Feast of Feasts
Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany
with St. Francis
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Christmas II – Creation
His ability to see the footprints of God inscribed on everything in Creation allowed Saint Francis to find God wherever he went in the world. And finding God in the things of creation led Francis into the loving arms of Jesus, for Christ is the Word of God made visible in the world.
“Francis came to realize that it is Christ who sanctifies creation and transforms it into the sacrament of God,” writes Franciscan author Ilia Delio. “The intimate link between creation and Incarnation revealed to Francis that the whole of creation is the place to encounter God. As his eyes opened to the holiness of creation, he came to see that there is nothing trivial or worthless. Rather, all created things point beyond themselves to their Creator.”
Saint Bonaventure, a First Order Friar and scholar who died in 1274, describes the contemplative vision of Francis as contuition, or, seeing things for what they truly are in God. In his book, The Life of Saint Francis of Assisi, Bonaventure writes:
“In beautiful things he contuited Beauty itself and through the footprints impressed in things he followed his Beloved everywhere, out of them all making for himself a ladder through which he could climb up to lay hold of him who is utterly desirable. . . . He savored in each and every creature—as in so many rivulets—that fontal Goodness, and . . . sweetly encouraged them to praise the Lord.”
Francisan author and speaker Richard Rohr sums it up well, “Francis had a unique ability to call others—animals, plants, and elements—‘brother’ and ‘sister’ because he himself was a little brother. He granted other beings and things mutuality, subjectivity, ‘personhood,’ and dignity because he first honored his own dignity as a son of God. The world of things was a transparent two-way mirror for him, which some of us would call a fully ‘sacramental’ universe.”
Sunday – A Franciscan Story
A story told by Ugolino di Monte Santa Maria in The Little Flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi is one of the many that abound to show his unique connection to creation. It relates how Francis, while on his way between Cannaio and Bevagno, looked up to see an infinite number of birds perched in the trees alongside the road.
“You shall await me here,” Francis said, stopping and speaking to his companions, “and I will go and preach to the birds, my sisters.” Francis then left the road and walked into a field where a number of birds were gathered on the ground.
As he began to preach to them, the birds in the trees fluttered to the ground, and along with the others, stood still until Francis had finished preaching. They refused to depart until the saint gave them his blessing, and according to Friar Masseo, as Francis passed through them, his mantle brushing their feathers, they still did not move.
According to Ugolino, this is what Francis preached to the birds:
“My sisters the birds, you are much obliged to God your creator, and always and in every place you ought to praise Him, because He has given you liberty to fly wherever you will and has clothed you with twofold and threefold raiment. Moreover, He preserved your seed in Noah’s Ark that your race might not be destroyed. Again, you are obliged to Him for the element of the air which He has appointed for you. Furthermore, you sow not neither do you reap, yet God feeds you and gives you rivers and fountains from which to drink. He gives you mountains and valleys for your refuge, and high trees in which to build your nests. And, since you know neither how to sew or spin, God clothes you and your little ones; so, clearly, your Creator loves you, seeing that He gives you so many benefits. Guard yourselves, therefore, you sisters the birds, from the sin of ingratitude and be ever mindful to give praise to God.”
As Francis was speaking these words to them, the birds began to open their beaks and wings, stretch out their necks, and bow their heads toward the ground. They showed by their movement and their song that Francis had given them much happiness.
When he had finished preaching, Saint Francis made the sign of the Cross over them and allowed that they might now depart. The birds rose into the air, singing, and separated themselves into four bands flying, flying east, west, south, and north in the shape of a cross.
Questions for reflection
This is just one of the many, many stories about the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany with saint’s close connection to God’s Creation. What is your relationship with Creation?
How do you show the reverence or respect you have for the outdoors and all the creatures it holds?
Monday – A Prayer
Creator God, you spoke and the cosmos came into being, the seas and the dry land, plants bearing seed, and all the animals on the face of the earth. You made humankind in your image and likeness and gave us dominion over all the earth that we might care for all that you made. In our selfishness and greed, humans have spoiled all that you had made and called very good. Assist us, we pray, to find joy in the world that you have formed as we join with others in serving you by fostering the healing you long for in all creation. This we ask for the sake of him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
My life has been so intrinsically tied to Creation since I was young that it is difficult to pick out just one example that was particularly meaningful to me. From exploring Walden Pond and Acadia National Park when I was very young to spending days on the lakes, rivers, and reservoirs of California in our houseboat, The Golden Goose, to spending six months backpacking from Georgia to Maine, my life abounds with examples of time spent outdoors.
Even when I can’t be outside, I have always enjoyed having my home office (never always possible in any of my numerous workplaces over the years) near a window. For the past eight years, I have been able to look out my window and watch the numerous birds and squirrels, butterflies and lizards, enjoy the flowers, birdfeeders, and birdbath in our backyard. I even once watched a raccoon picking through the fallen seed.
In the foreword to artist Courtney Milne’s classic work The Sacred Earth, the Dalai Lama reminds us that Mother Earth not only provides us with breath, water, food, clothing and shelter, “but she even serves as a source of inspiration. Throughout history people all over the world have identified particular places as sacred.”
Groves of trees, mountains, rivers, islands, and more have been marked as holy ground since the beginning of time, and are often sites of pilgrimage for many people.
But sacredness is everywhere, even in our backyards, and it varies every day and with every season. As Courtney Milne notes, “as long as one observes deeply.”
Milne’s vision as an artist was “to reveal life’s unfolding mystery—not to try to solve it.” And that mystery can be discovered in one’s own backyard or front yard, or in your local park, or a walk through the forest, or alongside a river.
As Franciscan sister Ilia Delio explains, “Francis came to realize that it is Christ who sanctifies creation and transforms it into the sacrament of God. The intimate link between creation and Incarnation revealed to Francis that the whole of creation is the place to encounter God. As his eyes opened to the holiness of creation, he came to see that there is nothing trivial or worthless. Rather, all created things point beyond themselves to their Creator.”
Even if it’s just for a few minutes daily, one can always find a reason to revel in God’s creation whether it be early morning sunlight bathing a flower in its rosy light or the rapidly wagging tail of your beloved dog. There are myriad ways to acknowledge that God’s Creation is a daily and important part of our lives.
Canticle of the Creatures
Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor,
and all blessing.
To You alone, Most High, do they belong, and no human
is worthy to mention Your name.Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day and through whom You give us light.And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor;
and bears a likeness of You, Most High One.Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and
the stars, in heaven You formed them clear and precious
and beautiful.Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and
through the air, cloudy and serene, and every
kind of weather, through whom You give sustenance
to Your creatures.Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, who is
very useful and humble and precious and chaste.Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through
whom You light the night, and he is beautiful
and playful and robust and strong.Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains and governs us, and who produces
various fruit with colored flowers and herbs.Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon
for Your love, and bear infirmity and tribulation.Blessed are those who endure in peace for by You, Most
High, shall they be crowned.Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no one living can escape.Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most
holy will, for the second death shall do them no harm.Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks and serve
Him with great humility.-Saint Francis of Assisi
Francis reveled in Creation, even going so far as rescuing worms from being trodden upon on dry and dusty roads to returning caught fish to their watery homes. He even welcomed death as part of the natural order of life.
Questions for reflection
Where are you when it comes to respecting God’s Creation? When you use water, for example, do you consider all that it has taken for it to pour so freely from your faucet, or do you take it for granted?
How about insects and other small creatures? If they are in your home, do you trap them and set them free? Do you exterminate some and not others?
Finally, how do you feel about your own mortality? Have you prepared for it by setting your preferences for your burial service or do you avoid talking about it at all?
Statues of Saint Francis, often featuring birdbaths, abound. Many churches, even those not named for the saint, have a Francis statue tucked away somewhere. But, Francis reminds us that nature consists not only of animals and plants, but of ourselves—our bodies and souls. Nature, itself, is catholic, as it includes all that is. From deserts to snow-covered wastelands, all is holy. And to God, it is all beautiful, a work of art.
“Look at the birds of the air,” Jesus tells us, “they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:26-34)
Questions for reflection
Recall two ways in which you have cared for Mother Earth over the last two days. Now, think of two ways in which you could show Creation respect for all it gives you.
When was the last time you enjoyed a sunrise or sunset? Is there a way in which you could learn to love nature more? Do your patterns of consumption show that you respect the Earth and its creatures, or do they show an abuse of Creation?
An unexpectedly prophetic encounter with a biology professor led to me reframing how I see our stewardship of creation. He was retiring from a career teaching at Shorter College, a Baptist-affiliated school in Rome, Georgia, where I worked at the time as a photographer for the local newspaper. I was sent to take pictures of the professor at his home. His yard boasted an enviable vegetable garden and chicken coops that provided sustenance as he sought to stay close to our sources of food.
As I took pictures, I asked him what he had learned from decades of teaching life sciences. He said that he had come to hope for a cataclysm that would only kill hundreds of millions of people or perhaps even a billion or two of us. I was stunned. What was he talking about? His hope was for mass deaths?
He went on to explain that humans were blind to how our actions were having a catastrophic global impact. The path we are on is unsustainable, he told me. We could not even provide the basics we counted on in Georgia for everyone around the world. There were no energy solutions that would have everyone in air-conditioned comfort eating foods with no thought to the seasons. The professor was sure that it would take something epic to make likely that large scale change in human behavior needed to save humankind.
He had no fears for the planet. Earth would and could easily continue, healing itself over centuries if humans were to die off. His concern was not for the Earth per se, but for whether we would endure as a species. This was the mid 1980s. I had yet to binge on dystopian novels and movies. It was the first time I heard someone offering such a stark view of the future. The oddest thing was that his hope was for the Earth, itself, to get our attention before it was too late for us.
A decade later, I studied Hebrew with Dr. Ellen Davis who showed me the close connection between humankind and the Earth. Genesis calls the first human, Adam. In that same passage, the Hebrew word for the fertile soil is used: Adamah. We are, she taught us, “humans of the humus.” We were made to live close to the soil, the dust into which God breathed a soul. God made everything and called it good and then told Adam and Eve to steward creation.
On the day I photographed the professor, I did not focus on the garden and the chicken coop as integral to the story he was telling me of our unsustainable way of living. I would later read Wendall Berry, the farmer and poet who also speaks prophetically about the cost of turning away from agrarian values out of hubristic greed. I then came to see how the professor’s micro-scale farm was the point. The connection to creation he felt in working the soil and tending the chickens were integral to his view of how humanity needed a wake-up call and to his hope that those who survived would listen.
Questions for reflection
When have you experienced a closeness to creation?
How might you foster a closer connection to your sources of food?
If God created everything then it would follow that everything involved with worship is part of God’s creation. But there is one major exception that I have seen in more than one church: artificial flowers. Plants in church, especially the altar flowers, are there to represent resurrection and life. If they are made of plastic or silk or some other thing other than a living plant, then you might as well have nothing at all. Seriously. If your church cannot afford to have living flowers on the altar every week then invest in a house plant of some sort. And if plain green seems too boring, then find something variegated.
Having flowers and living plants in your church space is not the only way to bring a focus on God’s creation into your church. Another way is prayer. Using Prayer C for the Eucharist is one obvious way, but another way is what has become known as eco-prayer. And the best thing? Ecoprayer is something an individual can do. It’s simple:
1) Choose: A People, A Place, A Plant, or An Animal that you LOVE.
2) Commit: To Praying for them and the entire EcoSystem that they live in every day with positive intention.For example, if you care for wolves, pray for them to thrive (or visualize them as healthy) and for the mountains and forests that they live in. You can also include a prayer for the people who live in and influence their ecosystem as well.
To help with this, you could find a picture of the thing that you have chosen and put it where you will see it every day to remind you to pray (on the bathroom mirror, car dash, the refrigerator, over your desk, wherever makes sense).
Finally, you can take part in your diocese’s Creation Care Commission. Can you think of any other ways to bring reverence for God’s Creation into your worship?