July, the
month in which I am usually in the mountains with my community: hitting the
trails, breathing in the fresh mountain air, soaking up the sun near hidden
lakes, and making memories and creating stronger bonds with my sisters. July,
the month in which my heart begins to long to see family and my beautiful Texas
landscape knowing that the time to travel home is near.
This July - July
in the year 2020 - the July when I had a flight booked for home which I waited
until just a few days before to cancel hoping that the COVID-19 cases would
decrease in Texas allowing safe travel and stay. The July in which, instead of
fresh mountain air, I regularly breathed in the slightly less than normally polluted
air of a city recently “freed” from lockdown. The July when, instead of with
24, I found myself living with an ever decreasing amount of sisters, few of
which remained constant throughout. And…the July in which I found myself
surrounded by St. Francis of Assisi.
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| La Verna |
I don’t think anyone would argue that this past month has been filled with much that was unexpected. Perhaps the tendency would be to list off only those negative unexpected things but today I want to share about some unexpected goodness, beauty, and joy that the Lord has gifted with me in these past 31 days through a well-known saint: St. Francis.
To start off
well, I entered into the month of July while on my annual Spiritual Exercises.
Spiritual Exercises are exactly as their name sounds: a time of intense
exercise in our spiritual life. It is a time – usually 5 to 7 days – in which
one dedicates the majority of their attention, energy, and focus to prayer and entering
into an encounter with God. This year I was accompanied by two of my sisters,
Clara and Loredana, to Monteluco of Spoleto where a Franciscan Convent of friars
welcomed us, hosted us, made sure we were well fed, and led us in our 5 days of
silence. As many Franciscan convents in north-central Italy, this one is on the
sight of where St. Francis himself would have tread.
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| From the lookout - Monteluco of Spoleto |
St. Francis
had quite the habit of choosing peaceful and nature filled places for his
prayer. The most famous Franciscan sights are up on a hill with a spectacular
look out over the valley below and near a wooded area filled with many small
trails leading to nooks and hidden places conducive for a moment of silent
prayer. Monteluco was no exception.
In the quiet
days spent in this convent, I was struck once again by the simplicity and calm
that often represents the Franciscan style of living. The steady rhythm of
manual labor – mostly gardening – that I witnessed by the friars and their
postulants (young men in their first year of formation towards becoming Franciscan
friars), reminded me of my own heart’s attraction to simplicity and action that
may not be swift but is always intentional and diligent. They seemed not to be
bothered by many worries and distractions during their work but present to what
was, literally, “at hand”.
Another noun
with which St. Francis is often associated is poverty. Those days in silence
reminded me that poverty is not misery but rather living with what is merely
essential and not bombarding oneself with that which is extra and superfluous. I’ve
been inspired to downsize: to thank the Lord for all that He has given me
through various benefactors, family, and friends, and to see what is essential
for me and what is instead extra that could be essential for someone else in
need.
After these
Spiritual Exercises, I returned home with a heart full of the gifts the Lord
granted me and these small reflections on simplicity and poverty inspired by
St. Francis and the men who follow his way of life still today.
My next Franciscan
adventure occurred just a few weeks later in the form of a gita comunitaria (community trip) to La Verna – the sight where St.
Francis received the stigmata. The stigmata are the wounds of the crucified
Christ. St. Francis was the first to receive them and the Franciscan friar who
shared with us the story of this great event considered it more than anything else
a gift of love by part of God who heard and answered St. Francis’s prayer to
really experience Christ’s love for him. And as Jesus Himself put it in St.
John’s Gospel, what greater love is there than one who lays day His life for
His friends (Jn 15:13). St. Francis was allowed this grace of experiencing the
suffering behind the love of Christ for all of humanity and uniquely for him.
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| Gita Comunitaria to La Verna |
The greatest
joy I experienced at La Verna, however, was not directly linked to this episode
of the receiving of the stigmata, for as much as it is important to the place.
What most struck me was the experience we had of the marvels of nature. Beyond
all that has already been said about Monteluco – the hill with a beautiful view
down below and a wooded area with trails and nooks for prayer – which was all
present at La Verna as well, my sisters and I witnessed something which can
only be attributed to the hands of a loving Creator with a childlike heart who
delights in the rejoicing of His children.
One evening
as we were leaving the Shrine in darkness one of my sisters began to point out
some flickering lights in the woods. Upon closer inspection, we all immediately
agreed on its source: lightening bugs. All of a sudden my heart was brought
back to many years ago in my backyard at home when lightening bugs (or
fireflies if you prefer) were much more common in the summer evenings. I
remember chasing them around and just marveling at them. After a brief pause we
continued to walk towards the car smiling, laughing, and pointing out all that
we saw. Then, one of my sisters, I don’t exactly remember who, brought
everybody’s attention to the other side of the trail. Up until that point we
had been looking up along the side of the hill to our left but she was now
directing our attention down the valley to our right – and boy am I ever glad
that she did that!
There to our
right was a sight that I have never seen nor do I ever dream of having the joy
to see again. There was not only a handful of lightening bugs sporadically
flickering in and out of the wooded shrubs but a whole community worth. A city
of lightening bugs, perhaps thousands, creating a spectacle that man could only
dream of being able to imitate. It was somewhat similar to a Christmas lights
show, or the many twinkling stars in the dark night sky, or perhaps even the
lights of a far off city – and yet it was none of these and so much more!
Clara and I
were the last to head to the car as we could hardly tear our eyes away of such
a wondrous sight. I was immediately invited into a reflection on community
life. Each lightening bug does relatively little when you think about it. Its
light lasts for just a fraction of a second before going out and needing to be
turned on again. So the single by itself, in comparison with the whole, really
doesn’t seem all that impressive. However, the whole – in all of its beauty and
glory – would literally be nothing without each and every effort, no matter how
small or short lived, of each and every single lightening bug. Each one of us
must do our part to make our light shine even if in just little spurts, in
order to create a masterpiece of sparkling lights. And not only this. We must
also do our part to help others shine their light, or rather, to help others allow
the light of Christ to shine in them. In this way, others, like my sisters and
me that evening, will be caught dead in their tracks before the beauty of life
lived genuinely in communal love and harmony.
My final Franciscan
experience of this month occurred over a weekend in which we hiked to and
explored different Franciscan sights in what is often referred to as La Valle Santa Rietana (the holy valley
of Rieti). The different places we visited each had a unique meaning for St.
Francis: at Poggio Bustone he encountered the forgiveness of God, at the Shrine
of the Forest he encountered the reality of providence, at Fonte Colombo he
wrote the Franciscan Rule of Life, and at Greccio he created the first ever
nativity scene.
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| With Clara on the trail near Greccio. |
In this
weekend Clara and I accompanied a group of young people and three priests from
a parish where our community does some apostolate. What I learned from St.
Francis and these young people in these short 2 days was the beauty and joy of
fraternity. Again I found myself in the hills overlooking beautiful fields and
valleys or walking through trails in the woods but this time the difference was
in the company. I was no longer alone with the silence of my Spiritual
Exercises at Monteluco of Spoleto, I was not only with my sisters as I was at
La Verna…no, this time I was walking side by side with perfect strangers who
the Lord was giving me the great joy to discover and share with. In this
experience I was reminded that the fraternal life is not based on how much a
group of people have in common but rather how much love and patience each
single is willing to offer to the others. The young people were very open and welcoming
to me, taking an interest in me, being patient with my accent and lack of
vocabulary at times and including me in moments of games and sharing. I look
forward to the possibility of working more with them this coming year.
In the end,
this July - July in the year of 2020 – has been for me a month with St.
Francis. I would have never expected this month or perhaps even desired it but
yet I feel as if all things are just as they should be and that the Lord is
using even these recent difficulties of life – that the whole world is
experiencing – to bring about great good and peace. Although I have caught
myself a time or two daydreaming in “what-ifs” – community hikes in the mountains
or playing with my 1 and a half year old nephew – I can honestly say that my
heart is at peace and full of joy and gratitude. I choose to take a hint and
seek to live this next month, which will also be different than all of the
Augusts before it, following in the footsteps of St. Francis: in simplicity and
poverty, marveling at the beauties of nature, and patiently loving the people
God places in my day to day life.
