Reflections from A Baby Franciscan

I consider myself to be an ecumenical mutt- many denominations, understanding, theologies of who God is and who God should be (in our human minds), have shaped me into who I am, for better or worse (most often both).

But there was always something missing, something my soul was craving in all my questions and wilderness-wandering, in all my burning questions and doubts; something I could almost give words to but never adequately express.

As someone without a strong Franciscan background or influence (though as Sr. Mary Jo Chaves told me when I came, “you already have the Franciscan spirit. So, you are already one of us”), it’s been like coming up for air to see the way some of those missing pieces are naturally baked into the foundation of the Franciscan spirit. These things that I have believed in my bones to be so important and essential, but were often just afterthoughts (if that) in my previous faith spaces, were not only a part of the Franciscan way of being that was being taught to me, but they were baked into it as essential and foundational.