Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

You may have seen the “warm and fuzzy” ads about people using high-tech hearing aids for the first time and regaining their ability to hear loved ones.

I read a story about a ninety-year-old grandfather who was almost deaf. He decided to buy high-tech hearing aids; they worked perfectly. At his follow-up exam, the audiologist said, “I bet your family was delighted you can hear so well again.” The man replied, “I haven’t told my family yet. I’ve just been sitting and listening to what they’re saying about me. So far, I’ve changed my will three times.” Moral of the story: be careful what you say.

The word of God from the book of Habakkuk describes ancient Israel in the sixth century before Jesus (the 500s). Ancient Babylonia conquered Jerusalem. Destruction, violence, and death are everywhere. It sounds almost like Syria today. The prophet here cries out to God, “How long will you tolerate all these evils?” And then God lets the prophet see more clearly a vision of the future. 

God will keep his promises; good ultimately will triumph over evil, life over death. In the meantime, the prophet urges the Hebrews to stay the course, to do what is right, to trust in an all-good Creator God even when they doubt God’s presence. A lesson for all of us!

Paul in his letter challenges Timothy to persevere in his life of discipleship with Jesus. Why? Because God is always with us, even though at times God appears hidden. And the Spirit of God empowers us with the courage to overcome all kinds of hardships. Yes, Paul here also urges you and me to be faithful disciples of Jesus like Timothy.

In the Gospel according to Luke, the disciples beg Jesus to bestow upon them the gift of faith so that they too can work signs and wonders for God. Jesus simply says, You already have faith. Now practice that faith. Yes, we too can work wonders for God by becoming the generous hands, compassionate eyes, hopeful voices, and dedicated feet of Jesus to the people who touch our lives every day.

In light of the Gospel, we might pray like the disciples, “Lord, increase my faith, so that I can be your channel of grace to others. 
Today I would like to speak about an extraordinary person of faith whose feast day we celebrated Friday, October 4: Francis of Assisi.

Francis has been portrayed as a lover of animals, an environmentalist, a flower-child (ala the movie Brother Sun Sister Moon), a peacemaker, a mystic, a reformer and a poet. But who really was he?

Francis -- baptized as Giovanni, but nicknamed Francesco -- came from a comfortable middle-class family in central Italy. Twice Francis went off to fight in the wars of the region; and twice he failed miserably.

Then one night he had a dream which compelled him to go back to Assisi. And there he began to wrestle with the fundamental questions: What am I living for? And what’s my ultimate purpose? Francis yearned for a purpose greater than himself. Gradually, in silence and in prayer, Francis began his search for God.

Eventually Francis gave up all “his things,” so to speak. He experienced his “creature-hood,” his absolute dependency upon God, and in that experience, he found everything: an all good Creator God who became flesh in Jesus and is gloriously alive in our midst by the power of the Spirit.

Francis initially pursued the Gospel way of life in a literal way, living simply, rebuilding a chapel, tending the sick. Eventually he became like a living Gospel. Men and women began to gather around him, to live what became known as the Franciscan way of life with God.

Eight hundred years later, does Francis have anything to say to us? Of course! In addition to his writings like his Canticle of the Sun, and his letters, we can see his message in three particular incidents from his life.

One took place at La Verna, near Florence, Italy, in 1224. Francis was praying and suddenly he experienced the marks of the crucified Jesus in his hands, feet and side. This incident captures for me the depth of Francis’s relationship with God; his was such an intense prayer life that God gifted him with the stigmata. Francis challenges us always to be in relationship with God, especially through the sacraments.

Another, earlier incident took place in 1206 as he prayed before the crucifix in the tumbledown chapel of San Damiano, outside the city walls of Assisi. Francis heard Jesus whisper from the crucifix: “Francis, rebuild my house which you see is falling into ruins.” Francis at San Damiano challenges us to build up our own households, our parish community and beyond. How? With a lively imagination we can discover countless family activities to stay connected and volunteer opportunities to serve.

A third incident was Francis’s encounter with a leper. As Francis rode on horseback one day, a man with leprosy appeared. Francis started to ride away. But no! Francis slowly dismounted and embraced the leper. He saw in the repulsiveness and brokenness of the leper the face of God. 

We too may want to get away as Francis was tempted, to avoid distressing situations. Francis’s embrace of the leper challenges us to be healers, comforters, counselors especially to those who are “down and out,” so to speak. All we have to do is just do it.

This planet of ours, in many ways, hasn’t changed much since the days of Francis in the 13th century. It’s still as dysfunctional as ever.

La Verna, San Damiano, and the leper are incidents which show that Francis was able to transcend the trivia of human life and focus upon essential questions: our relationship with God; our relationships with one another; and our positive, pro-active response to the “brokenness” in our fellow human beings.

So I believe Pope Francis chose his name well. May these events and more in the life of Saint Francis inspire us to intensify our own prayer life, to build up our own families and to reach out with helping hands to the people all around us.

And may this prayer be “carved” deeply into the core of our own being:

“Jesus Christ has no body now but ours. No hands, no feet on earth but ours. Ours are the eyes through which Jesus Christ, gloriously alive, looks compassionately on this world. Ours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Ours are the hands through which Jesus Christ helps others.”