![]() ![]() Francis pushes all of our seeing to the absolute edge by always including those whom other systems might too easily exclude-lepers, non-Christians, poor people, hated outsiders. Followers of Francis and Clare bore “fruit that remained” and they invariably believed in original blessing much more than original sin.įranciscan mysticism is therefore not really about Francis, but about a universal notion of the Christ and therefore of all reality. Usually they picked it up by osmosis, through the gospel and the Franciscan lineage. The cosmic vision, personalized in Jesus, was an intuition that Francis and many of his followers lived and experienced, but most of them did not formulate it in theological words or academic concepts as much as in lifestyles. The bias toward the edge and the bottom has always been at the heart of Franciscan mysticism, explaining its perennial identification with poverty and suffering. It was the unique person of Jesus that Francis and Clare fell in love with, precisely in his incarnate and humble state, identifying with the excluded and little ones, whom Jesus calls “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40). Francis discovered and so powerfully loved this mystery in Jesus that he eventually became a living image of Christ. Franciscan mysticism is about an intuition of Jesus as the Incarnate and Universal Christ. While Franciscan mysticism overlaps with aspects of non-Christian mysticism-such as nature mysticism (panentheism), Jewish mysticism (God as “One” and thus all inclusive), Islamic Sufi mysticism (ecstasy and joy), Hindu mysticism (unitive consciousness and asceticism), and Buddhism (nonviolence and simplicity)-Franciscan mysticism has a unique place in the world through its Christocentric lens. Mystics look out from different eyes that see the grace in all things and the deep connection between all things. All mystics know is that they are inside of an immense and wonderful secret, which seems to be hidden from or denied by ( but not denied to!) most of the rest of us. Mystics know and enjoy the connected core of reality that is hidden to those who do not desire it or search for it. ![]() I emphasize connectivity because that unteachable gift is what I always see in true mystics. As Jesus, Paul, and Franciscan theologian Bonaventure (1221–1274) each said in their own way, mysticism is often foolishness to the educated and obvious to the simple. It is not pointing to something esoteric and unavailable, though it does point to something that is only available to those who go beyond the surface and exterior, those who experience the inner grace and connectivity of all things. I use the word mysticism in a very traditional and classic sense. Father Richard Rohr writes of the cosmic scope of Franciscan mysticism: ![]()
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