A reflection from L'Arche La Ferme's blog: Inner Life

I recently wrote a reflection for the international blog of the L’Arche La Ferme community, called Inner Life. My post, “Meet My Teachers,” was a response to the question: what nourishes your inner life?

Around the time I responded to the prompt, I had been watching the birds in our backyard do their thing. And it is a wondrous thing. On any given day you can see goldfinches, brown wrens, flaming cardinals, iridescent starlings, and serious crows gathering around the feeder, alighting to the woodpile, holding court among themselves as they fly in for seed. And I was struck by their beingness; their nature as purely birds, and nothing else. And, as I write in the reflection, how this beingness is a direct expression of God, down to the bright red color of the cardinal. And, I learn from them about how to…just be.

You can read Meet my Teachers here, and it is also copied below. And special thanks to Paul de Vulpillières for his excellent editing.

La Ferme is the original L’Arche community, which serves as a retreat center. I have taken three of their online retreats, which have all been wonderful. Their “pandemic wisdom” retreat, focused on the wisdom of Julian of Norwich, is worth a go. You can learn more here.

Meet my Teachers

There is a bird feeder in the back yard, and at all times it is filled to the brim with seeds and nuts. They come in the morning, pigeons waddling across the boards, robins and cardinals, finches and mockingbirds, asking with their eyes and beaks for a refill. They are there in the evening, knowing that they can gather and wait again for their fill which will assuredly come.

For me, the desire to sit with the back yard creatures started in 2020. During the depths of the pandemic, I began to keep a ready supply of shelled peanuts for the squirrels in my nearby park. At the end of the work-from-home day, I would suit up, animal feed in a plastic baggy, and sit with them. Day after day, I tried to beat my squirrel record; 13 was the most that would gather at any given time. My strong memories of the uncertainty of that time are punctuated with those quiet dusks spent with my numerous, white-bellied friends as they shook and cracked the peanuts I gave them. There were also the blue jays, warbling from the branches above, and suddenly diving down for the peanuts the squirrels missed.

Sitting and watching all this backyard activity is like observing an aquarium. The birds fly from the porch rails to the wood pile, to the feeder to the seed scattered on the ground. Mr. Cardinal is bold; Miss Pigeon is contemplative. The crows peer at us from the distance, and startle with the smallest movement. Inside the kitchen, the cats loll and purr, content and secure in their place in the household animal hierarchy.

Jesus said to His disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life and what you will eat, or about your body and what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Notice the ravens: they do not sow or reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them. How much more important are you than birds! Can any of you by worrying add a moment to your life-span? If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why are you anxious about the rest?”

I do notice the ravens. I notice the chickadee flitting, its tiny heart beating in its chest, the activity and work of its life. I notice it does not necessarily stop to think: it just is.

When people ask me why I love L’Arche, I often point to this same quality: the emphasis on being. Do those in community love me because of my job, or where I live? No, they do not. And when I am at L’Arche, I can let go of the pretense that these things are me. Instead, I can just be.

And, is not God defined as pure beingness, itself? God is the great “I am.” He shows us there is a deep holiness in being oneself. Just as with birds. Take the cardinals, for example: their red is a pure expression of God. Their tiny feet curled around the perch, the largeness of some birds, the smallness of others: all as God intended. They try and be nothing but themselves. And I am mesmerized by it.

So, I bird watch. They’re my teachers. They don’t know it, of course. They just are. On the other side, I know it. I even write about it. This simple fact shows me that the way to “just be” is still ahead of me. One day, I’ll be.

April 2023

Talking about Royal Saints on Morning Air

Friends, this week I joined the Morning Air program to discuss saints who just so happened to be royalty in their lifetimes. What I appreciated about the conversation was that I got to sprinkle in a little civics information. For example, John asked me, after we talked about Good King Wenceslaus, why does it seem so weird to us that a King would try to bring peace through Christianity to his kingdom? That he would be public and bold with his faith, and see it as the central force guiding his monarchy? And I said - yes! It does seem weird to us, because our country in its founding chose to create safeguards to prevent the establishment of a state religion. However! That does not mean separation of church and state, a made-up concept that is nowhere in the Constitution. Today’s critics of religious freedom have it backwards: they believe the government should be protected from faith. Not so! It is the other way around: the first amendment guarantees freedom of conscience, and the protection of government, or any authority, from infringing on the free expression of that faith. So, the more you know. Anyway, although I am not necessarily of the thought that a literal Catholic monarch would make the best ruler (though I know people who do - seriously), I do believe, as I told John, that our country would benefit from a leader guided by Christian principles - in deed, and not just in word. So, tune in for some fun facts about a handful of royal saints.

You can listen to the conversation here, starting around minute 29.

Happy second week of Easter!

Saints who were Royal

Royal fever is in the air as the world gets ready to watch King Charles III officially ascend the throne during his coronation on May 6. While we here in America long ago threw off the chains of monarchical rule, we just can’t help but watch and admire the pageantry and tradition.

Meanwhile, did you know there are many, many saints who were royal? Here’s just a few whose example we can follow (and indeed, should follow rather than any current earthly monarch):

Saint Wenceslaus: More than a Christmas song, Good King Wenceslaus ruled over Bohemia, aka modern day Prague. Born in 907, his life was marked by familial and royal political intrigue. While Wenceslaus himself was a devout Christian, his mother was a pagan with her own supporters, who sought to influence him. Ultimately, Wenceslaus’s own brother, also a non-Christian, killed him, and Wenceslaus is considered a martyr. During his reign, he sought to unify the Bohemian lands. So, he is seen as one seeking harmony in a time of political upheaval - definitely relevant for our time. Fun fact: his grandmother, Ludmila, is also a royal saint.

St. Matilda of Ringelheim: St. Matilda was a Queen of Germany, born around 895. She was known, and criticized by her family, for her excessive generosity. In her final years, after becoming a widow, she devoted herself to the building of many churches, convents and monasteries, and even lived at one at the very end of her life. Given she lived so long ago, there are not many more personal details about her life available, but her generosity and dedication to church-building, in every sense, is notable.

St. Edward the Confessor: St. Edward was a British king, born around the year 1000. His piety gained him the nickname, “The Confessor.” Due to various political circumstances, he spent much of his youth “in exile,” in other words, without the sort of pomp and special treatment one would associate with a royal childhood. This allowed him to grow up without the typical ambition of a young king. Instead, he grew in piety, taking particular joy in assisting in Mass, and upon eventually gaining the throne, was far more interested in his people’s welfare than perhaps he would have been otherwise. His is a lesson for us in humility and charity.

St. Louis IX of France: Born in 1638, St. Louis of France took his role as a Catholic King seriously. On his coronation day, he vowed to truly be his people’s father and to seek peace in his kingdom. He was particularly charitable, founding hospitals, visiting the sick, including, apparently, lepers. One can imagine how how advisors must have reacted to that. According to Franciscan Media, “Every day, Louis had 13 special guests from among the poor to eat with him, and a large number of poor were served meals near his palace. During Advent and Lent, all who presented themselves were given a meal, and Louis often served them in person. He kept lists of needy people, whom he regularly relieved, in every province of his dominion.” He was also married and had 11 children in total.

Stephen I of Hungary: Although born a pagan in 975, St. Stephen was baptized at 10 and used his reign to solidify the presence of the Church in Hungary, including by creating a system of tithes that supported churches, pastors, and the poor. Interestingly, he also decreed everybody had to get married (except for the clergy and religious). Perhaps a patron for our common day societal aversion to marriage? Stephen is also known for putting down various pagan factions seeking power and had a strong devotion to the Virgin Mary. Fun fact: he had one child who survived to childhood, Emeric, who was just as devout and expected to follow him to the throne. Emeric, however, died before Stephen, and was himself canonized.

St. Helena: St. Helena was married to a man named Constantius, who eventually divorced her in order to further his political ambitions by marrying a noblewoman of rank. Their son, Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, made her Empress Dowager in his kingdom after the death of his father, and she is responsible for Constantine’s becoming a Christian. What followed was a relaxation of the persecution of Christians in ancient Rome. She is known for her selflessness, generosity, and charity toward prisoners, the poor, and the church.

This isn’t even an exhaustive list; many rulers in history took their role as defenders of the faith seriously and acted in charity and piety, earning their sainthood. We see how each of these saints put God first in their lives, and their kingdoms, and used their power and resources to serve others and build up the Church.

While you’re watching the coronation, pray for King Charles, Queen Camilla, and the various warring factions amongst their immediate and extended family - they need it. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and all that. Pray also for the British people. While you’re at it, it wouldn’t hurt to pray that the Catholic faith return to England as the majority religion. With God, all things are possible. Pray big, people! It is still the Easter season, after all. St. George, patron of Britain, pray for us!