“How could I not look
sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates
have been eaten out by fire?” The king asked me, “What is it, then, that you
wish?” I prayed to the God of heaven and then answered the king: “If it please
the king, and if your servant is deserving of your favor, send me to Judah, to
the city of my ancestors’ graves, to rebuild it.” NEHEMIAH 2:3-5
And to another he
said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But
he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the
Kingdom of God.” LUKE 9:59-60
Piety
Father, only with Your help can we Rebuild Your
Church. Amen.
Study
In
the Good News from Luke, Jesus speaks of the severity and the unconditional
nature of Christian discipleship. Even family ties and filial obligations, such
as burying one’s parents, cannot distract one no matter how briefly from
proclaiming the kingdom of God.
Building
the Kingdom of God has its parallels in the physical rebuilding of the Jewish
community both in the Hebrew Bible (after the exile in Egypt and more) as well
as in the New Testament when the community was enduring the Roman
occupation.
St.
Francis of Assisi also was a great re-builder of the church both physically and
spiritually. For several years Francis searched the Scriptures, talked with
friends and spiritual advisors, and prayed long hours in churches, woods and
caves listening to God’s call and purpose for his life. Then one day in the
church of San Damiano, a chapel right outside of Assisi, he heard the
invitation of Jesus: “Francis, go rebuild my Church, which you see is falling
into ruins.”[i] Francis
did; he set out, gathered stones and rebuilt St Damian's, St Mary of the Angels
and other damaged shrines. It was only as his life developed that he understood
that what he was to rebuild - on the foundations of the Gospel - was the
Universal Church, not just a physical building.
Saint
Jerome, the priest, monk and Doctor of the Church renowned for his
extraordinary depth of learning and translations of the Bible into Latin in the
Vulgate, is celebrated by the Church with his memorial today. Ultimately, Jerome went to Bethlehem,
established a monastery, and lived the rest of his years in study, prayer, and
ascetcism.[ii]
Action
We
might think that such conditions were set aside for people who entered the
monastery or the convent, but Jesus does not give a pass to the lay
community.
Christians
have been doing establishing separate communities since the Acts of the
Apostles. Call it the Bruderhof, the Puritans, the Catholic Workers, the
Amish, or the Pilgrims, the radical call for discipleship may be a call to
these special break-away communities. However, Cursillo attempts to
establish such a community-within-community without breaking away from the
environment but precisely by evangelizing our environment through our example
of piety, study and action.
Many
say that Pope Francis is changing the teachings of the Church. This notion is
false. Pope Francis is not changing the teachings of the Church. He is, rather,
changing the way that we understand the Church by living out her teaching of
compassion. He is showing the evangelical and missionary nature of the Church
through his actions as Pope, just as he did before being elected to the Papacy
in March 2013.[iii]
Pope
Francis, through his simplicity and humility in his lifestyle is showing the
humility of the Church, as well as a glimpse of who his successor was, not a
king, but a poor fisherman from Galilee. He is also living out Christ’s (and
the Church’s) teaching of compassion for others by embracing social outcasts,
the sick, the young, the elderly and the poor.
Recently
at work, there was a speaker from a local charity who came in to talk to my
co-workers about his organization’s mission.
While we were talking privately before the meeting, we realized that we
were both members of the Cursillo community in our home towns. He asked me if I was still living my Fourth
Day. That is probably a good question to
ponder whether or not you are in a weekly group reunion.
Are
you – and how are you – still living your Fourth Day whether your weekend
experience was last month, last year or decades ago?
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