Tag: Friendship

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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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60 Second Wisdom: The True Test of Friendship

How do you measure your life? It’s good to weigh our lives from time to time. It ensures we are not wasting our one short life. But there are so many ways to measure a life: success, family and relationships, career, money, status, stuff, education, popularity, integrity, happiness, adventure, health.

What measuring stick do you use to assess your life? Here’s a perspective I had never considered.

A Polish Holocaust survivor once told Warren Buffet, ‘’Warren, I’m very slow to make friends, because when I look at people, the question I ask is: Would they hide me?’’

There is no perfect way to measure our lives. But these two questions are worth considering:

If you were in trouble, being hunted unjustly, how many people do you know who would risk their lives to hide you? And the second question, how many people would you be willing to hide?

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Minute Meditation – For Love of the Poor

You don’t need a lot of elaborate statistics to know that there are billions of people who are suffering crushing poverty at this very moment. If you start to pay attention, you feel this inside yourself. We may often distract ourselves or deny it, but there’s no getting around the fact that we are connected in more ways and to a greater extent than we can ever fathom. The deeper we go in our spiritual practice, the more obvious and undeniable these connections become.

Being present to the poor through friendship, solidarity, and service isn’t just a helpful set of moral principles. It’s a virtuous circle, with each feeding and amplifying the others, and all leading to a more authentic way of being in the world. Because when we make room for these in our life, we’re making room for love, the common bond that can bridge any gulf poverty may create.

— from the book Making Room: Soul-Deep Satisfaction through Simple Living
by Kyle Kramer

//Franciscan Media//

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Minute Meditation – The Story of Redemption

When Clare entered San Damiano, she came into possession of the beautiful Byzantine cross before which Francis had prayed. Now it was her “book” of prayer, her silent reminder each day: “Take up your cross and follow me.” In that Face, she saw mirrored the love that would insist that one who lays down a life is the greatest of Friends and the model of all Christian friendship. The story of redemption portrayed on the Cross helped her to anchor her soul in that mystery. One speaks of “reading” an icon. What did Clare read in that Cross? She found the images of those who accompanied Jesus to Calvary, the angels mourning the outrage they witness, the centurion piercing that beloved Heart with his lance. There, too, she would see the image of Christ ascending back to the heavenly firmament—his Father’s hand outstretched to welcome him.

— from the book Light of Assisi: The Story of Saint Clare

by Margaret Carney, OSF

//Franciscan Media//