Who Is My Neighbor
Note: Guest Writer contributor Fr. Robert Barbato, OFM Cap. (newly appointed Rector of the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi located in San Francisco Ca.), is writing for Fr. John DeLaRiva, OFM Cap. (newly appointed National Spiritual Assistant to the OFS).
A scribe asked Jesus, after being told to love his neighbor, “And just who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, as we know, with the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus turned the question around, “Who was nei
ghbor to the man in trouble?” The answer, of course, was the Samaritan, who treated the man with true love and concern. Jesus said, “Go, and do likewise.” He challenged the scribe (and all of us) not to think of how other people are neighbors to us, but how we can become neighbors by the way we treat them, even our enemies.
When Francis of Assisi started calling himself “Brother Francis,” he wasn’t just picking a title. He was expressing the relationship he wanted to have with the world. In his youth, Francis would never have thought of lepers as “neighbors,” let alone brothers and sisters. He loathed them and avoided them. It was the Lord who led him among them, as he himself tells us, and turned what was bitter into sweetness of soul and body. In other words, Francis learned to see not “lepers,” but Christian brothers and sisters, not a repugnant disease, but a person created in the image of God.
Francis tried to live out what it meant to call himself “brother,” even when it was difficult. To consider those who ridiculed him, belittled him, and called him a fool as brother, was not easy. It took Francis much prayer and patience to learn how to be brother. This was true even when Francis found himself living with some of his friars who disagreed with him or who were simply difficult to live with. As he struggled to learn to be brother to other people, he also came to the insight that he was a brother to all creatures, since every being is made by the same Creator. This, of course, led Francis to compose the “Canticle of the Creatures,” praising God in, through, and for all God’s creatures, like Brother Sun and Sister Moon.
As followers of Francis, we emphasize the importance of fraternity, of being brothers and sisters to one another and to the world. It is true that God calls us into fraternity to support one another and find strength in our brothers and sisters. But frankly, God also calls us into fraternity to learn to put up with one another, to be patient with one another, to learn to thank God for that brother or sister who is the most annoying. Fraternity begins with our prayer for one another and our openness to the idea that each person is made in the image and likeness of God, no matter how hard that may be to imagine in real life! Like Francis, if we call ourselves “brother” or “sister” and try to live out what that title means, we will be led by the Spirit into deep solidarity with all creation and find true joy, for the Lord can turn what is bitter into sweetness of soul and body. Is it easy? No. Is it worth it? Definitely.
May the Lord bless and keep you always!
Franciscan Lenten Resources
By Carolyn Townes, OFS
National Animator, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation
It is that wondrous time of year again! Our Seraphic Father Francis said that for us. Lent is all year round. And for these six weeks, Holy Mother Church will share it with us!
As with most years, we enter into this holy season during a time of violence and unrest with more mass shootings. Let us lift up to the Lord all victims of violence and all those who mourn the loss of life and liberty due to violence. Let our prayers rise up like incense as they fall afresh on those of us who are prepared to mobilize and take action on gun violence and violence of any type.
Loving and gracious God, help us to reflect on what is ours to do, repent of what we have failed to do, and restore our broken relationships this Lenten season. We ask you to grant us listening hearts and wise discernment as we go forth to bring about peace and justice in this world you have bestowed upon us. In Jesus’ name, we humbly and joyfully pray. Amen.
During Lent, we are asked to devote ourselves to doing three things: to seek the Lord in prayer and Scripture reading, to serve by giving alms, and to exercise self-control through fasting. I humbly invite us to faithfully and mindfully observe all three, to the best of our ability.
In your journey to being conformed to Christ, please find attached some goodies to assist you during these six weeks. Again, I include my Lenten Season of Peace for you and your fraternity members to mindfully fast and feast. I also include Lenten calendars and resources from the USCCB (also available in Spanish), Creation Justice Ministries, and the DC Interfaith Power and Light, who have created a Creation Care calendar. I invite you to check out more Lenten resources from the USCCB and the ever-faithful Catholic Rice Bowl from Catholic Relief Services.
“… I was thirsty and you gave me drink…” (Matthew 25:35)
Article 15 of our Holy Rule states: “Let them individually and collectively be in the forefront in promoting justice by the testimony of their human lives and their courageous initiatives. Especially in the field of public life, they should make definite choices in harmony with their faith.”
Our Holy Father exhorts: “Almsgiving, whereby we escape from the insanity of hoarding everything for ourselves in the illusory belief that we can secure a future that does not belong to us. And thus to rediscover the joy of God’s plan for creation and for each of us, which is to love him, our brothers and sisters, and the entire world, and to find in this love our true happiness.”
One such courageous initiative where we can give alms is our annual Lenten H2O Project, an international project to promote Christian solidarity, advocacy and financial support for poor communities who have no access to clean drinking water.
For two weeks in Lent, I invite you to abstain from drinking any beverage except water, and set aside any money normally spent on sodas and coffees. In solidarity with our brothers and sisters who do not have clean water to drink, we increase our connections, awareness and responsibility to poor communities and God’s Creation. You can choose to give individually or collectively with your families, fraternities, or faith communities. Last year, your generous donations helped bring clean water to communities here in the US and abroad. On behalf of those communities, we thank you most kindly.
Please send all contributions to the H2O Lenten Project 2022, c/o Claudia Kauzlarich, 2007 Maverick Trail Harrisonville, MO 64701-1545. Make the check payable to OFS-USA; with H20 Project in the memo line. And thank you for your generous contributions.