Month: August 2022

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Minute Meditation – Reaching Out to the Other

He began that day to breathe out more than to breathe in, to turn outward rather than inward, to do rather than think about doing. He had finally found the courage to leap across that deep chasm that separated him from the other, from loving what he feared would demand more of him than he could give. In keeping his eyes on the leper, in thinking only of this person before him, he forgot himself, he forgot the chasm beneath him, and he ran straight across the void into the arms of love and happiness. And all his life he struggled to preserve that original insight into love and to act it out daily. Love was looking into the eyes of the other; and forgetting the dark void between you and forgetting that no one can walk in a void, you start boldly across, your arms outstretched to give of yourself and to receive of the other.

—from the book Francis: The Journey and the Dream
by Murray Bodo, OFM, page

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Minute Meditation – God’s Friendship

Friendship, God’s especially, is a gift. You receive it reverently and gratefully, and you hope you measure up to this person’s trust in opening up to you and in having the courage to reach across the chasm of uncertainty to you, believing that, yes, you will say, I like you, too. Of course, Jesus must have known he would say yes, but Francis still thought it all so wonderful! Even into this poor, proud little town of Assisi God’s love reached down and filtered through the narrow streets until it surprised you coming around a corner unawares, lost in your own selfish thoughts.

—from the book Francis: The Journey and the Dream
by Murray Bodo, OFM, page

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Minute Meditation – The Word is Life

Once Francis heard and understood the Word of God, he tried to put it into practice in his own life. For him the Word was life and not to live it was to deprive oneself of really living. That was what the Dream was all about in his own mind: to dare to live radically and simply, to take a chance on Christ. And what caused inestimable joy in Francis and his brothers was that the gospel worked. If you tried to live it without reservation, you suddenly experienced a whole new worldview, and you felt as though you had never lived before. Living became so precious that every moment was delicious and filled with the danger of risk and challenge, and the meaning of love came clear.

—from the book Francis: The Journey and the Dream
by Murray Bodo, OFM, page

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Minute Meditation – Lady Poverty

Lady Poverty was the symbol of the paradoxes of the gospel: richness in poverty, life in death, strength in weakness, beauty in the sordid and shabby, peace in conflict and temptation, fullness in emptiness and, above all, love in detachment and deprivation. She made everything hard soft, and everything difficult easy. If Lady Poverty were true to herself, she would also turn loneliness into companionship and sharing, once Francis could muster enough courage to give them up for her. If he gave Lady Poverty his need for love and companionship, she would give them back to him. Of that he was certain. It only remained for him to act on that conviction.

—from the book Francis: The Journey and the Dream
by Murray Bodo, OFM, page

//Franciscan Media//