very important lesson. I have suffered, struggled, been brought to tears, and forced to be courageous. And along the way, a theme has begun to emerge – human life is sacred. 

Dignified.

This is a thought that seems as if it should stem from fundamental common sense. But I know all to well that “common sense” can so easily become lost in the blur that is often life, or trampled upon by the harsh realities that surround us on a daily basis. And as a result this truth can so easily be lost or forgotten.

It is therefore my intention in creating this blog to share my message with anyone who is interested in listening. It is a message that contains nothing new, but it is my hope that my words and thoughts can somehow keep that spark of truth alive, perhaps fanning it into the flames of knowledge and life-affirming action.

It is my desire to call others to the remembrance of their own humanity and the inherent sacredness that dwells within, providing a source of inspiration when that providential beauty can seem so completely lost or wearied at the end of the day.

It is my desire to help make certain that our humanity is remembered.