by CSW Director Rob Field
Open your eyes; alert your spiritual ears; unlock your lips, and apply your heart so that in all creatures you may see, hear, praise, love, and adore, magnify, and honor your God — lest, the entire world rise up against you. —St. Bonaventure, 13th century Franciscan
If ever there was a time to wake from sleep, it’s now. The crises we face are invitations to be alert and watchful. A fierce, divinely-inspired love is what we need to respond as courageously as we can. Imagination and hope will shape the specific ways you’re invited to respond.
The above quote from Bonaventure tells me the created order is rising up due to our collective lack of seeing and responding to Earth and humanity’s cry for restoration and balance. More than ever, I value visionaries like him who call our attention to what might be otherwise overlooked or misunderstood. In my short-sightedness, what have I missed? Whose cry am I ignoring? Who is using power in a way that harms other people and/or our planet? The visionaries help me wake up at a time when there are so many voices in the world that say “Pay no attention! And please go back to distracting yourself with some new consumer product, lifestyle upgrade, or digital platform.”
St. Francis and St. Clare are two of the visionaries who help me wake up. I will never forget seeing this sculpture, in 2019, in front of the Cathedral of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy:
The sculptor titled his work “The Great Defeat,” which perfectly captures the image of Francis the soldier returning home from war, defeated because he was captured in battle and held as a prisoner before being released. Without his “great defeat,” there would have been no inner transformation that led to Francis’ vision of a new way of seeing humanity in relationship to Earth, other human beings, and all creatures.
Right now, the Center is organizing our fifth international pilgrimage, a return to Rome, Assisi, and the region that was home to Francis and Clare, this Fall. In 2019, I led the Center’s first pilgrimage to Italy, and I can say without any doubt that the spirit of these two visionaries is alive and well today. Their presence seems mysteriously embedded in the sacred places where Francis and Clare lived, walked, and helped people find a new way of understanding the divine and the world. It is a vision of peace and the greatest good for Earth and all its creatures.
If this is a spirit you’d like to explore, please consider joining us Oct. 25 through Nov. 8 in Rome, beautiful Assisi, and the surrounding region of Umbria. You can reserve a space HERE by paying a refundable deposit. I will lead a free information session about the pilgrimage on Thursday, March 6 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on Zoom. You can sign up for the info session HERE (registration is required to receive the Zoom link).
Above photo of Earth photo by Cash Macanaya via Unsplash