With Franciscan Eyes

Storms Come, Calm Returns

Water is beautiful as well as powerful. A tsunami, for instance, is fascinating but destructive and deadly. Those who go to the shore to witness it are unlikely to survive. It stirs up from the depths creatures never seen before. In 2011 pieces of boats and buildings from Japan found their way to the California coast 5, 500 miles away. Some debris did not arrive until 2013 and 2014! There are times in our lives that can feel like a tsunami— disorienting and frightening. Old wounds are stirred up or new ones are inflicted. We may feel vulnerable or weak in presence of powerful forces and may watch helplessly as people, possessions, or ways of life are taken from us. We may feel like we are drowning! Yet the ocean can also remind us of God’s deep and powerful love for us. Storms come but calm returns. We hold on and pray. The ocean and its beauty can be serene and inspirational. Poems, songs, and paintings have been inspired by the ocean. Think about the beauty of a sunrise or sunset over the water. It can be breathtaking and mesmerizing! Can’t you imagine all the beautiful yellows, reds, pinks, blues, and oranges across the sky, reflecting on the water? Another wonderous gift of God’s creation! In the “Canticle of the Creatures” by St. Francis, he even praises this gift. “Praise be you, my Lord, through Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.” On top of all that, we cannot live without water since most of our body is made up of water. Most of us carry a water bottle around with us. It is a good reminder of our loving God whenever you see, drink, or use water—especially when the going gets rough! Remember that drop of water is a hug from God filled with strength and love for us. Remember, St. Paul said, “I can do all things through God who strengthens me.” So, go ahead and reach for that water bottle when you need God’s strength and love. Be refreshed and let calm return!

An Invitation To Be A Tender Heart

“Heart of Jesus burning with love for us, enflame our Hearts with love for you.”

We pray this every night at Evening Praise, and it struck me the other day how we have been using the words “burning,” “love,” and “enflame” at least 365 times a year for many years in our community. Valentine’s Day will be here soon—a day that speaks so much about LOVE. As FSSH, we could be nicknamed “Franciscan Sisters of LOVE” or “Loving Hearts.” The love of our lives is the Sacred Heart whose heart is truly tender. The quote about having a tender heart speaks of this as the key to feeling the beat of all the other hearts. When you reflect on that, it is awe-inspiring. Love should emit from every fiber of our being to the community, the world, and the cosmos as our Mandatum states. When you think about Jesus’ tender heart on fire with love for us, picture Jesus tenderly holding a lamb in his arms, but replace the lamb with yourself. This is not just love but burning with love. Anything that burns is consumed by the flames. Jesus consumes us with love, and we consume Jesus lovingly in the Eucharist. We are truly blessed as we receive the Eucharist. Our hearts become enflamed with love for God and all of God’s creatures and creation. We invite you all to journey with us, whether as Sister, Associate, volunteer, friend, or neighbor. Together we can be Loving Hearts to a weary world in need of hope.

When Valentine’s Day comes, it is a good time to reflect on God hugging and blessing you with graces to go out tenderly to the community, world, and cosmos. Feel the beat of all other hearts and all that is within them. Hug them with your prayers!

Finding Strength in Life's Knots

Boy scouts can rattle off the types and manner of tying all sorts of knots. Even though we may not have their knowledge and expertise, we do have experience with knots. Think about the tangles in your hair, about thread knotting just as it is being pulled through a stitch, or the twisted mess resulting from the washing machine weaving clothes together. However, there is an altogether different category of knots in life. Consider one’s losing a position, confronting an angry individual, getting a traffic ticket, running into a brick wall of discrimination, realizing one’s mortality, moving to an undesired location, dealing with unfairness, or becoming aware of a lump in one’s body. Those knots can really tie us up!    

The question “why?” such knots appear in life is often asked. Sister Joan Chittister believes that such a question is foolish, brings no resolution, and that there are more important questions. “The fact is that it is not what happens but what I do about it, and how I deal with it, that counts. The answer to, "Why did God do this to me?" may simply be so that I could become more than I was before it happened.” Sister also said, while quoting the mystic Rumi, that, “Under every agonizing, painful, irritating, worrisome thing… is the blessing that needs to be discovered….”

Sometimes we need the binoculars of time in order to appropriately distance ourselves so that we can discern what has knocked us off our feet. We need a long view in order to see the knots clearly, to appreciate the unknown blessings we have received, and especially to remove the disguises that hid them from view in the first place.

What are some of the disguised undesired blessings that have come your way? How have you grown because of them?