About Friar Musings

Franciscan friar and Catholic priest at St. Francis of Assisi in Triangle, VA

Clear Vision and Sure Steps

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Friar Musings

There was once a trusting Franciscan guardian who took a young friar to live in his own lean-to down by the river. For the first week the friar was ecstatic – his prayer life blossomed and he really felt he had taken a major step on his journey to God.

At the end of the week, the young friar washed his one habit and put it out to dry. The next morning he was dismayed to find that some rats had torn his habit to shreds. So he covered himself as best he could, went to a nearby village and begged for another. A week later, after washing, the rats destroyed that habit as well. So, the young friar got a cat – and presto – rat problem solved. But he found he had to beg for milk for the cat. And all the begging was taking away from his life of prayer. So he got a cow; but of course the cow needed hay. And he needed fields to grow the hay and a barn to store the hay. And that took away from prayer time and his journey to God. So he hired people to farm and tend the animals, but then he found he was the de facto mayor/sheriff/paymaster of a small village. So he hired village administrators and a small police force. And there were town meetings – and on and on the story went. Continue reading →

Admonition Nine

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Friar Musings

It is said that we do not read Scripture, but that Scripture reads us. “Indeed the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart” (Hebrews 4). It is in the same way that art often reveals more about the viewer than art reveals about itself. Our response to injury shares that same revelatory attribute with Scripture and art. Continue reading →

Admonition Eight

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Friar Musings

Someone once described the décor in my room in the friary as a wonderful example of “early American randomness.” Random? Really? I suspect they really meant chaos in the mathematical sense – because there is always an order present – even if it is not readily apparent. One of my friar brothers, in his life before joining the Franciscans, was a successful interior designer whose work brought beauty in to the world from the chaos of materials and ideas. His work has graced the cover of Architectural Digest several times. Another brother teaches at a noted school of medicine. Another is a cobbler, another a tailor, and another an elementary school teacher. We have lawyers, dentists, business executives, musicians, academics, writes, cooks, social workers, counselors, and even a candlestick maker. All different gifts to build up the fraternity of men, who like Francis, on our best days work to build up the Church. Continue reading →

Admonition Seven

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Friar Musings

Years ago I was invited to lunch with the teaching staff at a seminary in Kenya. I walked in on the middle of a good-natured debate. On one side were the two scripture scholars – on the other side of the debate was the entire remainder of the staff. The proposition was whether studying Scripture was the shortest route to losing one’s faith. Everyone was a faithful believer and the debate was all in good fun taking the opportunity to poke fun at their friends. Continue reading →

Muggles in Church

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Friar Musings

Earlier today on David Lose’s blog, he commented on something he had heard about organized religion’s distinction between the ordained and the laity – it was rather like wizards and muggles. At this point I am assuming a familiarity with the Harry Potter series of books. David Lose took the thought in one direction, my thoughts wandered a different direction. Continue reading →

Admonition 5

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Friar Musings

I think anyone who is involved in pastoral ministry or ministries of service – inside or outside the home – knows that there days that are less rewarding than others – and days when you wondered why you got out of bed. There are those days when we tried to bring to bear some of the talents, gifts and abilities that we were given to be instruments of God’s compassion – and the days is unrewarding or even filled with some form of suffering, persecution or disappointment. If we are truly wise, then we will recognize that our role is to live as Christ lived. Nothing more, nothing less. Continue reading →

Admonition 6

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Friar Musings

Every group, community, organization, parish – and any gathering of human beings – has its stories that look to a “golden age.” When I served in the Navy, it’s was the tales of “iron men and wooden ships – aaaaargh!” As a Franciscan friar our provincial stories include the Paul Bunyan-like tales of Fr. Tex Dooley OFM in Bolivia who tamed a mountain and built a road. Here in the parish in Tampa it is the stories of the Jesuit missionaries who rode out from Tampa across central and south Florida establishing missions and churches from Tampa to Key West. In the Catholic Church we have the stories of the saints, martyrs, missionaries and holy people. It is good to tell the stories. But… Continue reading →

St Francis – Admonition 4

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Friar Musings

On Francis’ death bed he asked that the Johannine passage (John 13:1-17) of the Last Supper be read. It is the passage in which Jesus washes the feet of the disciples as a demonstration of how followers are to go about the world. Francis understands that the human enterprise needs and seeks its own organization, a challenge he faced as the Order of Friars began to expand beyond the small initial group based in Assisi. Even with the need for someone to “be in charge,” Francis admonishes that their attitude be rooted in service.

Admonition 4: Let No One Make Being Over Others His Own

¹ I did not come to be served, but to serve, says the Lord

² Let those who are place over others boast about that position as much as they would if they were assigned the duty of washing the feet of their brothers. ³ And if they are more upset at having their place over others taken away from them at losing their position at their feet, the more they store up a money bag to the peril of their souls.

St Francis – Admonition 3

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Friar Musings

When one considers the writings of Francis of Assisi (not writings about Francis), the topic about which he most often writes, mentions, or points to is obedience. Too often this word in heard as “do what you are told” and there is an element of that in Francis’ writings. But there is always more. Francis sees the life of minority (humility) as the willingness to offer oneself completely as a way of conforming oneself to Christ. One might find it odd that this admonition begins with a reference to Luke 14:33 about giving up one’s possessions – shouldn’t that be about poverty rather than obedience? Part of the possessions that one renounces was addressed in Admonition 2 – the self will.

Admonition 3: Perfect Obedience

¹ The Lord says in the Gospel: Whoever does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple; ² and: Whoever wishes to save his life must lose it.

³ That person who offers himself totally to obedience in the hands of his prelate leaves all that possesses and loses his body. ⁴ And whatever he does and says which he knows is not contrary to his will is true obedience, provided that what he does is good.

⁵ And should a subject see that some things might be better and more useful for his soul than what a prelate commands, let him willingly offer such things to God as a sacrifice and, instead let him earnestly strive to fulfill the prelate’s wishes. ⁶ For this is loving obedience because it pleases God and neighbor.

⁷ If the prelate, however, commands something contrary to his conscience, even though he may not obey him, let him not, however, abandon him. ⁸ And if he then suffers persecution from others, let him love them all the more for the sake of God. ⁹ For whoever chooses to suffer persecution rather than wish to be separated from his brothers truly remains in perfect obedience because he lays down his life for his bothers. ¹⁰ In fact, there are many religious who, under the pretext of seeing things better than those which the prelate commands. Look back, and return to the vomit of their own will. ¹¹ These people are murderers and, because of their bad example, cause many to lose their souls.

St Francis – Admonition 2

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Friar Musings

Franciscans take three vows: poverty, chastity, and obedience. It is sometimes said that Obedience is the one the creeps up on you. When one spends a lifetime working to become an individuated person with a good sense of self and one’s worth, setting aside “self will” does not come naturally. Francis understood the balance of self will, the will of the people one serves, the will of the community to which one professes, and, above all, the will of God we seek to fulfill. Here in Admonition 2 he addresses the dark side of self will – something capable of transforming the knowledge of good into the knowledge of evil through self exaltation.

Admonition 2: The Evil of Self Will

¹ The Lord said to Adam: Eat of every tree; you may not eat, however, of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

² He was able to eat of every tree of paradise, because he did not sin as long as he did not go against obedience. ³ For that person eats of the tree of the knowledge of good who makes his will his own and, in this way, exalts himself over the good things the Lord says and does in him. ⁴ And so, through the suggestion of the devil and the transgression of the command, it became the apple of the knowledge of evil. ⁵ Therefore it is fitting that he suffer punishment.

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