It is day 1118 of the journey that started June 9, 2009, and it has been months since I have posted. The school year at the Franciscan School of Theology is over for the summer. Finally, I have some time to turn to other activities -- this among them.
So, as of this month, I am accepted as a candidate to the Redwood City Franciscans, formally named the Sisters of Saint Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, founded in the Netherlands in 1835 (www.franciscanway.org). Last week, I attended Province Days, a gathering in Santa Maria, CA, of Redwood City Franciscans in this region. We engaged in Sacred Circle Conversation. In one of the circles, the topic of moving Franciscanism outward came up. We decided that prayer bowls would be a good expression of moving Franciscanism into the world -- an idea borrowed from the Water Mala Bowl Project. We also decided, since I had the energy, that moving the project from inspiration to initial manifestation, would fall to me to begin.
The work of those retired sisters who live at the Marian Residence in Santa Maria is, in a word, prayer. They pray, in ever widening ripples of influence, for themselves, their families and friends, and for the world. They do this every day of the year. Prayer joins them to others, and others to them, in relationship. People pray for them. They respond to people's requests for prayer in prayer. It is their work, their ministry -- and it is an ultimately important one.
The Franciscan Prayer Bowl Project is an outward sign of that important work. In a manner similar to the blessing of newly written icons, a new prayer bowl will sit in sacramental Presence of the Eucharist for 40 days, inwardly absorbing the prayer surrounding it. In the Franciscan spirit of haecceitas, uniqueness, following the tradition of the great Franciscan theologian, John Duns Scotus, each bowl will be unique and will be uniquely identified. Filling one's bowl with water in prayer, following in the footprints of Said Francis of Assisi, joins one to all of creation in prayerful relationship. It joins all who pray with them in an outwardly visible network of connectedness in prayer..As a visual aid in helping all who participate to understand the net of prayer bowl pray-ers being woven, a web site will display a map of locations in the world where persons prayer with Franciscan Prayer Bowls. The web site, which is not yet up and running, is www.franciscanprayerbowl.org.
The project commences with the making of the first prayer bowls. It is also the first step in "Franciscan theology transfer" for me.
