Sacred Creation: The Canticle of Brother Sun REFRAIN:

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Rosa Gregory
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1 ! One. Thursday June 14, 2018 Francis, Clare, and the Franciscan Family Sacred Creation: The Canticle of Brother Sun REFRAIN: Rufino Zaragoza, OFM! All praise be yours through Brother Sun, bearing a likeness of you Most High One. Sister Moon and Stars who are precious, splendid, ride your glorious sky. (Refrain) Brother Wind and Air that pervades, vary their moods to sustain all you ve made. Sister Water, useful and pure, lowly, freely sharing her life. (Refrain) Through Brother Fire you brighten the night, strong and robust yet playful and bright. Sister Earth, our mother who nurtures, feeding, yielding flower and herb. (Refrain) Copyright 1990, Rufino Zaragoza, OFM. Published by OCP Publications. All rights reserved. "St Francis and the Novices" by Kelly Lattimore

2 Incarnational faith ]Fioretti, 10]: Brother Masseo, one of Francis s first brothers, was unable to understand why so many people were running after Francis. His followers came from every walk of life: young and old, women and men, educated and unlettered, married and single, from among the nobility and the peasantry alike. All wanted to walk the way of Francis. What could it be? Masseo wondered, what is it that attracts all these people? What do you think it was that attracted all these people to run after Francis? [continues]: Francis was not an educated man; he knew how to read and write, but not much else. He did not have an instantly recognizable family name, nor could he boast of a noble heritage. He was merely the son of a merchant. Nor was Francis good looking; he was small and almost repulsive to look at, with ears that stuck out. Clearly, it was neither his education, background nor personal beauty that attracted so many people. So what was it? Brother Masseo repeated his thoughts to Francis himself. When Francis heard them, he rejoiced, If none of those things matter, he cried, then it is God Himself who attracts them; it is because of God that all these people follow me. [Testament of Clare 1ff]: Among the gifts we received and daily continue to receive from the Father of mercies, our Benefactor, is our calling, for which we must express our deepest thanks to our glorious God. Therefore, the Apostle wrote: Know your calling! The Son of Man has been designated the Way which our blessed Father Francis, His true lover and imitator, has shown and taught us by word and example. Baptism What are three ways that you live out your Baptism? (be concrete, not pious)

4 How do we experience this course? One way is through prayer and meditation; another through study; and a third is through our behavior. penance the penitents of Assisi sociopolitical situation in Assisi Majority of the population lived at the subsistence level Urban development was leading to mass abandonment of life on the land In 1203, the Peace Charter; it affirmed government by the nobility In 1210, the Freedom Charter; shifting power back to the common people [Thomas of Celano, 1225]: Men ran, women also ran, clerics hurried, and religious rushed to see and hear the holy one of God, who seemed to everyone a person of another age. People of all ages and both sexes hurried to behold the wonders which the Lord worked anew in the world through his servant Many people, well-born and lowly, cleric and lay, driven by divine inspiration began to come to Saint Francis To all he gave a norm of life and to those of every rank he sincerely pointed out the way to salvation. [Jacques de Vitry, eyewitness account outside the Franciscan Movement, 1216] A great number of men and women renounced all their possessions and left the world for the love of Christ. Friars Minor and Sisters Minor as they were called. They are held in great esteem by the Lord Pope and the cardinals. They are totally detached from temporal things and have but one passion to which they devote all their efforts: to snatch from the vanities of the world souls that are in danger and to prevail upon them to imitate their example. Thanks be to God, they have already achieved important successes and made numerous conquests. Those who have heard them say to their friends: Come along! and so one group brings another. As for the brothers themselves, they live the life of the primitive church of which it is written: The whole group of believers were united, heart and soul. During the day they do into the cities and villages, giving themselves over to the active life of the apostolate; at night, they return to their hermitages or withdraw into solitude to live the contemplative life.

5 The women live near the cities in various hospices and refuges; they live a community life from the work of their hands, but accept no income. The veneration that the clergy and laity show toward them is a burden to them, and it chagrins and annoys them.

Gospel for Sunday June 17, 2018 MARK 4:26-32 Jesus said to the crowds: This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and

And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.! To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it?

6 Gospel for Sunday June 17, 2018 MARK 4:26-32 Jesus said to the crowds: This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.! To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.

Seed Secrets. Seed Secrets. Marilyn Hickey, founder and president. Marilyn Hickey

Seed Secrets. Seed Secrets. Marilyn Hickey, founder and president. Marilyn Hickey SR Seed Secrets Discover the magnificent mysteries God has stored up in the principles of the seed! Marilyn Hickey, founder and president of Marilyn Hickey Ministries, has been actively covering the earth