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Reflections from our Pastor
October 7, 2026
St. Francis, Captured by God
Talk about St. Francis, again, still?
Yes, because St. Francis opened the door to a cosmos beyond our understanding. What if we imagined or understood that within his own time and culture St. Francis had been captured by God. That St. Francis willingly embraced a Captivity of the Heart. He must have understood and experienced something so radically wonderful and compelling that he left the life normally lived in his time for a journey beyond his imagination. Maybe he intuitively knew that his God was the God of a cosmos without end! Consider that he started a religious order that still thrives today with an estimated 300,000-450,000 worldwide from all branches*; he built an incarnation spirituality that has spread world-wide of humility, nonviolence and self-giving.
In our own days of violence and many wars, it is a hopeful message from St. Francis. The event is St. Francis’ journey to Damietta, Egypt in 1219 during the Fifth Crusade to visit the Sultan al Malik al Kamil, leader of the Muslims. The story is that when he got to the battlefield he was horrified by the treatment of Muslims and Jews by the Christian Crusaders and he marched across enemy lines, at the risk of death, to speak of peace to the Sultan. He was unsuccessful in bringing peace but impressive enough over the two weeks of interfaith dialog, that St. Francis and his companion were given safe passage through Jerusalem out of the middle east and that the Franciscans to this day are honored by the Sultans lineage with the privilege of overseeing the care of Jerusalem.
It is said that at his urging, he and his companions sang the Canticle of the Creatures as he was dying. He saw with the eyes of Christ, seeing Christ in everything, as did Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ and Sr. Ilia Delio OFS.
See how their prayers have found unity in diversity and place Christ as central across centuries of cultures.:
Canticle of the Creatures
Most High, all-powerful, good [God],
Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and all blessing,
To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no human is worthy to mention Your name.
Praised be You, my [God], with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day and through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor;
and bears a likeness of You, Most High One.
Praised be You, my [God], through Sister Moon and the stars,
in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be You, my [God], through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather,
through whom You give sustenance to Your creatures.
Praised be You, my [God], through Sister Water,
who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be You, my [God], through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night,
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my [God], through our Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains and governs us,
and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs.
Praised be You, my [God],
through those who give pardon for Your love,
and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, shall they be crowned.
Praised be You, my [God], through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no one living can escape.
…
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm.
Praise and bless my [God] and give [God] thanks
and serve [God] with great humility.
Follow the thread…with the prayer of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin from Mass of the Universe:
Glorious [ ] Christ,
The divine influence secretly diffused and active
in the depths of matter,
and the dazzling center where all the innumerable fibers
of the manifold meet:
Power as implacable as the world and as warm as life;
You whose forehead is of snow,
Whose eyes are of fire,
and whose feet are brighter than molten gold;
You whose hands imprison the stars;
You who are the first and the last,
the living and the dead and the risen again;
You who gather into your exuberant unity every mode of existence;
It is you to whom my being cries out with a desire as vast as the universe; In truth you are…my God.
Follow the thread…in Sr. Ilia’s prayer of the Christ within all:
The Christic
I am looking at a tree, but I see such astounding beauty and
graciousness, the tree must be You, O God,
I look at the wild weeds playing across the fields, and their
wild joyful freedom speaks to me of You, O God.
Yesterday, I saw a child crying alone on a busy corner, and
the tears were real, and I thought, you must be crying, O God.
God, you are the mystery within every leaf and grain of sand,
in every face, young and old, you are the light and beauty
of every person.
You are Love itself.
Will we ever learn our true meaning, our true identity?
Will we ever really know that we humans are created for
Love?
For it is love alone that moves the sun and stars
and everything in between.
We are trying too hard to find You, but You are already here,
We are seeking life without You, but You are already within,
Our heads are in the sand, our eyes are blinded by darkness,
our minds are disoriented in our desperate search
for meaning.
Because You are not what we think You are:
You are mystery.
You are here and You are not,
You are me and You are not,
You are now and You are not,
You are what we will become.
You are the in-between mystery
The infinite potential of infinite love,
And it is not yet clear what You shall be,
For we shall become something new altogether.
“Nature is not a backdrop for humanity: humanity is nature.”** Are we conscious of ourselves as nature and, if so, does this guide how we live?
The Christic in The Not-Yet-God. Ilia Delio, OSF
*https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/religion-and-philosophy/franciscan-order/
** Ilia Delio, Lecture Series.
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