Divestiture

Dear Friend,

Having the Franciscan novices here at the Mission continues to be a blessing. Last week during a time of prayer reserved only for themselves, our novice brothers ritualized their “divestiture,” pointing all of us veteran (professed) friars to a central dimension of our Franciscan discipleship.

For the novices, divestiture is all about naming and handing over to God’s goodness their on-going conversions, and one particular area of their life impeding that growth and conversion - a behavior, an attitude, or maybe a past hurt, resentment, or sin. The root of the word divest refers to clothing, so it’s not hard to see how this ritual is connected to investiture, the ritual of putting on the Franciscan habit (our brown robe) for the first time, a ritual that comes later in the year. The lesson for all of us is that we have to take something off before putting something on.

All this is strongly related to the challenge offered in the scripture readings this Sunday. Peter – to his shock – has to realize that taking up the cross of Jesus is central to his discipleship. You might say he is being rather abruptly “divested” by his teacher of his old ways. The cross is something we “put on” daily to bind ourselves more closely to the love Jesus embodies. What needs to come off?

The Prophet Jeremiah and St. Paul, too, had to endure their own divestitures, or so it seems. Paul urges us to offer our bodies as a “living sacrifice,” not “conforming” ourselves to this age. Meanwhile, Jeremiah’s reference to the fire in his heart (God’s very name) implies a power that might well strip him naked of his old self burdened by doubt and hesitation. 

In their willingness to divest, the novices, like these spiritual masters, might have something to teach us!

Gratefully,

Fr. Dan ofm, Pastor