Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
I am writing from Rome, Italy, buoyed by a lovely Saturday spent in Assisi where the natural beauty of the landscapes and passionate simplicity still reverberate with the joyous gospel message nurtured by Sts Francis, Clare and the Franciscan family to this day. Pax et bonum! (in Latin); Pace e bene (in Italian), meaning Peace and all good). This phrase greeted us on prayer cards and mementos in shops lining the narrow cobblestone streets that connected the sacred places of the saints’ baptism, chapels, meeting places and death. These beautiful words of greeting that Clare and Francis used have a fuller meaning of hope for God’s goodness: May you have the fullness of well-being, may you be secure and happy; may you not want; may your dignity be respected; may the goodness in your inmost being flourish; may the world in which we live know this deep peace. This greeting is a blessing, a hope, and a way of acknowledging the sacredness of those encountered.
Core to St. Francis’ fearless mission was preaching the gospel of peace - he sought to cultivate peace and all good in others and embody the way of non-violence. He lived in harmony with all of creation’s wonders (tales abound of crickets, birds and wolves all responding to his words!); and so he has become the patron saint of ecology. He was accessible to poor and rich alike. He showed much compassion to lepers - the most outcast of his day - and his loving kindness brought them much peace.
Organizations with Franciscan roots such as https://paceebene.org, invite us to the breadth of ways we can live out this spirit of peace and nonviolence today - caring for the earth’s resources, mediating our relationships with one another, healing from violence and trauma, and in taking action on justice concerns such as affordable housing and fair wages.
The Franciscan spirit echoes today’s readings from Ephesians and the Psalm which convey Jesus as our peace, and the connections between peace, harmony, kindness, wellbeing that are ultimately the pathway to truth and justice. Paul hoped for God’s love to be fully manifest in the peace and unity of his beloved community. Today we each might think about how we live kindness and truth within ourselves and with one another. How can we respond with peace and humility rather than anger and defensiveness? What one idea, behavior, or prejudice might I need to sacrifice in order to allow God’s kingdom to grow within me and thus peace be proclaimed through my actions of care? What step in this year of St. Francis and growth in nonviolence might I take? May each of our steps help us all to more deeply know peace and all good!
- Sr. Leanne M Jablonski, FMI