A new, weekly series featuring reflections from Fr. Michael Suchnicki dealing with God, thoughts from the friary backyard and on our Milky Way Galaxy.

A Tree in the Middle!

At St. Francis of Assisi Friary, where I live, we have three beautiful maple trees in our backyard. Each one is at least a hundred feet tall. They were planted when a group of nuns use to live here before the Capuchins Franciscans came to Denver. The nuns were teachers at a nearby Catholic School, which no longer exist.

Whenever I go out back for a while, usually to read or write or pray, I always sit next to “the tree in the middle.” What a blessing to have those trees and birds, a nice water fountain, gorgeous flowers and some hungry squirrels, also an occasional cat looking for something to sneak up on. Oh, I can’t forget the crows.

One overcast, windy day last Fall I was sitting in my favorite spot by “the tree in the middle” and I fell asleep. I think that’s what happened. It was rather mysterious. In my sleep, I felt that I was at Calvary standing close to “the cross in the middle.”

To the left of the cross stood several women and one man. They were weeping. Suddenly the wind began to howl and the whole backyard grew dark. There were several flashes of lightning and claps of thunder.
Then from the tree I heard a man’s voice say something in a foreign language. The small group fell to their knees and looked up at the tree, then they slowly bowed their heads. It started to drizzle, and I woke up from my dream or whatever it was.

For several years I’ve sat next to “the tree in the middle” and never experienced anything like I just did. What was God trying to tell me?
I think He was reminding me that Mary and the little group at Calvary are still mourning the death of Our Savior. I know He died only once many years ago, but today in 2020, the world seems to have forgotten what Jesus did for us.

We need to find a tree somewhere and think of the wood that became His Cross.