Weekly Franciscan reflections
Start every week here, with a Franciscan reflection on what the Gospel, St. Francis, and biblical stories offer to us that we can bring forward into our daily life.
Reflection for week of 20 April, 2025
Welcoming a new season
Heat and light are essential to human existence. Cold and dark don’t really exist – rather, they are the absence of heat and light. In the Canticle of the Creatures, Francis praises God for the sun, a natural source of heat and light, and for fire, which brings heat and light by using created things. He recognizes that humanity is constantly in need of these two elements to survive.
The rise of technology has given us heating and cooling systems, as well as incandescent and fluorescent light. While this makes it much easier for us to see and to remain comfortable, it may also cause us to take these older elements for granted. When the power goes out for us, we discover how dependent we are on God’s sources of heat and light.
We may not need the sun and fire as much as they did in the time of St. Francis, yet we can still appreciate the warmth and visibility that they provide.
This week, as spring begins to make herself known, may we look at the sun with a new appreciation and be truly thankful for all the sources of heat (and cool) and light (and dark) that we enjoy.
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