If you are reading this you have successfully navigated Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and holiday travel. You’re doing great! And I know you will do great navigating Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday, and all that comes with the holiday season. Here in the betwixt and between we celebrate Christ the King Sunday. What should this solemnity mean in your life?
After all, the word “king” conjures up many things in the American mind. I suspect if I asked most people, “Who is the King?” the answer might well come back “Elvis.” There is just part of us that lives in a pop-culture world. But then the idea of king is rich in the heritage of our literature, movies and imagination: Richard the Lionhearted, Henry V giving the “band of brothers” soliloquy on the fields of Agincourt, Louis King of France, the original namesake of our parish, and all the modern royal family of England. Still, we fought a Revolutionary War to no longer bow before English monarchs. I always wonder if that is, in some part, what contributed to the origin of “Who died and made you king?” Yet we remain fascinated by kings and queens. Continue reading
I am grateful for a day in which we, as a people, pause to give thanks. And who do we have to thank for this holiday? Your answer is likely “The Pilgrims.” You would not be wrong, but then not completely correct, either. Certainly, Thanksgiving and the religious response of giving thanks to God is as old as time. When one considers enduring cultures, one always finds men and women working out their relationship to God. There is almost always a fourfold purpose to our acts of worship: adoration, petition, atonement, thanksgiving. Such worship is part and parcel of life. And yet, there is still a very human need to specially celebrate and offer thanksgiving on key occasions and anniversaries. Since medieval times, we have very detailed records of celebrations marking the end of an epidemic, liberation from sure and certain doom, the signing of a peace treaty, and more. 
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
What is the old expression? “Good things come to those who wait.” A little more than 18 months ago there was a chance discussion with one of our parishioners, Francesca Bacci, an art history professor at the University of Tampa. She wanted to be more active in the parish and wondered what opportunities there might be. Given her expertise in medieval art, specifically Italian and in the era of St. Francis, I thought there could be some great opportunities for presentations on the art of Giotto and the art that adorns the basilica of St Francis in Assisi. 
What kind of leaders do we want? Certainly, a good question here with the mid-term elections upon us. It is always a good question for the Church. I have lived during the pontificates of seven popes and in my lifetime, we have certainly had a wide variety of types and styles of leaders. In our history, we have had 266 popes. We have had some spectacularly amazing leaders, saints in the making, and we have had some spectacularly horrific leaders, who would have been quite at home in Game of Thrones (so I hear, I actually haven’t seen it…). All took up the Keys of Peter, with the same job description given Peter: Feed my sheep; tend my lambs. The Pope is the most visible of leaders in the Church, but not the only ones with that same job description. The simple mandate, “feed my sheep; tend my lambs” applies to priests, pastors, parents, principals, police, and anyone who would lead – anyone who would answer the call to minister in the Holy Name of Jesus. 
In a 13th century text called the Il Foretti (The Little Flowers), a story is told about St. Francis in which a brother friar came to him and asked, “Why after you? Why is the whole world coming after you, wanting to see you, to hear you, to follow you?” Some 800 years after the life of St. Francis, this question remains. What is it about this unpretentious figure from the early 13th century which continues to exert such a perennial fascination for Catholics and non-Catholics, believers and agnostics alike? What is it that has made Francis the subject of more books than any other saint? Why has he inspired artists, led ecologists, peace activists, and advocates for the poor to claim him as a patron? Why has he inspired countless tens of thousands of men and women to follow his Rule of Life in religious and secular communities? 
In the 11 years I have lived in downtown Tampa, the change has been constant and continuous. When I moved into the friary, there was no Curtis Hixon Park as we know it today. The “Elements” had not been built and “Skypoint” was mostly dark at night. The “Floridan” was still closed, as was the 1905 Federal Courthouse on Florida Avenue. And then slowly, growth and expansion started. The courthouse became a boutique hotel and restaurant. The Floridan opened and expanded as did the Elements. Buildings started to rise in Channelside. There are blocks of downtown being developed that I can’t remember what used to be there. And that is just on this side of the river. Remember The Tampa Tribune building? Remember the parking lot behind Oxford Exchange? Both will be finished residential complexes soon and very soon. 
A lot of people in the parish know that in my former life I was a naval officer serving on nuclear submarines in the Pacific. And people know me now as a Franciscan Friar and ordained priest. I think most people assume I went from the “monastic enclosure” of the submarine to the hallowed halls of the friary. Not so much. There was a 14-year period when I was out there in the world working in the field of consulting. I started out advising commercial nuclear-power plants – kind of an obvious transition. Before I knew it, a less obvious path opened, and I found myself working on information-technology projects. That eventually led to strategic-management consulting for several different industries. Looking back on it, one thing was for sure: It was never dull. It was exciting to continually enter into new engagements, with new clients, and have the chance to think creatively, strategically, and in all different ways. 
friarmusings 