Franciscan Meditations, Part III

I'm going to finish this and then post other session topics in the days to come. Later I may break this up and add more parts to the meditations, but for today I want to move on because I'm just so far behind.
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Where there is darkness, light.
Who has lost hope? What can we do to bring new light to their lives?

Who? So many. They're some of the saddest people you will ever know. If you really look, they are the angry ones, the ones that lash out at people; they are the people who insult you even as they shake your hand; they are the ones whose life is work and work is life, for they have nothing and nobody, paying lip service to His message or simply refusing to open their eyes to the love of Christ.

To bring light is as simple as the Franciscan philosophy outlined in this quote (in various forms): "Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words."

And where there is sadness, joy.
Are people looking for meaning in their lives? What can we do to make joy a reality for them?

Are people looking for meaning? Of course they are; why else are so many people miserable? The biggest problem is that they think *things* are the answer--which, of course, they are not and never have been. Emperors with floors of gold have been the most miserable people in history. For the everyday person, sometimes it's a shopping spree, sometimes it's gambling, sometimes it's boozing life away or packing their houses full of things that are never used.

The answer is easy if your heart is open: God's knocking. Are you listening?

Making joy a reality can be simple or complex. Sometimes it's as simple as saying hello; sending a card at random; inviting a friend that's blue out to lunch; feeding the hungry; volunteering at a senior center. One of the easiest is just flashing a sincere beaming smile at a total stranger for no reason at all. I learned that one day in a hazy memory, and you'd be surprised as to how the surprised look followed by a relieved smile makes a difference for you.


Oh, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

We all want validation, we are communal animals. But seeking consolation or approval all the time is, frankly, a drag. Listening to others is a great exercise and one can learn new things when someone else is unhappy.


To be understood as to understand;

Back to validation. It's just that it's not all about you.

To be loved as to love;

Tied in with validation; this time, it's personal. I didn't understand this until TJ came into my life. I wanted to be loved (as who does not?), but to have that love unconditionally offered is something I had never encountered before--no questions, no preconceptions, all-encompassing, immutable. And once I realized what was happening, it was so easy to offer it back. And it spills over, it's true.

For it is in giving that we receive;

"Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver." [2 Corinthians 9:7]

'Nuff said.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

"To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless."
--G. K. Chesterton

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

This, of course, is the core of our faith--the True Faith--in Jesus Christ. It is His promise, before he ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.

Death is nothing to be afraid of; yet it is not to be sought as it is in this culture of death we live in. But while nobody who has Faith really wishes to die, neither are we to flinch when we are called to our final rest, to not be afraid of judgement, to hope that the Father forgives in his immeasurable mercy, and to be reunited with those beloved ones who we have lost.

It is in this sure hope of resurrection that makes this life we live in so sweet.

~~
Quote:

"It is important to speak of suffering and death in a way that dispels fear. Indeed, dying is a part of life."
--Pope John Paul II in Austria: Message to the sick and suffering June 1998