April 9, 2024

Dear John,

So many spiritual practices in our culture are prescriptive: Do these three things to feel close to God…adopt this breathing technique if you want to find peace…meditate this way if you want to reach enlightenment. In today’s meditation from God’s Love Song, we are reminded of one of the most fundamental components of prayer: humility. In prayer we are stirred to surrender to God all the things we are desperately trying to control.

We are moved to keep loving and serving, even amidst feelings of helplessness or emptiness as we wait for God. This emptiness can feel disorienting, but it is part of life. No prescription can fill it, but prayer can help us navigate it. I hope you enjoy this copy of God’s Love Song as you continue to love as you wait.

Blessings, 

Stephen Copeland

Book Editor, Franciscan Media

Saint of the Day for April 9: Casilda

(d. c. 1050)

Saint Casilda’s Story

Some saints’ names are far more familiar to us than others, but even the lives of obscure holy persons teach us something.

And so it is with Saint Casilda. Her father was a Muslim leader in Toledo, Spain, in the 10th century. Casilda was a devout Muslim but was kind to Christian prisoners. She became ill as a young woman but did not trust that any of the local Arab doctors could cure her. So she made a pilgrimage to the shrine of San Vicenzo in northern Spain. Like so many other people who made their way there—many of them suffering from hemorrhages—Casilda sought the healing waters of the shrine. We’re uncertain what brought her to the shrine, but we do know that she left it relieved of illness.

In response, she became a Christian and lived a life of solitude and penance not far from the miraculous spring. It’s said that she lived to be 100 years old. Her death likely occurred around the year 1050.

Reflection

Tensions between Muslims and Christians have often existed throughout history, sometimes resulting in bloody conflict. Through her quiet, simple life Casilda served her Creator—first in one faith, then in another.

Explore how Franciscan spirituality can inspire and encourage a wholeness of body and soul through all the ups and downs of life.

What happens, or at least what happened to me, is that you realize that you cannot connect to God by sheer force of will or by a multitude of prayers. You have to wait until God connects with you. God hears your mantra of prayer and connects where you thought there was a vacuum. In my own case, I made a conscious decision to do what I thought God created me to do. I found a way to direct that action, and I just kept telling myself: I can’t pray, but I have something to offer, so I am just going to offer myself in giving what expresses my love for God and others. I’ll be here working.

If God wants to contact me, God will. But whether God contacts me or not, I’ll be here doing God’s will and saying prayers and going through the motions of meditation and contemplation until God breaks through to me.

—from the book God’s Love Song: The Vision of Francis and Clare
by Murray Bodo, OFM, and Susan Saint Sing

"Turn your face to God, whose face is ever turned toward you. Wait for God’s face to come into focus after all your wanderings away from that loving countenance. Watch, be attentive, be present to whatever it is you are looking at. For what you truly see will reflect the face of God, whose eyes will look back at you."

—from God's Love Song: The Vision of Francis and Clare

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