Years ago I wrote reflections on the Admonitions of St. Francis of Assisi. They are listed below. But I would recommend a new book, edited by Br. Casey Cole OFM, which contains a reflection on each admonition. The book, Sine Proprio: the Franciscan Art of Living Freely, is available on Amazon. Each chapter was written by one of the Friars of Our Lady of Guadalupe Province. Your truly contributed the chapter on Admonition 22: “On Corrections”
-
Admoniton Eleven
Read more: Admoniton ElevenPeople of a certain age have children who are now adults. Their kids are establishing careers, families, and planning for the future. They are more and more becoming their own persons – and the parent-child relationship is giving way to the peer-peer relationship – at least in some part and form. Some of my friends…
-
Admoniton Twelve
Read more: Admoniton TwelveMy dad would occasionally remind me of the following wisdom: “Everyone you meet is your better because you can learn something from them.” They were words meant to remind you to keep your own accomplishments in perspective; celebrant them in the moment, build upon them, and learn from them – but do not set up…
-
Admoniton Thirteen
Read more: Admoniton ThirteenPeople often remark that they need to pray for patience. St. Francis recognized it is only the stressful moments that reveal if our wellspring of patience has run dry. How does one fill the well of patience? Perhaps one needs to pray not simply for the general item of patience, but for healing of the…
-
Admonition Fourteen
Read more: Admonition FourteenSeveral years ago, having just celebrated Mass, and now standing on the sidewalk in front of the church greeting and chatting with folks, a man came up to me and said, “Are you just too stupid to learn Latin – is it too hard for you?” Seems he expected the Mass to be celebrated in…
-
Admonition Fifteen
Read more: Admonition FifteenThe idea of peace in the Hebrew Bible is šālôm whose core meaning is “to be hale, whole, complete.” In one form or another the notions of wholeness, health, and completeness inform all the variants of the word. Peace is not simply the absence of war or conflict. Peace is a positive notion, a notion…
-
Admonition Sixteen
Read more: Admonition SixteenAn American tourist in Jerusalem met up with one of the Holy Land Custody friars. The friar offered to show him around the monastery of which he was a part. On their tour they came to the friar’s room; the tourist noticed no TV or radio, only one change of clothes, a towel and a…
-
Admonition Seventeen
Read more: Admonition SeventeenEach one of us is gifted and as St Paul instructs us, all the gifts are given in order to build up the community. Some receive gifts that play out in a very public setting before tremendous numbers of people. Certainly Rev. Billy Graham was so gifted. Some are gifted in ways that will never…
-
Admonition Nineteen
Read more: Admonition NineteenIn the Earlier Rule 14 writing about mission, St. Francis says that Franciscans should go through the world subject to all people. It is one of the many ways in which Francis indicated that humility was to be a key virtue of the brothers. St. Bonaventure wrote hold that humility is “the root and guardian…
-
Admonition Twenty
Read more: Admonition TwentyI mean, really… who doesn’t love a morsel of gossip? Gossip has a place in the world, right? Who doesn’t love to walk into a room, filled with laughter, have everyone catch sight of us, hear the laughter suddenly stop, and then watch the group disperse? OK, that is not so great, but how bad…
-
Admonition Twenty-One
Read more: Admonition Twenty-OneWe all have moments when we can truly be described as fiddling, foolish, unimportant, incidental, inconsequential, inconsiderable, insignificant, or in other words, frivolous. Perhaps it is the way we take a break from the serious and demanding parts of our own lives. We seek a pause in life. And so from time to time we…
friarmusings 