Sunday, May 4, 2025: A Franciscan Perspective: knowing and feeling oneself as part of everything

Saint Francis is probably best known for the “Canticle of the Sun,” the song of praise he wrote in 1225. It begins,  

Most High, all-powerful, good Lord … praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day and through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor; and bears a likeness of You, Most High One. Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars…. Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather.... Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water....

What strikes me in this poem is that Francis doesn’t say be praised for these things but be praised with them and through them. Francis is saying, I’m praising you, God, because I’m praising the sun. It seems to me that Francis was trying to return to a more primal identity—as part of nature, a child of soil, wind, and rain, a member of this earth community, all of which inhabits the loving presence of God. 

Sister Joan Brown, former executive director of New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, responds to McLaren’s question: “What does it mean for a person to be a Franciscan and to feel themselves part of a Franciscan movement?”  

I think it’s being Franciscan-hearted.… It’s knowing and feeling oneself as part of everything—from the smallest molecule, to the tree, to the sun that was out this morning. This vast soul connection then interweaves us all together in a community…. 

We’re living in this time when it’s not the heroes that are influencing us; it’s the communal, it’s all of us, … and we recognize love as core to that. Love is what inspires and moves us towards justice, and towards engagement in the suffering world, to transform, I believe, to be a part of the evolution of beauty in the world, which is what we’re being pulled toward and into. That’s really what this Franciscan-heartedness is about: seeing of beauty within everything. 

Michele Dunne, executive director of the Franciscan Action Network, shares what being a Franciscan means to her:  

One of the things that appealed to me about the Franciscan life is that it’s a life of prayer and action, action and prayer, back and forth, one feeding the other….

I started down the path of becoming a Secular Franciscan, and I thought, I’m going to do this prayer and then I’m going to take action.

Then I realized there was … something far more basic, which was my simply being in the present moment and seeing the humanity of every person in front of me and seeing the living earth.

I realized I’d gone my whole life sort of objectifying and categorizing, hardly seeing living things. I was seeing them as things. I was seeing people in categories. I had to develop a whole new awareness, an ability to respond and live in the present moment, so that I could be open to what is mine to do.   

- Reflection by Carmen Acevedo Butcher on Being Salt and Light

Here's the full Canticle of the Sun

Most high, all-powerful, all good, Lord!

All praise is yours, all glory, all honor

And all blessing.

To you alone, Most High, do they belong.

No mortal lips are worthy

To pronounce your name.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through all that you have made,

And first my lord Brother Sun,

Who brings the day; and light you give to us through him.

How beautiful is he, how radiant in all his splendor!

Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Moon and Stars;

In the heavens you have made them, bright

And precious and fair.

All praise be yours, My Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,

And fair and stormy, all the weather’s moods,

By which you cherish all that you have made.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Water,

So useful, lowly, precious and pure.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brother Fire,

Through whom you brighten up the night.

How beautiful is he, how gay! Full of power and strength.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Earth, our mother,

Who feeds us in her sovereignty and produces

Various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through those who grant pardon

For love of you; through those who endure

Sickness and trial.

Happy those who endure in peace,

By you, Most High, they will be crowned.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Death,

From whose embrace no mortal can escape.

Woe to those who die in mortal sin!

Happy those She finds doing your will!

The second death can do no harm to them.

Praise and bless my Lord, and give him thanks,

And serve him with great humility.