May 21/10
Highway 11 north to Saskatoon invites reflection . The prairie is flat and green; the Franciscan province of Christ the King, simple and zealous. I am on my way back to Edmonton from Lumsden and my first mid-term chapter experience.
5 days ago thirty something friars surrounded our most aged household in western Canada. I visited Lumsden once before, I had been to a Franciscan Chapter once before, neither experience offered me much hope for the future. This time, things were different.
I could list factors that led to this chapter experience as positive, but science is futile. More obvious in this moment is the incredibly abundant presence of God in my life and my Franciscan fraternity. Something happened this week; something beautifully beyond cause and effect. I need not explain it; I cannot explain it.
Memories of love, respect, sincerity, truth, and reconciliation giving way to hope, peace and stronger fraternity go home with us today. To my brothers young and old, thank you for your passion. May God never cease to inflame us.
