Category: Franciscan

Posted on

Jesus The Refugee

A poem created from a ChatGPT prompt with an image from Stable Diffusion.

In shadows cast by desert suns,
A story of a journey begun.
Jesus walks the southern line,
A refugee seeking a hope divine.

Through arid plains, a dusty road,
He bears the weight of a heavy load.
Innocence draped in tattered shroud,
Seeking solace ‘neath the border’s shroud.

A humble child, a migrant’s tale,
His weary steps leave a dusty trail.
Seeking refuge, a haven to find,
In a world where compassion’s often confined.

No room at the inn, a familiar theme,
Yet echoes of love in the silent stream.
In the borderland where humanity meets,
Jesus walks, humility at his feet.

Strangers offer hands, hearts unfold,
A parable of compassion, untold.
Crossing borders, transcending fear,
In the embrace of love, redemption’s near.

Through the Rio Grande, a baptismal flow,
Jesus, the refugee, continues to grow.
In the desert’s heat and the border’s cold,
A timeless tale of love, forever told.

Posted on

Rethinking religion

Today’s edition of The Guardian had a lead article about how the religious right is fueling the decline of religion in America. I think that’s true but it goes deeper than that. While observing the Easter Vigil on Saturday night and listening to the readings from Genesis about how God created the world in seven days I was struck by how out of touch these readings are with what we know from modern science. I love the vigil service and always have because there is something very mystical and wonderful about it. Nonetheless, how can the church and Christendom in general still cling to a world view that clearly ancient.

Last fall I took a course at a local Christian college via Zoom. The focus of the course was on science and the Bible. The professor did a good job of not interjecting his own thinking and inviting our own nevertheless many of my classmates clung to the traditional interpretation of the creation story. This winter I took another online course where read about the creation story from an indigenous people in North America. I actually liked their story better as it envisioned the creator of the world as more feminine. That creation story is viewed as primitive in Christian circles while the biblical creation story is viewed as inerrant as it comes from the Bible. Mythologized history can be beautiful as the story of Genesis is and so too the story of Skywoman falling to earth.

Just this week I read, This is How it Always is, and was struck by our primitive and savage reactions to people who identify as LGBTQ+. There are some who identify as Christians in this country that continue to persecute and condemn on the basis of their religious beliefs. These folks seek to impose this narrow world view on the rest of us. While reading the book I was shocked to learn that forty-percent of those folks who identify as transgender commit suicide. How can anyone who calls themselves pro-life countenance this tragedy.

It’s not surprising then that millennials are leaving or disregarding religion and choosing to follow their own hearts. one of my favorite quotes from Karl Rahner is, “In the days ahead, you will either be a mystic (one who has experienced God for real) or nothing at all.” Mystics follow their hearts. They’re not bogged down by dogma. I don’t see creative force of universe as exclusive. God or if you will the higher power created everything and everyone. I try to respect all creation even that which I cannot understand. Considering a different creation story based on quantum physics and a continually expanding evolution of consciousness hasn’t stifled my belief in God. On the contrary these thoughts have encouraged me to consider the evolution of consciousness and the continued evolution of the creative force that spawns it.

Posted on

This light that has overcome the darkness

I’m a fan of Matthew Fox. He and other theologians like Ilia Delio and John Duns Scotus have influenced my thinking too. Today is Easter for many in the world and the familiar greeting among many of the world’s Christians is “He is risen.” He has risen and he was crucified, died and was buried. Many Christians believe that his death was a necessary atonement for original sin. Last night as I was sitting in the chapel at Mount Irenaeus and participating in the Easter Vigil service I reflected on the emphasis on the light of Christ. I love the vigil service at the Mountain because it begins outside with some readings and blessings and the lighting of a fire and the lighting of the Paschal candle followed by a procession into the chapel.

The overemphasis of the crucifixion which was horrible indeed is that much of the teaching and living of Jesus is overlooked. It’s easy to go through the motions of being saved and then living an apparently un-redeemed life. Following the Christ invites transformation. How has Christ transformed me and us? How am I sharing that light with the world around me? Am I following this light that overcomes the darkness? He is risen today and everyday. What is the vision of the messiah? I believe it’s living in brotherhood/sisterhood with all that is created. That includes rocks, trees, animals, plants. It all bears the imprint of the most high. Living in communion with everyone even those folks who I find uncomfortable. Everything belongs.

Posted on

Celebrating the Passion

Today is the first day of Holy Week in the Catholic Church and other Christian churches as well. Today at Mass they Passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be read. We will remember how he rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on this day on a donkey colt. We will hear how the crowd spread palm fronds and shouted “Hosanna.” The readings will recount the last supper the Garden of Gethsemane, the arrest, imprisonment and eventual crucifixion of the Jesus. We will genuflect as the moment of his death is read. We will rise again like he did on the third day. We will remember all of this as we do each year. But will we connect the events of two thousand years ago with the events of today?

Will we connect the passion and death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Freddie Gray, the Asian Americans in Atlanta, the innocents in the Colorado supermarket? Will we think of the passion and suffering of the those LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters? Will we connect the passion and death of Christ with the outrage on our southern border? Will we ask why women are not priests? Will we see the passion, destruction and death of our mother earth? Is Holy Week just an event where we think of the itinerant Palestinian carpenter who came to show us how to live?

Will we continue to trivialize the life of the Christ who came not merely to die on a tree so that two thousand years later we could sprinkle water on our heads and claim to be saved by his name while we openly persecute those created in his image? In a couple of weeks our granddaughter Fiona Katherine will be baptized. I hope that she will be filled with the Holy Spirit on that day as I’m sure she already is. I hope that the Holy Spirit will fill her heart with a hunger for righteousness for the goodness of creation and the welfare of her fellow humans. I hope that she will hunger and thirst for a rightful place for women in our world.

The passion of Christ is more than remembering the events that took place in Jerusalem two thousand years ago for me. Peace.

Posted on

Who am I to judge?

Pope Francis got some flack when he first came to the papacy in 2013 when he said he was not in a position to judge gay clergy. I don’t think he’s changed his view but it certainly seems that the Vatican is hell bent on continuing to make it difficult for Catholic folks who identify as LGBTQ+ to be welcomed into the church and most importantly to have their marriages blessed.

I’ve been a fan of Matthew Fox for several years after reading his book Original Blessing. Matthew is a great free thinking Christian who is a theologian and Episcopal priest. I subscribe to his daily meditations which arrives in my inbox everyday.

Today’s reflection was very poignant for me. All the excitement of the past week stemming from the Vatican’s refusal to bless same sex unions has created heated debate on the subject. Like Dr. Fox I believe that homophobia is a sin. There are countless Catholics including members of the Catholic clergy who are gay. They were made in the image and likeness of God and yet the official church continues to persecute them. It’s a travesty of epic proportion. No mention of homosexuality in any of the four Gospels yet the church continues its stance. I hope you take time to read Matthew’s reflection and to ask yourself what you believe.

Posted on

The Sheep and the Goats

Earlier today I came upon a quote from Matthew 25 which sums up the Jesus message.

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

~Matthew 25:35

The Jesus message which is often overlooked is about relationships. Too often the emphasis is on his death on the cross. Many if not most Christians believe in the doctrine of ‘original sin.’ Jesus never talked about original sin in any of the Gospels nor is it mentioned per se in the New Testament. So much emphasis has been placed on original sin that the relationship message of Jesus is given short shrift. I recently participated in a class where the emphasis for many was on ‘the fall.’ You know the story I’m sure about how Eve gave Adam the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge and then it was all down hill from there.

The idea that people are damned because Eve gave Adam an apple in a metaphorical allusion in a mythological explanation of the creation story was always something I questioned. Why would a supreme being create a cosmos that was flawed in such a manner to exclude that same creation from fulfillment. It doesn’t make any sense. Nearly twenty years ago I heard about the theology of John Duns Scotus and later St. Bonaventure both of whom were inspired by their seraphic father St. Francis that posited an alternative. In short the reason for the incarnation was to demonstrate the creator’s love for creation. Jesus never excludes anyone from the banquet. In fact the more sinful you are the more welcome you are at the banquet. He welcomed prostitutes, tax collectors and other sinners. It was the church people who crucified him. His preaching was too scandalous for them. He upset the status quo with this radical message of relationship.

In Matthew 25 he articulates clearly that what you do for the least of your fellows is what earns you the reward of eternal life. Getting baptized, saying that you accept Jesus as your Lord and savior and then turning a blind eye to the injustices that surround us is not going to get you into the kingdom according to what is written in Matthew 25:31-46. That’s always been my favorite verse in the New Testament. The golden rule is the recipe for happiness in this life and the next.

Posted on

Against all odds

Despite voter intimidation, gerrymandering, voter suppression, lies, threats of violence to voters and officials Joe Biden is President-elect of the United States. Today was the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The second Marian Feast in less than a week’s time. You might call December the Month of Mary. How is the opening sentence related to the second sentence? Joe Biden carries a rosary with him everyday and there are reports that in addition to his daily attendance at Eucharist he also prays the rosary. We have that in common in addition to our Catholic faith.

Did Mary have something to do with the outcome of the presidential election? There are some who would scoff at that. Others might say yes. In the past four years I’ve prayed the rosary almost everyday. I usually pray it as I walk but sometimes when I’m riding in the car. Some days when it is too cold to hold the beads in my hands I keep track of the prayers with my gloved hands. I pray the Franciscan Crown Rosary which is seven decades and it’s easiest for me to remember the seven joys of Our Lady.

Today as I sat in an Advent prayer service at Mount Irenaeus I reflected on both the feast day and Mary. The mother of the Messiah was not famous nor powerful. She was lowly and betrothed to Joseph The lowliness of his handmaid is duly noted in the Magnificat.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble and meek.He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away.

The mighty are pulled from their seats of power. The humble and meek are exalted and are fed while the rich go away empty. The handmaid of the Lord became the Queen of Heaven. Ave Maria gratia plena Dominus tecum.

Posted on

Donate to FAN

I learned this week that the Secular Franciscan Order in the United States is no longer officially supporting the Franciscan Action Network. I was very saddened to learn this. Franciscan Action Network(FAN) actively engages in peace making, care for creation, human trafficking, money in politics, stopping gun violence, racial justice and compassion for immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. I don’t know how much money the National Order of Secular Franciscans donated to FAN but I am going to continue to support their work. You can support them too.

Posted on

Radical Equality

Today’s Gospel in Catholic churches everywhere is drawn from the Matthew 20: 1-16. It’s a familiar parable of the landowner who is hiring people to work in his vineyard. You’ve heard it many times I’m sure. The landowner goes out at 9:00 AM and hires folks to work and agrees to pay them a the usual daily wage. He went out again at noon and at three o’clock and hired more workers to for the usual daily wage. He hired more still at five o’clock. In the evening he summoned the foreman and told him to pay the workers beginning with the last and ending with the first. Each received the usual daily wage. Those who had been hired first began to grumble. They thought they deserved more because they had labored the entire day.

And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,‘These last ones worked only one hour,and you have made them equal to us,who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’He said to one of them in reply,‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money. Are you envious because I am generous?’Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Matthew 20:11-16

As I reflected on these word today I realized that in the Kingdom of God as proclaimed by Jesus we see radical equality. There is no seniority, no frequent flyer miles. Everyone is compensated equally for their work. Some would call this socialism today but is it really? Imagine a world where such as this existed. Isn’t this what life should be like?

Posted on

You cannot out give God

Many years ago a pastor friend of mine delivered a sermon titled, “You can’t out give God.” I never forgot it and it’s animated my life ever since. There are many scriptural references around the theme of giving but this one from Malachi 3:10 has stayed with me.

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 

Just got an email from Alice Miller Nation who is the Director of the Warming House which is the oldest student run soup kitchen in the United States. In 2019 The Warming House served 5922 meals for the entire year. This year to date The Warming House has served 5378 in 7 months. That’s an average of 897 meals per month. At that rate The Warming House will serve nearly 11,000 meals this year. You can help put this bread on the table of Olean Area residents by sending a donation to:

The Warming House
Franciscan Center for Social Concern
St. Bonaventure University
PO Box AR
3621 West State Road
St. Bonaventure, NY 14778