The Simple Life
OCTOBER 4TH, 2009 — THE FEAST OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI
CANTICLE OF THE SUN (by St. Francis), CAPABLE FLESH (by St. Irenaeus), LUKE 12:22-32
Dear Friends,
On this Sunday, we will be learning from the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. Francis saw all of life as sacred. He saw sun and moon, wind and water, cow and bear as brother and sister to us. Today we would call him a "green" theologian. In his day, he just saw the unity of all creation and human beings as stewards of creation, partners with God in respecting and caring for life in all of its forms. He advocated a simplicity of life that has a pointed message for us today.
We have selected the story in the Gospel of Luke which advises us to simplify our lives by deepening our trust in God's providential love and worrying less about our daily needs: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin... yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these". There is much happening in many of our lives and surely in our world which can unquestionably be anxiety producing. I think the call is not to pretend that these pressures don't exist, but rather to develop the spiritual muscles to ‘hold' the anxiety in such a way that we share it with our loving God. We don't have to "go it" alone!
The quote from St. Irenaeus that we will be reading as our 2nd reading, speaks of our being " capable of embracing the searing energies of God" ! Imagine what our world and our lives would be like if we perceived this capacity within ourselves... and acted upon it. Perhaps our energies would be spent more on creating than on critiquing... on cherishing rather than accumulating... on building peaceful relationships rather than on building our military might. Francis' prayers call for "peace on earth beginning with me". I believe he means "within me", and each of us, in our "tender flesh" has the ‘capacity' to birth peace.
Capable flesh
The tender flesh itself
Will be found one day
Quite surprisingly
to be capable of receiving,
And yes, full
capable of embracing the searing energies of God.
Go Figure, Fear not.
For even at its beginning
The humble clay received
God's art, whereby
One part became the eye,
Another the ear, and yet
another this impetuous hand.
Therefore, the flesh
is not to be excluded
From the wisdom and the power
That now and ever animates
all things. God's life-giving
agency is made perfect,
we are told, in weakness-
made perfect in flesh.
Will be found one day
Quite surprisingly
to be capable of receiving,
And yes, full
capable of embracing the searing energies of God.
Go Figure, Fear not.
For even at its beginning
The humble clay received
God's art, whereby
One part became the eye,
Another the ear, and yet
another this impetuous hand.
Therefore, the flesh
is not to be excluded
From the wisdom and the power
That now and ever animates
all things. God's life-giving
agency is made perfect,
we are told, in weakness-
made perfect in flesh.
(St. Irenaeus (c125-c210) - adapted and translated by Scott Cairns)
We invite you to come and pray with us at Spirit of Life and share in the experience of who each of us are which graces our time together. We are a Catholic community where every voice is heard, and women and men are unafraid to acknowledge the equality of women and men; and to embrace feminine as well as masculine... and beyond... images of God. As a community, we try wholeheartedly to "be Christ" to one another, to tend to the needs of one another, and to those in need in our world. Together, we celebrate our belief that we are being transformed by God's grace as we gather together in prayer. We warmly invite you to come and gather with us at our Table, and join in our experience of the "kin-dom" of God. We are an inclusive, open, affirming and interactive community, deeply committed to being a people of "justice and joy."
Wishing you the gifts of simplicity and peace of heart,
Find more about past weekly reflections and podcasts in our ARCHIVE PAGE.
