The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi, challenge us to assess the action we are being called to, by the Spirit, that will help restore full life and love in our environment.
The reading from the Prophet Nehemiah describes him being sent to Judah.
The biblical sources for Nehemiah’s life and work are the autobiographical portions scattered through the book. They are called the “Memoirs of Nehemiah,” and have been used more effectively by the editor than the “Memoirs of Ezra.” The substantial authenticity of Nehemiah’s memoirs is widely accepted. From these and other sources, the picture emerges of a man dedicated to the single purpose of the welfare of his people. While serving as cupbearer to the king at the Persian court in Susa, Nehemiah received permission from Artaxerxes I to fortify Jerusalem, and served as governor of Judah for two terms, the first lasting twelve years (445–432 B.C.), the second of unknown length (Neh 5:14; 13:6). Despite temperamental shortcomings, Nehemiah was a man of good practical sense combined with deep faith in God. He used his influence as governor of Judah to serve God and the fledgling Jewish community in Jerusalem. (Nehemiah, THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH, n.d.)
Psalm 137 is a lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem.
* [Psalm 137] A singer refuses to sing the people’s sacred songs in an alien land despite demands from Babylonian captors (Ps 137:1–4). The singer swears an oath by what is most dear to a musician—hands and tongue—to exalt Jerusalem always (Ps 137:5–6). The Psalm ends with a prayer that the old enemies of Jerusalem, Edom and Babylon, be destroyed (Ps 137:7–9). (Psalms, PSALM 137, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus advises would-be followers.
* [9:57–62] In these sayings 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. The first two sayings are paralleled in Mt 8:19–22; see also notes there.
* [9:60] Let the dead bury their dead: i.e., let the spiritually dead (those who do not follow) bury their physically dead. See also note on Mt 8:22. (Luke, CHAPTER 9, n.d.)
Eileen Burke-Sullivan comments that like Nehemiah the prophet that we hear in the first reading, St. Francis of Assisi heard the voice of Jesus from the cross as a command to rebuild a brick and mortar building (for the Prophet it was the call of God to rebuild the City Walls of Jerusalem). But both came to see that the brick and mortar was symbolic for rebuilding the incorporeal but real edifice of relationships of love and peace making. For St. Francis the evident solution to rebuilding the Faith is to build an intimate relationship with God. The Church is first of all God’s family – not the house we pray in.
I need to hear the challenge of Saint Francis in our world obsessed by possessions and power and notoriously divided. I need to find joy in the loving care of each person for every other person, and I need to fight the seeds of corruption in my heart that destroy community by unbridled lust for possessions. I need to hear over and over that love alone will bring me and any of us to find our truest selves, for love is God’s own being.
Like Saint Francis I want to “consider all things so much rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found with him.” Phil 3.8-9 (Burke, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “Put to death what is earthly in you,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).
"The statement 'Let the dead bury their dead' implies spiritually: Waste no more time on dead things. You are to 'put to death therefore what is earthly in you: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry' (Colossians 3:5). These things therefore are dead. Cast them away from you. Cut them off as you would cut off gangrenous flesh to prevent the contamination of the whole body, so that you may not hear it said, 'Leave the dead [spiritually dead] to bury their dead' (Matthew 8:22). But to some it seems abnormal and contradictory that the Savior does not allow the disciple to bury his father. It seems inhumane. But Jesus does not in fact forbid people from burying the dead, but rather he puts before this the preaching of the kingdom of heaven, which makes people alive (Luke 9:60). As for burying the body, there were many people who could have done this." (excerpt from Fragment 161) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 9:57-62 comments that we all have times when we are confronted with an urgent need as Nehemiah was. Part of us wants to help, but another part would rather stay safe and out of the way. We sense that God wants us involved, but we hold back, whether out of fear or selfishness.
That’s why prayer is so important. It’s in prayer that God can compel us to rise above our own self-interests. In prayer he can give us the courage to step out and minister to someone who is suffering. Overwhelming situations seem to shrink down to size when we come into God’s presence, and problems that once seemed unsolvable become more manageable. Our fears diminish, and we feel freer to try something new. And when we do, we may just discover the joy that comes as we become Jesus’ hands and feet in the world.
“Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.” (Meditation on Luke 9:57-62, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler notes the privileged position of Nehemiah, the cupbearer to the king, who became governor of the province west of Euphrates and was permitted to rebuild the city walls of Jerusalem. The Gospel of Luke challenges us to surrender to a journey that may lead to where we would rather not go. Friar Jude reminds us of the year-long process to final burial in Jewish culture of Jesus' time.
Franciscan Media comments that Saint Francis of Assisi was torn between a life devoted entirely to prayer and a life of active preaching of the Good News. He decided in favor of the latter, but always returned to solitude when he could. He wanted to be a missionary in Syria or in Africa, but was prevented by shipwreck and illness in both cases. He did try to convert the sultan of Egypt during the Fifth Crusade.
Francis of Assisi was poor only that he might be Christ-like. He recognized creation as another manifestation of the beauty of God. In 1979, he was named patron of ecology. He did great penance—apologizing to “Brother Body” later in life—that he might be totally disciplined for the will of God. Francis’ poverty had a sister, Humility, by which he meant total dependence on the good God. But all this was, as it were, preliminary to the heart of his spirituality: living the gospel life, summed up in the charity of Jesus and perfectly expressed in the Eucharist. (Saint Francis of Assisi, n.d.)
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces author Parker Palmer who presents ways nature helps him reconnect to his own wholeness.
Thomas Merton claimed that “There is in all visible things … a hidden wholeness.” [1] But back in the human world—where we are less self-revealing than jack pines—Merton’s words can, at times, sound like wishful thinking. Afraid that our inner light will be extinguished or our inner darkness exposed, we hide our true identities from each other [and] become separated from our own souls. We end up living divided lives, so far removed from the truth we hold within that we cannot know the “integrity that comes from being what you are.”
My knowledge of the divided life comes first from personal experience: I yearn to be whole, but dividedness often seems the easier choice. A “still, small voice” speaks the truth about me, my work, or the world. I hear it and yet act as if I did not. I withhold a personal gift that might serve a good end or commit myself to a project that I do not really believe in. I keep silent on an issue I should address or actively break faith with one of my own convictions. I deny my inner darkness, giving it more power over me, or I project it onto other people, creating “enemies” where none exist…. (Rohr, 2022)
We are moved by the Spirit to see and contemplate situations in which we may not be exercising the full action of our Baptismal anointing as priest, prophet, and leader.
References
Burke, E. (2023, October 4). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved October 4, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/100423.html
Luke, CHAPTER 9. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 4, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/9?57
Meditation on Luke 9:57-62. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved October 4, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/10/04/798620/
Nehemiah, THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 4, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/nehemiah/0
Psalms, PSALM 137. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 4, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/137?1
Rohr, R. (2022, August 30). Wholeness Includes Imperfection. CAC Daily Meditations 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/wholeness-includes-imperfection/
Saint Francis of Assisi. (n.d.). Franciscan Media. Retrieved October 4, 2023, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-francis-of-assisi/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Fit for the Kingdom of God. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 4, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=oct4
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