Sunday Morning Coming Down

One of my favorite Johnny Cash songs is Sunday Morning Coming Down. Although the song is not necessarily about a positive Sunday morning, the lines ‘Cause there’s something in a Sunday… and Sunday morning coming down’ have always called me to appreciate the gift of Sunday mornings!

I have always loved Sunday mornings, whether after a busy Saturday or a quiet one, whether the week ending was busy or spent in retreat, whether I’m at home, or on the road, Sunday morning calls me into an awareness. For whatever reason, God feels closer on a Sunday morning. There is just something sacred about a Sunday Morning.

As I journey more deeply into the Franciscan way of life, I come to appreciate Sunday mornings even more. The sacred silence, that allows me to rest in Christ.  The quiet time of prayer, that centers my day and week. The time to ponder and reflect, that reveals what God is stirring in my heart.

It is in the sacredness of Sunday morning that I begin this week. I am still waiting for my Visa to be worked out but I have hope that it will be this week. So I begin this week at our Retreat Center, at the end of a full week of Retreat with my Brother Friars. It was a good retreat, really a gift for me, since my plans changed. It was such a blessing to be nourished and filled up. It was such a blessing to celebrate with my community and see all the Brothers from our Province. It was such a blessing to spend time with our new Postulants, to reflect back on where I was a year ago, and to encourage them for the journey ahead. It was such a blessing to be welcomed into my Novice Year and begin my life as a Brother here.  It was such a blessing to begin my Novice Year right away by leading prayer, and taking on ‘household chores’ (Yes Mom, that even included cleaning the bathrooms!). It is a blessing to be here with the six Brothers that make up the community here, they have been kind and welcoming and make me feel at home.

 

 

It is in the sacredness of Sunday morning, that I look ahead to this week. I will spend some time in continued retreat. My Novice Brothers are beginning retreat this week. My director at the Novitiate has been very kind to send me the outline and so I will be connected with them through prayer, quiet and similar routine. I have much to reflect on from last week’s retreat and now even more to journey deeper. Another blessing indeed.

It is in the sacredness of Sunday morning, that I reflect back to a year ago today that began my Postulant Year. Wow! What a year indeed! So many blessings, so much growth, such deepening of the journey of faith, so many opportunities, so many people that I am grateful for and such gratitude for God’s graces poured into my life. A whole year has slipped by and now I’m into my second year of this Franciscan journey. This second year in some sense is a first year, as my life within the Order began this past week. I know that this year will also slip by and before you know it I will be a simply professed Friar.

So in the sacredness of this Sunday morning, I give thanks to God again for the gift of life, for this awesome journey and for the joy that fills my heart in being a Brother in the Order of Friars Minor!

Your steadfast love endures forever, O Lord,

It fills my life and guides my journey.

Praise be you my Lord and my God!