My Path to the Franciscan Way

What if the Prodigal Son returned home and discovered that his true home wasn’t his childhood home, but a place that he never knew existed: a humble, hidden niche that was somehow always attached to that childhood home? A place that he had to discover on his own, but only after years of exploration of alternative homes?  

I am fairly new to the Franciscan Way. Until recently I only knew two things about St. Francis: I was born in Franciscan hospital; and the “birdbath saint” image. I was baptized as a Roman Catholic, attended Sunday School and CCD, and I was confirmed at my local church. My extended family included a bishop and a priest. Yet St. Francis and this spirituality were never a part of my childhood religious dialogue or education. It only surfaced when a chain of serendipitous friendships brought me to this humble niche.  

What I remember most from my early Catholic life was Mass in Latin celebrated by a priest with his back to the congregation. Catholicism seemed to me to only happen once a week inside of a church. This was not a religion about connectedness; it was not a religion of God being humble and on the side of the powerless (except, as I learned later, in Latin and South America under the inspirational and courageous leadership of Father Gustavo Gutierrez and St. Oscar Romero). In summary, my early experiences with Catholicism did not exactly fill me with the Holy Spirit!

Period of Discernment

By the time that I entered my college years, the United States was in the midst of multiple social upheavals: the push for equal rights for Black Americans, the Vietnam War, and the Woodstock generation’s dream of peace and love. There were Catholic voices that seemed to be joining the push for peace and social justice, but these voices didn’t seem as strong or numerous as those coming from the Buddhist and Quaker communities. Those faith traditions appeared to provide the framework that I was seeking to help me work for social justice, peace, and a recognition that we are all connected.

I explored these paths and learned as much as I could about their philosophies and practices. For a while I felt that some combination of these two religions was the pathway leading me in the direction that I was seeking.

Following my college graduation, I got married and we chose to live a mostly secular life. We did attend a few Unitarian services to see if that was an appropriate “middle way” to provide our children with a religious foundation. But I never felt that “the fit” was right for me among the Buddhists, the Quakers, or the Unitarians. 

My background and family heritage was, at least in strong part, Catholic, and despite the attractiveness of certain parts of everything, I was studying and experiencing. I just didn’t feel as though I was meant to follow any of those spiritual paths. As I discovered later, the position I was really seeking was to be “on the edge of the inside” (Father Richard Rohr) of my heritage.

My early career path shifted from investment banking, to local government, to state government. My state job exposed me to some incredibly primitive housing, which led me to switch my career path to my state’s housing development authority, an organization that provided financing for low-income housing. I finally felt that my career and I were congruent. Meanwhile, I continued to research extensively about other religions, but given my childhood memories, I never thought about returning to my Catholic roots.

Endings and Beginnings

As time went on, our children were getting older and I converted to my wife’s denomination. I was very comfortable with this faith tradition given my years of exposure to its practice and to its philosophy and followers. My adoption of it brought a religious conformity and stability to our family life. However, it still didn’t get me to the “edge of the inside” of my religious heritage. 

Eventually, following a varied career in real estate finance, I was fortunate to retire, and my very first retirement project was to take a year’s worth of graduate-level religion courses offered by a (secular) school of divinity. The coursework provided an in-depth study of the six largest world religions, as well as courses on religious literacy and religion, conflict, and peace.

These courses offered me the opportunity to learn how to properly study religion; it provided exposure to the philosophies, practices, and scriptures of all of these faith paths. From this program I learned more about Christianity in one course than I had learned over a lifetime of Catholicism! 

Home Again

So here is the serendipitous part: I live in a large condominium. One of our family associates had a friend who is a retired priest. She introduced my wife and I to this individual, and my spiritual interest became a real connection between us.

We met, talked, and became good friends. At some point he introduced me to the “Daily Meditations” of Father Richard Rohr. I subscribed, and over time I became hooked. I had to know more about St. Francis and the Franciscan Way. I was intrigued with Father Rohr’s take on Franciscan philosophy. I then started listening to the “Turning to the Mystics” podcast with James Finley and Kirsten Oates. I loved the podcasts, but I wanted to learn even more. 

Franciscan thought and practice were really resonating with me. As a next step, I registered and took the course offered by the Center for Action and Contemplation titled “The Franciscan Way.”

I couldn’t believe that the Franciscans were a centuries old part of the Church, a humble niche attached to the Catholic Church of my youth. A niche that was available to everyone, not just to clerics or scholars. You learn to love what God loves and see the face of God in everything and everybody. You had to understand that we are all connected. And, according to the Center for Action and Contemplation, you had to learn to establish your life on the edge of the inside—not too far toward the center, but not outside either.

Contemporaneously with my studies, my friend also introduced me to a Franciscan nun who helped to create and establish a major Franciscan organization. She, in turn, introduced me to my local Franciscan Justice Circle. 

So here I am today. I am learning all that I can about the Franciscans; I have the beginnings of a new understanding of Jesus: who he was, what he preached, and what that means for me. I know that I have to live myself into a new way (the Franciscan Way) of thinking in order to live the Gospel.

Serendipitous connections led me to the Franciscans, but a lifetime of searching and study prepared me to understand and accept that this is the home that I’d been seeking: the humble, hidden niche attached to my childhood home.

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