An Apostolate of Persons with Chronic Illness and/or Disability

- Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

Jewish villages at the time of Jesus were really more extended families than they were anything else.  What we would call cousins, nephews, nieces, aunts and uncles all lived within close proximity to one another.  As the family grew, it became a small camp, then a small village, a town, etc.  Families stayed close to their ancestral land.  Sons grew up to be what their fathers before them had been.  Thus when Jesus does not follow in the footsteps of Joseph the carpenter, the rest of the “family” was put off by his behavior.  After all, Jesus was not an educated man, one who had been schooled by the rabbis in the temple precincts.  He was one of the common folk. 

The Gospel today reveals how disturbed his kinsfolk were.  The Gospel relates that they took offense at him. 

Jeremiah had a similar story.  He was, after all, little more than a teenager when he was called to bring the Word of God to the people.  He paid dearly for his devotion to the task.  He was constantly threatened by the court officials and was, at one time, thrown into a cistern where he was left to die as he sank into the mud. 

A prophet is not without honor except in his own country.  (Matthew 13:57b)  It is all about expectations.  Jesus and Jeremiah did not take their expected places in society, in the family.  Jesus actually starts a new family based upon the Twelve.  They become his new reference point, the group within which he finds meaning for himself.  Upon that foundation, the Church eventually developed. 

Church history shows that at times we have done the same thing that Jesus’ kinsfolk did to him.  When someone stands up to challenge the status quo, he is often “put in his place.”  This has happened time and time again to visionaries, to modern day prophets, to those who cry out in the wilderness.  However, just as the court officials were not able to silence the Word of God as it came from the mouth of Jeremiah, and just as Jesus’ kinsfolk were not able to shame him into returning to Nazareth, no one will ever silence a true prophet, for the true prophet travels with God’s Word.

- Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

I have never had the motor skills necessary to be an artist.  I can envision beautiful things, I can appreciate fine works of art, I love the musical arts; however, I cannot paint a picture nor compose a piece of music.  I sit in awe of those who can.  I can remember that when I was a boy, my brother and I both received a paint by number set for Christmas.  My pictures amounted to nothing while my brother’s were beautiful to behold.

So today’s story from the prophet Jeremiah evokes in me a sense of awe at God’s artistry.  The prophet presents us with the image of God as the potter.  We are the clay.  God fashions us, molds us, forms us.

One of the five priorities that was surfaced at the General Chapter of the Franciscan Order was the issue of Ongoing Formation.  In this priority we recognize that all of us need to constantly allow God to continue the creative process in forming us into the person that God intends us to be.  There are several different formative influences in our lives, but first and foremost is the formation that we receive from the Gospel itself.  By sitting with the Word of God, by allowing the Word to enter into our person through the ear and into the heart, we are gradually shaped and molded by the Word.  The Holy Spirit works within us to make this an ongoing process.

For some this concept was foreign.  We have a tendency to think of formation in terms of our early years, our years of schooling and discipline.  Once we are adults, we consider our formation a done deal.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  This can be easily seen in the acquisition of the virtue of patience.  As young people, we have to learn to be patient with the process of education, of learning, of acquiring the skills - both mental and physical - that define an adult.  Once we are adults, we still need to learn patience; but now the patience has to be directed toward those who are younger and older than we.  The younger need a patient hand to guide them; the older need the patient hand to care for them.  Finally, once we reach the so-called “senior” or “golden” years, we have to learn patience all over again, for now we need to be comfortable with our own limitations. 

The process that we need to implement in the learning of patience is the same for all of the spiritual virtues.  Each virtue takes on a different meaning according to the stages of our lives.  So it is that God’s forming hands continue to mold the clay that is me until I am ready to be joined with the finished vessels that rejoice with God in heaven.

- Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

Today’s parable is about the buried treasure.  No, Jesus is not borrowing an image from a adventure novel about pirates.  Burying wealth or precious goods in the ground was a common way of keeping them safe for the people of Jesus’ time and culture.  Land usually stayed in the hands of the family, the tribe.  However, there were those rare circumstances when the land might have passed into the hands of another owner.  If that happened, all that was buried in the plot was included in the transaction.  So this is a parable taken from a real life situation.

Though it is a short parable, there are several things going on in it: 1. The person may have been looking for the treasure.  Perhaps the discovery was accidental.  However, the parable seems to imply that the person was actively looking for something.  2. The person finds the treasure.  3. The person reburies the treasure.  4. The person sells his goods to get enough money to purchase the land on which it is buried.  5.  The person succeeds in his venture and acquires the treasure.

Of course, Jesus was talking about something more than money or wealth.  Jesus is speaking of a spiritual treasure.  So the first lesson we learn from the parable is the necessity of searching for the treasure.  When we find what we are looking for, then we must some how find a way to possess it.  This usually involves some sort of stripping off the unnecessary things and prioritizing the important things.  Finally, we acquire the treasure. 

However, here comes the enigma of the parable.  Once we have it, we realize that we much begin anew in the search.  Human life is such that we will never possess the fulness of the reign of God in this life.  No matter how hard we look, no matter how much sacrifice we make, once we have found our “spiritual treasure trove,” we will realize that there is something more to look for.  It is like the old proverb that teaches us that an education simply informs us about how much we do not know.  So we must continue the quest.

- Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

The Gospel parable of the weeds and the wheat comes to an end in today’s Gospel passage.  Jesus concludes with the words: Whoever has ears ought to hear.  (Matthew 13:43b)  Easier said than done.

Listening is a lost art.  Most of us spend the time preparing our next comment rather than truly listening to what the person speaking to us is saying.  Yet at the same time, we would all have to admit that there is nothing quite as satisfying as realizing that the person to whom we are speak is indeed listening.  I think it is safe to say that we all want some one to listen to us.

Jesus concludes the parable of the weeds and the wheat with these words in the hopes that the disciples will really hear what he has just told them.   Were they paying attention?  Or were they day dreaming about the glory that would be theirs when Jesus ascended the throne of Israel?  Had they been catching on to his message or were they still stuck in their expectations of him?  Eventually the disciples will catch on, but they will exhibit signs every once in awhile that they have missed the message. 

Jesus concludes this parable with some apocalyptic language.  He speaks about the end times, the time when he will return with his angels.  If the news media of the day is any indication, there is more speculation about Chelsea Clinton’s forthcoming nuptials than there is about the return of Jesus.  The world has been waiting so long for Jesus’ return that many have simply shoved it to the back burner and think about it rarely.  The weeds and the wheat, the sheep and the goats, the righteous and the sinner — no matter how you phrase it, it calls us to a reawakening as to our real purpose in life, our goal, our focus, our priorities.  If we are not careful, those weeds will simply choke all the wheat.

- Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

Generally speaking, we are a people who demand instant results.  We are used to the lights going on when we flip a switch.  We expect the car to start as soon as we insert the key and turn it.  We expect the dirt on our windows to disappear immediately when we spray them with windex and wipe it away.  Microwave ovens are supposed to present us with a hot meal in two or three minutes.  Electronic communication, such as e-mail, has brought us to the point of expecting immediate responses from those to whom we write.  As computers have gotten faster and faster, we moan when they take more than 15 seconds to download the information we desire. 

Consequently, waiting has become an activity that we simply cannot abide.  Who of us has not complained that we had to sit in a waiting room to see a doctor?  Who of us enjoys standing on a street corner waiting for a bus?  Whose favorite activity is standing in line at the check out counter in a grocery store, especially if the person ahead of us is redeeming twenty or more coupons?  If the newly elected president cannot make good on all of his campaign promises within the first 100 days of his term, he is considered a failure by many.  None of us enjoys being put on “hold” while we wait for the service representative to answer the phone.

We have grown so accustomed to the fast pace of our lives that we have lost the ability to put off our gratification.  We have come to expect instant satisfaction.  Unfortunately things do not work that way in God’s kingdom. 

The Gospel passage for today likens the Kingdom of God to mustard seeds and yeast.  Neither the mustard seed or the yeast will yield instantaneous satisfaction.  The mustard seed will take years to develop and yeast takes time to rise.  Patience is the remedy for both.  God’s kingdom is not a realm of quick answers and instant results.  Time nurtures our faith, and it grows slowly, much the same as the mustard seed which takes years to grow to maturity.  Yeast takes time to leaven the dough.  Faith moves at the same slow pace.

When dealing with God and God’s Realm, we must abandon our desires the instantaneous and place our hope that our efforts will yield a rich harvest.

- Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

“Who among you would . . .”  With these words, Jesus asks the crowd of listeners a rhetorical question.  You might remember that rhetorical questions need no answers.  The answer is implied in the question.   In the case of Sunday’s Gospel passage, the answer is “No one would . . .”  The actions that Jesus suggests, giving a snake when asked for a fish or giving a scorpion when asked for an egg, are simply not possible responses.

The same is true for the example of the man who comes begging for bread in the middle of the night to feed a just arrived guest.  No one would refuse such a request in a Jewish village.  Why?

Jewish villages had one oven, a communal oven.  The households of the village took turns baking bread, the staple of their diet.  Each household would bake enough bread to last until the next assigned date.  Consequently, as the days passed, the bread got stale as the supply depleted.  So when an unexpected guest shows up, it is just possible that he arrived on the “wrong” day.  All that was left was a few stale pieces of bread, hardly the hospitable offering for a guest.  So the man goes to his neighbors, the ones who baked bread that day, and asked for help.  It was unthinkable to deny such a request because the same thing could happen to you next week.  If you deny your neighbor in his time of need, he probably would treat you with the same disdain in your hour of need.  Jewish village worked because everyone was dependent upon their neighbors.

The evangelist uses this as an example of persistence in prayer.  Actually, that’s not a good translation of the word.    It really translates as “shamelessness” in prayer.  There is no shame, should be no shame, in asking for help in this kind of situation.  While we in the Western World find it hard to ask for help (some people cannot even stop and ask for directions), the people of the Middle East in this particular time period did not.  They were dependent upon God and one another.  Helping one’s neighbor was the cornerstone of communal, village life.

When you stop to think about it, this is the proper attitude for any Christian.  We should not feel shame in asking God for our needs.  Jesus teaches us this by including three petitions in his prayer.  We ask for daily bread, for forgiveness, and to be spared from temptation.  There is nothing shameful in asking for God’s help.  Indeed, there should be nothing shameful in asking for help from one’s neighbor.  People with disabilities are dependent upon the kindness and understanding of others.  We can respond to the kindness of others by offering a kindness in return.  We can promise to keep them in our prayers. 

- Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

What the land owner proposes as a solution to the deceitful ways of his enemies is a dangerous proposition.  The weeds of which the parable speaks looks very much like wheat and could be mistaken for wheat by one with an unappreciative eye for such details.  However, in addition to looking like wheat, it was also poisonous.  So by allowing the weeds to grow along with the wheat, the land owner preserves his crop but does so at his own peril.  If anyone were to die because they ate poisonous weeds, he would have been held responsible for their deaths.

The parable is ordinarily understood as a tool to understand human existence and is a valuable lesson for all of us to learn; namely, the world is a spiritually dangerous place.  The parable really is offering us yet another lesson in being alert, be watchful.  Notice that the deceitful act of the enemy was done at night when the landowner, his household and his farm servants were all sleeping.  Because they were not prepared for the possibility of danger, they fell victim to the introduction of this peril.  Once again, Jesus is simply making us aware that we need to be aware of what is going on in our world and in our community.  Only then will we be found waiting in faith when the Lord returns.

- Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

Being a shepherd in Israel in Biblical times was not an easy job.  In addition to the hard work, it was a profession that was looked down upon by many in Israel because being in the fields with the flocks 24/7 meant that it was all but impossible to fulfill the mandates of the dietary laws of the covenant.  Shepherds were called “People of the Land,” while most Jews were called “People of the Law.”

Yet it is the image of the shepherd which prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures and which Jesus of the Christian Scriptures use to symbolize the proper relationship between the priests and the people of Israel.  King David had been a shepherd and was regarded as the greatest of the kings of Israel.  Psalm 23 refers to God as a shepherd.  Jesus referes to himself as the “good” or “noble” shepherd.  The passage from Jeremiah which we read as well as the responsorial psalm (also taken from Jeremiah) uses the shepherd as a symbol of right relationship for both the priests and the people as well as for the people and God.

It may be somewhat difficult to put these two antithetical ideas together until one realizes that like so many of God’s choices, the lower is exalted above the higher.  As I have written several times, “God chooses the weak and makes them strong.”  In this case, God chooses a symbol ordinarily eschewed and uses it to describe the relationship God wants with the people.  The last shall indeed be first.

The other thing about the image of the shepherd which is somewhat confusing is the fact that shepherds don’t relate to a single sheep but to the flock.  This goes hand in hand with the communal or corporate image which is part of the ethnic identity of Middle Eastern people.  Individuals were not thought of as important unless they were connected to a group.  Yet Psalm 23, perhaps the most familiar of the shepherd passages, speaks in terms of a one on one relationship.  The Lord is MY Shepherd. . .  The Lord guides ME along safe paths. . . etc.

Consequently, I find the shepherding image to be very comforting and consoling.  First of all, it reminds me that I don’t have to be the most important or the most able or the most intelligent of God’s creatures.  God chose me not because of my strength but because of my weakness.  Secondly, God deals with me personally.  My relationship to God is intimate, personal, individual as well as communal.  I am part of and yet singular in God’s eyes.  My physical or mental abilities matter not, for I am one of God’s sheep.

- Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

Perhaps you have heard the expression, “Christmas in July.”  Today, the memorial of St. Mary Magdalene gives us an opportunity to celebrate Easter in July as we read the account from St. John’s Gospel of Mary at the tomb.

Mary is weeping.  Who can blame her?  The events of the past few days have been devastating, traumatic, disheartening.  Her Lord and Master has been crucified.  Now she cannot even find his body.  She fears it has been carried away by someone.  This fear, added to the emotions of the last few days, brings her to tears in what I am sure was not the first time over those three days. 

Then Jesus calls her name.  His gentle call pulls her from her despondency, from her fears, from the trauma of the crucifixion and restores her joy.  “I have seen the Lord!” she exclaims to his disciples. 

I can readily identify with Mary Magdalene.  Who of us has not worried and fretted about the future effects of our illness and/or disability?  Who of us doesn’t carry around a little pouch of fear that seasons even the happiest moments of our day?  Who of us does not feel dread as we witness the seeming collapse of the moral fiber of our society?  Who of us doesn’t sometimes doubt or question our faith in those dark moments when our expectations are not met, when our fears are allowed to overcome our sense of purpose.  I am sure that these are the same feelings and emotions that Mary must have been experiencing as she sat outside the tomb weeping.

Just as Jesus called her name, Jesus calls our names as well.  However, in order to hear that call we have to make ourselves able to hear, to listen.  Just as Mary of Bethany spent time at the feet of Jesus listening to his words, so too our time of prayer must include some time when we simply close our mouths and listen for the call, listen for our name.  In that simple call, we find our strength, we renew our sense of purpose, we meet the Lord.  With Mary, we cry out, “I have seen the Lord.”

- Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

The call of Jeremiah always evokes a sense of wonder in me.  Many of us have heard people say that they are not worthy of this or that.  Sometimes people will even use Jeremiah’s excuse of being too young.  However, when it comes to God’s call, no one can say that God has not chosen wisely.  Human feelings may get in the way of our hearing or accepting God’s call, but the fact remains that God knows exactly who to choose for any particular task.

Usually we think of prophets as old men with long beards, walking with the aid of a staff.  However, Jeremiah does not fit into that mold at all.  Jeremiah is a young man, probably no more than a teenager when God called him to be a prophet in Israel.  The elders of Israel had a typical reaction to Jeremiah.  Who is this youngster telling us what we should be doing?  However, the words that Jeremiah speaks are not his own.  Jeremiah is God’s voice, proclaiming God’s words.

Prophets come in all shapes and sizes, all ages, all genders, all races.  Anyone who walks with the Word of the Lord is a prophet.  Prophets are instruments, people who make themselves disponable to God’s bidding.  Prophesy is a matter of delivering God’s word.  In that respect, anyone who walks in the path of God’s word and exemplifies one who is willing to listen is engaged in prophetic activity. 

Franciscans celebrate the great preacher, St. Lawrence of Brindisi, today.  This Franciscan Capuchin friar appeared at the time of the counter-Reformation and was responsible for furthering the teachings of the Church as proclaimed by the Council of Trent.  Because he carried the Word of God with him wherever he went, he fills the description of prophet.  Pope Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church in the late 19th century. 

Each of us is charged with the responsibility of carrying the Word of God with us.  Like Jeremiah, we probably feel inadequate.  However, God’s word to Jeremiah applies to us as well.  God will put God’s word in our mouth if we make ourselves disponable to it.