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St A nthony
IRISH FRANCISCAN MISSION MAGAZINE
Brief
No. 1 DEC/JAN 2021 €2.00
Blessed Is
She Who
Believed!
Friars Among
the Jihadists
✣
Choosing
Our Path With
Integrity
God in the Time
of Coronavirus
There is the way we were before
The Plague; there is after the Plague
There is where we are now somewhere
In between before and after
A Purgatory of pain and fear
And the uncertainty of life
Questioning as we have known
Our lives our world our universe
Wondering will God still be there
Where we believed God was although
Spirit and Life
We never saw God but only
Believed those who told us they had
Wondering how God is here now
That all God’s houses are closed up
All ceremony suspended
With only our hope, faith and others’
Love to sustain and protect us
We see God as we always did
In love, the face of who God is
And the sense from time to time of
A face closer than those we see
– Murray Bodo, OFM
St Anthony Brief
S t A nthony Brief
2 Spirit and Life.
4 Editorial.
5 Blessed Is She Who Believed! Raniero Cantalamessa OFM Cap offers
Our Lady as our guide on the Advent path to Christmas.
8 Bearers of Joyful Hope to the Hopeless. Walter Gallahue OFM reflects
on the loss of hope that many can experience and the desperate need
for those who witness to hope and joy.
10 Friars Among the Jihadists. Firas Lutfi OFM tells of two friars who still
live and serve among the people in an Islamic caliphate in Syria.
11 ‘The Bible is All That I Have.’ Seyed Mohammad Mahdi, a Christian
convert from Iran, tells what his journey has cost him and the joy it has
brought him.
12 Church Brief.
14 A Splendid Secret: We Are a Single Human Family. Pope Francis ponders
the truth that all of us, everyone on this beautiful planet, are brothers and
sisters. And once again he takes St Francis as his inspiration.
16 Seeing Goodness: Developing a Benevolent Gaze. Gerald Evans OFM
reminds us that we look on the world from our own interior world. We see
things as we are rather than as they are.
18 Learning to Dance the Divine: An Advent Reflection. Sr Joan Chittister
OSB ponders the deeper meaning of the beautiful season of Advent.
20 Choosing Our Path With Integrity. Adrian Peelo OFM shows how St
Francis models for us inner freedom and taking responsibility for our choices.
22 News from Around the Franciscan World.
23 A Prayer as I Put on My Mask.
Many Nations, One Purpose.
24 Jesus: Man of Prayer and Teacher of Prayer. Tom Russell OFM shows
how Jesus’ intimacy in prayer with the Father was the heart of his life and
Volume 81 No.1 mission.
25
Missionary Magazine of the Irish
Franciscans. Published bi-monthly by John Bradburne: Servant of God.
the Franciscan Missionary Union,
4 Merchants Quay, Dublin 8.
Production: Fr Francis Cotter OFM. 26 Will there be Christmas?
Subscription & Distribution Secretary:
Helen Doran. Tel: (01) 6777651.
helen.doran@franciscans.ie
27 Building a More Human World. Gearóid Ó Conaire OFM shares uplifting
examples of men and women religious inspired by the Spirit to work for
Design, Layout & Printing: the Kingdom of God in the midst of the world.
Corcoran Print & Design.
Tel: (053) 9234760.
Subscription including Postage:
Ireland – €15.00 per annum
29 Coronavirus, Passion and Ministry. As a Franciscan priest, Paddy
Noonan OFM reflects on the pastoral implications of the ongoing pandemic.
30
Britain – Stg£15.00 per annum
Overseas – €18.00 per annum Mission Digest. 500 Years of Christianity in the Philippines.
Dec/Jan 2021
3
Presence not Presents
This year Christmas will be different. Many of the familiar rituals and gatherings
will not take place. Whatever gatherings do take place, will still be under the
shadow of the coronavirus pandemic.
Many of you, dear readers, will be approaching Christmas 2020 carrying a personal
sadness, having perhaps suffered the loss of a loved one this past year, or some
financial, family, or health troubles.
I think many people would happily exchange the usual round of parties, spending,
and consuming for the chance to simply gather and spend time with family. It is
Liam Kelly OFM absence from family and friends that will make this Christmas lonelier and harder.
This year it’s not presents, but presence, that will be missed. For Christians, the sea-
son of Christmas is all about presence; the presence of the Christ child among us, in
poverty, in simplicity and, most of all, in love. Christ is called Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God is with us’.
The mystery of the Incarnation doesn’t magically change our circumstances, but it changes us, through faith,
opening us to new possibilities and to ‘a future full of hope’ (Jeremiah, 29:11).
As the late Cardinal Avery Dulles
once wrote, ‘The Incarnation does
not provide us with a ladder by
which to escape from the ambigu-
ities of life and scale the heights of
heaven. Rather, it enables us to
burrow deep into the heart of our
humanity and find it shimmering
with divinity.’
The presence of Christ in the
world has changed us, from
within. Once we know and believe
that he has come, we begin to live
in hope. This hope doesn’t depend
on our moods, on the weather,
on stock markets, on anything
temporal and passing. Our hope
is grounded in the wonderful
truth that God is with us, present
among us. Covid times: separated from family.
Indeed, Jesus does not come into the world to help us to escape its ambiguities, rather, Jesus heals the blindness
that obscures the inherent beauty of all creation. We learn to see creation with new eyes; we are ourselves a
‘new creation’.
How will we spend this Christmas 2020? Will it be completely overshadowed? Or will we experience in a
unique way that God is with us?
An early biography of St Francis mentions that at Christmas, St Francis wanted the poor and hungry to be fed by
the rich, and even the oxen and asses to be spoiled with extra feed and hay. Francis said, ‘If ever I speak with the
Emperor, I will beg him to issue a general decree that all who can should throw wheat and grain along the roads,
so that on the day of such a great solemnity the birds may have an abundance, especially our sisters the larks.’
Emmanuel, God’s loving presence, is what we celebrate this Christmas.
May we all find ways to share generously, like St Francis, the joy and hope this Presence brings.
– Liam Kelly OFM
St Anthony Brief
4
Raniero
Cantalamessa
OFM Cap offers
Our Lady as
our guide on
the Advent path
to Christmas.
This Capuchin
friar, who has
been the
Preacher to the
Papal Household
for the past
forty years,
was created a
cardinal by
Pope Francis on
28 November
this year.
Blessed Is She Who Believed!
E
very year the liturgy leads us to praised her for her faith saying, ‘Blessed Church Fathers, Origen, said that it’s as
Christmas with three guides: is she who believed there would be a ful- if Mary was saying to God, ‘Behold, I am
Isaiah, John the Baptist and filment of what was spoken to her from a tablet to be written on; let the Writer
Mary – the prophet, the precursor, and the Lord’ (Luke 1:45). The wonderful write whatever he wills, let the Lord of all
the mother. The first announced the thing that took place in Nazareth after things do with me as he wishes.’ He
Messiah from afar, the second showed the angel’s greeting was that Mary compared Mary to the wax writing tablet
him present in the world, the third bore ‘believed’, and thus she became the used in his day. Nowadays, we might say
him in her womb. This Advent let us ‘mother of the Lord’. There is no doubt that Mary offered herself to God as a
entrust ourselves entirely to the Mother that the word ‘believed’ refers to Mary’s blank page on which he could write
of Jesus. No one better than she can answer to the angel, ‘Behold, I am the whatever he wanted.
prepare us to celebrate the birth of our handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me St Paul said that ‘God loves a cheer-
Redeemer. Our Lady didn’t celebrate according to your word’ (Luke 1:38). ful giver’, and Mary uttered her yes
Advent, she lived it in her flesh. Like In these few simple words, the great- cheerfully. The Greek word used in the
every mother bearing a child she knows est and most decisive act of faith in his- Gospel to express Mary’s consent is
what it means to be waiting for some- tory took place. Mary’s answer repre- genoito. It is translated by the Latin word
body and can help us in approaching sents the summit of all religious fiat or in English by ‘let it be done’. But
Christmas with an expectant faith. behaviour before God, because it that word does not just express a simple
expresses, to the highest degree, both a resigned acceptance but a living desire.
Handmaid of the Lord passive willingness and active readiness, It’s as if she was saying, I, too, desire
When Mary went to visit Elizabeth, she the deepest void that accompanies the with all my being what God desires; let
welcomed Mary with great joy and greatest fullness. One of the early his wish be fulfilled quickly.
Dec/Jan 2021
5
From Elizabeth’s words, ‘Blessed is of Mary’s faith at that moment. Moses exacted if the signs of virginity
she who believed,’ we note that early in First of all, God never deceives and were not found in a young woman at
the Gospel Mary’s divine maternity is not never sneakily extorts consent from his marriage: she would be brought to the
just considered in the physical sense children by concealing the consequences door of her father’s house and be stoned
but, much more so, in a spiritual sense, from them of what they are taking on. to death by the men of her city.
rooted in faith. This is what St Augustine We can see this in every great calling on Nowadays, we are quick to talk about
based himself on when he said, ‘The God’s part. He forewarned Jeremiah, the risk of faith, and we generally mean
Virgin Mary gave birth believing what she ‘They will fight against you’ (Jeremiah the intellectual risk, but Mary faced a real
had conceived believing. When the angel 1:1), and to Ananias he said of Saul, ‘I risk! In his book on Our Lady, Blessed
had spoken, she, full of faith (fide plena), will show him how much he must suffer Are You Who Believed, Carlo Carretto
conceiving Christ in her heart before she for the sake of my name’ (Acts 9:16). told us how he came to understand
did so in her womb, answered, Behold, I Would he have acted differently only with Mary’s faith. When he was living as a
am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to Mary for a mission such as hers? In the hermit in the Sahara Desert, he had
me according to your word.’ light of the Holy Spirit that accompanied heard from some Tuareg friends of his
The fullness of faith on Mary’s part God’s call, she certainly sensed that her that a young girl in the encampment had
corresponds to the fullness of grace on path would be no different from that of all been betrothed to a young man but she
God’s part, the fide plena to the gratia other chosen ones. In fact, Simeon soon had not gone to live with him as she was
plena. put this foreboding into words when he too young. Carretto had associated this
told her that a spear would pierce her fact with what Luke said of Mary. So, two
Alone With God soul. years later, finding himself in the same
At a first glance, Mary’s act of faith was But even on a simply human level, encampment, he asked about the girl. He
easy and could even be taken for Mary found herself in complete solitude. noticed a certain embarrassment among
granted. She was to become the mother To whom could she explain what had his interlocutors, and later one of them,
of a king who would reign forever in the taken place in her? Who would believe secretly approaching him, made a sign to
house of Jacob, mother of the Messiah! her when she said that the child she was him. He held his hand to his throat in the
Wasn’t this the dream of every Hebrew carrying in her womb was the work of the characteristic gesture that indicated that
girl? But this is a rather human and Holy Spirit? This was something that had her throat had been slit. It had been dis-
worldly way of reasoning. True faith is never taken place before and would covered that she was with child before
never a privilege or an honour; it means never take place again. Undoubtedly, the marriage, and her death was neces-
dying a little, and this was especially true Mary was well aware of what the Law of sary for the honour of the family.
The handmaid of the Lord: ‘Let it be to me according to your word.’
St Anthony Brief
6
Mother:
Mary bathes the
baby Jesus.
Carretto writes that it was then that than on what is believed. But Mary’s faith The first words of the Creed, ‘I believe
he thought of Mary again, of the pitiless was also very objective. She didn’t in God the Father Almighty’, contain
glances of the people of Nazareth, of the believe in a subjective, personal God, incredible power. My small ‘I’ united and
knowing winks, and he understood detached from everything, who revealed joined to the great ‘I’ of the whole mysti-
Mary’s solitude. And that same night he himself only to her in secret. She cal Body of Christ, past and present,
chose her as his traveling companion believed, instead, in the God of her makes a sound more powerful than the
and the mistress of his faith. ancestors, the God of her people. She roaring of the sea and makes the very
saw in the God who revealed himself to foundations of the reign of darkness
Faith, Basis of Everything her the God of the promises, the God of tremble.
Mary’s life talks to us of the importance Abraham and his descendants. She
of faith. There can be no sound or music humbly felt part of the host of believers Let Us, Too, Believe!
if there is no ear to hear it, no matter and became the first believer of the new The contemplation of Mary’s faith urges
how many melodies or sublime chords fill covenant, just as Abraham was the first us to renew our personal act of faith and
the air. There is no grace, or at least believer of the old covenant. abandonment to God. That is why it is so
grace cannot work, if there is no faith to For us too, it is necessary, therefore, vitally important to say to God – let it be
accept it. Just as the rain cannot germi- to have both dimensions of faith: to done, fiat, as Mary did. After praying, so
nate anything unless it falls on soil that believe personally, but in communion that our prayer does not remain superfi-
absorbs it, so it is with grace if it doesn’t with the Church, and also to believe in cial, say to God, using the very words
fall upon faith. It is through faith that we communion with the Church, but person- Mary used: Here I am, I am the servant of
are sensitive to grace. Faith is the basis ally. The dogmatic faith of the Church the Lord: let it be to me according to your
for everything; it is the first and the best doesn’t take from personal faith or from word! I am saying amen, yes, my God, to
among the good works. This is the work the spontaneity in believing, rather, it your whole plan. I give you myself!
of God, that you believe, Jesus said. preserves it and allows us to know and We must, however, remember that
Faith is so important because it alone embrace an immensely greater God than Mary pronounced her fiat willingly and
maintains the sheer giftedness of God’s the God of our own limited experience. joyfully. How often do we repeat the word
grace. That’s why it is so dear to God, The faith of the Church is like a great with poorly hidden resignation and, tight
who makes almost everything depend on wide-angle lens, which, in a particular lipped, murmur, ‘If it cannot be avoided,
faith in his relations with us. Grace and panorama, makes it possible to see and well then, let your will be done!’ Mary
faith: this is how the two pillars of salva- photograph a much wider view than that teaches us to say it in a different way.
tion are placed. We are given these two of the simple lens. In uniting myself to Knowing that God’s will is infinitely more
feet to walk on or two wings to fly with. the faith of the Church, I make the faith beautiful and richer in promises than any
Mary’s act of faith was very personal, of all those who have gone before me of our own plans, and knowing that God
unique, and can never be repeated. It mine: that of the apostles, the martyrs, is infinite love and nourishes plans for
was trust in God and the total entrusting and all the saints of the Church. The our good not evil, let us say, full of desire
of herself to God. It was a person-to-per- saints no longer need their faith in and almost impatiently, as Mary did: Let
son relation. This is called subjective heaven and they have left it as an your will of love and peace be fulfilled in
faith. The emphasis is on believing rather inheritance to the whole Church. me, O God! n
Dec/Jan 2021
7
Bearers of Joyful
Hope to the Hopeless
Walter Gallahue OFM reflects on the loss of hope that many can
experience and the desperate need for those who witness to hope and joy.
S
ome years ago, Fr Kevin Hegarty All of these young men would have come had discovered a treasure more life-giving
wrote an article in The Furrow from a Catholic background. Why was than any earthly treasure.
entitled ‘Suicide in Ireland’. He there such a terrible loss of hope in these In Zimbabwe, the people have a say-
said that ‘feelings of having no value can young men? Is there so little to look for- ing, Kupfuma iShungu. It means, if you
sometimes lead to despair and despair is ward to that it is better to die? Why was want to become rich you must want it so
the main ingredient in the sulphurous their vision of what life has to offer so badly that you will make any sacrifice
cocktail that leads to suicide. The young clouded and dark? necessary to attain your goal. I remember
followers of Bin Laden and the Palestinian a place where there was only one shop. It
suicide bombers believe so much in their A Different Vision was on the rural bus route. The
ultimate destiny that they go willingly to Someone well known to readers of St Chiwasarira bus would arrive there at
their deaths. In the Western world too, Anthony Brief offers us a different, life-giv- 4.30am. The shop owner would be up
many young men believe so little in any- ing vision of life. Francis Bernardone dis- and have his shop open in the hope that
thing that they think it better to die.’ covered his reason for living in Christ and some passengers would want to buy a
On Easter Sunday 2019, the horren- the Gospel. In Francis’ case, it was the soft drink and a loaf of bread.
dous bombing of Catholic churches and experience of a loving God – experienced This is the same level of commitment
hotels in Sri Lanka killed hundreds of in Jesus Christ – that made him see every that made Francis a light to the people of
innocent worshippers and holidaymak- other thing as worthless if Christ is not the his time and to the many thousands of
ers. These atrocities were carried out by centre of his joy and hope. It was the men and women who came to follow his
nine suicide bombers. These seem to Good News of God’s immeasurable love example. Jesus was his treasure hidden
have been young adults, materially well for the human race that made him see in the field for which a person would hap-
off. They were also quite well educated. everything that got in the way of loving pily sell everything to get that field.
They were willing to lose everything, and following Christ as a distraction. Francis could never ponder, without
including their young lives, to implement Francis saw Christ as the only source of tears, the love of Jesus who gave his life
their hateful world vision. We have seen true life and happiness. that we might live. Jesus’ self-giving was
the same terrible commitment in so St Paul would say, ‘For me to live is to bring life and not death. Francis wit-
many countries over the past ten to fif- Christ.’ When Bernard of Quintavalle, nessed to the fact that only in loving
teen years. another young man from Assisi, saw how Christ can a person become truly fulfilled.
And some years ago, during one Francis had been transformed by his love He also realised that the light of Christ
month, seven young men committed sui- for Christ, he wanted something of that emanating from him was also a form of
cide in the parish of Portlaoise in Ireland. joy and happiness. He saw that Francis loving others and an invitation to find life
St Anthony Brief
8
to the full. He wanted to die for Christ, but During that night he was called to the and peace into the world and defeats the
he was called, like most of us, to live for hospital. The Sisters said that the violent power of darkness. Every Christian can
him. man was very ill and was asking for do this and must.
St Pope Paul VI wrote a powerful let- Baptism. He went and asked the man Feeding Jesus in the hungry and
ter called ‘Proclaiming the Gospel’. He why he was asking for Baptism. The man clothing him in the naked is essential. But
says that in today’s world only Christians said that he had never experienced love it is even more necessary to be a life-
whose lives witness to the love of Christ in his life, only rejection. He said he hated giver through prayer and love.
will be believed. The joy and excitement everyone, and everyone hated him. He As St Paul says, ‘The weapons that
of being a follower must be seen to be said he could not recall one happy day in we use in our fight against the powers of
believed. his life. darkness are not the world’s weapons
Christians must walk the talk. Since he had come into this care but God’s powerful weapons.’ This is
home, he had observed the Sisters, who available to everyone. Only on the Last
The Secret always seemed to be happy. He said he Day will we see fully the fruits of such
What is the secret of this happiness? It is, couldn’t understand why since all they persevering prayer. This is loving Christ
as Jesus showed us, to be people for oth- ever got from him was abuse. He had in his sisters and brothers in the most
ers. It is to live so that others may have
life. Francis saw Christ as
‘Love made visible’. Christ Witness: joy is a
became, for Francis, his sure sign of hope.
reason for living and his
inspiration. In his turn,
Francis became an inspira-
tion for others. When Peter,
on his way to the temple,
cured the crippled man he
said that it is only in Christ
that anyone can find true life.
Jesus prayed a lot. Do we
know what he prayed for?
We do because he told us.
He prayed that his Father’s
Kingdom be established on
earth; a Kingdom of Life, Love
and Truth. He was totally
committed to bringing this
about and gave his life for it.
Christians are his partners in
this venture. It is God’s plan
for a transformed world where
love is the driving force.
A life of loving faith has
huge consequences for others. It is a liv- scolded them, complained and cursed powerful way. This is what the Poor
ing word which witnesses to the source of them, and even when he fouled the bed, Clares stand for.
true happiness. they were always kind and understanding. Our prayer is the most powerful and
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York ‘Why should you care about me,’ he said. necessary weapon in our fight against
shares an experience of the power of lov- All they used to reply was ‘Jesus’. hatred and despair. This is the most
ing witness, one that gives hope to the He said to Fr Dolan, ‘I have never had important aspect in keeping the words of
hopeless. Among his pastoral duties, a happy day in my life and want to experi- Jesus: ‘Love one another,’ ‘Watch and
when he was a parish priest, was as ence it before I die. If Jesus is the one pray,’ and ‘This type of evil spirit can only
chaplain to a care home in New York run who gives this happiness, then I want a be driven out by prayer.’
by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of bit of it.’ Many of the readers of St Anthony
Charity. The home ministered to AIDS He was baptised and died on Holy Brief are people in their later years. Love
sufferers. On Good Friday, it was custom- Saturday. has no age. It is wonderful to see an
ary to take the Cross to the wards so that elderly person full of joy and hope.
those who wished could reverence it. Two Happiest Missionaries Perhaps younger people will want to know
of the Sisters said that they would accom- The most effective and happiest mission- the source of this joy and hope. All of us
pany him because there was one patient aries I have observed in Zimbabwe in can and must be instruments of hope.
who was very violent and might even more than 50 years, were all women and Many are depending on us. Jesus wants
attack the priest. However, they did the men of prayer. This is no coincidence. witnesses. He says, ‘You are the light of
rounds of the wards safely. The light of prayer sends ripples of hope the world – let your light shine.’ n
Dec/Jan 2021
9
Friars Among
the Jihadists
Firas Lutfi OFM
tells of two friars
who still live and
serve among the
people in an Islamic
caliphate in Syria.
T
he villages of Knayeh and These extremists have often perse- The presence of the Franciscans is a
Yacoubieh, in Idlib province, close cuted, attacked, beaten, tortured and even sign of hope in the midst of the darkness
to the Turkish border in western murdered some of our brothers and sis- and despair. But they also depend heavily
Syria, still find themselves under the con- ters, as for example in the notorious case on whatever outside support they can
trol of jihadist groups. Here the fearsome of Fr François Murad, who was beheaded obtain, especially financial support since
Islamic caliphate still holds sway; the in 2013. More recently a Christian female the local people can no longer harvest
Sharia is the law, all women are forced to schoolteacher was raped and then mur- their own crops, which have been confis-
wear veils, Christian properties have been dered in Yacoubieh. cated, or sell their own produce – and so
confiscated and Christian symbols such as The friars are there to help everyone they are in constant need of outside
crosses torn down. in need of support and guidance, regard- humanitarian aid.
Among the local inhabitants who have less of their religion, race, nationality, or Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is
remained in their homes despite the terri- political opinions. On many occasions our currently supporting over 50 different pro-
ble situation, there are an estimated 300 monasteries in Knayeh and Yacoubieh jects to assist Christians in Syria and the
Christian families of different denomina- welcomed and gave shelter to dozens of support is deeply appreciated.
tions and ethnic groups. Two Franciscan Muslim families. They were seeking refuge
friars, Luai Bsharat, aged 40, and 67-year- in the churches when the region became Adapted from
old Hanna Jallouf, have also stayed on a battleground and a place of conflict. www.acninternational.org n
here to minister to them.
The Christians remaining in these
areas are facing persecution, fear, vio- Presence:
lence and danger, and even death. So, Firas Lutfi OFM
the continuing presence of the Christians with children in
in these villages, and of the two Aleppo, Syria.
Franciscan friars, says much about their
heroic commitment.
In spite of the difficulties, Fr Luai and
Fr Hanna have stayed on there because
they believe that this region should not be
abandoned. For it is close to Antioch,
where St Paul began his travels, spread-
ing the Word of God.
The sufferings of these Christians
began a decade ago. When the militant
groups took control of the region and pro-
claimed the Islamic State, they confiscated
Christian properties, imposed Islamic
Sharia law on all non-Muslims, and sup-
pressed their right to move around freely
within their own villages.
St Anthony Brief
10Seyed Mohammad
Mahdi, a Christian
convert from Iran,
tells what his journey Baptism:
has cost him and ‘It was as though
God had given me
the joy it has a new soul and a
brought him. new body.’
I ‘The Bible is
am from Iran, a country in which reli-
gious freedom does not exist and
where possession of a Bible can mean
a death sentence. I was forced to leave
Iran and am now living as a refugee in
Spain.
I am Iranian born, and I’m thirty-eight
years old. My life in my country was quite
All That I Have’
wear a cross around their neck either or helped me to never lose faith, and now I
normal; I had work, a home, I was happy carry the Bible. am not afraid of anything.
living with my family and especially my I am happy because I am free to speak I was baptised by Bishop Fidel of
daughter. I miss them greatly; two days of Jesus, free to believe, and to think. Burgos. When he poured the water over
ago was my daughter’s birthday, so I have Some people say that faith is an illusion, my head, I changed completely, I felt the
to send her a great big kiss from here. but it is not true; I always feel the close- sense of pardon of all my sins. I always
Having to leave all that behind ness of God. When I arrived in Spain, it used to think I would be able to change
because of my desire to become a was the first time in my life that I had seen the bad things I had done, but I never suc-
Christian was very hard, but that was my a church. I went in and I sensed something ceeded in doing so.
decision. It was hard because I wanted to very special. I went there to give thanks to When I was baptised, it was as though
become a Christian, but this is a long and God for having preserved my life because God had given me a new soul and a new
hard journey. In my country, Muslims are it was an extremely difficult journey. body, that’s how it felt.
forbidden to change religion. What is helping me on my path of Now I cannot stop thinking about God.
And so I had to leave my country. I faith? Jesus, Mary, and this book, the When I wake, when I go to bed, when I am
don’t know how long I went without eating, Bible. When I left my country, I didn’t know walking, I am conscious that God has
without water, walking across mountains, what I was going to have to face, and done all things well and that the world is
rivers, every night fearful of the police and there were many times when I told myself I wonderful.
of the people. could go no further. But Jesus Christ Adapted from zenit.org n
But thanks be to God, I am safe and
sound now; I am with Jesus, in a free
country where I can live my faith in free-
dom.
And during this journey, nothing could
separate me from that something which I
am still holding now in my hands, a Bible
in Farsi, the language of Iran.
It’s all that I have now. I carry this book
with me everywhere, because all its words
have a destiny and a goal for me. It has
always helped me; it contains powerful Seyed in Spain:
words for me.
‘I always feel the
I also wear a rosary around my neck.
It goes everywhere with me and I pray closeness of God.’
with it regularly. It is a very special gift that
was given me by a priest, a great friend of
mine, my parish priest in the parish of
Saint Cosmas in Burgos, here in Spain.
That is something that is forbidden in
my country. And Christians there cannot
Dec/Jan 2021
11Church Brief
that he could take the Blessed Sacrament
to the most deprived individuals. ‘I’m not
afraid of anything, I take the Master with
me,’ said Joan to the Roses family that he
visited on the day of his death, 11
September 1936. A few hours later, anti-
clerical militiamen knocked on the door of
his home. As he left, he said to his
mother, ‘God is with me.’
The patrol took him to the local ceme-
tery where he spoke his last words, ‘May
God forgive you as I forgive you.’ He died
Seoul: A church from five bullets to his chest. He was 19
living with Covid. years old.
South Korea: Barcelona. Joan Roig i Diggle was born in
Anti-Covid Confessionals Barcelona in 1917. As a student, he
The Catholic cathedral in Seoul guaran- worked as an office employee in a fabric
tees the faithful access to the sacrament store, then in a factory in Barcelona.
of confession even during the Covid-19 Despite the many commitments of
pandemic. For this purpose, the Catholic work and study and poor health, he main-
cathedral of Seoul has adapted and tained an intense spiritual life: daily partici-
equipped confessionals to allow the cele- pation at Mass, meditation and prayer,
bration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the growing understanding of the
in maximum safety. social doctrine of the Church.
In the new arrangement, the space for During the Spanish Civil War, on 20
the priest and that for the penitent in the July 1936, red militiamen burned the
confessional are now completely sepa- headquarters of the Federation of Young
rated, while a special ventilation system Christians of Catalonia, of which he was a Bishop Raymond Mupandasekwa
has been installed to prevent the virus member. The churches of Barcelona were
from being transmitted via the respiratory closed. A persecution began during which Zimbabwe:
the young man visited the wounded and
tract. Plexiglass protection was installed in Government Criticised
each confessional as a physical barrier prayed for the dead in hospitals.
‘They bring bloodshed; they kill. Instead of
between the priest and the penitent. Fr Lluma, Joan’s spiritual director,
freedom, they bring prison. They bring vio-
Finally, after the celebration of the sacra- entrusted the reserved Eucharist to him so
lence and imprison all those who oppose
ment, the entire confessional is sanitised them. The only thing they know is vio-
before the next penitent has access to lence.’ This is the harsh attack launched
confession. by the Bishop of Chinhoyi, Raymond
Fr Matthias Young-yup Hur said, ‘Our Mupandasekwa, on the government of
religious community has had to face very
Zimbabwe.
difficult times, given the ongoing pan-
The bishop in particular criticised the
demic. The reopening of fully equipped
recent decree that enlisted newly gradu-
confessionals is part of our efforts to pro-
ated doctors into the army. Newly gradu-
vide pastoral assistance to the faithful. To
ated doctors must be recruited as military
transform the crisis into an opportunity, we
doctors, otherwise they will not be able to
hope there will be other effective initiatives
work in state hospitals. According to the
in the field of pastoral ministry also in the
trade unions, this is a measure that aims
post-Covid era.’
to prevent strikes by medical personnel at
Spain: an extremely critical moment for public
Young Man Beatified health and for the government, accused
On 6 November 2020 a young lay martyr of failing to manage the pandemic emer-
was beatified during a celebration in Martyr: Joan Roig i Diggle. gency. n
St Anthony Brief
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Franciscan Missionary Union, 4 Merchants Quay, Dublin 8, D08 XY19, Ireland.In his latest Encyclical,
Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis
ponders the truth that all
of us, everyone on this
beautiful planet, are
brothers and sisters.
And once again he takes St
Francis as his inspiration.
A Splendid Secret:
We Are a Single Human Family
‘F
ratelli Tutti’ – with these words, abandoned, the infirm and the outcast, disputes, but to be subject to every human
St Francis of Assisi addressed the least of his brothers and sisters. creature for God’s sake.’
his brothers and sisters and In the context of the times, this was an
proposed to them a way of life marked by Without Borders extraordinary recommendation.
the flavour of the Gospel. Of the counsels There is an episode in the life of St Francis We are impressed that some 800 years
Francis offered, I would like to select the that shows his openness of heart, which ago St Francis urged that all forms of hostil-
one in which he calls for a love that tran- knew no bounds and transcended differ- ity or conflict be avoided, and that a humble
scends the barriers of geography and dis- ences of origin, nationality, colour or reli- and fraternal ‘subjection’ be shown to those
tance, and declares blessed all those who gion. It was his visit to Sultan Malik-el- who did not share his faith.
love their brother ‘as much when he is far Kamil, in Egypt, which entailed consider- Francis did not wage a war of words
away from him as when he is with him’. able hardship, given Francis’ poverty, his aimed at imposing doctrines; he simply
In his simple and direct way, St scarce resources, the great distances to spread the love of God. He understood that
Francis expressed the essence of a be travelled and their differences of lan- ‘God is love and those who abide in love
fraternal openness that allows us to guage, culture and religion. That journey, abide in God’ (1 John 4:16). In this way, he
acknowledge, appreciate and love each undertaken at the time of the Crusades, became a brother to all and inspired the
person, regardless of physical proximity, further demonstrated the breadth and vision of a fraternal society. Indeed, only the
regardless of where he or she was born grandeur of his love, which sought to person who approaches others, not to draw
or lives. embrace everyone. Francis’ fidelity to his them into his own life, but to help them
This saint of fraternal love, simplicity Lord was commensurate with his love for become ever more fully themselves, can
and joy, who inspired me to write the his brothers and sisters. truly be called a brother.
Encyclical Laudato si’, prompts me once Unconcerned for the hardships and In the world of that time, bristling with
more to devote this new Encyclical to fra- dangers involved, Francis went to meet the watchtowers and defensive walls, cities
ternity and social friendship. Francis felt Sultan with the same attitude that he were a theatre of brutal wars between pow-
himself a brother to the sun, the sea and instilled in his disciples. He told the friars erful families, even as poverty was spread-
the wind, yet he knew that he was even that if they found themselves ‘among the ing through the countryside. Yet there
closer to those of his own flesh. Saracens and other nonbelievers’, without Francis was able to welcome true peace
Wherever he went, he sowed seeds of renouncing their own identity as Christians, into his heart and free himself of the desire
peace and walked alongside the poor, the they were not to ‘engage in arguments or to wield power over others. He became one
St Anthony Brief
14of the poor and sought to live in harmony ent ways that various countries responded be ignored, I would like in the following
with all. to the crisis, their inability to work together pages to take up and discuss many new
Francis has inspired these pages. became quite evident. For all our hyper- paths of hope. For God continues to sow
connectivity, we witnessed a fragmentation abundant seeds of goodness in our human
Human Fraternity that made it more difficult to resolve prob- family.
Issues of human fraternity and social friend- lems that affect us all. The recent pandemic enabled us to
ship have always been a concern of mine. Anyone who thinks that the only lesson recognise and appreciate once more all
In recent years, I have spoken of them to be learned was the need to improve those around us who, in the midst of fear,
repeatedly and in different settings. In this what we were already doing, or to refine responded by putting their lives on the line.
Encyclical, I have sought to bring together existing systems and regulations, is deny- We began to realise that our lives are inter-
many of those statements and to situate ing reality. woven with and sustained by ordinary peo-
them in a broader context of reflection. It is my desire that, in this our time, by ple valiantly shaping the decisive events of
I have felt particularly encouraged by acknowledging the dignity of each human our shared history: doctors, nurses, phar-
the Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, with person, we can contribute to the rebirth of macists, storekeepers and supermarket
whom I met in Abu Dhabi, where we a universal aspiration to fraternity. workers, cleaning personnel, caretakers,
declared that ‘God has created all human Here we have a splendid secret that transport workers, men and women working
beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, shows us how to dream and to turn our life to provide essential services and public
and has called them to live together as into a wonderful adventure. No one can safety, volunteers, priests and religious.
brothers and sisters.’ This was no mere face life in isolation. We need a community They understood that no one is saved
diplomatic gesture, but a reflection born of that supports and helps us, in which we alone.
dialogue and common commitment. The can help one another to keep looking I invite everyone to renewed hope, for
present Encyclical takes up and develops ahead. How important it is to dream hope speaks to us of something deeply
some of the great themes raised in the together. By ourselves, we risk seeing rooted in every human heart, independently
Document on Human Fraternity that we mirages, things that are not there. Dreams, of our circumstances and historical condi-
both signed. on the other hand, are built together. tioning. Hope speaks to us of a thirst, an
Although I have written it from the Let us dream, then, as a single human aspiration, a longing for a life of fulfilment, a
Christian convictions that inspire and sus- family, as fellow travellers sharing the desire to achieve great things, things that fill
tain me, I have sought to make this reflec- same flesh, as children of the same earth our heart and lift our spirit to lofty realities
tion an invitation to dialogue among all which is our common home, each of us like truth, goodness and beauty, justice and
people of good will. bringing the richness of his or her beliefs love.
and convictions, each of us with his or her Let us continue, then, to advance along
We Need Community own voice, brothers and sisters all. the paths of hope.
As I was writing this letter, the Covid-19
pandemic unexpectedly erupted, exposing Seeds of Goodness For the full Encyclical, see
our false securities. Aside from the differ- Despite the dark clouds, which may not www.vatican.va n
Fellow travellers: no one
can face life in isolation.
Dec/Jan 2021
15Gerald Evans OFM reminds us
that we look on the world from
our own interior world. We see
things as we are rather than
as they are.
Seeing Goodness:
Developing a Benevolent Gaze
I
n a recent article I read this sentence wind, and in all creation. These are exam- through the eyes of their Creator who at the
that caught my attention, ‘Francis and ples which reveal the Celtic soul as mys- dawn of creation saw that ‘all was good.’
Clare are perhaps the most eastern of tic and contemplative. Their gaze did not categorise, did not
our western saints.’ They are akin to our criticise, did not judge. It did not come from
Orthodox sisters and brothers of the A Benevolent Gaze the ego but from the image of God within
Christian East for whom ‘seeing’ is a liturgi- In their contemplative endeavour, Francis them.
cal act, that is to say, contemplating all and Clare sought to place each one of their Francis and Clare learned to look at
things with ‘the eyes of the heart’. The senses and faculties, both human and spir- their own lives, other human beings, espe-
Christian West is more cerebral, more prag- itual, at the service of their contemplative cially the poor, events, creation and history
matic; it tries to ‘understand’ God, over and life. They prayed with their eyes, their ears, with the eyes of Jesus Christ. Their con-
above contemplating and experiencing him. their nose, their hands, their mouth, their templative prayer was never a flight from
Within our Christian and especially heart, and their intelligence. They contem- the world, rather it was a new way of look-
Catholic heritage, however, we can find plated and experienced the glory and espe- ing deeper into it in the present moment, to
ample examples of saints who sought not cially the humility of God in the child of the active presence and the hand of God
only to understand God, but also to con- Bethlehem, the gestures of tenderness of working in and through everyone and
template and experience him in their con- Jesus at the Eucharist banquet, at the everything.
crete lives. St Bonaventure in his master- washing of the feet, and at the Cross of Right to the end of his life, Francis
work, The Journey of the Mind into God, Calvary. never separated the mountain retreat for
states that the human person was actually Everything that is human: a birth, a prayer from the marketplace of daily life.
created and structured in such a way as meal, an encounter, a poor person, an old Both were privileged places where he con-
to contemplate and co-operate with the man, suffering, death – everything templated the presence of God in every-
active, creative presence of God in all becomes a revelation of the hidden face of one and everything.
creation. God for those who see with the eyes and
Thus, Franciscan spirituality is abso- hear with the ears of the spirit. A Pure Heart
lutely incarnational as was and indeed is Both Francis and Clare saw the face of Looking out on the world from that pure
our own Celtic spirituality. For example, Christ disfigured and transfigured at the interior gaze afforded Francis and his
Autumn for the Celts was a time of the same time, in every human being. For brothers the gift of regarding the whole
thinning of the veil between the visible them, even the most deformed faces rav- world as their ‘cloister’, where they could
and invisible world. Some of us, who are aged by disease or sin hid within them his contemplate the presence of God.
Irish, can think back to our schoolday- sacred face. By cultivating this benevolent The origin of that pure gaze in Francis
reading from the writings of Peig Sayers. gaze, it allowed them to be more attentive and Clare stemmed from and is rooted in
We see her incredibly deep gaze into the to good than to evil, to qualities in other their purity of the heart, embodied and out-
providential hand present and moving in people rather than to their defects. They lined in chapter ten of Francis’ second
the ebb and flow of life, the waves, the contemplated everyone and everything Rule.
St Anthony Brief
16‘I also warn and exhort the brothers in selves to be transformed through and in and her own true face. The believer
the Lord Jesus Christ that they be aware him under the action of the Holy Spirit, becomes what he contemplates.
of all pride, vainglory, envy, covetousness, the more they discover their true identity Thus, Clare and Francis are clothed by
the cares and solicitudes of this world, of and thus the more they become their true God with the virtues of Christ. Poverty,
detraction and murmuring. Let not those selves. humility and charity none of which are the
who are ignorant of letters care to learn Clare sums it up beautifully and poeti- fruits of human effort, but gifts of the Spirit.
letters, but let them consider that, beyond cally in her fourth letter to Agnes of Consequently, both become true mirrors of
all, they should desire to possess the Spirit Prague, ‘Look at the parameters of this Christ, because they have fixed their gaze,
of the Lord and his holy operation, to pray mirror, that is, the poverty of him who was rested their minds, hearts and soul on the
always to him with a pure heart and to placed in a manger and wrapped in swad- face of the one who transforms them back
have humility, patience in persecution and dling clothes. O marvelous humility, O into his own image and likeness.
in infirmity and to love those who perse- astonishing poverty! The King of the Clare expresses this contemplative and
cute, reprove, and accuse us.’ angels, the Lord of heaven and earth, is transformative dynamic in her Testament,
I quote here the important mantra to laid in a manger! Then, look at the surface ‘The Lord himself set himself as a model,
be kept in mind when it comes to the of the mirror, dwell on the holy humility, the example and mirror before each one of us
Franciscan contemplative looking out on blessed poverty, the untold labours and sisters, so that we, in turn, become a mir-
the world: We don’t see things as they are burdens which he endured for the redemp- ror and example for those who live in the
but rather as we are. tion of all mankind.’ world.’
In this quote from Francis, we see this Suffice it to say that the contemplation
in a nutshell: pride, vainglory, envy, greed, Becoming What We Contemplate of Francis and Clare has nothing to do with
anxieties, desire for revenge are all of the For Clare, contemplation is a permanent, superficial devotion or the introspection of
ego and are elements which contaminate transforming action. With her characteristic the narcissist. On the contrary, it seeks a
the soul impeding it to look clearly on life. exquisite feminine delicacy, she expresses way out of oneself to welcome Jesus who
In short, one looks out on to the world and the mystery of the fruitfulness of the prayer reveals the face of God in the face of
sees mirrored in it and reflected back that in which, in the mirror of Christ contem- every human being and his presence in all
which is within oneself. plated, each one gradually perceives his creation. n
Clare and the Mirror
This brings us to another related theme The mirror: an ancient
especially of Clare, the symbol of the mir- spiritual symbol
ror which she makes reference to a dozen of truth and
times in her writings. wisdom.
The mirror is a very old symbol found in
almost all the great spiritual traditions:
Chinese, Taoist, Muslim, Hindu. It is a sym-
bol of purity, truth, wisdom and knowledge,
reflection of celestial intelligence, and sym-
bol of the sun and moon. For the ancients,
the soul was a mirror of God. Sin broke this
mirror, disfiguring the reflection of God
within. So too the Fathers of the Church
widely used the theme of the mirror as an
image of the soul’s reflection of God.
In particular, during the Middle Ages,
the age of Clare, a whole literature on the
mirror is developed. For example, in our
own Franciscan tradition we have the
writing, The Mirror of Perfection. Francis
and Clare did not simply imitate or follow
Christ, firstly, they contemplated him in
love and allowed themselves to be trans-
formed by him in and through his love.
By contemplating in faith the face of
Christ incarnated and transfigured, Clare
discovers that Jesus is the mirror in which
God reveals himself and at the same time
in which humanity discovers his and her
true image, his and her imago dei.
Indeed, the more human beings contem-
plate Christ, the more they allow them-
Dec/Jan 2021
17Learning to Dance the Divine:
An Advent Reflection
A Sr Joan Chittister OSB
dvent is that unchangeable sea- of goodness that is undeterred by any
son when the same concepts, the other power on earth – that lies within our
ponders the deeper
same words rise over and over
again, year after year, to challenge our
grasp, that can really turn all of life benev-
olent.
hearts and plague our minds.
meaning of the Candles are prominent symbols in the
Advent is the season of waiting. And who monastery’s Advent services. Candles
hasn’t waited? When we are little children, beautiful season focus our minds on the light of Christ and
we wait for gifts from our parents. When remind us always that time is going by,
we are young adults, we wait for the lover of Advent. that light is ebbing.
who will take us to the magic world of
Light a candle occasionally during the
everything. The problem is that the pre- nity gathers in prayer by candlelight to
Advent season and reflect on these ques-
sents pale and the magic world sags all anticipate the Sunday feast, to spiritually
tions:
too quickly into reality. prepare for Christmas.
What is time for?
But then Advent comes, relentlessly and I love that the community prays the Advent
throughout life, with its words of hope and vigils by candlelight. Praying in the dark If time is only for work, then what will be
faith – shepherds and magi, crib and star, means that we have to know all the songs left of me when the work is done?
Emmanuel and glory – and stirs our and psalms by heart. If you’re looking for a
If there is no light in me, what will happen
hearts to pinnacles of possibility one more good Advent practice, you might memorise
when the darkness comes, as darkness
time. a favourite Advent Scripture passage.
comes to every life?
Ruben A. Alvez wrote, ‘Hope is hearing ‘The power of the Most High will over-
What is the gain of leading a useful life if I
the melody of the future; faith is dancing shadow you,’ the monastic liturgy prays
do not also lead a meaningful one?
to it today.’ The real Christmas gift, for during Advent. But who really believes it?
which Advent is the process, is learning to – from A Monastery Almanac
We spend our lives, as nations and as
hum hope, learning to dance the divine. by Joan Chittister OSB n
individuals, waiting to be saved by the
Advent is a high spiritual season when we power of our own achievements or the
prepare to birth the Christ in our lives. In power of destructive force. And yet, it is
the monastery we pay special attention to the clear, soft, consuming, overshadowing
the vigil services that take place each power of the Most High in us – the power
Saturday during Advent. ‘Vigil’ means to
keep awake, to be watchful. The commu-
St Anthony Brief
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With Integrity
Adrian Peelo OFM shows how
St Francis models for us inner
freedom and taking responsibility
for our choices.
O
ccasionally, I am asked what it is I someone who became filled with compas- people was that he encountered God’s
most admire about Francis of sion for poor, suffering human beings. mercy toward himself – mercy that
Assisi. People are sometimes sur- released him from fear and set him on the
prised by my answer. I think they expect Misery and Mercy path to freedom. He had up until then led,
me to say that I like how he loves creation, In his own words he says, speaking of the we believe, a vane, fatuous and sinful life;
or the poor – that he is a peacemaker and lepers God had led him among, ‘I showed had had his dreams of being a knight shat-
a fundamentally joyful saint. And I do mercy to them.’ Mercy or misericordia tered, and following a long stay in a
admire all these qualities in him and others comes from the Latin words miseriae squalid prison had become disillusioned to
besides. meaning misery and cor meaning the the point of despair. It was then that God’s
What I admire and value most in St heart. The heart reaches into the misery grace was able to trickle-in through the
Francis, however, is how he always took of suffering in another and mercy is what cracks of vulnerability, mediated by mercy
personal responsibility for the choices he happens. This, of course, is what the for the most misfortunate and broken
made in life – particularly for the conse- Incarnation of God in Christ is all about; human beings, lepers.
quences and actions that flowed from his God reaching into our misery in the person The encounter with lepers became for
faith in a loving God, whose relationship to of Jesus and showing mercy to us. Francis Francis an encounter with God’s merciful
both himself and all of creation formed the then says, ‘When I left them (the lepers) love in that most unexpected of places,
foundation of everything he believed and what had seemed bitter to me was turned where lepers lived, out on the margins.
did from the time of his conversion to his into sweetness of soul and body. And after- God’s embrace of mercy cut through the
last breath. wards I delayed a little and left the world.’ visceral rejection of engagement with what
In his Testament, a short and concise Human beings tend to reject or exclude he most feared and through his own
document written at the request of the that which they fear most. We tend to unconscious self-rejection, marking the
brothers shortly before his death in demonstrate an antipathy towards ideas moment of conversion and the beginning
October 1226, Francis says in the first and people who pose a threat, challenge or of his transformation.
paragraph that he came to faith through an disturb us in some way. This bias may
encounter with lepers. He had a horror of remain unconscious in us until woken up by Gradual Transformation
leprosy for which there was, in those some event. Francis, like many others in his Like all of us, Francis had to work out this
times, no cure. To contract it meant ban- day, avoided lepers and victimised them by gradual transformation by choices made in
ishment and exclusion from family and judgement and by withholding compassion. the light of his awakening. The encounter
society. In the Testament, St Francis says He says in his Testament that the very sight with lepers was, as he relates in the
that it was God who led him among lepers of lepers caused him to be nauseous. Testament, just the beginning. He gradu-
and that his encounter with them trans- What happened to Francis when God ally embraced the Gospel and took the
formed him from a frightened man to led him among wretched and excluded teachings of Jesus to his heart.
St Anthony Brief
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