Advent Shoes

I've been thinking about shoes, all shapes and sizes, new and worn, too tight and comfortable. Not that I’m going to be buying a new pair any time soon, but shoes ultimately has me thinking about this Season we call Advent. This season of journey, of many paths, of tried and true, of new and uncertain. Each year as we begin this time of Advent the path is ours to tread, we know where we are going, we know we are walking or running or dragging or limping our way to the crib. That is the beautiful thing about Advent it doesn’t matter what path we take or what shoes we wear we end up at the crib of Christ.

 

New (and sometimes too tight) shoes – remind us that this season will have new paths for us to travel. Maybe that is prayer, or a way we will serve, maybe it is a moment of reconciliation, or an encounter with someone. Maybe it will be a newness as we begin the season, to embrace new ways to pray; or keep Advent promises that we have never been able to or new ways to prepare for Christmas that will not just prepare our homes but also the home of our heart. New shoes need breaking in, new shoes need to be worn every day for a certain amount of time so we can walk the distance.

 

Worn (and comfortable) shoes – remind us of tried and true practices for this Advent Season. Maybe that is familiar prayers we look forward to each season, maybe it is the comfort of hymns and carols for the season, or maybe it is the Advent wreath being lit each week. Worn shoes remind us that we are part of a bigger picture, we are part of community, and we do not travel this path alone. We journey towards Christmas with great prophets, with wise women, with angels, with common folk, with children, with neighbours and with hope. We do not walk alone.

In the letter to the Romans we read, “Salvation is nearer to us now… let us put on the armour of light, let us put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 13.11-14)

Yes! Let us put on the armour of light this season and let us begin with our shoes! Whatever shoes we choose; whatever path to the crib we walk; we must remember that we are armoured in light: a light that is Christ Jesus, who is strength for the journey, and truly our salvation who draws near during these holy days of Advent.

Advent – check!

Shoes – check!

Path – To Be Determined!

Christmas – Our Destination!

 

 

 

Blessings of hope, peace, joy and love

as we journey these four full weeks

to the light of the crib, the light of the world:

Christ Jesus - Emmanuel!

Christ the King: Forgiveness, Rememberance, In Truth

Luke 23.33-46

³³When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus^* there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’^* And they cast lots to divide his clothing. ³⁵And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah^* of God, his chosen one!’ ³⁶The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, ³⁷and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ ³⁸There was also an inscription over him,^* ‘This is the King of the Jews.’

39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding^* him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah?^* Save yourself and us!’ ⁴⁰But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ ⁴²Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into^* your kingdom.’ ⁴³He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’

44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land^* until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵while the sun’s light failed;^* and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Having said this, he breathed his last.

Father forgive them:

For the suffering they cause,
For the hate they fester,
For the torment they induce.

Father forgive us:

For the pain we cause,
For the actions and words we fail that divide,
For the selfishness we let guide us.

Father forgive me:

For the times I don’t see you at work in my life,
For the ways I complain and judge,
For the pride that is sinful.

Father forgive me:

For the ways in which I don’t include others,
For the lack of respect and reverence that can arise in me,
For the times I hold grudges and don’t forgive.

Father forgive them, forgive us, forgive me.

Jesus remember me:

When I am trapped in my sinful ways,
When I do not love as I should,
When I do not walk in your light.

Jesus remember me:

When fears seem great,
When my trust in you is tested,
When my uncertainty consumes me.

Jesus remember me:

When tears fill my eyes,
When laughter echoes out of me,
When peace settles in my heart.

Jesus remember me:

When I serve in your name,
When I extend a helping hand,
When I express your love.

Jesus remember me:

For I am yours,
For I live and move and be in you,
For I rely on the grace of your cross and resurrection.

Jesus remember them, remember us,

remember me when you come into your kingdom.

Truly I tell you:

You are loved,
You are precious,
You are mine.

Truly I tell you:

You are loved,
You are forgiven,
You are holy.

Truly I tell you:

You are loved,
You are a gift,
You are with me.

Truly I tell you:

I walk with you,
I know your hurts and pains,
I know your joys and hopes.

Truly I tell you:

I lived for everyone,
I died for your freedom,
I live still for love is stronger than death.

Truly I tell you today, tomorrow and always I am with you

and one day you will be with me in paradise.

Christ the King reign in our lives.

Christ the King reign in our heart.

Christ the King reign in our communities.

Amen.

 

Blessed Are They

Last week on All Saints Day, Pope Francis provided six new beatitudes for the modern era. They do not replace the eight beatitudes that Jesus preached, in fact I believe they help us to understand and live out the original eight with more honesty and grasping the message of Jesus for our day and age.

They have struck me as I have read them over the past week, they have sat on the top of my pile on my desk and I keep coming back to them. Maybe it is because I see the challenge in them, maybe it is because the beatitudes are good guides for our lives, and maybe it is because I’m trying to embrace how I am called to live out my part of God’s story.

What follows are Pope Francis’ beatitudes and my brief reflections on each.

Blessed are those who remain faithful while enduring evils inflicted on them by others and forgive them from their heart.

Forgiveness such a powerful gift and one we deny ourselves and others so often. It is not easy to remain faithful when we feel surrounded by easy options, enticing lies and what can sometimes be the cruelty of humanity. Choosing to stay grounded in Christ is a daily choice, choosing to embrace love and forgiveness leads to the fullness of life not an illusion of life that society offers. Remaining faithful may not always feel or be convenient but it keeps us connected to our true source.   How do we remain faithful and how often do we offer forgiveness?

Blessed are those who look into the eyes of the abandoned and marginalized and show them their closeness.

The challenge to be brother and sister with those who are hurting, those different from us, those who have made different choices from us, those trying to embrace the freedoms we enjoy, it is easy to stay in our comfort zones and to look the other way. The greater challenge is to be close to them, to journey with them. Jesus did that with the poor, the neglected, the sick, and the widowed. St. Francis did that with the lepers and his brothers. It is a challenge but one that leads to blessings. These are all our brothers and sisters, all of humanity. How do we look into their eyes?

Blessed are those who see God in every person and strive to make others also discover him.

Seeing God in my brother, my sister, and my neighbour maybe a bit easier to do, seeing God in the homeless, the drug addict, and the bully is a lot harder. This beatitude flows from the previous one and challenges us to see God in every situation and by our actions and words make God’s kingdom known. The love of God is meant to be share (we know this), the challenge of this beatitude is to actually do it with those we live with, work with and those who need to be loved. How do we see God in those we love and those we find hard to love?

Blessed are those who protect and care for our common home.

This is the only home we have. We seem to forget that a lot of times; we use it, hurt and destroy it for our conveniences. When God created humanity and said subdue the earth, God did not mean use it until it can’t be used any more. God asked us to be in partnership with creation, to bring it to fullness of life and to ensure it is here for generation upon generation. In this time of environmental crisis we have to ask ourselves what are we doing to ensure our sister, Mother Earth is cared for, protected and blessed?

Blessed are those who renounce their own comfort in order to help others.

Yes the luxuries of life, we all have them and we all want them. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the blessings of life, we however need to share these blessings and not live beyond our means, so others may live. Not always easy, even for us in religious life. We can get too comfortable and forget about helping others. This beatitude goes hand in hand with seeing God in every person. It has to be beyond ourselves and our own comforts, we must be able to see and enter into the journey of those around us. How do we live within our means and share our blessings?

Blessed are those who pray and work for full communion between Christians.

The challenge of Jesus, ‘that all may be one’. Christians all profess the same Jesus. We sometimes seem to forget this and think that our Jesus is different or better than their Jesus. Really? It is the same Jesus who lived, preached, died on cross and rose from the dead. He didn’t do this over and over again for that denomination or this one; He did it once for all and asked us to live our lives in reflection of him. Can we continue to pray for healing in the Christian family? Can we work harder for unity with our brothers and sisters in Jesus?

All these are messengers of God’s mercy and tenderness; surely they will receive from him their merited reward.

I need to remind myself that my reward is not here and now; no, my reward is when I am face to face with Jesus and filled completely with Him. Until then I continue to strive to live as a beloved Child of God, a Brother of Jesus and allow the Spirit to live and move and be in me. I pray that we all can do this. Let us together be people of the gospel and live with attitudes of being, forgiveness, care, generosity, solidarity, respect, love and mercy. The reward has to be out of this world!

Words of Wisdom

November 1 – All Saints Day – as you know one of my most favorite days of the year. If I could do it up like Christmas or Easter I would. I guess in the past I have (memories of Saints Suppers and school celebrations and Masses flood my mind every year) however now as a student Friar, the celebration of the day is simple but I still try and add a bit of gusto where I can (and believe me there are ways!). This day reminds us of our call to holiness, our call to radiate Christ, our call to be humble servants continually showing forth the love of God.

As St. Bernard, the Abbot said:

Calling the Saints to mind inspires, or rather arouses in us above all else, a longing to enjoy their company. When we commemorate the Saints we are inflamed with another yearning: that Christ our life may also appear to us.

His words are a beautiful description and challenge of why we celebrate All Saints and All Souls Day; why we call to mind the Saints of the Church, and those known to us, why we remember our deceased relatives and friends and why we open ourselves to walk in the hope of Christ.

This past Sunday the Old Testament reading was from the Book of Wisdom. I was struck by the selected verses. Even though I have heard them before, this time they leapt off the page. I beleive they are gift for us striving to be Saints each day, in hundreds of situations and in all types of encounters.

Wisdom 11.22-12-2 says:

The whole world before you is like a speck that tips the scales,

and like a drop of morning dew that falls on the ground.

But you are merciful to all, for you can do all things,

and you overlook people’s sins, so that they may repent.

Lord, you love all things that exist,

and detest none of the things that you have made,

for you would not have made anything if you had hated it.

How would anything have endured if you had not willed it?

Or how would anything not called forth by you have been preserved?

You spare all things, for they are yours, O Lord, you who love the living.

For your immortal spirit is in all things.

Therefore you correct little by little those who trespass,

and you remind and warn them of the things through which they sin,

so that they may be freed from wickedness and put their trust in you, O Lord.

The italicized phrases are the ones that seemed to jump off the page a bit more and into my heart.

The beautiful reminder that all is God’s – everything – all of creation and we are part of that gift, called to cultivate a culture of life and love and mercy.

The gift of God’s deep mercy, forgiveness and God’s love being greater than our weakness. Intrinsically woven into our DNA, our very fiber and all of creation. We can never tire of this gift. I know I am grateful for it each day.

The freedom that is ours in being a Child of God, a living Saint and the only requirement is to trust in God. Not always easy but always present to us. The more I come to grasp trusting in God the more I come to see how God tips the scales of his abundant love for us each day.

So yes… let us embrace being a Saint today in our world and let the words of St. Bernard and the Book of Wisdom strength our inherent holiness which is of God.

Together let us sing the Resurrection Song with all the Saints in Glory!

All Holy Men, Women, Teens & Children, pray for us!

Nothing More, Nothing Less

St. Francis is credited with saying “I am what I am before God. Nothing else. Nothing more. Nothing less.” And he adds, “Have mercy on me a sinner.”

This quote was shared by one of my brothers this weekend in his homily. It is a beautiful illustration of today’s Gospel (Luke 18.9-14) about the Pharisee praying and saying all the good he does and claiming that at least he is not like those other people. One of those other people is a tax collector who is downcast and beating his breast asking for God’s mercy.

The tax collector and St. Francis accurately expressed a truth… we are only ourselves and no one else before God. This is beautiful and rewarding and challenging and calls us to claim the truth of who we are downsides and good sides, but no matter what wrapped in God’s mercy and endless love. God raises us up with mercy and love and we more confidently stand before God as redeemed sinners, with the promise of eternal life.

 “Who am I?’ I ask. And God creates a space in me that allows me trust and shows me my true and authentic self.

“How do I put You first?” I ask. And God guides me in ways great and small that are revealing, everlasting and hopeful.

“How do I be authentic?” I ask. And God says, “By focusing on Me and My love and knowing that every good gifts comes from Me.”

“What do You want me to be?” I ask. And God says, “Yourself – fully alive, awakened in Christ, serving the world and choosing to radiate Christ.”

“What do you want done?” I ask. And  God says, “My will: lived through you, driven out of love for Me, utilizing who you are created to be - a disciple of Christ and an instrument of peace and love.”

“Amen,” I say. And God says… “I am with you always.”

So, Yes I am reminded that I am nothing more and nothing less than who I am before You, my God and that is beautiful and holy and good. With confidence I can pray, “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner, for I place all my hope in you.”

And God says again... "I am with you always!"

Path to Holiness

 

In this my second year of being a Simply Professed Friar, I have been given permission to seek out more opportunities for ministry. With my background in parish ministry I have come to realize that ministry (and ministering with others) is a big part of my story and a way in which I experience Christ in a personal, communal and significant way.

As I continue to explore options for what future ministry may include I am currently involved in two ministries that are very different but both are calling me to share my skills, talents and experience.

The first is that of being on Student Council at Newman. I am part of the executive which is made up of laity (both men and women), religious and seminarians. This diverse group of people in different programs and in different years of schooling come together to be the voice for the students and provide activities and opportunities for the student body.  My role is that of Social Vice-President. I am responsible for planning and coordinating social activities on campus. Our aim this year is to build community - so in simple ways we are trying to do that by planning luncheons, coffee breaks, seasonal gatherings and a speaker series. This role is indeed calling to use my planning and communication skills, is challenging me to work through obstacles and to enjoy the opportunity to minister with all types of good people desiring to share their gifts.

The second area of ministry is with the Secular Franciscans. This is not a club it is an order of men and women who form part of the Franciscan family. After a period of formation they make their profession to live the gospel following the example of St. Francis and live by a rule of life. Very similar to us as Franciscans. The biggest difference is that they live out their profession/vows continuing to live with their families and working regular jobs. The term Secular indicates just that that they live in the world, where as a Religious Franciscan I live in community.

My role with this Secular Franciscan Fraternity is that of Spiritual Advisor. I have just begun to journey with them and it has already been a blessing. I have the opportunity to meet with their council and with the whole fraternity where we pray together, discuss our way of life, look to St. Francis for guiding us closer to Christ and we plan activities/events to foster our faith journey in living out the gospel. It is a diverse group, both men and women of vary ages who embrace their faith. I am enjoying getting to know them and their journeys.

One of the topics we were discussing at a recent meeting was formation. The formation director stated that formation and living as a Secular Franciscan is our path to holiness. That is a powerful point to consider for all of us. I know it enflamed my heart and got me thinking about how I embrace the gospel, how I live it out and how I radiate Christ. Lots to reflect on...

 

All of our lives our paths to holiness, however we must continually stop along the way to be fueled up, nourished, rest and do maintenance. Our path to holiness can be busy and full and sometimes distracting – yes even with good things, it is the fueling up, nourishment, rest and maintenance that allows for living out the gospel way of life empowered and nurtured. The path to holiness is not a race! (I need to remind myself of that often.) It is like a long car trip, it takes preparation and all the above mentioned care functions. It takes time, it can be bumpy at times, we can even break down or have to take a detour to get to our destination, no matter how the journey goes we have to remember we do not journey along, heck… maybe we shouldn’t even be driving… as the song says… Jesus take the wheel. Jesus himself is the path to holiness.

So yes, the path to holiness… a blessed journey, a rich journey, a life-long journey and just consider the final destination – it is too good to pass up. I pray that each of us will continue to embrace the path.

I humbly ask for your prayers for the Newman College Student Association and the Saints Louis & Zelie Martin Secular Franciscan Fraternity for their journeys on the path to holiness.

Blessings to you on your own path to holiness.

The Blessing of St. Francis

The Lord bless you and keep you,

Show his face to you and have mercy on you,

Turn his face towards you and give you peace.

The Lord bless you.

 

This is the ancient prayer from the Old Testament in which St. Francis gave his blessings to his brothers.

As we enter into the Transitus (October 3) and Feast Day (October 4) of our beloved St. Francis this same prayer is still echoed among the Friars and one we extend to our neighbors, families, friends, benefactors and even strangers.

God’s ways are rich and abundant, may we continually grow in awareness of how blessed we are.

God’s care and compassion are also rich and abundant, may we truly know we are kept close to God’s heart.

Each day God manifests God self in ways great and small, may we be open to seeing God’s face in our everyday.

Each day God pours forth what we need for God is love, may we embrace the gift of great mercy.

Blessed, Transformed, Renewed – these are the gifts of God turning God’s face toward us.

Blessed, Transformed, Renewed – these are the gifts of God giving us peace.

God indeed blesses each one of us, today and always. Let us count our blessings so we may in turn be a blessing to those around us.

On this Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, we pray that we may be agents of blessing, transformation and renewal just as Francis was in his time and place. We are all called to live the gospel as our way of life. Some of us chose to live it in a radical way (religious life, priesthood), others chose to live it in another form of radical (married life or single). Mo matter how we live the gospel, we can be assured that God walks with us, call us to life and equips us to live out our call.

As Saint Francis once said: “May I feel in my heart, as far as possible, that abundance of love with which you, Son of God, were inflamed.”

Yes, this is our call to live the gospel. Yes, this is the blessing of God! Yes, may our lives be inflamed today and every day in big and small ways. Yes, Lord Jesus you are the way, the truth and the life!

St. Francis… pray for us…

continue to guide us to Christ.

Happy Feast Day to All!