I got this reflection from one of the Transitus texts. I don't remember the name of the author but it is thought provoking and inspiring. It will help us a lot as we prepare to celebrate this evening the passing of our Father Francis of Assisi.
As we gather this evening to “remember” the death
of St. Francis, to whom might we address that same question? “What do you miss the most?” Might Clare respond: “I miss the deep conversations
we had because our hearts were so in tune,” and then laugh at the remembrance
of the time she and Francis shared a meal and were so wrapped in God that the
townsfolk thought the area was on fire and came rushing down with pails of
water to put out the flames?
“What do you miss
the most?” Perhaps Masseo would say: “I miss
Francis’ humble gestures of love,” and then recall the story of Francis waiting
for him to bring back word from Clare and Sylvester as to how he should spend
his days, in contemplation or in activity. Masseo would remember that, rather
than rushing at him for an answer, Francis greeted him, washed his feet
tenderly, cooked him a meal, and only then knelt down before Masseo to hear God
’s will for him.
“What do you miss
the most?” What would Francis’ father
say? How would his mother respond? What about Lady Jacopa?
There is a line from the fairy tale The Tinker King which states: “Everything dies a little when something
dies a lot.” Francis’ passing from this world constituted a particularly
brilliant reflection of God’s beauty no longer physically present to us.
What a loss!
And in our loss, in the first decade of this
21st century, people like ourselves around the planet gather tonight for
the 780th time since Francis’s death to ask the question one more time. “What do we miss the most?” and “What does our world miss the most?”
As we sit here tonight, “memories” come back that
find us “dying a little” all over again because Francis died “a lot.” We
encounter our own fears and yearnings as we stand before the darkness and the
shadow of death in Iraq and North Korea and Iran.
Filling our news and our very beings, we listen
with heavy hearts to the death toll in Philadelphia city streets alone. We
mourn in solidarity with Iraqi and Afghan and Palestinian and Israeli mothers
who have all “died a little” because their children have been terrorized and
have “died a lot.”
But, in the face of this evil, we remember Francis
who encountered the Sultan peacefully, who reconciled opposing factions in
Assisi, who lifted hearts with his greeting of “Good Morning, Good People,” who
envisioned a world of no enemies where everyone was sister and brother and who
stripped himself of everything to make this happen more easily, who allowed his
suffering to transform him into a most faithful mirror of Christ, and who could
even face death singing—and, all of a sudden, WE HAVE HOPE.
We realize that our God is, indeed, not only a God
of day but also a God who holds us during the darkness and that Francis’
imitation of the foot-washing Christ is just the antidote we and our world need
in response to the oppression and brokenness that surround us.
As we ponder “What do we miss the most?” we are challenged by our own responsibility to
“fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.” (1 Colossians 24) Through the intercession of St. Francis and
through the legacy that he has passed down to us, what we miss the most God’s
Spirit has given us the power to supply!
“I have done what
is mine to do,” Francis would remind us tonight, “may Christ teach you what is yours to
do.” (2C, 214)
Most
high, all powerful, all good Lord! All praise is yours, all glory, all honor,
and all blessing. To you, alone, Most High, do they belong. No mortal lips are
worthy to pronounce your name.
Be
praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord
Brother Sun, who brings the day; and you give light through him. And he is
beautiful and radiant in all his splendor! Of you, Most High, he bears the
likeness.
Be
praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens you have
made them, precious and beautiful.
Be
praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air, and clouds and storms, and all
the weather, through which you give your creatures sustenance.
Be
praised, My Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and
precious, and pure.
Be
praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you brighten the night. He
is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong.
Be
praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us,
and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Be
praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you; through those who
endure sickness and trial. Happy those who endure in peace, for by you, Most
High, they will be crowned.
Be
praised, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whose embrace no living
person can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Happy those she finds
doing your most holy will. The second death can do no harm to them.
Praise
and bless my Lord, and give thanks, and serve him with great humility.
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