Caring for the Earth: a Franciscan value

Welcome back dear readers, and a special greeting to my readers in Russia and Serbia.  I hope you will take the time to write and ask any questions or make comments.

St. Francis was discovered preaching to the birds on one occasion, and he held that all of God's creation is part of His body--both plants and animals.  He is famous for his canticle about "Brother Sun, and Sister Moon" and taught that we must love and respect and care for everything and everyone that God created.  St. Francis said:

Praised be You, my Lord,

through Sister Earth our Mother

who sustains and governs us.

 

So, in this spirit, a number of religious communities have begun to cultivate farms on their land, in different parts of the United States.  They use the food crops in their kitchens and frequently allocate a portion of that as food for the poor, donating the produce to homeless shelters and soup kitchens.

Today I want to write about the Franciscan Earth Literacy Center here in Tiffin.  The sisters own about 500 acres of land, much of that being under corn and soybean cultivation by a tenant farmer.  The farmer works the land and shares the profits of sale with the community.

In addition to the farm, there is a six-acre garden where the sisters, staff, and volunteers cultivate a variety of fruits and vegetables.  There are grapes, raspberries, and some new young peach trees; also, there are many vegetables: several kinds of lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini squash, yellow squash, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, tomatoes...the list seems endless.  Although the weather is still quite chilly here, Elena the intern has already been growing seedlings and transplanting them into little pots in the greenhouse.  Soon she will begin planting them outdoors.  I should mention that this garden is completely organic, and is fertilized with compost only.  The biggest pest are the deer, which come at dusk or early dawn and feast themselves.  There is much debate about how to best handle this problem.  Some favor having the local hunters come and shoot them with bows and arrows, since firearms are banned on the property.  Others think that it is not Franciscan to kill the deer.  I don't object to that as long as the meat is given to the poor or used for food by someone. In the long run, I hope that the sisters can find the necessary money to get a really high deer fence all around the area. 

Sister Shirley teaches programs and day camps for children.  The science teachers like to bring their classes here for day programs about nature and general science, and in the summer there are camps with various nature-related activities for children.  On the weekends there are programs for adults on such varied topics as gardening, hydroponics, and wind power technology.

Here is a link to the website of the FELC: http://felctiffin.org/welcome/. Franciscan Earth Literacy Center

Heirarchy versus mutuality

The sisters of St. Francis of Tiffin have hired a clinical psychologist to help them to better communicate with one another.  This again is a marked departure from the kind of dialogue before Vatican II, when Mother Superior told you what to do and you did, without complaining, regardless of how you felt about it.

Nowadays, the choice of ministry (work) and the issue of obedience are quite different.
There is a dialogue about what needs to be done, and leadership is by a council of several sisters.  There is more discussion and input from all parties.

This is not only a sign of the times, but as Franciscans this community is trying to get back to its roots.  St. Francis, although he was the founder of his order, disliked giving orders and relinquished the leadership of the community to others.  They almost had to beg him to write a rule, or constitution, to govern their community.  St. Francis encouraged his brothers to never place themselves over another in any way, but to prefer a lesser, or minor, status in all things.

I can think of a few people in Washington, or maybe even Hollywood, who could use some of this medicine to get over their self-promotion. 

The old pyramidal structure is being pushed aside in many forward-thinking organizations in favor of an image of concentric circles.  The sisters are having what they call "community days", in which there is a long dialogue about relationships and the direction of the community, and its mission. 

Highly democratic leadership structures have been noted by various observers in such far-flung places as the Atlas mountains of Morocco, and rural Botswana.  The Berbers of Morocco have a rotating chieftainship, in which a new chief from a different tribe is elected every five years by acclamation.  In Botswana, anyone in a village who has a grievance against anyone else can call for a kgotla: an open discussion that stays in session until everyone has had his say.

So, Franciscan spirituality, like these tribal cultures,
 is anti-hierarchical and takes into account the voice of even the least and the smallest in any circle.  Refreshing, isn't it?

The Vows, Number 3: Obedience

New Year's greetings to my readers, especially those in South and Southeast Asia! 

Today I want to discuss the third vow that sisters take in religious life,  that of obedience.  Again, this vow has somewhat evolved over time.  Gone are the days of scrubbing the chapel floor with a toothbrush for a minor error.  I asked Sister Veronica what this vow meant to her.    She has been in the community for about 50 years.  Right away she said, "It means listening."  I have heard other sisters here make similar comments.  They say it means listening to the needs of the community and putting those needs above your individual desires.  So as with the other two vows of poverty and chastity, it builds  the bonds of community.

There is also obedience to God's word.  This is basic to Christian life, as Jesus himself taught to follow "the Law and the Prophets."   If God is love, which we as Christians believe He is, then doesn't it make sense to follow the law of love that His Son taught us?

The opposite of obedience is not merely disobedience.  It is chaos.

No slouch need apply

Photo Retrieved from the Catholic world Report

Religious life is not simply a matter of sitting around in the chapel and reciting prayers.  There is much work to be done, and sisters often pursue higher education to achieve the necessary qualifications for their ministries.  To think that women religious do not have demanding schedules would be mistaken.

Here are some examples of high achievers in the community where I am staying:

Sr. Edna took a Master's of Theology to work in Religious education in parishes and to become a spiritual director (kind of like a faith counselor).  She runs a spirituality center that has hundreds of retreatants and other visitors during the year.

Sr. Maggie wanted to work in missions in Mexico, so she spent time living there and studying the Spanish language.  Now she is completely fluent.  She opened a school for destitute children and now has 80 kids under her charge on a daily basis, along with a handful of volunteers.

Sr. Marietta plays five musical instruments and while well into her seventies maintains a full schedule of playing the organ for community masses and prayers and teaching a number of students of music.

Sr. Shirley was a science teacher for many years and runs programs for children about the natural environment and science at the Franciscan Earth Literacy center.  She designs the programs herself and teaches them throughout the year, including day camps in the summertime.

Sr. Marcia is proficient at the organ, piano, and choir direction and is employed by five  rural  parishes in their music ministries.

Get the picture?  So roll up your sleeves and get to work.

The importance of hugs

Don't confuse celibacy and chastity with a lack of physical affection.  Courtship as it is supposed to be as well as friendship and relations between family members is full of physical displays of affection.  So thus is a religious community, being sisters after all.  Hugs are numerous as are warm two handed handshakes and squeezing someone's hand as a token of affection.  Just as in a happy family in North America, so too among these sisters.

The kiss of peace during the Catholic match is, in most parishes, a few minutes of hand-shaking and peace wishing among people who may or may not be acquainted.  But in the sister's chapel, everyone knows everyone else and the kiss of peace takes forever, and I mean several minutes, during which time the sisters greet anyone in their vicinity, and cross the chapel to greet sisters who have been away on travel.  With, of course, a warm hug and a few words of well wishing and peace sharing.

This didn't use to be the case among religious.  One sister told me that back in the habit wearing days, or pre-Vatican II days, such things were discouraged as perhaps too ebullient given that sisters were supposed to be models of decorum and reserve. 

But something tells me that warm displays of affection were somehow lost along the historical line, and that St. Francis himself would approve of them.  After all, the first outward sign of his inner conversion was in fact the time that he not only gave coins to a leper, but got down from his horse to embrace and kiss him.

Hugs are official among male clergy in the church as well, and are routinely administered during ordinations, the kiss of peace, and to the newly elected pope during the last moments of a conclave.

A big hug for you, dear reader, today.

Solitude in the woods

If you do decide to visit the Franciscan sisters in Tiffin, Ohio, you have the option of lodging in a rustic and peaceful cabin in the woods. 

St. Francis used to retire to a hermitage in a remote woods to get away from the demands of leading a community, to pray and reflect.

Nothing but the sounds of crickets and the crackling fire.  Ok, and maybe a raccoon or fox rummaging around outside.  Sister Mouse may join you in the cabin...but her nearest relation met an untimely demise with a trap.  Oh dear.  St. Francis would probably have given her some cheese. 

Tiffin, Ohio

I come from a major metropolitan area.  People rush, they always think you are in the way, they don't work to build community much because they want to retire someplace else.  Bosses can be harsh and it is not uncommon to have an experience with a person who is being just plain rude.  Of course there are kind people, but they are sprinkled in like roses among weeds.

Out here in Tiffin, it is different.  People are decent almost as a rule.  The teller at the bank waived a fee for me the other day.  That doesn't happen where I come from.  A stranger I met in a café offered to introduce me to a woman he knew who had access to a horse stable, after I passingly mentioned I like to ride horses.  A faculty member in charge of my attendance at classes, and whom I have never personally met, sent me a get-well email after I came down with a stomach bug.  People from Ohio just typify that saying: "Midwest nice."  Now I know what it means.

Seneca County had its annual heritage festival and parade this weekend.  There were baton girls, and tractors--lots and lots of tractors.  The actual Budweiser Clydesdale horse team was present and it was a magnificent sight.  The sisters marched in the parade with a float to raise awareness about peacemaking in a conflict ridden world, and another one to highlight their work to help the victims of human trafficking.

Enjoy the photos.  Come visit us.