041923

Shaping the Franciscan Footprint

Five Important Spiritual Thoughts from the Liturgy of the Word

…and follow up for the Secular Franciscan

April 13 – April 19

 1 – “You are witnesses of these things.” (Lk 24:48)

THE WITNESS WHO “SEES”

        The year was 1906. A person who could be described as a normal young man graduated from school after having been educated in Braunau, a little town in Austria. He had a Catholic upbringing, was a Mass server, and as a young man, he struggled to be what he should have been.

        About 17 years later, another young man graduated from school not far from Braunau, St. Radegund, Austria. He fooled around in life much more than the first youth. He also was Catholic, but showed little respect for anything. He was into drinking, motorcycling (he was first in his small town to own one), and was into sexual activity. In fact, he had a child out of wedlock after his graduation from school. He finally settled down because of his marriage to a good woman, had three small children, and began to live a “normal” good life. He farmed, worked in a factory, even did some military service, but was released from it temporarily to farm. He slowly began to think. He later was to call it beginning “to see.”

        In February 1943, the first youth had become the head of state in Germany, a man by the name of Adolf Hitler. In that same month, the second youth was called into the Hitler’s army. The second was a relatively unknown person who would have remained that way had it not been for someone who wrote a book about him. The name of the book was “In Solitary Witness” by Gordon Zahn; the name of the youth was Franz Jaegerstaetter, now considered a saint in the Catholic Church.

        In February 1943 Franz Jaegerstaetter knew that he had a problem because he believed that the war he was drafted into was wrong. Being a good Catholic by that time, he sought advice of priests, even the bishop, and was told to serve. He loved his wife and children. His wife knew what he was going through, and they did not want to separate, but no matter what anyone said, he knew what was right.

        One of the major arguments for him to join the army was that his refusal to serve would not make a difference. His neighbors thought he was crazy, that refusing to join would be an act of folly, and more than that, a sin against his family, his community, and even his Church. His death would go unnoticed. It would have no impact on the Nazi movement. It would not bring the end of the war. His action would soon be forgotten. Who would remember or care about an anti-Nazi gesture of an uneducated farmer? He would be just one more filed-away name among the many thousands who were tried and executed with indifference during the Nazi era.

        But he did what he had to do because he knew it was right. He went to the military induction center, told them he would not serve, was sent to prison, and executed on August 9, 1943. He was a witness to the truth.

        The word “witness” means literally “to know.” It implies that we know this Jesus, and are willing to make him known to others. Jaegerstaetter called it the “grace to see.”

        Whether he knew it or not, Franz Jaegerstaetter was a witness. He was given the grace to see Jesus and what he stood for. Franz Jaegerstaetter knew what he did was right. So do we. Our prayer is that we may have the grace to see, and when we see it, that we are willing to act.

2 — “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”  (Mk 14:15)

…Francis took this directive quite literally. Do my actions show that I am proclaiming the Gospel?

3 — “Amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he[/she] cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” (Jn 3:5)

…I have been; do I act like it?

4 – “The community of believers was of one heart and mind.” (Acts 4:32)

…In my fraternity, do I try to achieve this ideal?

5 – “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16)

…The miniature Gospel.  I should spend some time in Thanksgiving to God today.

041223

Shaping the Franciscan Footprint

Five Important Spiritual Thoughts from the Liturgy of the Word

…and follow up for the Secular Franciscan

April 6 – April 12

 1 – “If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.” (Jn 13:14)

…Service. Do I try to be a servant to others?

 2 — “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said.” (Mt 28:5-6)

…Do I live out the Resurrection of Jesus in my life?

3 – “Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.” (Mt 28:9)

…Jesus “meets us” as we run toward Him. How much have we allowed him to influence our lives?

4 – “He saw and believed.”  (Jn 20:8)

…My faith should be great. Could people see that I was a believer by my actions yesterday?

5 – “Mary went and announced to the disciples,
“I have seen the Lord”. (Jn 20:18)

INTERPRETING LIFE

“Why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

(Luke 12:56)

“Mary went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.”

(John 20:18)

        There was a convention of athletic coaches, athletic directors and some accomplished athletes at Estes Park, CO in the mid-70’s.  The presence of God is usually not a topic at such gatherings; most of the talk deals with strong schedules, great athletes and coaches and great sports stories.  The main speaker for the event was marked on the program “to be announced.”

        When it came time for him to speak, the lights were turned off and a movie projector began.  It was a film of 1963 super-athlete Brian Sternberg (University of Washington, died in 2013) as he was executing a pole vault that turned out to be the world record for pole vaulting at that time with a commentary by one of the network sports people.  As a result of that, Brian Sternberg was recognized at that moment, literally, as the world’s greatest pole vaulter.

        That’s all that was shown, took about a minute.  Then a spotlight came on stage centered on an empty chair.  Someone carried out an obviously handicapped human being and placed him on the chair in the spotlight and gave him a microphone.  The handicapped person began to speak in a raspy voice.  He said: Hi, I’m Brian Sternberg.  And he told his story.

        He called himself a selfish person.  He knew he was a great pole vaulter.  He did most of his practicing on the trampoline as was common with pole vaulting.  Not needing others, since he was a natural athlete, he didn’t have much use for others.  He worked out alone away from the rest of the young people in the gym.  Gradually, he became quite cocky with what he could do.  One day he was doing a double somersault twist on the trampoline and he came down off center, landing dangerously on the trampoline, hitting his head in an awkward way.

        He was paralyzed him immediately, confined to a wheelchair forever, and quite bitter about life.  With the help of a girlfriend, he only gradually came to understand some things.

        In his speech, then, he paused so that it became deathly quiet in the auditorium, and said:

“My friends, I pray to God that what has happened to me will never happen to one of you.  I pray that you’ll never know the humiliation, the shame of not being able to perform one human act.  I pray to God that you will never know the pain that I live with daily…

Then he paused again.  And finally continued

“…unless, my friends, that’s what it takes for you to put God in the center of your life.”

        Brian Sternberg went on to explain how he had neglected the important things in life.  And now he had come to see that God was the only important thing.