A Franciscan sister I know often says, "Clare was a Franciscan longer than Francis was". It might sound odd at first, but Clare did outlive Francis, meaning that she was in fact a Franciscan longer. Even with this, Clare has somehow taken a back seat in Franciscan history. But looking back at my own Franciscan journey, along with reflecting on our own times today, Clare might be someone we want to put at the forefront. For a long time, I really didn't know much about Clare, o

Oftentimes I think we forget that we are incarnational beings. Historians tell us that Giotto, while painting the walls of churches or working on smaller panels, would walk through the streets of where he was for inspiration. He believed that something sacred happened in the everyday interactions and events that life brings to us. In his own way, he recognized the incarnation in the simplicity of life, the sacredness of the mundane. Today’s society, I believe, wants us to b

Advent is coined as the season of hope. This year, at least for me personally, it feels a little different. When I look around at our society and our world, I see a lot of despair. Hatred and violence seem to still be the main navigators on our journeys. It’s been hard for me to find hope during this season this year. Where does hope come from? I think despair comes from a continued role of things going poorly, of things not going the way we would like them to go or how we ex

Spending a few days at the Franciscan Renewal Center meant spending time praying and reflecting with this beautiful stained-glass window of the Assumption. While the image is an abstract representation, we can see the figure of Mary rising up through the window into the upper portions. As I sat reflecting on it, I was surprised to see that a spiral was used in the middle of the image, including in the figure of Mary, to give the image movement. While it is pretty common to us

As we begin to celebrate Francis of Assisi this evening, there’re stories from his life that can still inspire us today. With all of the stories of his life, there are two that always seem to offer something in the difficult times of life. The first happens to be my favorite depiction of Francis. It’s not the famous Cimabue Francis or what we would consider the “bird bath” Francis, but is instead a statue of Francis that sits out front of the basilica in Assisi where his rema

On the days between the celebrations of the Exaltation of the Cross and the Stigmata of St Francis, I’m reminded of this cross that was made by a blind man out of the remains of the old US/Mexico border wall in Southern Arizona. Looking back, it was probably the thing that began and still does inspire me to seek out the beauty in the difficult times and circumstances of life. The cross in our society has become a symbol of burden and suffering. We can often find ourselves say

Tradition tells us that Clare of Assisi left her home and lavish life on Palm Sunday night to go follow Francis. My first time in Assisi, while on pilgrimage in college, we did the ritual of Clare’s Walk one night, retracing her steps through the city and out of one of the gates of the city. It was that moment, standing outside the gate of Assisi and looking out over the dark valley, that God and the Franciscan spirituality/life became real to me. It’s incredible to look back

One of my favorite places to pray in Rome is in the small Chapel of the Virgin in the Basilica of St Bartholomew on the Island. Behind...

I had to say goodbye to this place. It was a studio where I painted, a chapel where I prayed and met God, an oasis in a crazy world, a sanctuary where I wept, a field where I recognized love, a cloud where I found peace and joy. As I stood looking at the empty space, I thought of Mary Magdalene, who we celebrate today, standing in front of the empty tomb of Christ. All of these feeling that I was having, sadness, joy, fear, excitement, were all things that she probably felt t

“Why did you doubt?” Jesus asks Peter this question as he pulls him out of the depths of the sea. After a very tough few weeks, I found...

Growing up Catholic, one of the things we did as a family was go to church, specifically a church dedicated to the Assumption of Mary....

I first time I felt it, it was so unexpected. It was a normal day really. I went to go play basketball with some friends, and when I got...

"Place your mind before the mirror of eternity." - St Clare of Assisi, 3rd Letter to Agnes of Prague How many times do you typically look...

https://youtu.be/QnZ0TZ8WMec

“If only we try to live sincerely, it will go well with us, even though we are certain to experience real sorrow, and great...

“Abide in me, as I abide in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, so you cannot bear fruit...

“And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising proceeded ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. The...

“You, Lord, are blessed for having made me.” - St Clare of Assisi, who throughout her life went against the grains of society and made...

Beauty. How many times a day do we stop and think or say that something is beautiful? How do we know that something is beautiful? Beauty...