Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi

Proper readings for the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi
 
Biographical Information about St. Francis Assisi 

“St Francis of Assisi”
by Jusepe de Ribera, 1643

 
Readings for Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Nehemiah 2:1-8
 
In the month Nisan of the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,
when the wine was in my charge,
I took some and offered it to the king.
As I had never before been sad in his presence,
the king asked me, “Why do you look sad?
If you are not sick, you must be sad at heart.”
Though I was seized with great fear, I answered the king:
“May the king live forever!
How could I not look sad
when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins,
and its gates have been eaten out by fire?”
The king asked me, “What is it, then, that you wish?”
I prayed to the God of heaven and then answered the king:
“If it please the king,
and if your servant is deserving of your favor,
send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors’ graves,
to rebuild it.”
Then the king, and the queen seated beside him,
asked me how long my journey would take
and when I would return.
I set a date that was acceptable to him,
and the king agreed that I might go.
 
I asked the king further: “If it please the king,
let letters be given to me for the governors
of West-of-Euphrates,
that they may afford me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah;
also a letter for Asaph, the keeper of the royal park,
that he may give me wood for timbering the gates
of the temple-citadel and for the city wall
and the house that I shall occupy.”
The king granted my requests,
for the favoring hand of my God was upon me.
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Commentary on Neh 2:1-8
 
This reading from the Book of Nehemiah is one of the “Memoirs” of Nehemiah depicting his request to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the temple. Nehemiah was contemporary of Ezra, a layman called to extraordinary service and effort. He demonstrates a constant faith that God was supporting him.
 
It is evident that Nehemiah is confidently patient to wait for God’s plan to unfold.  “This confidence is seen first, paradoxically, in his willingness to wait for God’s time to answer his prayer. Those months of private intercession must have been a peculiarly testing time for so active a man as Nehemiah, but for him to have forced the issue with the king could have proved disastrous to his whole enterprise. Instead, he shows that his confidence is supremely in God.” [4]
 
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
 
R. (6ab) Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!
 
By the streams of Babylon
we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the aspens of that land
we hung up our harps.
R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!
 
Though there our captors asked of us
the lyrics of our songs,
And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:
“Sing for us the songs of Zion!”
R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!
 
How could we sing a song of the LORD
in a foreign land?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand be forgotten!
R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!
 
May my tongue cleave to my palate
if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
ahead of my joy.
R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!
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Commentary on Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
 
The sadness that drove Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild is reflected in this communal lament. The people of God, dispersed throughout the region, recall the joys of being in God’s presence in Zion (Jerusalem). We feel in this hymn our own anticipation of being together in God’s presence as a community of faith.
 
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Gospel: Luke 9:57-62
 
As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding
on their journey, someone said to him,
 “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him,
“Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
And to another he said, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”
And another said, “I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home.”
Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”
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Commentary on Lk 9:57-62
 
This passage from St. Luke’s Gospel gives us three sayings of Jesus about the requirement to place the values of Christian discipleship above all other requirements of life. Proclaiming the kingdom of God must come before even family obligations.
 
In the first, “Foxes have dens…” Jesus does not deceive anyone – he lives in poverty, dedicated to his mission.
 
The second, “Let the dead bury their dead,” is a play on words: let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead. Jesus message is the message of life. This saying was never intended to be taken literally as filial piety is deeply ingrained in Jewish life.
 
In the third saying; “No one who…looks to what was left behind,” Jesus demands more than Elisha (see 1 Kings 19:19-21). “Plowing for the Kingdom demands sacrifice.” [5]
 
CCC: Lk 9:58 544
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Reflection:
 
The three different Scripture passages we are given today combine to show us a call and an attitude.  Follow the logic here: Jesus, in the Gospel, tells us that our faith in him and the call to discipleship must color all of our actions since it is first in our lives.  The Psalmist sings of our inner longing, to be in God’s presence as a result of that call.  And in Nehemiah, we see the fruits of one who listens to that call and places his life at the service of God.  It is a call and an attitude.
 
As in much of Holy Scripture and the teaching magisterium of the Church the lessons are presented in their perfect or absolute state.  Jesus, after all, is our example and the one whom we are called to emulate.  In him, God’s perfect love is expressed to us, and since he was also true man, his perfect love for God was also given as our example.  The call is daunting.
 
We see the call and the attitude as a requirement in our lives.  It is the bar set by Jesus and the saints, like St. Francis of Assisi whose memorial we celebrate, that we hope to follow.  But how?  We are not perfect as our Savior was perfect.  We are not heroic as so many of the saints were heroic in life (Or...perhaps we are but are just not trying hard enough).  Still, the call is there and Jesus asks that our attitude of love for others and humble service to all be what inspires our actions.
 
Taken as a whole, we could never hope to achieve the sort of perfect attitude of love driving all that we do.  But taken incrementally, one piece at a time, we can move in the right direction.  Our challenge is to first place ourselves on a scale.  Where are we in our attitude of love for others, where are we in our actions that glorify the Father?  Once we recognize where we are, we pray that God will help us become a little better - today.  Each day we weigh ourselves on that scale and each day we try for just the tiniest improvement in our quest to become more like the saints who were much like us and ultimately more like Christ our ideal. 
 
Today we are challenged to follow Jesus, to place his glory and that of the Father first in our lives.  To do that we know that our attitude must become more like our Savior’s, whose every action has pointed to His Father and the heavenly kingdom to which we are all called.  Today we hope for baby steps in the right direction.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture used today is “St Francis of Assisi” by Jusepe de Ribera, 1643.
[2] S.S Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] H. G. M. Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah, vol. 16, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1985), 184.
[5] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 44:97.