Life

Peace! Yesterday we had the beautiful reading from St. Paul about being the one Body, and how all the parts have to work together. He mentions how those parts that seem less honorable we clothe with greater care.
We can use this to reflect on our society. How do we work together to support the whole body? An important question: how do we treat those who are least able to defend themselves? How do we treat the unborn, the ill and incapacitated, those debilitated by age or other factors?
Once as a hospital chaplain I was called in to visit a mother who had given birth prematurely. I visited the baby, so tiny and helpless. All the doctors and nurses were working so hard to help this child survive. We prayed and baptized him.
Why does our law commend, and even command, such heroic efforts in regard to a child born early, and yet gives no protection at all to a child, the same age, still in its mother’s womb? Both are precious, both children of God. The debate about abortion raises such contradictions, and reveals the dark side of our culture and society.
I know these are not new reflections, but they have to be repeated. Not so that we can attack them, those outside of us, and so feel smug in our pro-life stance. It is so we can first of all face the basic contradictions in ourselves, in all of us. And first bring that contradictory self to God, the only light in the darkness. This is what St. Francis prayed: “Lord, enlighten the darkness of my heart.”
And, yes, from that place we must act. I commend all those who are on the march for life this day, all those who are fighting in a public way to change our laws. We all have to be part of that struggle, as God guides and gives us. Again: not one of us can do everything, but each of us can do something.
As St. Francis told his brothers; “Let us begin to do good, for up to now we’ve done so little.” And yet, even our little can be taken up by the Good God.
Let us begin today!

Fulfilled in Your Hearing

Peace and Good! I think one of the secrets of St. Francis' attraction is that He learned to consider Jesus Christ a living presence, not just someone from the past. This is what happened in his encounter with the leper on the plain of Assisi: he experienced God as present, there and then. So when Francis sought to imitate Jesus, it was not so that he could live the life of a first century Palestinian preacher--it was to be a living Gospel and witness to Christ present in 13th century Italy.
And we are called not to become 13th century saints, but living witnesses of the living Christ in 2007.

Many people are gathering in Washington, D.C., to witness to the value of human life and the need to protect it. They tell me, once more, that despite the problems and evils around us, God has not abandoned us. Christ is among us. He fulfills His word.
And, like Francis, we have to decide if we want to be witness of that living presence.
Thank You, Lord, for those who allow Your face to shine in theirs. Thank You, too, for Your whole body. None of us can do everything, but in You each of us can do something, and You will fulfill Your promise to be with us, even to the end of the world.

Do Whatever He Tells You

Peace and Good!

Here is a prayer composed by St. Francis:

Hail, O Lady, Holy Queen,Mary, holy Mother of God:
you are the Virgin made Church
chosen by the most Holy Father in heaven whom He consecrated with His most holy beloved Son and with the Holy Spirit the Paraclete,
in whom there was and is all fullness of grace and every good.
Hail His Palace!
Hail His Tabernacle!
Hail His Dwelling!
Hail His Robe!
Hail His Servant!
Hail His Mother!
And hail all you holy virtues which are poured into the hearts of the faithful through the grace and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, that from being unbelievers, you may make them faithful to God. Amen.

It might seem odd, the way “hail all you holy virtues” seems tacked on to a prayer to our Lady. But it is a deep insight of Francis, reflective of his knowledge of the scriptures. In the Gospel from last Sunday (the Wedding at Cana), Mary is an instrument, bringing the needs of the couple to her Son, Jesus. She also says, “Do whatever He tells you.” And when we pray for her help, she says the same to us. And that, of course, is virtue, following the words and example of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, which can only happen in the Holy Spirit.
(Note: icon from the Orthodox Cathedral of St. Seraphim, Dallas TS)


God bless!

The Clay God Uses: St. Bernard of Corleone

Many people have heard of Corleone, Sicily, though mostly through the Godfather movies. “Hey, that’s the town Don Vito is from; that’s where he got his name!” It was an appropriate choice, actually, as the town has had a reputation for violence. Its seal (which I put here) is a lion eating a human heart.
Philip Latino soaked in a culture of violence, and adapted to it, becoming an excellent swordsman with a fierce reputation. But from his parents he had also absorbed the Christian faith, and an example of another way. So when he severely wounded someone in a sword fight and felt regret in his heart, he knew there was another way he could live. He turned to Christ and ended up joining the Capuchins, living a holy life in the midst of a violent society. He is St. Bernard of Corleone, whose feast is today.

Our world is a violent one, and violence seems the only effective response. But St. Bernard shows that there can be an alternative, even for those who have given in to the lure of violence.
St. Francis lived in violent times, and he too was lured by violence, even to fighting in Assisi’s war against Perugia. But defeat, imprisonment and illness made him disillusioned with violence. By God’s grace, he, too, saw another way was possible, and walked in it.
God’s power to transform is not limited. I think we should keep that in mind when we consider our own lives and our faults and sins, as well as those of others. We should pray for those who use terror as a weapon. Pray not for their death but their conversion. Imagine if all that energy were used to build up the world! Hard to imagine, yes. But it is just as hard to imagine that slaying the Messiah would, in fact, be a work of redemption.
God’s mercy and love are not limited. May God help us believe that, and live the consequences.
Peace and Good!

I Do Want it: Be Healed

Peace and Good! Today's Gospel is Jesus' encounter with the leper in the first chapter of Mark's gospel. It is a simple, powerful scene. There is the leper's confident plea, and Jesus' response. First of all, "I do will it." We can forget that God wants our healing, our salvation. We don't have to make God love us, but that is often how we look at our religion. God wills us to be healed; the question is: Do we want to be healed?

Even more impressive is the fact that Jesus stretched out his hand to touch that leper. This was a violation of the law as well as common sense. You just didn't touch a leper. Unless you're Jesus, God's compassion made flesh.
This all brings to my mind Francis of Assisi and his encounter with the leper outside of Assisi. Here we see his first real attempt to be Christ-like, to do what Jesus did. It was hard for him, I am sure. But he himself testifies that God worked in the whole experience: what was bitter was changed to sweetness of soul and body. Francis was faced with the question: do you want to be healed. And that day he answered, I do will it.
Finally, let's not forget the lepers, either in the Gospel or in Assisi. They were not just props, objects to show the power of Jesus or the conversion of Francis. They were real persons, loved by God. Maybe God did something powerful for those lepers in their encounters. We know he healed the man in the Gospel. But maybe the leper outside of Assisi needed someone to embrace him, to remind him that he was human, to keep him from despairing. Maybe Francis was God's instrument of the leper as much as the leper was for Francis.
God is wonderful.
God bless and keep you!

St. Elizabeth Ann

Peace! Since my last post, I've had a chance to visit the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland. It is a beautiful place. I am attaching a couple photos. It is a great thing to reflect on her life, knowing that she didn't live all that long ago, and was an American by birth and life. May she intercede for all of us!

The Clay God Uses: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Peace and Good!
Today's Gospel from John mentions three times "which is translated as..."
The saints are those who learned how to translate the Gospel into living witness.
Elizabeth Ann Seton was called to do this in many ways.
One dramatic moment: after her conversion to Roman Catholicism, she was shunned by many of her family, who were angry that she joined the "shabby, shiftless, scrubby Catholics." They made her life very difficult, and tried to get her out of New York, her home. But one of them became ill, and asked for Elizabeth to visit her and help her as death neared. Elizabeth had to decide if she would go, despite the pain that her relatives had caused her. She decided she needed to 'translate' the Gospel message, to show love to those who made her suffer. She went to the bed of her relative, and helped her to die in prayer and peace.
This was one of the big reasons people were so drawn to St. Francis of Assisi: he 'translated' the Gospel into living witness. In an era when there was much debate over words and concepts, he made the Gospel message real by his example and life.
This is what Jesus calls us all to do.
Why do we think it's possible? Because first of all, that is what Jesus Himself does. The Incarnation is the 'translation' of God's love into terms we can understand. "God so loved the world that He sent His only Son."
Jesus Christ is this love made present, not only in the past, but each day, each moment. One of the things that caused St. Elizabeth Ann's conversion was here awe at the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. It made real for her the Lord's promise to be with us (as it did with St. Francis). Through Jesus she also came to know Mary, His Mother, whom He gave to us as our Mother too.
Secondly, we have the example of the saints. Each in his or her own way translated the Gospel into a living message. And we are all called to do the same, each in a particular way.
May God bless and help us in this New Year 2007 to believe in Christ present among us, and, like Mary our Mother, ponder on that in our hearts and then live it in our daily lives.
God bless and keep you!

Mary, Mother of God

Peace and Good! I just read somewhere that the idea of making Jan. 1 the beginning of the New Year was actually Julius Caesar's. The month of January was named after Janus, the two-headed Roman god who watched the gates and doors, a sort of guardian. Mary has often been called the Gate, so it's good to enter the New Year with her feast. She is the one who opened her heart and her body to receive God's Son, and then opened them both to give Him to the world. Thank you, Blessed Mother of us all. Help us to open ourselves as you did.
As the reading today says, and St. Francis often repeated:
May the Lord bless you and keep you,
May the light of His countenance fall upon you.
May He turn His face to you and have mercy on you.
May the Lord give you peace!
God bless us all in 2007.

And Dwelt Among Us

Peace! Blessings on this feast of the Holy Family. A thought struck me in the Gospel today: Luke tells us that Jesus went back to Nazareth and was obedient to Mary and Joseph, and that Mary pondered all these things in her heart. Part of the dynamics of family is that all the members learn from each other. So Jesus, as a human being, learned from Mary and Joseph, and they, of course, learned from him.
Francis of Assisi learned from his family, in both positive and negative ways. He learned about the faith, about life, about perseverence and courage from his father and mother. He also learned about the power of greed and acquiesence to wrong. I hope, also, that his family learned from him. It's easy to think that his mother did. But perhaps Pietro di Bernardone did, too.
This feast reminds us that God is the ultimate foundation and hope of any family, and that the Holy Spirit can work within any family dynamics, both the most beautiful and the most dysfunctional. Thank God for that.
Holy Jesus, Savior, help us in our struggles to love. Mother Mary, St. Joseph, guide and help us on the way.
God bless you all. Happy New Year!

Seeing and Not Seeing

Peace! Happy Feast of St. John the Evangelist. The readings today talk about seeing. The First Letter of John talks about what "our eyes have seen." The Word of Life made visible. Yet, the Gospel says that the beloved disciple "saw and believed." But he believed because of what he didn't see: no body, no visible presence of the Lord Jesus, only a few pieces of cloth lying around. The Lord tells us through John that the Word was God, from all eternity, yet in time became visible. That dynamic of seeing and not seeing is part of our spiritual journey. There are times when God's presence is clearly visible, clearly discernible. Then, there are times when God seems hidden, obscure, or even completely absent. Faith calls us to believe even when we do not see; to love even when we do not feel love.
This was the secret of St. Francis, to believe in God's presence even in those places where it does not seem to be, or even be possible. He learned that from his encounter with the leper. He never would have imagined that God could be present in a diseased and shunned leper. Yet, in a leper he encountered a "sweetness of body and soul" which could only come from God.
We ask St. John to help us to believe in the Word of Life made visible, that with him, with Our Lady and Francis and all the saints, we may continue to walk by faith and believe He is with us.

When the Snow Hung Round about...

Peace! Happy Feast of St. Stephen. I pray everyone had a blessed beginning of this wonderful Christmas Feast! I recall that at the death of St. Francis the bells of the little Church of St. Stephen in Assisi began to ring. One Christlike person receving another. Thank you God for them both. God bless!

How Small He Became

The Gospel of this Fourth Sunday of Advent (which is also the entire fourth week of Advent) recounts the Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and recognized the great work that God was carrying out in Mary. An important point is how she came to know this. What was the sign that pointed it out? It wasn't anything big or spectacular. Mary was not bathed in a heavenly light, or arrayed in gold and silver, or preceded by a fanfare of angelic trumpets. Rather, Elizabeth felt the baby move within her, leap for joy at God's presence and the fulfillment of the promise. How often in the history of the world has a baby kicked within the womb? How normal, uneventful, small such a thing is in the scheme of world history. And yet, it was through such a small thing that God opened Elizabeth's heart to reveal to her the great mystery present in her young cousin coming to visit. This reveals to us so much of what the Incarnation is all about. And calls us to remember what Christmas means. I don't think we should waste our time or energy railing against the commercialism or glitter or political correctness battles. Rather, we should take time to listen to God speaking in the midst of it all in the seemingly ordinary and small things.
That, I think, was one of the great secrets of St. Francis. He looked for God in the small things of every day. In the stars and the sun, in the lepers and the poor, the prelates and the rich, in the daily joys and sorrows. And Christmas for him was a reminder that God was there in all those things.
Where did he learn that? From Mary, who teaches us to pay attention, to ponder these things in our hearts, and to proclaim the greatness of the Lord.
Merry Christmas! Blessings and Peace always!

Christ our Key

The Key

Peace and Good! I love the “O” Antiphons used during these later Advent days, approaching Christmas. Sunday we hailed Christ as the Wisdom of God, Monday as Adonai, the Lord of Hosts, and yesterday as the Root of Jesse (Radix Jesse). Today we send our plea for redemption to the Clavis David, Key of David.
The preacher at mass today made a great point. He said that when we think of a key, we usually think of a door or gate, being locked or unlocked. But the word also has another meaning: that which guides interpretation, as a key to a map. And that truly applies, for it is Jesus Christ who is the key to understanding life, the universe, and everything. The universe is there before us, but we need a key, a vision and way of understanding to make it intelligible. Which is why the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, that we might see the glory of God and know what it is we are beholding.
I think this is what Francis encountered in Jesus: the one who made sense out of his world. And I pray He will help all of us as our key, opening for us the magnificent vision and teaching us the truth: God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son. God bless you!

Our Lady of Guadalupe, leading us to Jesus

Paz y Bien! I have always been moved by the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I visited the Basilica last August and was very touched in seeing both the image itself, and the faith of the people who were there with me. Our faith tells us God uses the Virgin Mary to bring Christ into this world, both in the Incarnation and in its continuation in the Church. St. Francis called Mary, "The Virgin Made Church." There is no competition between Jesus and His Mother. No one can really be devoted to her without listening to her words, "Do whatever He tells you."
One fact about the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe: she wears the symbols of a pregnant woman. Which means that when one gazes on that image, one is in fact gazing not just at her, but at her Son, Jesus. Mother, help all peoples to come to know and love your Son, and with you to serve Him in our brothers and sisters, especially those most in need.
(By the way, this image is a photo I took of the chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe that is in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. She really is world-wide!)

The Clay God uses: Saint Andrew

Peace and Good! I have always admired St. Andrew. The gospels show us a man with a generous heart and a willing faith. St. John tells us that, at the multiplication of the loaves, he was the one who presented the boy with the loaves and fishes to Jesus. He did say, "But what good is that for so many?" Yet, he had enough faith to present those small resources, and trusted Jesus could do something with them. We all know how small sometimes our gifts seem, and how little they seem in the face of the needs of the world. But Andrew can tell us: Bring them to the Lord. You never know what he can do with them! God bless us all!

Thanks to God/Buying and Selling

Peace and Good! I have been ill, even in the hospital, but am better,thanks be to God and His gift of modern medicine. I will reflect more on the whole experience soon. I also ask prayers for my Aunt Annette who died last Sunday. Her funeral mass is tomorrow morning.
One quick thought of the day: how interesting, to have Jesus overturning the money changers on the day called "Black Friday" because it so focuses on buying and selling! Not that Jesus was against business; he uses images of merchants and economics in some of the parables. But he was concerned always about priorities: that we remember what is what and why. Economics are to serve the good of people, not the other way around. And of course, it should serve ideally to help us love and praise God. But we forget so easily. I think that's what so motivated Francis. He knew the life of a merchant, he knew the power of money and wealth. And he knew how it could be so easily abused, turning things upside down. He experienced how his own father had chosen money, possessions and all to his own son. May the Lord help us, like Francis, to value things with their true value and keep our priorities. God bless!

Walls

Peace and Good! A Franciscan Friar today shared at mass about the conditions for Christians in the Holy Land. He talked about one young woman who, after obtaining a theology degree in the United States, returned to her native Bethlehem to teach the children the faith. It's a hard life there now, especially for the Christian population. One thing she mentioned as being particularly hard is seeing the wall go up, the wall the Israeli government is erecting around the town, making it feel like living in a prison.
It just made me wonder: how effective are walls? How well did the Great Wall of China work, or Hadrian's Wall? More importantly, how do they help make the world better?
I remember Francis, answering the bishop of Assisi, who wanted the friars to have possessions. "If we have possessions," he replied, "we would need walls to guard them and weapons to protect them."
Walls may work in one way, but do they help us to "love God with all our heart and our neighbors as ourselves"? Robert Frost quoted the proverb: "Good walls make good neighbors." But do they make loving neighbors?
I pray God will help us tear down the walls in our hearts so that one day, in His grace, we will live in a world where no walls are needed, except maybe to sit on while we eat an ice cream cone!
God bless and keep you!

The Clay God Uses: Martin de Porres and Charles Borromeo

Peace and Good! These are two saints who amaze me, as much for what they didn’t do as what they did. They both had reason to walk another path, and yet both heeded the Gospel and walked in the way of the Lord, though in very different circumstances and places.
Martin de Porres had every reason to be a bitter man. He was treated badly by his father, looked down upon as someone illegitimate and of mixed race. When he joined the Dominicans he was kept for several years from becoming a full member because of prejudice. Yet, rather than becoming a bitter man consumed by anger, he used these circumstances to open his heart in compassion to others and obedience to God’s grace. He like Francis, was known to extend his kindness even to the smallest creatures, feeding the mice who plagued the priory rather than killing them. I think of the story of Francis telling someone who was bitter against injustices done against him that such bitterness would only bring about the only true loss, loss of his soul. Martin, by God’s grace, shows us that such bitterness is not the only way to cope with life’s disappointments and unfairness.
Charles Borromeo had the opposite. His was a life of privilege and wealth, full of palaces and power. He was related to the Medici family, and had relatives who were cardinals and even popes. This brought him position and privilege. He could have forgotten all about God and the good of others and put his energy into the politics of that era, both secular and ecclesiastical, and done quite well. But, again by the grace of God, he did not see what he had as being something he should use for himself, but that he should give himself to the love of God and others. He became a model archbishop and true Christian pastor. He used his gifts for others and thus turned worldly advantage into true discipleship.
Both these saints show us that there is no limit to what God can do, nor any particular type of person who can be a saint. Francis told us never to despise or look down on others. I think it was because he knew how powerful the grace of God could be, and how God often chooses the most unlikely instruments. He felt that he himself was an example of this, and he was right. Who would have thought that the party boy, spoiled son of a merchant, would ever amount to anything in the sight of God.
Francis, Charles, Martin: pray for us, that we too may emerge from whatever we’ve experienced in life, that with the grace of God we may be His instruments, his saints.
God bless!

Bartimaeus Sets the Pace

“And they should be glad when they live among the poor and the powerless, the sick and the lepers and the beggars on the side of the road.” So St. Francis told his brothers. I think that Francis says this not just so that the brothers will learn to be compassionate and generous with those in need. More importantly, Francis is urging them to open themselves to learn the ways of God from those who often know them best: the poor, the blind, the lame.
In the last Sunday’s Gospel (Mark 10:46-52), of all the crowd that follows Jesus, it is the poor, blind beggar Bartimaeus who shows most clearly what it means to have faith. The crowd only looked at him as a nuisance and tried to shut him up; then as an object of pity, telling him not to be afraid. Bartimaeus was not intimidated or distracted by them: he kept yelling until he was heard by Jesus, and then leapt to his feet when Jesus responded and called him. He even left behind the only little bit of security he had in the world: his cloak. And when Bartimaeus receives what he thought was most important, his sight, he uses it to do what he discovers is even more important: following Jesus down the road. Thank God he didn’t listen to the crowd and shut up, content to let Jesus go by without making any waves. Rather, Bartimaeus was called to show to all that crowd, and to us, what it means to have faith.
Such faith reminds us that we never know through whom God is going to speak, so we have to learn how to listen well. And Francis said that this begins with the poor and the lepers and those who live by the side of the road. They can teach us what real faith and perseverance is.
I have experienced this in my life, though I always need to be reminded of it. I found that it is good to reflect also on what we heard from the prophet Jeremiah in Sunday’s first reading. The Lord through the prophet says that he will lead the people: “Behold, I will bring them back from the land of the north; I will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst, the mothers and those with child.” The pace of any group is set by the slowest members. Yet, right in the middle God will place the blind and the lame, the mothers and those with child. Those who are least able for the journey are set in the middle, not only to be protected, but also to set the pace! We are usually inclined to see anyone who holds us back or slows us down as a nuisance and a hindrance, just as the crowd considered that annoying blind beggar, Bartimaeus. Yet, by the grace of God and the persistence of his faith, he set the pace.
God tells us: My ways are not your ways. I pray that with Francis we can learn to leave our ways behind and, like Bartimaeus, walk in His ways, following Him down the road.
Peace and Good!

Music Musing

Peace and Good!
The power of music. Once Francis was ill and asked a brother to play him some music to help him through. The brother demurred, not thinking it fitting. Later Francis heard music, as if played by an angel on a heavenly violin. It helped him in his suffering and revealed yet another aspect of God’s compassionate love for us.
In the last two days I have had two experiences with music which have made me reflect on its power. Last night, I had a classical music station playing as I finished up some work. At first it was just background sound, but suddenly something plucked at me and I started listening to it. I could not tell you whose work it was (I’m not great at recognizing composers), but I only know that its beauty and power suddenly touched my heart and led me to stop and listen and enter into it. I thanked the Lord for that moment, and the gift of the composer, as well as the musicians, who cooperated with the Holy Spirit to express such beauty.
Today, after finishing my swim, I entered the locker room. Someone was playing some rap song or other (I really couldn’t tell you who composed that). I noticed right away that that music made me uneasy, and I hurried to get changed and get out of there. I don’t know how the others there were affected by it. I’ve been there before when such music was playing and, although I’ve never liked it, this was the first time I noticed its effect on me.
In neither case did I set out to listen to music and make a judgment about it, but both times I noticed how it affected me, both positively and negatively. Two things came to me from this.
Firstly, it is important what kind of ‘music’ we allow into our lives. We have to realize the way various things can affect us, and make our choices accordingly. Francis let the music of the Scriptures and Sacraments, love of God and of others, as well as the rhythms and beauties of creation, fill the ears of his heart and lead him to the one who is Beauty and Harmony itself. So it shouldn’t be strange that he heard angelic music that night as he lay suffering. He trained himself, or better, let the Spirit train him, to listen and truly hear such music.
Besides this, however, it’s also important to ask what kind of ‘music’ I am playing for others. My life affects others, by its harmonies and its disharmonies. My words and my actions, my attitudes and decisions, produce a certain quality of music. Francis realized that his life was lived not in splendid isolation but in the midst of God’s world, and that what he did, how he lived in that world, was important. So he also tried to produce for God as beautiful song as he could, even when that meant rubbing two twigs together and weeping for the passion of Jesus Christ. The music of his life still reverberates, even in the blogosphere!
So, Lord, this day I thank you for lovely music and ask that I may learn to listen to your angelic viols and take my own part in the divine symphony you conduct each day. Francis, my brother, teach us how to listen to and play the music of the Gospels, with Jesus as composer, conductor, and orchestra member. Amen.
God bless you all!