On October 17-20, 2008 the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity welcomed guests for a weekend of “Choosing God” and contemplating beauty. Beauty as portrayed in Scripture, the Fathers of the Church and in the Franciscan tradition was a special focus. In The Exhortation to the Praises of God Francis refers to the Lord God as ” you are beauty, you are sweetness” and “you are beauty, you are gentleness”. St. Clare speaks about beauty in these passages from her writings:
Love renders one beautiful…to become beautiful is to become like the beloved, self growing in love.
When the human person mirrors the love of Christ, then the beauty of God reigns in the world.
The young women accepted the opportunity for personal reflection on their relationship with God as well as enjoyed the gift of meeting others searching to find God’s will in their life. All were open to contemplating the Franciscan vocation through various experiences of reflecting on beauty e.g. evening bonfire, personal and group prayer, sacramental opportunities, solitude, and trail blazing.
Given that St. Francis’s own call involved responding to the God’s directive to “rebuild my Church’ and seeing God in another, the weekend included Saturday evening music outreach to Good Shepherd Parish, Chilton,WI. At the Eucharistic liturgy some of the Franciscan Sisters’ musicians, in addition to the retreatants, gave of themselves in service while the congregation joined in joyful song. Father Robert Kollath, pastor, encouraged the guests to come again. Check out the Flicker photos.
