8/20/2013 - Franklin Fong, OFM, on Franciscan decision-making

Fr. Franklin Fong, OFM, gave a talk at St. Francis Parish in Sacramento last night. What he had to say has a bearing on my discernment process. He talked about a cycle of Vision which leads to Action which leads to Confirmation (or not) which leads back to Vision (or perhaps revision). Franklin said that when Vision and Action are coupled together, we begin a process of changing our original vision, which is classically known as conversion, transformation, or metanoia. In doing this process over time, we deepen our faith. We change, and need not only to give ourselves permission to change, but also to actively engage and guide our change -- our conversion process. As we deepen in faith, we grow in our trust of the Holy One. As we continue to spiral through the process of Vision --> Action --> Confirmation, leading back to Vision again our faith deepens. In other words, as we change through this coupling of Vision and Action, our trust increases until we find the courage to act on our vision, what Franklin calls a Leap of Faith. In other words, one has the courage to do something that makes no rational sense, necessarily. One acts, then seeks confirmation by discerning the movement of the Holy Spirit. From what does the vision arise? Prayer. Franklin gave the example of Francis of Assisi. In prayer, Francis heard a voice telling him to "Rebuild my church," his Vision. Francis did rebuild the church, the Action. The Confirmation was the completion of the rebuilding as well as a perception in prayer that he, Francis, should rebuild another church -- and so the twist in the spiral began the process of Vision --> Action --> Confirmation again. In many ways, Franklin's explanation is John Duns Scotus' view on Franciscan decision-making in a nutshell, So, what does this have to do with my discernment process? It's back to this SoulCollage, Desert Sisters.

I believe that when I made this picture in 2009, I was officially inquiring with the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) congregation. I had just returned from visiting St. Gertrude's, a Benedictine monastery near Lewiston, Idaho, and had decided that I did not belong there. I had yet to begin taking theology classes at the Franciscan School of Theology (FST)  in Berkeley. So, this collage (in its original form; it's been changed in Photoshop over the years) spoke to me of that which I was seeking.  Four years, and many theology courses later, I have been gazing at this picture to discern whether this Vision, if you will, is still valid for me. Does this picture still speak to me in the same way? Or, has the way it speaks to me changed? I think it still speaks to me, but perhaps in a slightly different way now. Prior to taking classes at FST, my main mode of decision-making was Ignatian. I did the 19th Annotation 30-day Ignatian retreat when I was 23 years old (with the Cenacle sisters in Carmichael, when they still had a retreat house there), and used that method for decades. What's different now is that I look at the picture through Franciscan eyes, through a Franciscan hermeneutic. And it does still speak to me. Using the SoulCollage exercise with the picture, which begins with I Am the One Who .  .  .

We Are the Ones Who: Seek the light. We travel together, in relationship, on the journey toward the Holy One. We take only ourselves on the journey, trusting the Holy One to guide and provide what we need. We walk off the edge of civilization into the wilderness, leaving behind certainty and safety, for the unknown that may guide us to our destination. There are no sign posts. There are no paved highways. We create the path as we go. We have the courage and company of one another in pursuit of guidance of the Spirit. We are comfort and goad and mother and sister to one another. We are the desert sisters who create anew.

Now, in the intervening years that I have heard Ilia Delio speak, the picture makes even more sense to me. Delio's talks to the Leadership Council of Women Religious (LCWR) last week were similar to the ones I heard her give at the American Franciscan Conference (AFC)  last month. The National Catholic Register (NCR) has excerpts from her keynote here: http://ncronline.org/news/sisters-stories/lcwr-keynote-sisters-must-evolve-consider-universe-story. From the NCR, in part, Delio says, "A dynamic universe provokes the idea and the understanding of a dynamic God .  .  .This is not a stay-at-home God." The NCR further notes:

Drawing from her description of an evolutionary universe, Delio said there were four lessons she wanted to highlight for the sisters:

• The universe is unfinished: “God is not finished creating … and therefore life is not behind us, it is ahead of us.”
• Death is integral to life: “We are trying to hold on and grip and the tighter we grip the more we snuff out any life that’s there.”
• People are not fixed essences but “dynamic becomings:” “What we become will depend on our participation.”
• Live in an “open system:” “A closed system will wear down and wear out.”

So, as I consider Delio and what I am seeking, I am wondering at the closed system aspects of religious life and am wondering where I might find the life that is "ahead of us." Utilizing Franklin's conceptualization of the process, it seems to me that my Vision is still valid. I am unsure as yet of the Action.