‘See the world differently’
Bishop Martin encourages contemplation during St. Francis Springs visit
STONEVILLE — More than 100 secular Franciscans and friends joined Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv., April 27 as he emphasized the importance of recalibrating our lives toward God during a Mass and blessing of St. Francis Springs Prayer Center’s recently completed columbarium.
The prayer and retreat center is nestled on 140 wooded acres about 30 miles north of Greensboro. St. Francis Springs offers a serene setting for meditation, with outdoor prayer spaces including the San Damiano Glass Chapel, walking trails, a Stations of the Cross meditation, a labyrinth based on the winding walk at Chartres Cathedral in France, and a waterfall named “Celestial Waterfall” created by Franciscan Father Louis Canino and stonemason Rosali Rivera of Set in Builders in Stokesdale. The 720-niche columbarium is a natural extension of these spaces.
- Read more about St. Francis Springs Prayer Center and its new columbarium: Columbarium featuring local stone, local artistry opens at St. Francis Springs Prayer Center
As a Conventual Franciscan friar himself, Bishop Martin said, he strives to live the contemplative life that the order’s founder St. Francis modeled, and in his homily during the celebration, he emphasized the importance of contemplation amid today’s busy world.
“The beauty of a place like St. Francis Springs is that it gives all of us an opportunity to step away from the life of the world in order to recalibrate,” he said.
We can experience God’s mercy through the serenity of nature and in times of quiet retreat, he said. They can provide “a time away to ask the Lord to give us new insight, to allow us to be able see things through the lens of faith, to re-imagine with God how we are to appreciate who we are, who God is and what we are called to do.”
The bishop said the next step is to bring that appreciation into every aspect of daily life. “In the supermarket, dare I say, on the interstate, every place we find ourselves that we think is a distraction from the Lord, that’s where the Lord wants us to be. That’s where the Lord needs us to be,” he said.
“It’s not just being able to see the Lord anew with a different perspective, it’s also to see reality anew and to see Christ in that reality,” he said. “May that be the gift St. Francis Springs brings to all of us – named obviously in honor of a poor man of Assisi who recognized the need to see the world differently.”
“It was a gift to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday with Bishop Michael T. Martin, especially a week after the passing of Pope Francis,” said Steve Swayne, director of St. Francis Springs Prayer Center. “His message to all of us about St. Francis was beautiful. And to celebrate and bless the columbarium was a gift.”
— Georgianna Penn
Pictured at top: Bishop Michael Martin blesses the columbarium April 27 at St. Francis Springs Prayer Center in Stoneville. (Photo by Georgianna Penn, Catholic News Herald)
Members of the Greensboro Secular Franciscans presented Bishop Michael Martin with a prayer shawl during his visit to St. Francis Springs Prayer Center in Stoneville April 27. (Georgianna Penn, Catholic News Herald)