Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation

From the Center for Action and Contemplation

Week Forty: Francis and the Animals

The Emotional Intelligence of Animals

I wonder what I ought to tell you about the friendship there was between me and a falcon? —Carlo Carretto, I, Francis

Carlo Carretto (1910–1988) was a member of the Little Brothers of Jesus, a community of contemplatives based on the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi. In this meditation, Carretto speaks in Francis’ voice, combining Francis’ biography with what he might say to us today.

I was in a certain hermitage, where I had withdrawn to pray in peace.

I noticed that very nearby there was a falcon, with its nest.

We became friends. . . .

Then the falcon undertook to rouse me from my rest at the hour of prayer—at midnight, and again at dawn for Lauds. . . .

He always performed his duty with precision.

Once he even went beyond the call of duty.

He had noticed that I was not feeling well—and so he did not awaken me in the night, but only in the morning for Lauds.

I think God was guiding me by the falcon.

You can go ahead and smile. . . . But it happened to me, and I took pleasure in it all, even going so far as to hold conversations with all manner of creatures, and preach various sermons to them. . . .

I made an effort to make them understand that I was a friend. At first they were astounded and incredulous. But then they believed.

And they drew near.

And they listened to me. . . .

It was as if the dimensions of the Kingdom had been enlarged for me. . . .

It was as if the number of my sisters and brothers had become measurelessly greater. [1]

Science is beginning to confirm the intuitions of mystics throughout the ages, including Francis—that we share kinship with animals. Consider the insights from the fascinating book When Elephants Weep, which explores the emotional lives of animals. Author Jeffrey Masson considers animal relationships that surely transcend mere survival and can even be called love:

Lionesses baby-sit for one another just as house cats sometimes do. . . . Elephants appear to make allowances for other members of their herd. One African herd always traveled slowly because one of its members had never fully recovered from a broken leg suffered as a calf. A park warden reported coming across a herd with a female carrying a small calf several days dead, which she placed on the ground whenever she ate or drank: she traveled very slowly and the rest of the elephants waited for her. . . . There appears to be so little survival value in the behavior of this herd, that perhaps one has to believe that they behaved this way just because they loved their grieving friend who loved her dead baby, and wanted to support her. [2]

[Richard: I think we know so little about our ensouled universe.]

[1] Carlo Carretto, I, Francis, trans. Robert R. Barr (Orbis Books: 1982), 49–50.

[2] Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy, When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals (Delta: 1995), 78. 

Image credit: Barbara Holmes, Untitled 10 (detail), 2021, photograph, United States.

The creative team at CAC sent a single-use camera to “Dr. B” as part of an exploration into contemplative photography and she returned this wonderful photo. 

Image inspiration: The simple scene of a cow grazing is easy to pass by without a thought - but it is also a holy moment. Sacred and mundane are found together in the form of an ordinary creature.

Learn more about the Daily Meditations Editorial Team.

Prayer For Our Community

Loving God, you fill all things with a fullness and hope that we can never comprehend. Thank you for leading us into a time where more of reality is being unveiled for us all to see. We pray that you will take away our natural temptation for cynicism, denial, fear and despair. Help us have the courage to awaken to greater truth, greater humility, and greater care for one another. May we place our hope in what matters and what lasts, trusting in your eternal presence and love. Listen to our hearts’ longings for the healing of our suffering world. Please add your own intentions . . . Knowing, good God, you are hearing us better than we are speaking, we offer these prayers in all the holy names of God. Amen.
Listen to Father Richard pray this prayer aloud.

Story From Our Community

We all share God's bounty in this wonderful creation we call Earth. Although I have always treated animals as gifts from God, it wasn't until Father Richard's course on the Franciscan Way that my eyes were open to seeing the trees and flowers as our brothers and sisters, as well as the pebble I still kick down the street and the slug in my bird fountain. I am truly blessed to be one of God's children.
—Russell C.
Share your own story with us.

News from the CAC

What is the Franciscan Alternative Orthodoxy?

In season four of our podcast Another Name for Every Thing, Richard Rohr and his co-hosts take a deep dive into the seven themes of the Alternative Orthodoxy. In the first episode, Fr. Richard, Brie, and Paul discuss how Franciscan theology creates a trustworthy dynamism for humanity and God.

Are You Eager to Love?

In this short 2014 talk, Richard Rohr introduces us to St. Francis, the humble and joyful man who was more a radical prophet than a garden icon. Francis’ words and lifestyle imitate Jesus’ simplicity, compassion, inclusivity, and embodied love. Download the MP3 and listen anytime, anywhere.

Explore Richard Rohr's Daily Meditations archive at cac.org. 

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