Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023
The Rev. Anne Williamson
Matthew 11:25-30
Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Earlier this year, I had the joy of returning to Adelynrood, the retreat center of the Companions of the Holy Cross, in Byfield, MA. One practice in the ‘Holy Routine’ at Adelynrood is the recitation of The Canticle of Sun, composed by St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, or the Franciscans as we have come to know them. The Canticle is recited each morning at 7am, antiphonally, from the wonderful screened-in porches that run the length of the accommodation wings at Adelynrood. This glorious tribute to God expresses Francis’ love and care of God’s creation, praising Brother Sun and Sister Moon, Sister Water and Brother Wind, Brother Fire and Sister Mother Earth; giving praise to God and thanks for all of creation.
This week we celebrate the Feast of St. Francis, and I invite you to remember Francis as someone who lived fully into the joys and the sorrows of life. He took the yoke of Christ upon himself, giving up a life of ease and comfort to walk and work among the poorest of the poor, and to live a vow of poverty himself. Despite his many hardships, despite suffering in body and spirit, it is said that ‘his unconquerable joy never failed.’ * He has been described as one of the most admired and yet least imitated of all the saints (!).
We live in a very different world from the one in which Francis walked, but I think his way of walking in the world has much to offer to us today especially with gratitude and care for creation which were so central to Francis’ ministry. How might we find our own Holy Routine that we might walk in the way of love as Francis did?
Last month I shared with you a prayer attributed to St. Francis: Make me an instrument of your peace…perhaps this is a starting place…
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is
hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where
there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where
there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where
there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to
be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is
in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we
are born to eternal life. Amen.
This prayer is a template for how we might manage the burdens of hatred, injury, discord, doubt, despair, darkness and sadness – by sowing love, pardon, union, faith, hope, light and joy, in the knowledge that we are not called to do this in our own strength (thankfully!) but in partnership with Jesus, leaning on our Lord in times of joy and sorrow. I invite you into a Holy Routine, like the Companions at Adelynrood, to frame our days and our lives in harmony with God and creation, that we, too, might know the unconquerable joy that marked St. Francis out as one of God’s own.
Blessings on your day. Anne
* https://diobeth.typepad.com/files/holy-women-holy-men.pdf p 622
Collect for The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi
Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people
grace to renounce gladly the vanities of this world; that,
following the way of blessed Francis, we may for love of
you delight in your whole creation with perfectness of
joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.