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The Secular Franciscan Home Page: http://secularfranciscans.org
PILGRIMAGE TO CATHOLIC ITALY
Go
to: www.stfrancispilgrimages.com
Contact: Bret Thoman, SFO
Ph: 770-402-4335
e-mail: bthoman@juno.com
PaxetBonum!
Organize a pilgrimage in 2009
Pace e bene! May the Lord give you His peace! We are looking for people who would like to help organize a pilgrimage to Italy in 2009. We can offer a free spot if you can get 20-30 people to sign up for a pilgrimage. We also use pilgrimage for fund-raisers. See our website: www.stfrancispilgrimages.com for more information. Newsletters will be sent out every month or so.
Prayer and Desire in the Life of St. Francis by Bret Thoman, SFO.
"It is God who, in his good will toward you, begets in you any measure of desire or achievement." When we open ourselves to God, we become our true selves. With God, we can let go of the false self and open ourselves up to the true self. It is here where God works in us; here he speaks to us. In the inmost part of our being, God speaks to us - he leads us to him. In this process, he plants the seed of desire. God calls us to himself. "You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you." It is even God who calls us to prayer - the desire to pray comes from God himself and in prayer we become face to face with God and his truth - the truth about ourselves, about others, about God himself. The desire to search for God which led us to prayer, leads to other desires as well. Spiritual desire is yearning to be with God, as Augustine once said: "our hearts are restless until they rest in you." This was true with St. Francis of Assisi. As a young man, he had many desires - some already holy, some more worldly, conditioned by the times in which he lived. Bonaventure says this of Francis, as a young man: "the sensitivity of his gentleness, together with a refined set of manners, a patience and affability beyond human decorum, and a generosity beyond his means singled him out as a young man of flourishing natural disposition." However, as a Bourgeois merchant, he desired greater social position, which led him to the battlefield in his quest for noble knighthood; first against Perugia, then towards Apulia for the Pope. Underlying this quest was his desire to be esteemed in the eyes of his peers and others - as a great warrior. However, it would be his relationship with Jesus Christ that would re-direct his desires towards those in conformity with God. For Francis, it began in dreams and visions. The first vision (or dream) described in the Sources is of Francis having a vision of a "large and splendid palace with military arms emblazoned with the insignia of Christ's cross." However, at this time Francis' spiritual discernment was as yet immature and he misinterpreted the dream in terms of military honors; thus, he set out for Apulia on yet another military adventure on behalf of Walter of Brienne fighting for the Papacy. After one day of travel with several Assisian knights, he had another dream in Spoleto. In this dream, a voice asked him if it was better to serve the Master or the servant. Francis, living in feudal times, would have understood this very clearly, and he responded that it was better to serve the Master. The voice told him to go back to his home town where he would be told what to do. And this time, Francis listened to the voice and responded properly by giving away his military gear. He went against his natural disposition of seeking worldly and military honors, despite the fact that he knew he would be judged a coward by his father, peers, and townspeople. But now he is responding to the desires that God is putting in his heart and acting accordingly; it is the Spirit within himself that he is discerning and following. Please click on the picture above, or the link below to read the entire story.
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