4 October 2013 - repair his house, bless the nation

4 October 2013 - repair his house, bless the nation

He considered how to save his people from ruin, and fortified the city to withstand a siege.

The Church is ever falling into ruin due to our human weakness.  It is no different in the time of St. Francis.  He too hears, 'Francis, go and repair my house which, as you see, is falling into ruin.'  The church of San Damiano near which he hears this looks like it has already failed to withstand a siege.  It is on the verge of collapse.

And in our own day as well the Church faces many obstacles.  Relativism, materialism, the tyranny of false tolerance, and alienating selfish pride seem to block all possibility of growth.  Look at the Church. On the one hand we feign sharing the optimism that our popes and leaders really have.  On the other hand we can't even imagine much progress on a small scale.  Can we imagine Jesus as the LORD of our city or even our street?  Can we even imagine him genuinely reigning within our parish?  Our family?

Yet Francis sees similarly insurmountable obstacles and is undeterred.  Our leaders see such obstacles and still have great hope.  Francis repairs God's house, fortifies his temple, and queries out a cistern for the water of life.

In his days a cistern for water was quarried out, a reservoir like the sea in circumference.

It is like the sea in circumference.  No wonder we hear the promise that we will never thirst (cf Joh. 6:35).  St. Francis is a source from which this living water flows (cf. Joh. 7:38).  That is why he is able to dig a cistern for it.  God's temple is firmly established in his heart so he has the strength to rebuild the earthly temple.  What is the secret which he knows that we forget?

At that time Jesus declared, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes;
yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.

St. Francis is simple enough to trust in the promises of the LORD.  Above all he takes to heart the promise that if we take the LORD's yoke upon us and learn from him:

you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

No task is too great for someone who truly believes these words.  They experience the power of God working within them such that they rest in him even while to the world they appear to be working beyond the point of exhaustion.

We must say to the LORD, "Thou art my Lord; I have no good apart from thee."  If the LORD is our "chosen portion and cup" he will hold uphold us with his strength.  Otherwise we come before Jesus do not experience his rest because we cling to our own burdens.  Ultimately, we are seeking our reward apart from him.  If we have "no good apart from thee" we do this we are transformed from one degree of glory to another (cf. 2 Cor 3:18) without even realizing how it happens.  We will find in ourselves the image of Jesus more and more.

Henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

No effort of our own merits such conformity with Christ.  We can barely tell it is happening.  We lose ourselves in the love which he empowers and then rejoice to find him living within us in the power of the resurrection.

For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.