Pilgrim Church Perseverance

Dear Friend,

This Sunday’s Gospel brings us images of a collapsing temple, divided families, and religious centers and governments in turmoil, with followers of Jesus under heavy persecution. Tucked within this chaos, there’s an opportunity, says Jesus: “It will lead to your giving testimony.” And what is our testimony today as followers of Jesus Christ, as we try to carry forward the Franciscan tradition in an atmosphere of political and social tensions? 

In his book entitled “Surrounded by Love” Franciscan Murray Bodo spells out seven teachings of St. Francis based on key texts from the saint’s own writings and from Francis’s early biographers. In a beautiful chapter entitled “Go and Repair God’s House” he provides a quote from the Rule of Life, which Francis gave his brothers in part to spell out for them how to go about in a world ravaged by war and civic upheaval: “I advise, admonish, and exhort you in the Lord Jesus Christ that when you travel through the world you do not quarrel or argue or judge others; rather, be meek, peaceful and modest, courteous and humble, speaking honorably to everyone.”  

In this week of so much upheaval in our social and political atmosphere, where “slash and burn” verbal interactions are the order of the day, Francis’s words are a challenge. Courtesy and meekness just don’t have the power of immediacy and the excitement favored by those who dominate public platforms. Yet in the second reading even our feisty St. Paul admonishes those who aren’t minding their own business but get caught up in “minding the business of others.” By your perseverance you will secure your lives, says Jesus. This is a perseverance that involves “working quietly” outside the camera’s eye as a pilgrim church trudging below the radar.

Gratefully,

Fr. Dan ofm Pastor