Via Divina

Only one week until Orientation on June 28. Discounts available on registration site. Rebuilding the Church God called Francis of Assisi to rebuild the church. Francis started by collecting stones and repairing walls of rundown chapels. Then he started to live out the good news of Jesus by loving those on the margins of society and new life entered the church.  Many people today would say that the church is again in need of renewal. What could that look like?  If you have been asking this question, … [Read more...] about The Franciscan Way (Walk Five): Rebuilding the Church

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal … [Read more...] about The Franciscan Way (Walk Four): Making Peace

How would you rate the state of your community life these days? What about your practice of contemplation, i.e., time for thoughtful reflection?   If you are like many people, you are rating both of these lower than you would like. In the life of the church, often the practices of contemplation   and community are seen to be in tension. Those who want to reflect on God's presence often seek solitude and time away in quiet, while those wanting community seek gatherings and activity. Many people whose lives will not … [Read more...] about The Franciscan Way (Walk Three): Community and Contemplation

"Go and sell your possessions and give them to the poor” Jesus said to a young wealthy man who inquired of him how he could find eternal life. The man, counting the cost of this invitation and deciding it was too much, became sad, turned, and walked away. 1200 years later a young wealthy man from Assisi received a similar invitation. This young man, and many after him, responded to that call to relinquish all that they had, and in doing so found a life of freedom and abundance as they stepped into a life of following … [Read more...] about The Franciscan Way (Walk Two): Poverty and Abundance