{"id":19022,"date":"2020-07-01T09:05:11","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T13:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=19022"},"modified":"2020-07-01T09:05:11","modified_gmt":"2020-07-01T13:05:11","slug":"openness-and-receptivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=19022","title":{"rendered":"Openness and Receptivity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Simplicity<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Openness\nand Receptivity<\/strong><br>\nWednesday, \u202fJuly 1, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gYUJjsgd96k\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>Despite\nmany differing views of Jesus\u2019 life and teaching, we can say confidently that\nJesus was a poor man who fully embraced life with those on the margins of\nsociety. Francis of Assisi certainly did the same, and it became his litmus\ntest for all orthodoxy and ongoing transformation into God. Clare of Assisi\n(1194\u20131253) wanted to imitate Francis in this and I acknowledge that she and\nher sisters, the Poor Clares, have kept the vow of poverty much better than we\nFranciscan friars have done. Today, Bridget Mary Meehan helps us understand how\nradical simplicity helped Clare and her sisters come to a singleness of focus\nand heart.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clare understood\nthat love and poverty [<em>or what\nI would call simplicity<\/em>] are connected. She taught that poverty\nfrees one from the bondage of material things and from all the things that\nclutter the human heart and soul. . . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gospel poverty\nwas at the heart of Clare\u2019s rule. The Poor Ladies owned nothing; they lived\nsimply without property, endowments, or any kind of material possessions. For\nClare, doing without things led to deep communion with God. Her way of life was\ncharacterized by a deep trust in God to provide for the needs of the community.\nWhatever the Poor Ladies received was sufficient. Openness and receptivity\nreflected Clare\u2019s attitudes toward people and things. For her, everything was\ngift. She and her \u201cladies\u201d lived the gospel passionately according to the\nFranciscan ideal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the\ncenturies Clare has continued to be a beacon of light to women and men who long\nto love Christ with an undivided heart, to serve others generously, and to live\nsimply in a world that glorifies material possessions. If we have too many\nclothes in our closets, too much money in the bank, too many things cluttering\nour lives, Clare can help us find the one thing necessary\u2014God who will liberate\nand fill our emptiness with divine love. Our conversion process may take\ntime\u2014sometimes years\u2014but we will experience freedom and joy when we live with a\nloose grasp on material things, when we are willing to share our possessions as\nwell as our time and energy with those in need. . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How often do we\ntake a deep breath and appreciate\u2014really appreciate\u2014the air we breathe? How\noften do we savor the food we taste and smell the flowers along our path? When was\nthe last time we listened to our child, laughed with a friend, embraced our\nspouse? It is true that the best things in life are free, but we are often too\ndistracted or too busy to see the simple treasures of life right in front of\nus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Simplicity Openness and Receptivity Wednesday, \u202fJuly 1, 2020 Despite many differing views of Jesus\u2019 life and teaching, we can say confidently that Jesus was a poor man who fully embraced life with those on the margins of society. Francis of Assisi certainly did the same, and it became his litmus test for all orthodoxy and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19022"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19022"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19023,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19022\/revisions\/19023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}