Life Perspectives
Encouraging the development of a life perspective based on theology and writings of St. Francis, Thomas Merton and Richard Rohr.
-
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, OFM, better known as Francis of Assisi (Italian: Francesco d'Assisi, Latin: Franciscus Assisiensis; c. 1181 – 3 October 1226), was an Italian mystic and Catholic friar who founded the Franciscans. He was inspired to lead a life of poverty as an itinerant preacher. One of the most venerated figures in Christianity, [4][1] Francis was canonized by Pope Gregory IX on 16 July 1228. He is usually depicted in a brown habit with a rope around his waist with three knots, symbolizing the three Franciscan vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the sultan al-Kamil and put an end to the conflict of the Fifth Crusade. [5] In1223, he arranged for the first live nativity scene as part of the annual Christmas celebration in Greccio. [a][6][7] According to Christian tradition, in 1224 Francis received the stigmata during the apparition of a Seraphic angel in a religious ecstasy. [8]
He founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women's Order of St. Clare, the Third Order of St. Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land. Once his community was authorized by Pope Innocent III, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs.
Francis is associated with patronage of animals and the environment. It became customary for churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day of 4 October. He is known for devotion to the Eucharist. [9] Along with Catherine of Siena, he was designated patron saint of Italy. San Francisco in California, United States is named after him.
Read More -
Thomas Merton OCSO (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. On May 26, 1949, he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood and given the name "Father Louis".[1][2] He was a member of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, near Bardstown, Kentucky, living there from 1941 to his death.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, [3] mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US [4][5] It is on National Review 's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.[6]
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama; Japanese writer D. T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.
-
Richard Rohr, OFM (born 1943) is an American Franciscan priest and writer on spirituality[1] based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[2] He was ordained to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church in 1970, founded the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati in 1971, and the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque in 1987. In 2011, PBS called him "one of the most popular spirituality authors and speakers in the world".[3]
Rohr's notable works include The Universal Christ, Falling Upward, and Everything Belongs. His spirituality is rooted in Christian mysticism and the perennial tradition.
Read More -
Chiara Offreduccio (16 July 1194 – 11 August 1253), known as Clare of Assisi (sometimes spelled Clara, Clair or Claire; Italian: Chiara d'Assisi), was an Italian saint who was one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi.
Inspired by the teachings of St. Francis, she founded the Order of Poor Ladies, a monastic religious order for women in the Franciscan tradition. The Order of Poor Ladies was different from any other order or convent because it followed a rule of strict poverty.[1] Clare wrote their Rule of Life, the first set of monastic guidelines known to have been written by a woman. Following her death, the order she founded was renamed in her honor as the Order of Saint Clare, commonly referred to today as the Poor Clares. Her feast day is on 11 August.
Read More
Seven Themes of An Alternative Orthodoxy
By Richard Rohr summarized by David Kool
The Franciscan tradition exemplifies an alternative orthodoxy through its emphasis on the importance of praxis over theory, or orthopraxy over orthodoxy. While orthodoxy is about correct beliefs, orthopraxy is about right practice - more to do with the ways we live our daily lives and treat other people than making verbal or mental assent to this or that idea.
1. Scripture as validated by experience, and experience as validated by tradition are good scales for one’s spiritual worldview.
2. If God is Trinity and Jesus is the face of God, then it is a benevolent universe. God is not someone to be afraid of, but is the Ground of Being and on our side (foundation). When we really understand Trinity, however slightly, it’s like we live in a different universe - and a very good and inviting one!
3. There is one sacred universe and we can no longer divide the world into natural and supernatural or sacred and profane. It’s all supernatural and sacred.
4. We are a mixture of “weeds and wheat”, good and bad, and accepting our messy reality is how we learn to love.
5. The true self describes our deepest identity in God, and the separate self is who we are when we are disconnected from divine love. This theme identifies the ways that shame and low self worth snake their way into our lives, and ultimately how the connection to the whole entices personhood (transformation).
6. We find God in the midst of suffering, because the crucified Jesus reveals that God is suffering love. This is the path of descent, appreciating the gifts of vulnerability and forgiveness, holding our mortality with a loving gaze, and working towards detaching from the storylines that dictate or bind our growth.
7. The center of spiritual desire is divine union. Here we see reality in its connectedness and wholeness, come to see how we come to non-duality in life, avoid the habit of pursuing personal perfection, and come to understand how prophetic action can flow from non-duality.