My Justice, About to be Revealed…

Reflection for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time by FAN Director of Advocacy, Sr. Maria Orlandini

This reflection was originally posted in our August 13th newsletter

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“Thus says the Lord:
Observe what is right, do what is just;
For my salvation is about to come,
My justice, about to be revealed.” Is 56:1

These verses at the beginning of the First Reading prompt us to ask ourselves: what justice is God talking about? It is easy to notice that all three of this week’s Readings are talking about Foreigners, Gentiles, a Canaanite; in other words, someone outside the Jewish world or religion and, in the case of the Canaanite, a woman! Is this the justice God is talking about, to do justice to the foreigners?

We could not find a more timely message while in prayer we ask God to guide our ministry as followers of Jesus. Today our world and country are engaged in a real confrontation with two issues of primary importance which, in many cases, are created by U.S. policies. They are, how to deal with IMMIGRATION from places of extreme poverty to more affluent parts of the world, and REFUGEES running away from violence and death to a place of safety and protection. In fact, we could easily substitute the word “foreigners” in the first reading with “immigrant, refugees, asylees”, and the message is quite clear for us today. God is not asking foreigners where they come from and why, or how they called their God. Instead, God’s asks are simple and straightforward: …join themselves to the Lord, love the name of the Lord, keep the Sabbath…etc. By doing so “their offerings will be acceptable on my altar for my house shall be called a house of prayer for ALL PEOPLES.” So, who are we to put limits on whom God looks with favor?

The Gospel, I believe, has a similar message but presented in a more dramatic way. I have to confess I never liked this Gospel. I found it quite rude and could not reconcile the Jesus I believe in with the one presented here…until it dawned on me that Jesus is teaching, by using exaggeration to convey a lesson. Jesus uses his behavior towards the Canaanite woman to emphasize a point and get the attention of his disciples. He must have sensed that the woman would not let go! “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” So, being a Canaanite woman does not exclude this mother from being “acceptable” in God’s house, for justice to be revealed to her.

I tried to imagine what the disciples were really saying with “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” Could it happen today? What about: send her/them away, they have come here to take away our jobs; she/they did not follow our policy and kept on coming; she/they are not like us, she/they do not speak our language. Send her/them out because they are here without our permission; she/they keep on coming back and pestering us, using our resources that should go to our children…and so on.

Jesus saw the disciples’ resistance and took the occasion to show them that what really matters is the heart, the motivation, and for the Canaanite mother both were in the right place.

Sr. Maria Orlandini, OSF
FAN Director of Advocacy

God Speaks in Thunderclaps and Whispers

Reflection for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time by FAN Associate Director, Sr. Marie Lucey, OSF

This reflection was originally posted in our August 7 newsletter

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During my early morning prayer outside during a July heat wave, I was grateful for every small whispering breeze that moved the leaves ever so slightly, listening to what God had to say to me in the day’s scriptures. Often at night, the heavens rumbled with thunder, lightning flashed, strong winds and rain wreaked havoc with flowers, as if the forces of nature are angry with a government that puts political interest above the welfare of people. Almost every day, there is a new slap at vulnerable people in need of health care, at immigrants whose only “crime” was entering our country without legal papers or carried here as children, at Mother Earth herself.

On a personal level, life brings its thunderclaps of pain and loss, and its whispers of comfort, consolation and hope. God speaks to us in both if we are able to listen, as the scriptures teach us. God spoke to Moses in thunder on the mountain, and to Elijah, in this week’s First Reading, not in heavy wind or earthquake, but in a “tiny whispering sound.” When apostles, caught in a storm at sea, are terrified by “a ghost” that is Jesus, Peter believes, walks on water toward Jesus, but loses focus and begins to sink, crying out “Lord, save me!” He is caught by Jesus and the wind dies down.

Like Peter, we are asked to “Take courage…do not be afraid,” but to trust in God even when storms rage around us or within us. We must learn to listen to God in both thunderclaps and whispers. Often it is difficult not to be afraid, to feel overwhelmed, to sink into discouragement and hopelessness, but this is when we most need to trust that Jesus will reach out to catch us, and maybe even enable us to “walk on water” with him.

Sr. Marie Lucey, OSF
FAN Associate Director

Transfiguration and Washing Feet

Reflection for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time by FAN President, Sr. Margaret Magee, OSF

This reflection was originally posted in our July 31st newsletter

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As I reflect on the Sunday readings, the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus, interestingly, it is the image of Christ washing the feet of the disciples that immediately comes to mind. The Christ, transfigured on Mt. Tabor, is the same Christ who knelt before each of his disciples as humble servant and washed their feet.

Too often, we desire to move, intellectually and spiritually, to the image of God and of Christ Jesus as divinely manifested in all glory, power, and majesty. Too often, we might get caught up with festive religious celebrations full of grand processions and majestic robes. Too often, like Peter we want to remain up on the mountaintop in the majestic glory of the presence of God. Like Peter we want to set up ‘tents’ or shrines to mark these places as sacred, places of our encounter with the Divine.

Yes, we are called to come to know and dwell with the transfigured Christ and to grow in union with God’s Divine Love. The gift of Christ’s transfiguration is the invitation to Peter, James, and John and to all who follow Christ to gaze into eternity. God desires our union. This feast is God’s invitation to glimpse beyond our human understanding and to imagine Eternal Divine Life.

St. Clare of Assisi, a woman who lived in the medieval world, expressed this invitation to feast on God’s divine presence as she wrote to St. Agnes of Prague, “Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! Place your heart in the figure of divine substance! And transform your whole being into the image of the Godhead Itself, through contemplation!” In another letter to Agnes she instructed her to, “gaze upon Him, consider Him, contemplate Him, as you desire to imitate Him.”

Both Clare and Agnes were drawn to the gospel life of poverty that they witnessed in Francis of Assisi and the early friars. This gospel life brought Francis and his brothers not to lofty mountain tops or quiet cloistered monasteries but into the forests and caves where the lepers dwelt abandoned and isolated and into the hovels where the poor and the destitute longed for food and comfort. Clare, Agnes and the women who were drawn to this gospel life of poverty also desired to serve the poorest of the poor and to see themselves as “minoras” or little ones, servants washing the feet of others, as Christ did.

As Christians and especially as Franciscans today, the gospel call has not changed. Our life, prayer and spirituality must be deeply rooted in the fourfold movement of gazing, considering, and contemplating which moves us into imitating and embodying the presence of Christ as humble servants for others. Our gospel call should lead us more deeply into Divine Love and then outside of our shrines and churches into the marketplaces and streets where those who are lost, abandoned, and poor still struggle from the loss of their human dignity and the basic needs for living.

Pope Francis wrote, “I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security. I do not want a Church concerned with being at the center and which then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures. If something should rightly disturb us and trouble our consciences, it is the fact that so many of our brothers and sisters are living without the strength, light and consolation born of friendship with Jesus Christ, without a community of faith to support them, without meaning and a goal in life. More than by fear of going astray, my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security, within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which make us feel safe, while at our door people are starving and Jesus does not tire of saying to us: “Give them something to eat” (Mk 6:37). (Evangelii Gaudium apostolic exhortation, 49. (November 2013)

May Christ’s divine transformative energy move us beyond our narrow views of ourselves, our church and our world, to be a transforming reality that heals, comforts and brings new life and relationships to birth in our world.

Sr. Margaret Magee, OSF
Board President
Franciscan Action Network

Building a Catholic Food System

A blog by FAN Board Member, Kelly Moltzen

Reposted from Christian Food Movement

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July 19, 2017

Mass is a celebration of the Eucharist – the body of Christ, the physical manifestation of the divine presence on Earth. Millions of Catholics go to mass every weekend and celebrate the Eucharist, and Christians of other denominations similarly celebrate the meal Jesus had with his disciples through weekly services. But what could it mean to take the celebration Eucharist even more literally, to live out the spirituality to which our faith calls us?

“Give us this day, our daily bread,” we pray. How can we let Christ live through us in a way that better helps to ensure the world’s hungry receive their daily bread? This question is one that necessitates… Read More

Heart or Treasure…or both?

Reflection for the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time by FAN Director of Advocacy, Sr. Maria Orlandini

This reflection was originally posted in our July 24th newsletter

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We are well into summer when many people are on vacation and others are just taking a break from the busy spring we had (and was it BUSY!!), maybe enjoying sitting on the front porch and doing nothing for once. As we hopefully enjoy a break, this week’s Scripture readings may help our reflection; God comes to help us as God always does. This Sunday we are faced with Scripture Readings that jolt me to attention. I believe they help us to look back at the past few months and get re-motivated for the months ahead. So what is the message that is speaking to me today?

In 1Kings, God speaks to Solomon in a dream and promises him anything he asks for. Solomon asks for “an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?” If I had the same dream, would I be so ready to ask for what helps me to minister to people? Or would I think of myself—what I wish, what I need? What do I need the most today from God? Maybe an UNDERSTANDING HEART is a good wish to have, considering the situation in which we find ourselves in our country and the world at this time in history.

In his Letter to the Romans, Paul reminds us that “all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Here is a call for me to look at my heart and consider if I keep in my heart the purpose of my call. Yes, I am a woman religious who has vowed to follow Jesus and the example of St. Francis. Sometimes, though, in the heat of the moment I am tempted to respond to immediate situations in a way that does not show clearly that I am on Jesus’ side, that I have an understanding heart.

Finally, the Gospel of Matthew speaks to us of treasure, of pearls. The Responsorial Psalm seems to prepare the ground, mentioning a few times gold and silver pieces. I used to think that it would be nice to find a treasure, or to win a lottery, as I could help so many people with the “millions” I would get. How narrow the understanding of treasure can be! But of course Jesus is talking about a very different treasure, not made of gold, silver or fine pearls but a treasure buried in the field of my heart. My call, my purpose, as a follower of the Gospel is my treasure. My heart is the field that I should assure is in the right place. What am I willing to “sell with joy” in order to make sure I keep that field of an understanding heart?

Today when our world and nation are so divided, when it seems that we can talk only to those who think and look like us, we all need God to appear in a dream in which we can ask for an understanding heart that will allow us to find the treasure in the person who thinks differently, who looks different from ourselves. Consider it a pearl of great price to be able to be civil with these people at work, play, worship, and talk politics at the same time. So yes, the world needs Solomon, but it also needs each one of us, convinced of the purpose for which we are called.

Sr. Maria Orlandini, OSF
FAN Director of Advocacy

The Spirit will Intercede

Reflection for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time by FAN Board Secretary, Sr. Maryann Mueller, CSSF

This reflection was originally posted in our July 17th Newsletter

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In this Sunday’s Gospel St. Matthew warns that the Kingdom of God on earth will not be realized without effort. The parable of the weeds among the wheat (Matt 13:24-31) teaches that there will always be negativity, violence and sin within both ourselves and others that will attempt to hinder the good in the world. However, even when evil appears to overwhelm us, either the evil of the world or the evil in each of us, Saint Paul assures us that the Spirit will come to our aid “for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit will intercede “with inexpressible groanings.” (Rom 8:26)

How else can a mother pray as she accompanies her 3 year old son across the border of Mexico after escaping gang related war in her country of birth and travelling for three months in conditions that will haunt her for the rest of her life? The Spirit within her cries out with inexpressible groanings of despair mixed with hope for the future.

The spirit groans with an inexpressible yearning for peace as Mariam, a loving caretaker for our elderly Franciscan Sisters, fasts six additional days for the intention of peace in our world after the official end of the month-long fast of Ramadan.

The spirit cries out with inexpressible groanings of hope for our dying home, Earth, each time a person makes the decision to act in protection of God’s creation.

It is when we know, feel and empathize with the pain in our world that we are most open to God and vulnerable to our own transformation. As the American poet Mary Oliver declares in her poem Praying: “It doesn’t have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot” that calls us to prayer and is “the doorway into …a silence in which another voice may speak.” It is a silence in which the voice of the Spirit may speak with inexpressible groanings.

Sr. Maryann Mueller, CSSF
FAN Board Secretary

How Deep are the Roots of Your Faith?

Reflection for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time by FAN Communications Coordinator, Janine Walsh

This reflection was originally posted in our July 9th newsletter

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I am in awe of God’s perfect confidence as expressed in our first reading this week. Isaiah tells us the Word of the Lord “… shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” God speaks to us through His word and we hear it and allow it to impact our lives. Week after week we go to Masses and services to be filled with this heavenly instruction so as to live out the life God has ordained us for. How blessed are we to be given this wondrous gift.

In the second reading, Paul tells us that our sufferings are nothing compared with “the glory to be revealed to us.” Paul’s faith is rooted deeply in his heart which gives him the confidence to preach to the Romans and remind them of what is to come.

In the Gospel, we hear the familiar parable of the sower. The longer form of the Gospel this week gives us the intended meaning of the story, making plain the various ways we might hear the Word. Or rather, the ways we might allow that word to nurture and feed us in our day-to-day lives. We must strive for the seed of our faith to root deep within ourselves, so when we are living with “the sufferings of this present time” we can lean on our faith to get through. Like Paul, our faith gives us the power to speak the truth to those in disbelief.

My pastor, Fr. Tom, speaks often about his wish for us. He and the parish staff of St. James in Stratford, CT work very hard to offer a plethora of opportunities to deepen our faith so our hearts will be more open to God’s love, which we are then instructed to share most generously with others. These words are said at the end of almost every Mass, during a special ritual of “the birthday blessings.” After each Mass, the congregation is asked if there are any birthdays being celebrated, that day, week or in a previous week. Those with special days come up to the front of the church, get introduced and have this special blessing prayed over them:

Dearest God, our Father, thank you for bringing your beloved sons and daughters into existence. Thank you for being with them and loving them every moment of their lives. In their new year of birth, help them to deepen their faith, so their heart will be more open to Your love, and may they share that love most generously with others. Amen.

Today, I pray this prayer for all of our readers, members, friends, and partners, not just on birthdays, but each day. I hold in my heart the hope that our collective faith will grow like a flame to engulf the unjust ideas and unfair thoughts that are constantly bombarding us in society.

Janine Walsh
FAN Communications Coordinator

Feather-weight and Millstone Burdens

Reflection for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time by FAN Associate Director, Sr. Marie Lucey, OSF

This reflection was originally posted in our July 3rd newsletter

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My neighbor who cares for her husband with Alzheimer’s undergoes knee surgery. A FAN partner loses his son unexpectedly. Immigrants without documents are afraid to shop, visit the food pantry, or go to church. Refugees are banned from Muslim countries. A young Muslim girl is beaten to death on her way home after a very early breakfast with friends during Ramadan. The list goes on of families heavily burdened. In this week’s Gospel, Jesus speaks to them: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Do I dare to hear Jesus speak these consoling words to me, whose burdens today are feather-weight compared with the burdens of those who are ill, or grieving, or living in fear? We can err by making too much of our daily burdens, but also by dismissing them. All of us followers of Jesus labor to carry out his mission. On some days the burden is heavy, on other days it seems inconsequential. But Jesus does not dismiss any burden, urging all of us “Come to me and I will give you rest. …For my yoke is easy and my burden light.” Here’s the key: Life places all kinds of burdens on our shoulders and on our hearts, not all the same weight on a given day, but the yoke of the gospel, the burden of love, is light, because God walks with us, sharing life’s burdens.

The psalmist reminds us that “the Lord lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.” Moreover, God’s love enables us to help each other when we stumble and fall, strengthens us to ease each other’s burdens.

Sr. Marie Lucey, OSF
FAN Associate Director

Do I really believe in Jesus?

Reflection for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time by FAN executive director, Patrick Carolan

This reflection was originally posted in our June 26th newsletter

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This is a question I often ask myself. I am an early riser so I sit on my deck with a cup of coffee and my dog Howard, watching the sun come up and listening to the birds singing their morning praises. While sitting there I regularly reflect on two things; do I really believe and if so, what does that actually mean? If I believe, does it mean that I just have to go to Mass on Sunday, fold my hands the right way, participate in the sacraments, and obey the commandments? Is that the message from Jesus’ life and sacrifice? I am good at that, I’ve been doing it all my life. As I am sitting on my deck meditating, however, I feel like there is more.

In her book, Holy Thursday Revolution, Beatrice Bruteau says Jesus’ teachings and actions mean “we are to deepen our purity beyond ritual observances and not let any purity practice divide us or set us at odds with our fellows.” If we are so concerned with our rituals and our purity codes that we are not hearing the cry of the poor and oppressed and not acting on those cries, what does that make us? Sr. Ilia Delio so beautifully describes it in her book Making All Things New: “Eucharist means being an active participant in the Cosmic body of Christ, a body evolving unto fullness, the Cosmic person, through the rise of consciousness and unity in Love. The Gospel life is not a social agency of good works but a life of mindful presence or oneness with God as such sacraments do not make one a Christian.”

So what does it mean to really believe in Jesus? In Sunday’s second reading from Romans 6 we are told “If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” We keep waiting for Jesus to come back again. Scholars and theologians have even tried to predict when Jesus will return. Yet this passage, like others in the Gospels, tells us that Jesus never left us. He is always with us. The apostle Thomas did not believe until he actually touched the wounds. Do we need to touch the wounds to really believe?

If we walk down the street and see a homeless person, do we cross over to avoid them, do we quicken our pace, do we look down so as not to make eye contact? Or do we see Christ and reach out to touch his wounds? Do we see Christ in the poor, the imprisoned, and the oppressed? In her book Beyond Apathy, Dr. Elisabeth Vasko states “To be a Christian is to take sides with those who are marginalized, dehumanized and subject to violence. Whether we like it or not neutrality isn’t an option. In the face of violent activity, to hide behind the mirror of ignorance is to take sides with the powers that be.”

The Gospel reading says “whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” We tend to spend more time worshiping at the foot of the cross than taking up the cross and following Christ. Worshiping Jesus is so much easier than taking up the cross. Do we really believe in Jesus?

Patrick Carolan
FAN Executive Director

One Dad’s Thoughts on ‘Trumpcare’

By Joseph McGrath

The views of this author do not necessarily represent those of the Franciscan Action Network

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I’m the father of two beautiful daughters and husband to a heroic woman. Our oldest daughter, Maura, is 18 and has severe intellectual disabilities, autism and other behavioral issues and depends on Medicaid and others for all of her needs. Our second daughter, Michelle, is 17. She is gifted both academically and athletically, and has been blessed with a caring and compassionate heart.

The beer party celebration in the rose garden at the White House was sickening and hypocritical. They weren’t celebrating a cure for cancer, but instead they were celebrating the repeal of the ACA that includes $880 billion in Medicaid cuts. According to Senator [Bernie] Sanders, they will give estimated tax breaks of $52 billion dollars to the richest family and $4 billion dollars for a politician’s family as a result of the estate tax break. To make matters even worse, only the top 0.2% of the top 1% of richest families receive this tax break. I am not against tax cuts, but this specific cut would mean the other 99.99998% of families are worse off because of it. Shouldn’t we know how much all politicians benefit from the Medicaid cuts as well as the pharmaceutical and insurance companies? Shouldn’t politicians protect the poor and vulnerable and not give tax cuts to the rich and comfortable? Do they vote for the American people or for their personal pockets?

Thirteen male senators met in private to discuss and write a new healthcare bill. They met in private after complaining publicly about Obama’s healthcare bill seven years ago. After criticizing Obama for so long, you would think that they already came up with their replacement for Obamacare. It is hypocritical and shameful that our government, “by the people, for the people,” is writing this bill in secret.

“Trumpcare” will cut Medicaid by $880 billion dollars over the next ten years. This will happen by changing Medicaid from an entitlement, in which the federal government automatically provides states with funding based on the needs of their population, to either a block grant or a per capita allocation. This will only become worse as time goes on because many baby boomers will need Medicaid as they age. Currently, Medicaid pays for 60% of people in nursing homes. The proposed plan will also cut Medicaid-funded home and community-based services, so that seniors and people with disabilities can live in their own homes, control their own lives, and be fully included in society. This is a crucial reason why advocacy groups for the Elderly, Disabled and Poor all oppose this bill. Also opposed to this bill are hospitals, health insurers, doctors and religious leaders, including the Catholic bishops who expressed concern over what they dubbed “serious flaws.” Charities have already noted that these cuts will be disastrous. Shouldn’t all religious leaders (Shepherds) speak out against Medicaid cuts to protect their flock?

As a father of a child who cannot defend herself or even tell me if someone has hurt her, Paul Ryan and politicians with his policies terrify me. They’re commitment, or lack thereof, to the elderly, poor and disabled resemble the principles of Ayn Rand more than Pope Francis. We must speak out. Gandhi once said, “Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.” The truth is cuts to Medicaid are occurring in order to provide tax cuts for the rich. These cuts will lead to more deaths and more poverty. Also, more elderly and disabled will be forced to live in institutions as a result. I always recommend people to google Christmas in Purgatory to see how the disabled were treated in institutions. Cuts to Medicaid will cause reduced care and will cause higher incidents of neglect and abuse and ultimately death. Paul Ryan after the Manchester bombing said “To deliberately target innocent children is cowardice in its most heinous form.” I agree, but taking health care from the sick also targets the innocent. Cutting Medicaid is clear political cowardice. I make this statement as a proud Casey democrat.

I believe Healthcare is a universal human right. Cuts to Medicaid are pro-greed, pro-malice, and pro-death.

Many politicians abuse the term “pro-life” in order to garner votes. Cuts to Medicaid are hypocrisy. When politicians make cuts to these safety net programs, this leads to abortions. Unfortunately, pro-life has become has become a single issue to make abortion illegal for many. Can you support life when you support politicians whose policies hurt both the born and unborn and may result in abortion?

Are people so naive to believe if Roe vs Wade is overturned that it will end abortions? Countries in Europe who outlaw abortions have women cross the border to another country to have an abortion. Wouldn’t women just go to another state? We will always have people who choose abortion. That’s why I believe in love, care and support, especially for pregnant women and the vulnerable.

When my wife, Rita was pregnant with Maura, we found out that our child was going to be born with Down syndrome. My wife was questioned multiple times if she was going to terminate the pregnancy. The resounding answer was always no in accordance to both her commitment to life and to her Catholic faith.

Maura, who at birth had only a slightly beating heart as her only sign of life and spent the first month of her life in a NICU [Neonatal Intensive Care Unit], had open heart surgery at 4 months old. When our girls were 17 and 3 months old, we received terrible news. My wife had breast cancer. After months of radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery, she beat cancer. I tell you these stories because some times there are situations beyond our control. I know the fear of almost losing my wife and my daughter. The fear of Medicaid cuts are as just terrifying and I am advocating against these cuts to protect the vulnerable.

Donald Trump tweeted, “I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Huckabee copied me.” The recent beer party celebrated Trump’s lie. As a result of this vicious lie, obituaries will soon read, ‘Cause of death: Trumpcare.’

Hubert Humphrey said, “The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” Trumpcare fails every single one of these moral tests. Aren’t we all better than this as Americans? Shouldn’t we be judged on our actions and try to promote life with love, care and support?

These are my experiences as a Dad and Husband that must be shared. If anything offends God, I ask forgiveness and Mercy from God.