-------
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
"Creation Is the Primary Cathedral"
Tuesday, November 15, 2016Creation itself—not ritual or spaces constructed by human hands—was Francis’ primary cathedral. It is no accident that the majority of Jesus’ stories and metaphors are based on human and natural observations, not classroom theology. It is not unimportant that both Jesus and Francis were peripatetic teachers—talking while walking—and on the road of the world. In our own time, major teachers like Thomas Berry and Teilhard de Chardin have rediscovered this natural and universal theology.
The Gospel transforms us by putting us in touch with that which is much more constant and satisfying, literally the “ground of our being,” and has much more “reality” to it than theological concepts or the mere ritualization of reality. Daily cosmic events in the sky and on the earth are the Reality above our heads and beneath our feet every minute of our lives: a continuous sacrament. I find that a preoccupation with religious rituals tends to increase the more we remain untouched by Reality Itself—to which the best rituals can only point.
Jesus himself commonly points to things like the red sky, a hen, lilies, the fig tree, a donkey caught in a pit, the birds of the air, the grass in the field, the temple animals that he released from their cages, and on and on. He was clearly looking at the seemingly “nonreligious” world, ordinary things all around him, and appeared to do most of his teaching out of doors. Francis said, “Wherever we are, wherever we go, we bring our cell and our soul with us. Our Brother Body is our cell and our soul is the hermit living in the cell. If our soul does not live in peace and solitude within this moving cell, of what avail is it to live in a man-made cell?” [1]
Both Jesus and Francis knew that everything created was a message about the nature of God. Nature was not empty of divinity. Seeing nature as secular or merely functional created much of the loneliness and seeming meaninglessness in our contemporary worldview.
In the five-day Men’s Rites of Passage [2]—that was a focus of my work for fifteen years—so many men felt that prayers and rituals inside of human-scale buildings were rather domesticated and controlled. They often perceived that the salvation offered inside these artificial constructs was also “small” and churchy. Almost without exception, the greatest breakthroughs for our men occurred during extended times of silence in nature, where the human and the merely verbal were not in control, or during rituals that were raw and earthy.Remember that good ritual, like art itself, merely imitates nature.
Gateway to Silence: Praised be You, my Lord, through all your creatures. —Francis of Assisi
References:
[1] “Legend of Perugia,” St. Francis of Assisi: Omnibus of Sources, 1055-1056.
[2] My work with men’s spirituality is now carried by Illuman. Visit Illuman.org for information about male initiation rites and other resources.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi (Franciscan Media: 2014), 47-48.-------
Richard Rohr's "The Univocity of Being" Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States for Monday, 14 November 2016 All things are transformed in Christ since in the fullness of his nature he embraces some part of every creature.[Bonaventure]
-------
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
"Nature: Week 2"
"The Univocity of Being"
Monday, November 14, 2016Christ has something in common with all creatures. With the stone he [sic]shares existence, with the plants he shares life, with the animals he shares sensation, and with the angels he shares intelligence. Thus all things are transformed in Christ since in the fullness of his nature he embraces some part of every creature. —Bonaventure [1]
In the stories of his life, St. Francis is quoted as talking to or about larks, lambs, rabbits, pheasants, falcons, cicadas, waterfowl, bees, the famous wolf of Gubbio, pigs whom he praised for generously giving their bodies for our food, and hooked fish that he tried to throw back into the water whenever possible. He addresses inanimate creation too, as if it were indeed ensouled. His “Canticle of the Creatures” includes fire, wind, water, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and, of course, “our Sister Mother Earth” herself. He even told the friars to only cut down part of a tree for their needs so that it could sprout again.
So-called “nature mysticism” was a worthy entranceway for Francis, and then Bonaventure laid the theological foundation for the same by seeing all things as likenesses of God, fingerprints and footprints (vestigia Dei) that reveal the divine DNA underlying all living links in creation. John Duns Scotus would philosophically name this “the univocity of all being.” In other words, we may speak of all beings with “one consistent voice.” Dawn Nothwehr, a Franciscan sister, lovingly calls it “cosmic mutuality.” [2]
The Franciscan notion of the “univocity of being” gave an early philosophical foundation to what we now call the circle of life or ecosystems, holons and fractals (parts that replicate the whole), unitive or contemplative thinking, and mysticism itself. Duns Scotus believed creation was more than an “analogy of being,” as Thomas Aquinas taught; there was an objective continuity between Creator and Creatures.
Gateway to Silence: Praised be You, my Lord, through all your creatures. —Francis of Assisi
References:
[1] Bonaventure, “Sermon for the Second Sunday of Lent,” The Works of St. Bonaventure(St. Anthony Guild: 1960).
[2] Dawn M. Nothwehr, Franciscan Theology of the Environment: An Introductory Reader (Franciscan Media: 2003).
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi(Franciscan Media: 2014), 46-47, 161, 176-177; and
Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 78f.-------
“The Incarnation was already the Redemption, because in Jesus’ birth God was already saying that it was good to be human and God was on our side.”[Richard Rohr]
Father Richard reflects on Scripture each day of the Advent season in his small book, Preparing for Christmas. This is an excellent resource for personal devotions and small groups.
Available at store.cac.org.
Order by November 18 to receive shipments within the United States (or November 8 for shipments to other countries) by the beginning of Advent on November 27.
"The Univocity of Being"
Monday, November 14, 2016Christ has something in common with all creatures. With the stone he [sic]shares existence, with the plants he shares life, with the animals he shares sensation, and with the angels he shares intelligence. Thus all things are transformed in Christ since in the fullness of his nature he embraces some part of every creature. —Bonaventure [1]
In the stories of his life, St. Francis is quoted as talking to or about larks, lambs, rabbits, pheasants, falcons, cicadas, waterfowl, bees, the famous wolf of Gubbio, pigs whom he praised for generously giving their bodies for our food, and hooked fish that he tried to throw back into the water whenever possible. He addresses inanimate creation too, as if it were indeed ensouled. His “Canticle of the Creatures” includes fire, wind, water, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and, of course, “our Sister Mother Earth” herself. He even told the friars to only cut down part of a tree for their needs so that it could sprout again.
So-called “nature mysticism” was a worthy entranceway for Francis, and then Bonaventure laid the theological foundation for the same by seeing all things as likenesses of God, fingerprints and footprints (vestigia Dei) that reveal the divine DNA underlying all living links in creation. John Duns Scotus would philosophically name this “the univocity of all being.” In other words, we may speak of all beings with “one consistent voice.” Dawn Nothwehr, a Franciscan sister, lovingly calls it “cosmic mutuality.” [2]
The Franciscan notion of the “univocity of being” gave an early philosophical foundation to what we now call the circle of life or ecosystems, holons and fractals (parts that replicate the whole), unitive or contemplative thinking, and mysticism itself. Duns Scotus believed creation was more than an “analogy of being,” as Thomas Aquinas taught; there was an objective continuity between Creator and Creatures.
Gateway to Silence: Praised be You, my Lord, through all your creatures. —Francis of Assisi
References:
[1] Bonaventure, “Sermon for the Second Sunday of Lent,” The Works of St. Bonaventure(St. Anthony Guild: 1960).
[2] Dawn M. Nothwehr, Franciscan Theology of the Environment: An Introductory Reader (Franciscan Media: 2003).
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi(Franciscan Media: 2014), 46-47, 161, 176-177; and
Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 78f.-------
“The Incarnation was already the Redemption, because in Jesus’ birth God was already saying that it was good to be human and God was on our side.”[Richard Rohr]
Father Richard reflects on Scripture each day of the Advent season in his small book, Preparing for Christmas. This is an excellent resource for personal devotions and small groups.
Available at store.cac.org.
Order by November 18 to receive shipments within the United States (or November 8 for shipments to other countries) by the beginning of Advent on November 27.
-------
Center for Action and Contemplation
1823 Five Points Road South West (physical)
PO Box 12464 (mailing)
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87195, United States
-------
1823 Five Points Road South West (physical)
PO Box 12464 (mailing)
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87195, United States
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment