Thoughts on St. Catherine of Siena

 

St. Catherine of Siena, Open Our Eyes

St. Catherine calls us to be on the lookout for God. Each person will discover God in a unique way—an experience of beauty, love, forgiveness, generous sacrifice—the smile of a child, the first glimpse of the Grand Canyon, a donated organ, betrayal, persecution. In such circumstances, we stand in awe and feel infinitesimally small and unworthy. Life then truly becomes gift. Such experiences give access to Catherine’s theology. For her, God is great not simply because of God’s unimaginable goodness, but because God has chosen in love to share that goodness with creation and the human race. God pours out Godself in creation, incarnation, and Eucharist. God gifts us with every breath in every fiber of our being.

— from Accidental Theologians: Four Women Who Shaped Christianity
by Elizabeth Dreyer

Thoughts on prayer

 

In Prayer We Present our Thoughts to God

To pray, I think, does not mean to think about God in contrast to thinking about other things, nor does it mean spending time with God instead of spending time with other people. As soon as we begin to divide our thoughts into thoughts about God and thoughts about other things, like people and events, we separate God from our daily life. At that point God is allocated to a pious little niche in some corner of our lives where we only think pious thoughts and experience pious feelings. Although it is important and even indispensable for our spiritual lives to set apart time for God and God alone, our prayer can only become unceasing [prayer] when all our thoughts—beautiful or ugly, high or low, proud or shameful, sorrowful or joyful—can be thought in the presence of the One who dwells in us and surrounds us. By trying to do this, our unceasing thinking is converted into unceasing prayer, moving us from a self-centered monologue to a God-centered dialogue. To do this we want to try to convert our thoughts into conversation. The main question, therefore, is not so much what we think, but to whom we present our thoughts. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on mercy

 

Hope Blossoms in Mercy

“So many people ask to be listened to and to be understood. The Gospel of mercy requires generous and joyful servants, people who love freely without expecting anything in return. ‘Peace be with you!’ (John 20:21) is the greeting of Jesus to his disciples; this same peace awaits men and women of our own day.… It is a peace that does not divide but unites; it is a peace that does not abandon us but makes us feel listened to and loved; it is a peace that persists even in pain and enables hope to blossom. This peace, as on the day of Easter, is born ever anew by the forgiveness of God which calms our anxious hearts.” —Pope Francis

The story of Thomas in the Upper Room is a clear example of Jesus meeting us in those wounded places in our lives and wordlessly offering us whatever we need to move beyond the hurt into a place of healing, trust, and peace. He doesn’t scold Thomas for needing proof; he doesn’t condemn him for a lack of faith. He holds out his hands and gives Thomas what he needs. We each have our own struggles with faith, with trust, with love, whether in our relationships with others, our connection to a church community, our responsibilities at home, at work, in school. As we place our needs before God’s loving mercy, we open ourselves to receive whatever gesture of peace he offers us. Mercy is the sign of God’s ongoing presence in the world. Few people have made this more clear and compelling than Pope Francis. And it’s not just about realizing that God is merciful to us. It’s realizing that we are now called, compelled, even commanded to be merciful to all those people we meet.

In his preaching on mercy, Pope Francis often emphasizes the importance of listening compassionately to people who are wounded, struggling, searching for God’s love. So often we want to rush in to fix other people’s lives. The next time you feel this urge, take a step back and first simply listen to and love the person before you. God’s peace passes all our human understanding. And often it lies beyond our limited human words.

— from the book The Hope of Lent: Daily Reflections from Pope Francis
by Diane M. Houdek

Thoughts on pain

 

Distinguish Your Pain from the Pain of Others

There is a real pain in your heart, a pain that truly belongs to you. You know now that you cannot avoid, ignore, or repress it. It is this pain that reveals to you how you are called to live in solidarity with the broken human race. You must distinguish carefully, however, between your pain and the pains that have attached themselves to it but are not truly yours. When you feel rejected, when you think of yourself as a failure and a misfit, you must be careful not to let these feelings and thoughts pierce your heart. You are not a failure or a misfit. Therefore, you have to disown these pains as false. They can paralyze you and prevent you from loving the way you are called to love. It is a struggle to keep distinguishing the real pain from the false pains. But as you are faithful to that struggle, you will see more and more clearly your unique call to love. As you see that call, you will be more and more able to claim your real pain as your unique way to glory. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on Easter

 

‘Let Us Begin Again’

“…he saw and believed” (John 20:8).

Easter is a beginning, not an ending. And this Easter story from Thomas of Celano reminds us that for Francis, the challenge to remain true to the Gospel was one that needed to be renewed again and again.

It happened one Easter that the brothers at the hermitage of Greccio prepared the table more carefully than they usually did with white linens and glassware. Coming down from his cell, the father came to the table and saw that it was placed high and decorated extrava- gantly. But he did not smile at the smiling table. Stealthily and little by little he retraced his steps, put on the hat of a poor man who was there, and taking a staff in his hand, he went outside. He waited outside at the door until the brothers began to eat; for they were in the habit of not waiting for him when he did not come at the signal. When they had begun to eat, this truly poor man cried out at the door; “For the love of the Lord God,” he said, “give an alms to this poor, sick wanderer.” The brothers answered: “Come in, man, for love of him whom you have invoked.” He immediately entered and appeared before them as they were eating. But what astonishment, do you think, the beggar caused these inhabitants? The beggar was given a dish, and sitting alone, he put the dish in the ashes. “Now I am sitting as a Friar Minor should sit,” he said.

Francis was like that other pilgrim alone in Jerusalem that day. But he made the hearts of the disciples burn when he spoke to them.

—from the book Lent with St. Francis: Daily Reflections
by Diane M. Houdek

Alleluia! Jesus Christ is risen!

Easter reminds us that Christ loved us so much He gave up His life for our salvation, conquered death, redeemed Creation, and granted us all eternal life with Him. We have the privilege of following a living God and proclaiming this Good News with over 2.3 billion believers around the world!

Thoughts on the Eucharist

 

Eucharist

“I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you.” (1 Corinthians 11:23)

St. Francis was absolutely devoted to the Eucharist. It’s one of the reasons he was so concerned about rebuilding and cleaning local churches, making them suitable homes for the Eucharist. Thomas of Celano tells us that concerned citizens brought St. Francis to their parish priest who was living in sin; they wanted the saint to reprimand him and condemn his sinful way of life. Instead, St. Francis knelt, took the priest’s hands and said, “I know not whether this priest is sinful. I only know that these hands, and these hands alone, make present upon the altar my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Francis’s respect for the clergy was based on the priest’s power to change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, “in whom all things in heaven and on earth are made peaceful and are reconciled to God the Almighty.” The Church of his day was no stranger to scandal and corruption. He reminds us that there’s more to the Church than the human institution, that the Holy Spirit continues to guide the Church throughout history, even when all appearances seem to the contrary.

Today’s Gospel account of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet offers an antitdote to the problems our human Church encounters. Francis takes this to heart in his Admonitions when he says:

I did not come to be served but to serve (Matthew 20:28), our Lord tells us. Those who are put in charge of others should be no prouder of their office than if they had been appointed to wash the feet of their confreres. They should be no more upset at the loss of their authority than they would be if they were deprived of the task of washing feet. The more they are upset, the greater the risk they incur to their souls.

—from the book Lent with St. Francis: Daily Reflections,
by Diane M. Houdek

Thoughts on the cross

 

The Cross Is Before Us

“They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him” (John 12:13).

The cross is before us now with its wordless challenge to love beyond death. Take some time this week to think about events in your own life that have given you an experience of Jesus’s command to pick up your cross and follow him.

St. Clare was one of the first followers of St. Francis. Raised in a wealthy family, whose home overlooked the piazza of Assisi’s cathedral, she must have heard Francis preaching often. Moved by his radical message of Gospel poverty, she made up her mind to follow him and his companions.

On the night of Palm Sunday in 1212 she left her home and walked through the darkened streets to the gate that led to her new life. It can be difficult for us to imagine what a drastic decision this was for Clare. We, too, are called to move out of our comfort zones, to take steps to follow the Gospel more radically in our lives. They might be small steps or they might be as drastic as Clare leaving home to work among the poor and the lepers. What these steps have in common is faith that God is leading us on this journey. And just as Francis and his brothers welcomed Clare, the communion of saints encourages us on our way.

—from the book Lent with St. Francis: Daily Reflections
by Diane M. Houdek

Thoughts on the love of God

 

God’s Non-Violent Love

On the cross, Jesus has shown us how far God’s love goes. It’s a love that embraces even those who crucified him. When Jesus is hanging nailed to the cross, totally broken and stripped of everything, he still prays for his executioners: “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus’ love for his enemies knows no bounds. He prays even for those who are putting him to death. It is this, the enemy-loving God, that is offered to us in the Eucharist. To forgive our enemies doesn’t lie within our power. That is a divine gift. That’s why it’s so important to make the Eucharist the heart and center of your life. It’s there that you receive the love that empowers you to take the way that Jesus has taken before you: a narrow way, a painful way, but the way that gives you true joy and peace and enables you to make the non-violent love of God visible in this world. Henri Nouwen