Uncomplicated

Dear Friend,

Peace and all good be yours!

Reflecting on this Sunday’s Gospel, I couldn’t help but think of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who has so much in common with St. Francis and whom we celebrated on Friday. Both saints continually attempted to express their discipleship in ways that might best be described as uncomplicated.   

Listen to Thérèse as she describes what happened to her on Christmas Eve, 1886: God worked a little miracle to make me grow up in an instant … On that blessed night… Jesus, who saw fit to make Himself a child out of love for me, saw fit to have me come forth from the swaddling clothes and imperfections of childhood. She was 13 years old. If it were a movie, Jesus’s words would be make a nice VoiceOver: “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”  

The spirituality of Francis and Thérèse could provide a lens for reading the first part of Sunday’s Gospel touching on the inherently complicated realities of marriage and divorce. They were convinced that, in the Incarnation, God - taking on our flesh - bound us to himself in a bond of love which can never be broken. Their consistent practice of mercy and tenderness ran completely counter to what Jesus calls the “hard-heartedness” of the Pharisees who were trying to “test” him.  

My own mother and father, while never officially divorced, clearly struggled - as do I - to live out a sacred vocation. Over the years, my compassion for them has grown and grown. Unlike Thérèse it’s taken me awhile to come forth from the “swaddling clothes” of childhood! Truthfully, the numerous second chances I’ve been given in my life are probably the most precious gifts I’ve received from God. 

Gratefully,

Fr. Dan ofm, Pastor