Our Mission
We are a center for experiential education, rooted in the Gospels, encouraging the transformation of human consciousness through contemplation, and equipping people to be instruments of peaceful change in the world.
October 2, 2011
St. Francis Preaching to the Birds (detail), Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337).
Nature As Mirror-
Feast of the Guardian Angels
Nature was a mirror of the soul for St. Francis of Assisi—a mirror for himself and a mirror for God. All this mirroring effected a complete change of consciousness, a shift in how he saw reality.
When Francis was a young man, he loved to party. One night he left the party and looked up at the stars above Assisi. He stood there for a long time, in awe of what he saw. He said, “If these are the creatures, what must the Creator be like?”
The outer world began to name the inner experience and the nature of God for Francis. It all became a two-way mirror through which he could see God and also see his deepest soul. Our Franciscan tradition has always seen creation as “the first Bible,” which had a 14.5-billion-year lead on the written Bible.
From In the Footsteps of Francis: Awakening to Creation webcast
(CD, DVD, MP3)
Starter Prayer:
Be praised, my Lord,
through all Your creatures.
If you are inspired by Fr. Richard's Daily Meditations,
please consider receiving both
Radical Grace, the publication of the CAC
and visiting the CAC Mustard Seed Resource Center!
