Last year, Tammy and I went to Assisi and spent a week there. We saw all the regular sites, of course, but we also walked up the hill to the old hermitage, and a site where St. Francis spent time in prayer - and this is something I hadn't done in years because it's a hike up the hill, and usually only going to Assisi for a day doesn't leave enough time. So while there we wrote down some prayers, and left them in a box, and gave a little money, and filled out a card, and now I get these emails from the friars saying they are praying for me - the messages are in Italian, and as much as I don't trust robots, they are ok for translating from Italian - so here is one of the latest messages that I thought was too good not to share it:
James
may the Lord give you peace!
We are at the Portiuncula, the house that welcomes forgiven and saved children. In this time where contentions and discord tell of division and fatigue, the Pardon of Assisi still comes as a wide-open door that opens to hope. It is necessary to return to the heart and to that greater love for all.
It is not enough to know how to forgive ourselves: it is necessary daily to give up that hidden root in us called self-sufficiency.
Until we open up this possibility of an authentic relationship with God, the risk is that we will have big dreams of forgiveness and love for all, but with small fruits and small results. So for each of us, for our family and ecclesial realities, in this world so restless and sometimes tired of superficial things, a good feast of forgiveness means a feast of the depths to remove every root that limits us in that greater love that we all desire.
From the Portiuncula we friars continue to welcome and give God's mercy, and from this place come to you an authentic wish for a feast of Forgiveness, a feast of the depths and of God's mercy in us.
This was for March 24th, recorded for the Ascension App
Thanks for your patience - here is our next installment of The Journey - it's session # 96, but I'm also calling it PART 1 of a "miniseries" on John chapter 6.
Whoever watches it first, please let me know if it looks good or if there are any problems with it - I get through the first two sections of the text on the feeding of the 5,000.
Enjoy!
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
As I'm going through all my belongings as part of our move, I have come across some audio CDs of my old music, from when I had my band, Remember Rome - if any of you still have a CD player, and you would like me to send you some of what I have, send me the address to send them to at this email address: [email protected]
Some of these CDs are in their original cases, and some were demo samples, but either way, it's all original music written by me, and performed by me and my band back in the late 90s and early 2000s.
I'll be happy to find a good home for these CDs in case you might enjoy them, and because you all have been supporting me (and I haven't produced much content in the last month or so) I'll send you one or more CDs for free. Just give me an address.
Thanks!
Here's the link to the new edition of my Rome book on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Rome-Second-Pilgrims-Guide-Eternal/dp/B0F8TGTWZX
