St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio.

 

The people of the little Italian city of Gubbio are understandably very proud of their beautiful home. Then one night a shadow comes out of the nearby woods and prowls the streets. In the morning the people of Gubbio find a mangled and gnawed dead body. This happens again and again. Finally an old woman says that she has seen a wolf on the streets at night. The terrified people decide to ask a holy man who has a reputation for being able to talk to animals for his help. They send a delegation to get St. Francis.

They have very specific ideas on what St. Francis should tell the wolf. First, he should preach to him and remind him to obey the commandment against killing and to follow Christ’s commandment about loving God and neighbors. And then, just in case, since a wolf is, after all, a wolf, he should tell the wolf to move to someone else’s city.

Francis goes into the forest to meet the strange shadow, addressing it as ‘Brother Wolf.’ Then he returns to the town square. ‘My good people of Gubbio, the answer is very simple.  You must feed your wolf.’ The people are furious, especially with the suggestion that this uninvited beast in the midst is somehow to be regarded as ‘their wolf.’ But they do feed it, and the killing stops. (From Starlight, by John Shea)

An unconventional sculpture of St. Francis enjoying the night sky at his mountain retreat outside Assisi

http://www.franciscansisters.org/english/publications/sfp_voices/oct10/voices_oct10.html
This is the original story as written in 1276 by Brother Ugolino di Monte Santa Maria.
Little Flowers Of St. Francis, Chapter XXI

At the time when St. Francis was living in the city of Gubbio, a large wolf appeared in the neighborhood, so terrible and so fierce, that he not only devoured other animals, but made a prey of men also; and since he often approached the town, all the people were in great alarm, and used to go about armed, as if going to battle. Notwithstanding these precautions, if any of the inhabitants ever met him alone, he was sure to be devoured, as all defense was useless: and, through fear of the wolf, they dared not go beyond the city walls.

St. Francis, feeling great compassion for the people of Gubbio, resolved to go and meet the wolf, though all advised him not to do so. Making the sign of the holy cross, and putting all his confidence in God, he went forth from the city, taking his brethren with him; but these fearing to go any further, St. Francis bent his steps alone toward the spot where the wolf was known to be, while many people followed at a distance, and witnessed the miracle.

The wolf, seeing all this multitude, ran towards St. Francis with his jaws wide open. As he approached, the saint, making the sign of the cross, cried out: “Come hither, brother wolf; I command thee, in the name of Christ, neither to harm me nor anybody else.” Marvelous to tell, no sooner had St. Francis made the sign of the cross, than the terrible wolf, closing his jaws, stopped running, and coming up to St Francis, lay down at his feet as meekly as a lamb.

And the saint thus addressed him: “Brother wolf, thou hast done much evil in this land, destroying and killing the creatures of God without his permission; yea, not animals only hast thou destroyed, but thou hast even dared to devour men, made after the image of God; for which thing thou art worthy of being hanged like a robber and a murderer. All men cry out against thee, the dogs pursue thee, and all the inhabitants of this city are thy enemies; but I will make peace between them and thee, O brother wolf, is so be thou no more offend them, and they shall forgive thee all thy past offences, and neither men nor dogs shall pursue thee anymore.”

Having listened to these words, the wolf bowed his head, and, by the movements of his body, his tail, and his eyes, made signs that he agreed to what St. Francis said. On this St. Francis added: “As thou art willing to make this peace, I promise thee that thou shalt be fed every day by the inhabitants of this land so long as thou shalt live among them; thou shalt no longer suffer hunger, as it is hunger which has made thee do so much evil; but if I obtain all this for thee, thou must promise, on thy side, never again to attack any animal or any human being; dost thou make this promise?”

Then the wolf, bowing his head, made a sign that he consented. Said St. Francis again: “Brother wolf, wilt thou pledge thy faith that I may trust to this thy promise?” and putting out his hand he received the pledge of the wolf; for the latter lifted up his paw and placed it familiarly in the hand of St. Francis, giving him thereby the only pledge which was in his power. Then said St. Francis, addressing him again: “Brother wolf, I command thee, in the name of Christ, to follow me immediately, without hesitation or doubting, that we may go together to ratify this peace which we have concluded in the name of God”; and the wolf, obeying him, walked by his side as meekly as a lamb, to the great astonishment of all the people.

Now, the news of this most wonderful miracle spreading quickly through the town, all the inhabitants, both men and women, small and great, young and old, flocked to the market-place to see St. Francis and the wolf. All the people being assembled, the saint got up to preach, saying, amongst other things, how for our sins God permits such calamities, and how much greater and more dangerous are the flames of hell, which last forever, than the rage of a wolf, which can kill the body only; and how much we ought to dread the jaws of hell, if the jaws of so small an animal as a wolf can make a whole city tremble through fear.

The sermon being ended, St. Francis added these words: “Listen my brethren: the wolf who is here before you has promised and pledged his faith that he consents to make peace with you all, and no more to offend you in aught, and you must promise to give him each day his necessary food; to which, if you consent, I promise in his name that he will most faithfully observe the compact.”

Then all the people promised with one voice to feed the wolf to the end of his days; and St. Francis, addressing the latter, said again: “And thou, brother wolf, dost thou promise to keep the compact, and never again to offend either man or beast, or any other creature?” And the wolf knelt down, bowing his head, and, by the motions of his tail and of his ears, endeavored to show that he was willing, so far as was in his power, to hold to the compact. Then St Francis continued: “Brother wolf, as thou gavest me a pledge of this thy promise when we were outside the town, so now I will that thou renew it in the sight of all this people, and assure me that I have done well to promise in thy name”; and the wolf lifting up his paw placed it in the hand of St Francis.

Now this event caused great joy in all the people, and a great devotion towards St. Francis, both because of the novelty of the miracle, and because of the peace which had been concluded with the wolf; and they lifted up their voices to heaven, praising and blessing God, who had sent them St. Francis, through whose merits they had been delivered from such a savage beast.

The wolf lived two years at Gubbio; he went familiarly from door to door without harming anyone, and all the people received him courteously, feeding him with great pleasure, and no dog barked at him as he went about. At last, after two years, he died of old age, and the people of Gubbio mourned his loss greatly; for when they saw him going about so gently amongst them all, he reminded them of the virtue and sanctity of St. Francis. 

For Pondering:
• Who or what is the “wolf” in our cities, government, churches, or society today?
• What is our collective or personal response to those we fear because of how they dress, what they believe, or attitudes they may hold?
• Francis was a reconciler of enemies – what in us personally or collectively  that needs the grace of reconciliation?
• What are the hungers that we experience personally or collectively?  How do we pray for mercy, insight, guidance, and openness to divine healing?

Francis . . .The little man with a ginormous mission!

 

Painting by Cimabue

On October 4th, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi will be observed. This man, small and fragile in stature, was able to move the political and religious worlds much like a “spiritual tsunami” which has lasted over 800 years. It was with these words heard in the little village church while praying before an ancient crucifix: "Go, Francis, and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruin” that Francis turned the world upside down. We have all received from his spirit again and again to teach us the values that have empowered so many over these hundreds of years to carry on his mission, his dream, his call.

Today we know that there have been so many ways in which the memory of Francis is ever before us.  Besides the women and men orders that live in religious community and commit to his way of life, there are also all those other images, books, etc., that keep the life of the Poverello before us.  For instance, how many of us have statues of Francis in our gardens?  Yes, and yet here are a few more items that have been created to remind us that he once lived and changed the world: books (both novels and biographies), films, classical music, poems, blessings, chapels, churches, songs, wineries and vineyards, pet blessings and even tags for identification.  Everything short of action figures or video games! And most of us can recite the St. Francis Peace Prayer; however, research has attributed the present form to Cardinal Francis Spellman from 1949.   

So let us ask Francis to intercede for us and our world as we experience our nation and our planet “falling into ruin” for so many reasons.  Let us pray together:

A Franciscan Prayer for Peace

Lord, make us instruments of your Peace.  In a world all too prone to violence and revenge, We commit ourselves to the Gospel Values of Mercy, Justice, Compassion, and Love; We will seek daily to promote forgiveness and healing in our hearts, our families, and our world.

Where there is hatred, let us sow Love; Where there is injury, let us cultivate Peace. Fear and distance prevent people from recognizing all as sisters and brothers; tensions lead to violence and mistrust; We will strive to honor the dignity that God places in each and every human person.

Grant that we may not seek to be understood as to understand; To be loved as to Love.  Our failure to understand the other can create exclusion in all its negative forms – racism, marginalization of those who are poor, sick, the immigrant; it can also create situations of domination, occupation, oppression and war.  We pledge to see the way of solidarity, to create hearts, homes, and communities where all people will experience inclusion, hospitality, and understanding.

For it is in giving that we receive, in pardoning that we are pardoned and in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Let us pray: God, create in us;
- The capacity to hear and understand the voices of those who suffer from every form of violence, injustice, and dehumanization;
- The openness to receive and honor people from other cultures, languages, religious traditions, and geographical regions;
- The creativity to explore new ways of community and dialogue through music, poetry, performing arts, and mass media;
- The audacity to undertake the building of communities of forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation.

To God who is above all and in all are the glory and the honor.  Amen.

"Dancing Francis" Viterbo University Campus
La Crosse, WI
 

 

Praying with hope . . .

 

 

 

Disturb us, God, when
 We are too well pleased with ourselves,
 When our dreams have come true
 Because we have dreamed too little,
 When we arrived safely
 Because we sailed too close to the shore.

 Disturb us, God, when
 With the abundance of things we possess
 We have lost our thirst
 For the waters of life;
 Having fallen in love with life,
 We have ceased to dream of eternity
 And in our efforts to build a new earth,
 We have allowed our vision
 Of the new Heaven to dim.

 Disturb us, God, to dare more boldly,
 To venture on wider seas
 Where storms will show your mastery;
 Where losing sight of land,
 We shall find the stars.

 We ask You to push back
 The horizons of our hopes;
 And to push into the future
 In strength, courage, hope, and love.

 attributed - Sir Francis Drake -1577
Original source unknown

Being Peace!

 

Source Unknown

Lord, make us instruments of your Peace.  In a world all too prone to violence and revenge, we commit ourselves to the Gospel values of mercy, justice, compassion, and love.

We will seek daily to promote forgiveness and healing  in our hearts, our families, and our world. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; Where there is injury, let us cultivate peace.

Fear and distance prevent people from recognizing all as brothers and sisters; tensions lead to violence and mistrust; We will strive to honor the dignity that God places in each and every human person.

Grant that we may not seek to be understood as to understand; To be loved as to love. Our failure to understand the other can create exclusion in all its negative forms – racism, marginalization of those who are poor, sick, the immigrant; it can also create situations of domination, occupation, oppression and war.

We pledge to seek the way of solidarity, to create hearts, homes, and communities where all people will experience inclusion, hospitality, and understanding.

For it is in giving that we receive, in pardoning that we are pardoned and in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Let us Pray:
Lord God, create in us:
-the Capacity to hear and understand the voices of those who suffer from
every form of violence, injustice, and dehumanization;

-the Openness to receive and honor people from other cultures, languages,
religious traditions, and geographical regions;

-the Creativity to explore new ways of communication and dialogue through
music, poetry, performing arts, and the mass media;

-the Audacity to undertake the building of communities of forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation.

To God who is above all and in all are the glory and the honor. Amen
(Source Unknown)

In Praise of Fall!

 

In the stillness of an autumn afternoon
we sit in quiet communion. Before us,
hills and valleys yawn, spreading wide
their yellow and green, ochre and gold
harvest of hay, beans and corn.
All summer long these fields drank
daily offerings of dew and sunlight.
We listen to the hush of hills, a hawk
above us riding thermal winds,
the drying corn nearby whispering
Praise! Praise! Praise!, the grass
beneath our squeaking swing
chanting, sotto voce, Thank you, God. 
Everything around us whispers shhh.
And when we do, we hear the holy
breath of God bringing forth the world.

Poem by: Sister Irene Zimmerman, SSSF

Prayer: To Face the Future

 

 - A Jewish New Year Prayer

We look to the future with hope - yet with trembling, 

knowing that uncertainties accompany the New Year.
Help us, O, God, to look forward with faith and to learn 

from whatever the future may bring.

If we must face disappointment, help us to learn patience.
If we must face sorrow, help us to learn sympathy.
If we must face pain, help us to learn strength.
If we must face danger, help us to learn courage.
If we must face failure, help us to learn endurance.
If we achieve success, help us to learn gratitude.
If we attain prosperity, help us to learn generosity.
If we win praise, help us to learn humility.
If we are blessed with joy, help us to learn sharing.
If we are blessed with health, help us to learn caring.

Author Unknown

September 24, 2023: Darlene Jasso Preaches for the 25th Sunday in Ordina...

Welcome Autumn!

 

Photo by: MAF

Fall Song
Another year gone, leaving everywhere
its rich spiced residues: vines, leaves,
the uneaten fruits crumbling damply
in the shadows, unmattering back
from the particular island
of this summer, this NOW, that now is nowhere
except underfoot, moldering
in that black subterranean castle
of unobservable mysteries – - -roots and sealed seeds
and the wanderings of water. This
I try to remember when time’s measure
painfully chafes, for instance when autumn
flares out at the last, boisterous and like us longing
to stay – - – how everything lives, shifting
from one bright vision to another, forever
in these momentary pastures.
-Mary Oliver

Beautiful Autumn Hymns🍂 Relaxing Harp Hymns for Fall

A Splash of Autumn . . .

O sacred season of Autumn, be my teacher, for I wish to learn the virtue of contentment.  As I gaze upon your full-colored beauty, I sense all about you an at-homeness with your amber riches.

You are the season of retirement, of full barns and harvested fields. The cycle of growth has ceased, and the busy work of giving life is now completed. I sense in you no regrets; you've lived a full life.

I live in a society that is ever-restless, always eager for more mountains to climb, seeking happiness through more and more possessions.  As a child of my culture, I am seldom truly at peace with what I have.

Teach me to take stock of what I have given and received; may I know that it’s enough, that my striving can cease in the abundance of God’s grace.

May I know the contentment that allows the totality of my energies to come to full flower. May I know that like you I am rich beyond measure.

As you, O Autumn, take pleasure in your great bounty, let me also take delight in the abundance of the simple things of life which are the true source of joy. With golden glow of peaceful contentment may I truly appreciate this autumn day.

 (Ed Hays, Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim)

September 17, 2023: Caitlin Morneau Preaches for the 24th Sunday in Ordi...

Autumn Stories . . .

 

There was a small boy who when walking down the street one day found a bright copper penny. He was so excited that he found money and it didn’t cost him anything. This experience led him to spend the rest of his days walking with his head down; eyes wide open, looking for treasure.

During his lifetime he found 296 pennies, 48 nickels, 19 dimes, 16 quarters, 2 half dollars and one crinkled dollar bill ~ for a total of $13.96.

He got money for nothing. Except that he missed the breathless beauty of 31,369 sunsets, the colorful splendor of 157 rainbows, the fiery beauty of hundreds of maples nipped by autumn’s frost. He never saw white clouds drifting across blue skies, shifting into various wondrous formations. Birds flying, sun shining, and the smiles of a thousand passing people are not a part of his memory. (Author unknown)

A little girl walked to and from school daily.
Though the weather that morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her daily trek to the elementary school.

As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with lightning.  The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school and she feared the electrical storm might harm her child.

Full of concern, the mother quickly got into her car and drove along the route to her child's school.   As she did, she saw her little girl walking along.  At each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up, and smile.

Another and another flash of lighting followed quickly and with each, the little girl would look at the streak of light and smile.  

When the mother's car drew up beside the child, she lowered the window and called to her, "What are you doing?"
The child answered,  
"I am trying to look pretty because God keeps taking my picture."

The Season of Letting Go!

Photo by: SDE

O God of Autumn loveliness, we thank you for the many colors of our lives. We thank you for the rich hues of red, the promising hope of greens, the depth of the golds, and the well-worn browns.

We praise you for all of the life you have given us, the life we celebrate at this harvest time each year. Like the leaves of the trees, we ourselves have been blown around, toasted in the sun, and whipped by rain and storms. Yet, we stand as a testament to life well lived.

Your trees, O God, remind us of our letting go, our need to trust transformation, so that new life can come. Yet, like them, we resist the tearing, wrenching, pulling, and tugging.  We cling earnestly to our color and our home!

Release us, God of the Autumn, and free us so that the wind of your Spirit can fling us to the places we most need to go.  Bury us deep in places where we will find warmth.  Help us to find ourselves grounded in you.

As we look around in this harvest time, we celebrate the bounty all around us and deep within us.  May we be forever grateful for the plentitude!  May we be forever generous with all that is ours.  May we be forever willing to give of ourselves!

And as we journey towards this winter time, help us to always carry the spirit of springtime deep within us as a sign of hope!  We believe, O God of Transformation, that all of life is your belief and hope in us!  Ready our hearts, steady our hearts that we can respond fully in faith and love!

(Author Unknown)

Photo by: SJH

Lectio Divina of Earth

How surely gravity’s law, strong as an ocean current, takes hold of even the strongest thing and pulls it toward the heart of the world.

Each thing – each stone, blossom, child – is held in place. Only we, in our arrogance, push out beyond what we belong to for some empty freedom.

If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence we could rise up rooted, like trees.

Instead we entangle ourselves in knots of our own making and struggle, lonely and confused.

So, like children, we begin again to learn from the things, because they are in God’s heart, they have never left God.

This is what the things can teach us; to fall, patiently to trust our heaviness.

Even a bird has to do that before she can fly.

                                                                                         --Rainer Maria Rilke

 

For Pondering:

• Where and when do you experience yourself rooted in the Earth?
• Where in your life do you sense that you are in need of grounding?
• How in your life do you honor the changes, movements, and subtle shifts of the seasons?
• What have you learned from your experiences in life that are in “God’s heart”?
• Have you ever had to learn from “falling” and trust in your own “heaviness” of life’s challenges and gifts?  

      Photos courtesy of S. Doris Klein, CSA

September 10, 2023: Carolyn Jacobs Preaches for the Twenty-Third Sunday ...

A Founders Day Reflection . . .from the past . . .

 Founders Day - Reflection presented  September 3, 2007 . . .

Fr. Francis Haas

It is said that at one time Rabbi Lot went to see Rabbi Joseph and said, “Rabbi, as much as I am able, I practice a small rule of life, all the little fasts, some prayer and meditation, and remain quiet, and as much as possible, I keep my thoughts clean. What else should I do? Then the old Rabbi Joseph stood up and stretched out his hands toward heaven, and his fingers became like the torches of flame. And he said, “Why not be turned into fire?” (From the Desert Fathers and Mothers).

Today, we have gathered on this special occasion to remember and to celebrate our founders who turned into fire! We gather, too, to recognize the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Capuchins in North America and the establishment of their first Capuchin Monastery at Mount Calvary. We express our deep gratitude for their wisdom, guidance, blessings and friendships that have been ours as a congregation, and for the many ways that we have partnered and given witness of the mission of Jesus working in, through and with all our members, associates and benefactors!

In January 2008, as a congregation, we prepare for our own celebration of 150 years as Women of Spirit, who through a variety of ministries, living community and continuing to live with passion and purpose, we claim that “we envision ourselves as joyful witnesses of the Risen Christ. Called by God in the power of the Spirit, we continue Jesus’ mission, revealing God’s love according to the purpose and spirit of our founders.” (CSA Constitutions #1)

And so let us reflect briefly on these founders, their genuine qualities as pioneer prophets and dreamers, and ponder what turned them into fire! Although these reflections are not comprehensive in anyway, I do thank Margaret Lormier for her recent publication of the history of the Sisters of St. Agnes entitled,“Ordinary Sisters,” and Campion Baer of the Capuchins for the history of the Province of St. Joseph in his publication, “Lady Poverty Revisited.”

Caspar Rehrl: A priest of Austria who was on fire with pastoral and missionary zeal to establish schools for the German immigrants here in the Wisconsin Territory; he was a man of prayer and was “inspired to find his own sisterhood to help in the missionary apostolate in the new world”; he was scholarly and was recognized as an outstanding preacher and teacher; he lived a life of physical hardship and endured the rigors of the Wisconsin wilderness on his many journeys to teach, hear confessions and celebrate eucharist with the German peoples from the Eastern shores of Lake Winnebago, to the western shore of Lake Michigan and from Milwaukee to Green Bay.

Fr. Caspar Rehrl

Often in the mild seasons, walking barefoot to save his shoes, he carried his sacred vessels in his knapsack and lived a life of poverty of spirit and fact. A man without fear, straightforward, cheerful, contented and gifted with holy stubbornness!

Margaret Lorimer’s writing in “Ordinary Sisters,” reflecting upon his death on September 3, 1881, expresses the following tribute to him — “He gave the Sisters of St. Agnes a spirit of daring, a sense of dedication, a willingness to undertake hard and unpopular jobs, and an indifference to worldly success. He inspired in the sisters a respect for church, the clergy, a commitment to education and a love of liturgical music that would mark their formation for the next centuries. The qualities of a rough-hewn, honest, hard-working pioneer were his, coupled with a willingness to give all without counting the cost.”

Mother Agnes: Born Marie Hazotte, the youngest of a French immigrant family. By the time she was five years old, she already experienced the anguish of death with the loss of three of her siblings. She is often spoken fondly of as a woman of “courageous initiatives.” She was well educated, especially in music, had a zest for life, enjoyed challenges, lived as a woman of integrity and also was gifted with a holy stubbornness; she was a faithful friend and in touch with her limitations of mind, body and spirit. She was totally dedicated to the sisters’ well-being and was willing to endure the stress of the tension between herself and Caspar Rehrl when she insisted that the sisters be prepared for ministry.

Agnes was a woman of “what if,” and “why not,” and “I will consider this with my council.” She was extremely aware and sensitive to the many needs of the German peoples of the Wisconsin territory and the struggling poor beyond the boundaries and borders of Barton and Fond du Lac. She was a visionary, a dreamer, a savvy business woman, a person of passion and purpose; a woman of deep faith in Divine Providence, a woman of humility and loyalty; she was a woman who refused to dwell on past hurts – for she had her share of “walking in the land of liminality” while she often challenged Rehrl when envisioning the future of the struggling little community; she took a quantum leap of faith in moving the congregation to Fond du Lac; she experienced the sorrowful mysteries involved with the sisters in Texarkana and endured the investigation into her character initiated by her own sisters and the bishop early in her administration; she was wise for her early years of forming the Society of Agnes Sisters into a congregation; and at the age of 22, she took her place in history as a founder of the Sisters of St. Agnes alongside Caspar Rehrl. She was truly a woman who became fire through her dedication to the congregation, its mission, the church and the people of God.

Francis Haas: Born Gregory Haas in Switzerland, the youngest of eight children. Educated at the University of Freiburg where he met up with John Frey, who one day would be named Bonaventure. Both men were secular priests who dreamed of establishing the Capuchin Order in the United States. They wrote of their plans to a fellow Swiss, Bishop Henni, of Milwaukee and thus began their journey of transformation to become Capuchins and establish the Order in Mount Calvary, WI; and the rest is history, as they say.

Upon being invited by Rehrl to conduct the July retreat in 1870, Francis, at the request of Casper Rehrl and the sisters revised the 1862 Latin rules and translated them. And so we Agnes Sisters are grateful to this day that this early Rule was revised for we may still be living with the following mandate: “They may have sheep so that the Agnesians may be able watch the lambs.”

Upon writing the revision of the Rule, and saving the community from being disbanded, Francis was appointed spiritual guardian of the sisters and thus became a co-founder with Caspar and Agnes. A week later the community moved to Fond du Lac. He was reverenced and known to be perceptive, an excellent confessor, kind and totally supportive to Mother Agnes and the sisters.

However, in Campion’s writings, he offers an additional perspective of this man who turned into fire. . . “When Francis began the religious community, his desire to introduce the order in all its purity and perfection had an influence on his conduct. He was harsh and at times even severe as a matter of principle and sense of duty. As a general definitor, Francis came in contact with other provinces and saw how they observed religious life. He came to realize that governing with strict authority and law was not always the most fruitful way of maintaining religious observance. . . . His wide contact with people made him milder. While Bonaventure was an architect of buildings, Francis had the quality of hewing and shaping human hearts and minds.”

In our Gospel today, Jesus, from the get-go, is on fire! For he has moved through his experience in the desert with fasting and praying; a time of solitude and introspection to reflect on what it means to be God’s Beloved! Now fortified by his profound experience, Jesus begins his ministry with enthusiasm. However, coming to his hometown synagogue, where he opens the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and reads his mission statement, he speaks about social justice and bringing good news to the poor, justice and liberation to prisoners and the oppressed, and says, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

At first his audience was mesmerized and his words were electrifying. The Messiah was here! Liberation was at hand! However, Jesus saw that they understood him very well, yet they could not accept his message. This rejection is a foreshadowing of the whole future ministry of Jesus as developed in Luke. Thus, the challenge for us today is not to reject Jesus, but how to accept him as Beloved, as Truth, as Fire; and he challenges us to live with compassion and non-violence; to be voice and heart, call and sign of the God whose reign is justice and love.

So what is the Good news for us today? Being “on fire” with the Spirit, with passion and purpose, as Tony Gittens remarks, may mean that sometimes one will actually go looking for trouble, or for troubled people as Jesus did. To be “on fire” is to pray to become aware of how to disturb the status quo, and respond to the cries of the needy and the structures of sin. To be “on fire” is to be convinced, much like Agnes, Caspar and Francis, that they can make a difference; that they can help change the world – or that they will be found guilty if they fail to do so. And finally, to be “on fire” is to live exciting and worthwhile lives.

So let us be open to the graces of these readings and the energy of the celebration of these founders who were turned into fire! For it is written: “In the thousands of moments that string together to make up our lives, there are some where time seems to change its shape and a certain light falls across our ordinary path. We stop searching for purpose, we become it!” (Dawna Markova) Then we, too, will be turned into fire!  (sjh)

Mother Agnes Hazotte

Prepare for Season of Creation 2023: Let Justice and Peace Flow