Franciscan Spirit

man looking at a valley | Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash

Franciscan Inspirations: God Doesn’t Punish

It is common for religious people to attribute natural disasters as a punishment by God for sins. If that’s true, then God’s aim is off target because it’s usually the innocent who suffer rather than the guilty.

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On the Feast of Stephen: A Meditation from Pope Francis

December 26: Violence is Conquered by Love http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122616.cfm Readings: Acts 6:8–10; 7:54–59; Matthew 10:17–22
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woman twirling | Photo by Sasha Freemind on Unsplash

Franciscan Inspirations: God Needs You!

The title of this blog may strike some as rather strange and even unorthodox. After all, we know that God is infinite in wisdom, knowledge, and goodness. But it would be incorrect to say that God doesn’t need anything or anyone. We ...
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A statue of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American to be canonized, is seen at Our Lady of the Island Shrine in Manorville, N.Y., March 25, 2021. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)

In the Footsteps of Saint Kateri

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha repeats the example of the saints: Holiness thrives on the cross, anywhere.
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Angel carries Jesus

The Loneliness of Gethsemane

Truth finds us in different ways. Sometimes we learn what something means not in a classroom, but in a hospital. Several years ago, I was visiting a man dying of cancer in a hospital room. He was dying well, though ...
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Pregnant woman holding a picture | Photo by Bethany Beck on Unsplash

Franciscan Inspirations: Size Doesn’t Matter, Really

In our society, it seems that everything has to be bigger or the greatest. “More is more,” as they say. But the truth is this: size is not really that important.
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Walking through a tunnel | Photo by Chris Buckwald on Unsplash

Franciscan Inspirations: Reincarnation and Judgment

In recent years, we’ve heard references to the concept of reincarnation. This is the theory that the soul or spirit, after death, begins a new life in a new body depending on the moral quality of the person’s previous life.
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