Category: Franciscan Footprint

 

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Five Important Spiritual Thoughts from the Liturgy of the
Word

…and follow up for the Secular Franciscan

January 5 – January 11

 

1 — “There is no duplicity in him.” (Jn 1:47)

NO
DUPLICITY

 

“Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.”

(John 1:47)

 

“May it be done to me according to your word.”

(Luke 1:38)

 

Duplicity is an interesting English word. Our dictionary defines it to be “deceitfulness or double dealing.” It comes ultimately from the Latin duplicitas meaning two-fold. Jesus calls Nathanael
to be a person with no duplicity.

In Jesus’ mind, he was a person of openness and sincerity. Mary in her “Yes” to God shows no duplicity, but only sincerity.

Much like a person described this way. A person with no duplicity would be a person who wants to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. He would snuff out all fires of hatred and the lie.

He wants to launch an all-out love attack which may indeed be out of style but he wants to put it back in vogue. He tells the world: “Don’t delay, act now, supplies are running out.

There might be a tomorrow, but if the offer is shunned, you might as well be walking on the sun. It is not a joke: when a mother’s handkerchief is soaked with tears because her child has died because
of his/her own free will.

Don’t sit back, kick back and watch the world get bushwhacked. Watch the news at 10:00, your neighborhood is under attack. You need to be around when your own child is old enough to relate to you.”
(see “Walkin on the Sun,” Smash Mouth)

 

Or in the words of John F. Kennedy:

Of those to whom much is given, much is required.

And when at some future date, the high court of history sits in judgment of
each of us—

recording whether in our brief span of service,

we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state—

our success or failure, in whatever office we may hold,

will be measured by
the answers to four questions—

were we truly men of courage…

were we truly men of judgment…

were we truly men of integrity…

were we truly men of dedication?

And directed to the Christian, were we
truly people of sincerity as Jesus looked at our lives?

 

 

2 — “Do whatever he tells you.” (Jn 2:5)

…Do I always listen and follow the words of the Lord?

 

 

3 – “Then they opened their treasures and offered
him gifts.” (Mt 2:11)

…Have I given myself completely to the Lord?

 

 

4 – “A new teaching with authority.” (Mk 1:27)

…Have I allowed the Vision of Jesus teaching to permeate my whole life?

 

 

5 – “Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.” (Mk 1:35)

…What percentage of my day (week) is spent in prayer?

 

 

 

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Five Important Spiritual Thoughts from the Liturgy of the Word

…and follow up for the Secular Franciscan

December 29 – January 4

1
— “Lord, now let your servant go in peace.” (Lk 2:29)

…As I study my own death, am I truly ready to meet the Lord?

 

2
– “I write to you not because you do not know the truth,

but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth.”
(1 Jn 2:21)

THE LIE AND THE TRUTH

“You belong to your father the devil and you
willingly carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning
and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a
lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies.”

(John 8:44)

 

It is a challenge to try to get into
the mind of the human Jesus as he spoke to the religious leaders of his time.
These were the people who accepted the office to be the people who would direct
their fellow Israelites toward a better understanding of the law of Moses. And in Jesus’s mind, they were not doing a
very good job.

It is a challenge because Jesus spoke
often of “love” to be the fundamental guide to behavior as he established his
kingdom here on earth. And yet he was almost “mean” to the religious leaders.
He spoke harsh words, calling them “devils” and telling them directly that there was no “truth” in them, that their “character” was that of a liar.

Of course, the explanation of this is part of the understanding of “tough love” as the modern world has called
it. “Tough love” are words that sound
like words of hatred, but really are nothing more than the truth. And sometimes that truth must be spoken in a harsh way.

It is extremely difficult for adults to be the recipients of “tough love” from another.
Generally, we simply will not want to hear it, and therefore we will ignore it.

A classic case for modern man or woman is the horrible addiction of alcoholism or dependence on illegal drugs. Unfortunately, there are many who find their
death early on because of the addiction.
But sometimes there is a conversion.

The man was a very talented pilot for a
large airline in our world. But he had given into the addiction that alcohol can have on a human being. He even performed his task as captain of a
plane in the state of intoxication. It was in such a situation that he was finally discovered. The plane had crashed with a hundred people
on board, but not because of him. In fact, he was such a talented pilot that he saved the majority of the people, losing only a handful.

But as the official agency investigated the accident, they found that he was actually intoxicated. He tried to lie his way out of it, but in the
end he finally saw what his lies were doing to him. His speech in prison concerning his
alcoholism is a classic statement that should be studied by all of us as we
look at our understanding of the truth and how we share it.

“It was as if I had reached my life-long limit of lies,” he told his inmates, “I could not tell one more lie. At least, [now] I’m sober. I thank God for
that, I’m grateful for that. For the first time in my life, I’m free.” (Movie, “Flight”)

True conversion is never easy. It never was; it never will be.

 

 

3
– [Jesus] came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. (Jn 1:11)

…Have I completely accepted what Jesus has said?

 

 

4
– “There is one among you whom you do not recognize.” (Jn 1:26)

…Do I recognize that the Lord is present in my every situation?

 

 

5
— He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” (Jn 1:39)

…Am I showing by my life that I have come and actually seen the Lord?

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Five Important Spiritual Thoughts from the Liturgy of the Word

…and follow up for the Secular Franciscan

December15 – December 21

 

 

1
— “My love shall never leave you.” (Is 54:10)

…A very consoling thought, but is my life showing the proper thanksgiving?

 

 

2
– “Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man…” (Mt 1:19)

…What is the meaning of “righteous” as I see it, and am I coming close to being “righteous”?

 

 

3 – “But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place because you did not believe my words.” (Lk 1:20)

…Zechariah’s faith was lacking. Am I showing my faith to others as I should?

FAITH

 

“Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.”

(Matthew 8:10)

 

 

“But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

(Luke 18:8)

 

When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him [the centurion]
and, turning, said to the crowd following him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”

(Luke 7:9)

 

“Woman, great is your faith.”

(Matthew 15:28)

 

She had reason to dislike, hate almost, the people who had settled in her area.
Never really agreeing with the religion they taught, she had more than enough to do to
keep her family healthy without calling on any god. Her husband had passed away early, and her
daughter had something wrong with her.

 

She didn’t really know what it was, but she almost thought that the devil himself had possessed her at times.
She had tried the so-called professional people who try to heal such things, but were not able to find any help for her.

 

Then she heard about this man who had the power to heal. He was of that faith of many of the people around her,

although she didn’t really believe it. After she heard of him and found that he was near where she lived, she had followed him around, and watched what he was
capable of doing.

So, with a feeling that it couldn’t hurt anything, she brought her daughter to him, but he and his school of
followers refused to listen to her. She
was discouraged, but finally had a chance to speak to him directly. Her conversation with him was at first
hostile. He had called her a name, but she answered back with her usual straightforward way of speaking, demanding almost
that he listen to her.

He finally did, and he healed her daughter. She immediately saw what kind
of man he was, and what kind of faith he was asking of others. She accepted what he said, becoming one of
the many people who were accepting what he said. He even complimented her on her faith in him.

 

 

Another thought about faith:

A number of years ago, in a small Kentucky town, among the buildings of the town,
there were two churches and a whiskey distillery. Both churches felt that the
whiskey distillery was a bad image for the town. Besides that, the owner was an
atheist. They tried to get it closed down, but they were never successful. So,
they decided to have a joint prayer meeting, asking God to intervene, and help
them get rid of the whiskey distillery. They did it a number of times.

 

Sure enough, one Saturday night, there was a terrible electrical storm; lightning
struck the distillery, burned it to the ground. The next morning, Sunday, both
churches were rejoicing, speaking of the power of prayer. Meanwhile, the owner
of the distillery, quite distraught, of course, was told by the fire insurance
people that it was an “act of God” and there was no coverage. So, the owner who
did not believe in God sued the churches, claiming that they had conspired with
God to destroy his building.

 

Quite interesting: the atheist becomes a believer because it is for his benefit. The
church leaders denied categorically that they had done anything to cause the
fire. That also is interesting: believers in God, denying the power of prayer
even after they had prayed for something to happen. The judge dismissed the
case, I’m sure with a little laugh. I believe that the church members deserved
to be sued for using God for their own convenience. I believe many of our
prayers of petition do that—we try to use God for our own convenience.

 

 

4
– “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! (Zep 3:14)

…Am I as joyful as I should be?

 

 

5
– “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” (Lk 1:45)

…again, how is my trust in the Lord?

 

 

(a pdf copy is attached for printing)

 

Five Important Spiritual Thoughts from the Liturgy of the
Word …and follow up for the Secular Franciscan

December 8 – December 14

 

 

1 – “May it be done to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38)**
…Is my “Yes” to God the same as Mary and Francis’s?

2 — “To what shall I compare this generation?” (Mt 11:16)**
…How do I describe the world right now? How do I describe myself right now?


3 – “Blessed is he who shall have seen you, and who falls asleep in your friendship.” (Sir 48:11)
…Looking at it from the context of the New Testament, it is speaking to Jesus, and
for the Franciscan, to Francis.


4 – “Be patient, brothers and sisters.” (Jas 5:7)
Extended meditation:

PATIENCE

“By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” Luke 21:19

Jesus speaks of the end of the world, a frightening thing for most people. During
his discourse, he predicts that there will be persecution, close relatives will betray the
faithful, and there will obviously be death. But he also says that even though you lose
your life, not a hair on your head will be destroyed, and you will secure your lives.
Perhaps, the phrase that bears some thought are the words of Jesus that it is by
perseverance that his followers will secure their lives. Perseverance can be defined by
the English translation that some translations have of this passage—patient
endurance. Those are two key elements that a person interested in the spiritual life must
develop.
First, patience. The immediate results may not look promising as signified by the
fact that there will be persecution. But if we trust the Lord’s words, ultimately, there will
be victory. Our problem as human beings is with the word ultimately. We do not tend to
be patient people; we are used to having things instantly and this carries over to spiritual
realities as well

 

We don’t want to have to wait for—say—a deeper spiritual life. The fact is as many
spiritual authors suggest: it takes a while for God to really get through to us. I saw a T–
shirt a couple years ago worn by a teenager at a CYO convention: large letters that covered
the whole shirt: PBPWM – GINF – WMY. I had to ask him what it meant as I guess a
number of people did: it meant “Please be patient with me; God is not finished with
me yet.” It takes patience for the reign of God to develop well.
And secondly, endurance, that is consistency. That we will work at our spiritual
lives every day implies effort, and, and a constant involvement on our parts. Once again,
something that we don’t want to do.
There is a tremendous example of that given in the film “Unbroken.” It is the true
story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete who enlisted in the US Air Corps and became
a bombardier on a B–24 Liberator bomber during the Second World War. His life took him
through a couple of airplane crash landings, almost fifty days in the Pacific Ocean in a
safety raft, and finally an unbelievably brutal couple of years in Japanese concentration
camps. Throughout it all, the one guide for him was that he was determined to persevere
and never give up. He learned his determination and perseverance from early on, mostly
from his own personality of just not giving up and then help from his brother in
particular. That learning enabled him to endure what most people would never be able to
do.
Perseverance is a must as one defines the spiritual life. A spiritual person will be patient,
and will endure what it takes to become truly spiritual in his/her approach to life.


5 – “Which of the two did his father’s will?” (Mt 21:31)
…What is the Father’s “will” for me, and am I following it completely?