Keeping Advent with Some Friends
Greg Friedman, OFM
December 5, 2020
The start of the Advent season usually finds me with a “divided spirit.”
Find what you’re looking for
Search Results for: node – Page 536
Saint Sabas
Franciscan Media
December 5
After an abusive childhood, Saint Sabas found refuge in a monastery, where he also found his vocation to the monastic life. Permitted to live as a hermit, Saint Sabas soon found others attracted to his way of life, and he eventually became the abbot of a monastic community. As a result, he is known as one of the founders of Eastern monasticism.
Sow Seeds of Peace
Albert Haase, OFM
December 4, 2020
Like Saint Francis, we too must clear an interior space and empty ourselves for peace to blossom within our lives and the lives of others.
The Spiritual Insight of Charlie Brown
Stephen Copeland
December 4, 2020
Charlie Brown’s emotional honesty, intellectual curiosity, and overall bravery—amidst unmet expectations, failure, shame, and humiliation—reflects the spiritual path for each of us.
Lavish Generosity
Patricia Breen McNeil
December 4, 2020
God never ceases to be generous with us, even when we do not pay attention or miss things.
Saint John Damascene
Franciscan Media
December 4
Saint John Damascene was born in Damascus, but spent most of his life in a monastery near Jerusalem. Little is known about his life, but John is remembered as the last of the Eastern Church Fathers. He gained fame as a poet and an author.
Becoming God’s Instruments
Albert Haase, OFM
December 3, 2020
The need to be in control can be such a slippery slope on the spiritual journey: When do we take charge and act? When do we hold back and trust? So many of us live delusional lives and think we’re in charge not only of our lives but also of our holiness and soul training. And that is the very reason why frustration reigns supreme: We resist letting go and trusting in the fingers of the potter. We refuse to surrender. And yet, training the soul to become God’s instrument occurs only in the radical act of trust.
Saint Francis Xavier
Franciscan Media
December 3
Saint Francis Xavier was won over to Christ by the gentle persuasion of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. He then joined the Jesuits and soon after set off for the East, where he labored the rest of his life. Xavier was on his way to China when he died in 1552.
O Divine Master
Albert Haase, OFM
December 2, 2020
To serve the Lord and Divine Master is to recognize the gratuity of grace that is never exhausted and never expires: everything in my life is a grace, gift, and blessing.
Blessed Rafal Chylinski
Franciscan Media
December 2
This Polish Conventual Franciscan served in the military, but felt the call to the vowed religious life. Rafal Chylinski was known for his simple and candid sermons, for his generosity, as well as for his ministry in the confessional.