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 5, 2011
St. Francis Preaching to the Birds (detail), Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337).
Nature As Mirror
The Irish poet Galway Kinnell describes Francis as “re-teaching things their loveliness.” In his poem “St. Francis and the Sow,” Francis tells a large female pig through words and touch and blessing that she is indeed beautiful—she just can’t see it. Most of us cannot see it either, unfortunately.
We all have to be mirrors like this, not just for nature, but for one another—and especially for those who cannot see the bud of possibility within them, those who hate themselves, those who’ve been abused, those who’ve been imprisoned, those who think they are no good, those who’ve been discriminated against—anyone who feels unworthy in one way or another.
Those are the ones that we have to positively mirror like Francis mirrored the sow. We must “re-teach all things their loveliness.” That could be your one and only life calling!
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,
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and visiting the CAC Mustard Seed Resource Center!
